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Soon after Lincoln was elected, senators tried to come up with yet another compromise on slavery. Meanwhile, in Illinois, Lincoln made his views clear: he would not support a compromise. That same day, South Carolina voted to leave the union, and six more states followed. A few months later, they became the Confederate States of America.

Image: users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist110/unit4/SectionalIssues.html

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Abraham Lincoln ran for president in 1860 and won, although he did so with just 40 percent of the votes, all of which being Northerners. The South realized they were a minority, and they no longer had the power to control U.S. policies. They were scared because they thought Congress would try to abolish slavery.

Image: biography.com/people/abraham-lincoln-9382540

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John Brown was an extreme abolitionist. He planned to take federal weapons and use them to lead a rebellion to end slavery. The plan failed, and all his men were captured or killed. Brown was hung for his crimes, although Northerners saw him as a hero.

Image: missedinhistory.com/podcasts/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry.htm

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Lincoln's opponent in the Senate race was Stephen Douglas, who believed the nation could be half free states and half slave states. Lincoln asked Douglas to debate on the issue of slavery, and he agreed to do so. Douglas thought the Dred Scott Decision put the issue to rest, however, Lincoln strongly disagreed. He viewed slavery not as a legal issue, but as a moral issue. Although Lincoln lost the election, the debates helped make him known far and wide.

Image: intellectualtakeout.org

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Dred Scott was a slave who went to Wisconsin, where slavery is banned, with his owner. When he returned to Missouri, he went to court to get his freedom, saying his time in Wisconsin made him a free man. The Supreme Court voted against Scott after deciding that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. It was also said that no black person, free or a slave, could ever become a citizen of the United States. Southerners were very pleased by this decision whereas Northerners were outraged and appalled.

Image: ushistory.org/us/32a.asp

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Senator Charles Sumner delivered a speech about how Stephen Douglas had plotted with Southerners to allow slavery in Kansas. A few days later, Sumner was attacked by Preston Brooks, a Southern Senator's nephew, in senate, leaving him bloody and unconscious. The South supported this because they thought Brooks was defending his family honor. For Northerners, the incident just showed how divided the nation was.

Image: allthatsinteresting.com/charles-sumner-preston-brooks

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Many people moved to Kansas after the Kansas-Nebraska act passed. Most were looking for good farmland, but the South started raising men to support slavery and the North sent money and weapons to abolitionist settlers. John Brown and other pro-slavery settlers attacked an antislavery settlement, burning houses and a hotel. However, a group of Northern settlers soon raided a Southern town, killing five men.

Image: ushistoryimages.com/john-brown-abolitionist.shtm

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A senator wanted to have the railroad extended to California. He thought this was more likely to happen if the Great Plains was organized into a territory and open to settlement. The Kansas-Nebraska act split the area into two states: Kansas and Nebraska. It also got rid of the Missouri Compromise, letting the settlers decide on whether or not to allow slavery. Northerners were outraged by this because they thought slavery should be abolished everywhere. However, the act still passed.

Image: sites.google.com/a/oceanschools.org/the-railroad-express/home/kansas-nebraska-act

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Northerners disliked the Fugitive Slave Act because they felt it was cruel, while Southerners disliked it because they felt it was not harsh enough. The act required people to turn in any runaway slaves they found. If they did not, they would be arrested. However, it was difficult to enforce this law because opposition was widespread in the Northern states.

Image: history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts

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The Compromise of 1850 would please both the North and the South: California would be admitted as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico could decide on allowing slavery. Congress debated for many months about the compromise. Some Southern states even threatened to leave the Union. Eventually, it was accepted, although it only silenced the debate on slavery for a short time.

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The North and South could not agree on what to do with the new territory. Southerners wanted it open to slavery, but Northerners wanted slavery to be banned. Southerns came up with a compromise, but Northerners rejected it. Later, California applied to become a state but Congress could not come to a conclusion on whether or not it should become a state.

Image: sutori.com/story/the-path-to-california-statehood

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During the Mexican-American War, a bill was sent to Congress asking for any territory gained from Mexico to be slavery-free. Southerns did not not want to the bill to pass, and it was decided that Congress could not decide on this issue. Ultimately, the bill did not pass.

Image: thomaslegion.net/americancivilwar/mexicancessionlessonstudentsandkids.html

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Nat Turner's rebellion was the last large slave revolt because strict laws were created to ensure it would not happen again. After that, slaves escaped to freedom in the northern states and Canada. Slaves were treated not as people, but as property.

Image: canadaalive.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/end-of-the-line-canada-and-the-underground-railroad

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During the 1830s, abolitionists protested and made petitions to end slavery. Congress voted to set aside the issue for the time being but abolitionists were outraged. Southerns refused to give up on slavery, and even offered rewards for the arrest of some who talked about abolitionist ideas.

Image: beginningandend.com

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The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. This was done to keep the balance of slave states. Although a compromise had been reached, John Quincy Adams believed it would not settle the debate over slavery for long.

Image: pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lincolns-political-landscape/