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First battle of the Civil War, in which the federal fort in Charleston (South Carolina) Harbor was captured by the Confederates on April 14, 1861, after two days of shelling

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Proposal to prohibit slavery in any land acquired in the Mexican War; defeated by southern senators, led by John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, in 1846 and 1847

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Democratic convention met in April 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the four-way contest. Even though he had less than 40% of the popular vote, he won the Electoral College vote

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Site of abolitionist John Brown’s failed raid on the federal arsenal, October 16-17; Brown became a martyr to his cause gaffer his capture and execution

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A series of senatorial campaign debate sin 1858 focusing on the issue of slavery in the territories; held in Illinois between Republican Abraham Lincoln, who made a nation reputation for himself, and incumbent Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who managed to hold on to his seat

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1857
The U.S Supreme Court decision in which Chiefs Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, on the grounds that such a prohibition would violate the Fifth Amendment rights of slaveholders, and that no Black person could be a citizen of the U.S

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Violence between pro- and anti slavery settlers in the Kansas Territory, 1856

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1854 law sponsored by Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas to allow settlers in newly organized territories north of the Missouri border to decide the slavery issue for themselves; fury over the resulting repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 led to violence in Kansas and to the formation of the Republican Party

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A program that allowed settlers in a disputed territory to decide the slavery issue for themselves; most closely associated with Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois

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A law created in 1850 that gave the federal government authority in cases involving runaway slaves; aroused considerable opposition in the North

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A complex compromise devised by Senator Henry Clay that admitted California as a free state, included a stronger fugitive slave law, and delayed determination of the slave status of the New Mexico and Utah territories.