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In 1820, congress had started to discuss the placing of Missouri, and that Maine wanted to become a free state. So congress decided to make Maine a free state and Missouri a slave state, so Maine gets what they want and they keep a balance of slave and free states. Congress believed that this Compromise would help slavery in the future but the reactions of the Northerners and Southerners changed there minds.

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Not to long after Abraham was elected as president, Southerners started talking about leaving the Union. In December 1860, a meeting was held in the North, to see if there was some type of compromise that could be made to keep the country together. Lincoln said there would be no compromises, for slavery. On the same day a meeting was also held in the South, there delegates all voted that South Carolina should secede from the Union. Just one month later 6 other southern states also left the union.

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In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as president, with only 40% of the votes. All of the votes he received were from the North, and in 10 Southern states they did not even have the option to vote for president Lincoln. This really showed how separated the country had become. This election frightened Southerners as they felt that this would officially abolish slavery, they felt if that happened they would have nothing to live for, they would of lost their freedom.

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In 1859, a man named John Brown decided he was going to arm slaves so they could form a rebellion. His raid was not very successful as all of his men were killed or captured and he was sentenced to a hanging. But before he was hung he left a note that said "I John Brown am not quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with Blood" (History Alive 415). This frightened southerners as many Northerners said John Brown was a hero.

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During the race for senate in the mid 1800's was Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglass. They both had very different views on slavery and the Dred-Scott Decision, so Lincoln challenged him to a debate. They had many debates were Stephen said that the Dred Scott Decision had put slavery to rest but Lincoln proposed that the issue was the controversy of groups. This led to Lincoln losing the race, but it helped him spread as a leader.

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In 1857, a slave named Dred-Scott was brought to Wisconsin with his owner. When his owner tried to bring Scott back to the South, he refused and said since he had stayed in Wisconsin he should be free. He later had a trial with 5 Southerners and 4 Northerners to decide if he could be a free citizen. This is when Chief Tanny came into place, she decided to make the Dred Scott Decision, she figured this would be a way to end they slavery controversy once and for all. This decision talked about two different bombshells that proved slavery was unconstitutional.

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After all the violence that had been going on in Kansas, Charles Summer, the senator of Massachusetts displayed is suspicions that Stephen Douglass planned for Kansas to be a slave state. Later on Charles Summer turned his suspicions into a speech, his speech was sold nation wide and angered many Southerners. A few days later South Carolina representative, Preston Brooks, attacked Summer with a metal stick till he collapsed covered in blood and unconscious. This beating showed Americans how separated they had become.

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After the Nebraska Kansas Act has been passed, many settlers moved to Kansas, many of them migrated there to help the spread of slavery, as many moved there to stop it. This mix of slavery and abolitionist in one state, created many conflicts that led to violence. In 1856, pro-slavery men from Missouri marched to Kansas and destroyed a abolitionist town. This angered one man named John Brown, who two days later marched into a pro-slavery town and brutally killed 5 men, he believed supported slavery.

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In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas asked congress if a railroad could be build to California, Southerners agreed to have this done, if they promised to make it a slave state. Douglas realized that if the California railroad was made the Great Plain and the Missouri Compromise would have to be separated. Later on his final plan was to create two new states, neither slave nor free, these states were Nebraska and Kansas. When Douglas made this act it stated that the state could vote if they wanted it to be a slave or free state. Northerners were not very happy with this and did not like the fact that the plains might have slaves in the future.

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The fugitive slave act was a law, that gave no runaway slaves any rights. It also stated that any person who helped a slave runaway would be in jailed. Many northerners wanted to help run away slaves but were scared by society, and many slaves were scared to stay in the North, since they had the risk of being caught. Most people in the US were very angry with the fugitive slave act. They felt that it was unfair to not return run away slaves, and to enforce such a strick law.

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In 1850, Kentucky senator, Henry Clay looked for Daniel Websters help to stop the act that, made all of land encountered by Mexico to be free land. He proposed that Utah and New Mexico would be slave states and California would remain a free state so the North and South are both pleased. In Clay's compromise the Washington slavery trade would also be stopped. Slaveholders would continue to own their slaves but they could no longer be sold.

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Not to lone after The Missouri Compromise was made, The Second Great Awakening has begun, this was a religious movement, that encouraged the stop of slavery. Because of the awakening Abolitionist went to congress to try to end slavery, but they said that they could not stop slavery as a whole union. Abolitionist continued to work hard to stop slavery, later on a the Nat Turner rebellion made stopping slavery even harder, more harsh laws were made in the south. Later on the debate of what to do with the land won in the Mexican War, a long debate was put in and it was decided that California should be a free state, Southerners did not like this and said it would make the country unbalanced.

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Later on in 1849, after a while of ongoing debates, that California should be a free and slave state, it was finally decided that California was to be a free state. Northerners were very happy about this and packing there bags ready to enjoy the new land. But Southerners felt very differently, that California would make the amount of free and slave states unbalanced.

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After the Mexican-American war the gag rule had been put in place to help congress not deal with the slavery issue. In 1846, James Polk, and David Wilmot made the Wilmot Proviso, stating that no slaves are allowed in any acquired land from the Mexicans. Many southerners were not happy with this new agreement, they felt it was unfair that congress could tell them where slaves could and could not go.

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After Nat Turners rebellion slave revolts no longer happened, but slaves were now escaping to the North. These people were called Fugitives and Slave owners wanted congress to pass a law so that all run away slaves would be returned to there owners. But this did not happen and many northerners sympathetic towards slaves helped them hide out and escape to the north.