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At the end of the Mexican-American War, Santa Anna was captured and forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe, which granted Texas independence. Additionally, the treaty required Mexico to give the U.S. 55% of its territory. This newfound territory became California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. These new states caused political trouble due to the question of whether or not slavery would be allowed in these new states or not. David Wilmot of Pennsylvania attempted to ban slavery in every Mexican Cession state, though, this never came to fruition.

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During the 1848 election, the Free Soil Party was formed with one goal in mind, "free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men". The Free Soil Party was vehemently against slavery. During the election, the party nominated former U.S. president Martin Van Buren as their representative. The free soil party was unsuccessful at winning, only gaining 10% of the votes. Eventually, however, the Free Soil Party held the balance of power in the House of Representatives. Here they further caused a rift in U.S. politics by continuing to condemn slavery. Unfortunately, the Free Soil Party became disorganized and was eventually absorbed into the brand-new Republican Party.

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The election of 1848 ended with Whig candidate and political novice Zachary Taylor winning. Despite being a Whig, Taylor considered himself independent and impartial to many political issues at the time. This led to much inactivity on burning political problems facing the nation.

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The Compromise was a series of bills that mainly pertained to the myriad of issues addressing slavery. This compromise was created out of the numerous debates over whether or not the new states gained on the Mexican Cession would be considered free states or not, especially when California tried to apply for free statehood. This application would throw off the balance between free and slave states. The Compromise allowed California to become a free state while calling for the abolition of slave trading in Washington D.C. The compromise also gave borders to Texas and provided a government for Utah and Arizona. As expected, This compromise would cause the number of free states to outnumber slave states, further causing sectionalism.

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Also a part of the Compromise of 1850, this act required any escaped slaves to be returned to their masters, even if they had escaped to a free state. The act also called upon the federal government to find and return escaped slaves. This act greatly exacerbated the rift in America, angering escaped slaves and abolitionists alike.

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)

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An influential and controversial novel that fueled the abolitionist movement. The book accurately depicted slavery while advocating that love could overcome slavery. This greatly angered southerners as the novel humanized and sympathized with slaves, completely dismantling the tactic of dehumanization towards slaves.

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This election was important in the sense that Franklin Pierce supported slavery and all the acts that would enforce the maintenance of it. His presidency further alienated abolitionists driving the wedge further into sectionalism.

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The Kansas-Nebraska act was a territorial act that created Kansas and Nebraska. Signed into law by Franklin Pierce; the act not only created these two new states, but it repealed the Missouri Compromise in the process. After this signing, supporters and condemners of slavery flooded Kansas in an attempt to sway it's free/slave status. This led to even more division amongst Americans as the debate over slavery became more dire than ever.

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After the signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Republican Party was formed as a way of fighting against the expansion of slavery into the new U.S. territories. The Republican Party was initially met with little support from southerners. However, the Republican Party was met with much praise and support in the North, with former Whigs and Free-Soilers forming majorities in every Northern state. The Republican Party would go on to lead the fight against the south.

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In 1854 Kansas was admitted to the United States under one condition; popular sovereignty. Passed by Senator Stephen Douglas, the idea was that the people of Kansas could decide for themselves whether they would be a free state or a slave state. The result was fraudulent elections and all out battles between the pro slavery party and the anti slavery party, causing the deaths of 55 people. This event demonstrated that the country was at a breaking point over slavery, and people were willing to fight over it.

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On this date in the Senate Chamber Preston Brooks beat the Senator Charles Sumner with a cane close to death. He did this in response to a speech Sumner gave criticizing southern slave holders including Brooks' relative Andrew Butler. This event was a show of the violent tension that was being built up between the free and slave states.

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Election of James Buchanan November 4, 1956

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Election of James Buchanan November 4, 1956

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James Buchanan was elected mostly due to his refusal to take a side during the election. This would lead to the civil war due to his neutrality on a very important problem.

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Dred Scott was a slave who was brought into a free state for a period of time before leaving. He took his argument to the supreme court, saying that since he had entered a state where slavery was illegal he should be freed. The supreme court came to a final decision for the entire country and said that since slaves were not people the constitution did not apply to them. This was a huge deal, enraging all of the people who did not support slavery. The court had just decided slaves would never be free and would never have rights and were not people.

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The Lecompton Constitution was a set of laws intended to govern Kansas that was in direct support of slavery. James Buchanan supported it in order to prevent succession, but it was stopped. This was more proof that the nation was dividing in two.

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John Brown, who had fought in bleeding Kansas for years, came to Virginia to plan a war against slavery. On the day, he and men who gathered to his cause freed slaves and attempted to take over the town of Harper's Ferry. Most of them were killed or hanged. This was another violent event that made the Civil war seem inevitable.

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Election of Abraham Lincoln November 6, 1860

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Election of Abraham Lincoln November 6, 1860

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Abraham Lincoln's election was important in the sense that this would ultimately lead to the Civil War. His election also called the ending of slavery into question as well, with southerners everywhere fearing its immediate abolishment. This led to the south attempting to secede, though Lincoln denied any application for secession.

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After Abraham Lincoln was elected president, political leaders met in South Carolina to decide whether to secede or not. South Carolina then became the first state to leave the Union, and incited others to do the same. This broke the country apart and pitted the two sides against each other for the civil war.

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Written by John J. Crittenden, this compromise was an attempt to permanently seal slavery into the constitution, thereby making it unconstitutional to abolish slavery. This was Crittenden's answer to the Secession Crisis, sympathizing with southerners. President Lincoln vehemently opposed the compromise. Thus, it failed and was never passed.