# data[].attributes.body
The Missouri Compromise was an agreement that allowed Maine and Missouri to become states. Maine would enter the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The compromise also banned slavery north of 36° 30'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn more about the Missouri Compromise of 1820, a temporary solution to the brewing controversy over slavery in the United States.

# data[].attributes.body
After a convention, South Carolina decided to leave the Union. The rest of the southern states quickly followed. Many opposed the secession on the belief that the US was one country, not a pact between states that a state could leave at any time. This was the final divide before the violence began.

# data[].attributes.body
Lincoln won the election of 1860. He had not won a single electoral vote in the south. That made southerners angry and showed that the region was losing political power. Additionally, people in the south did not trust Lincoln and believed that he would end slavery.

# data[].attributes.body
On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his army of 20 men took control of the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. He tried to get slaves to join him and start an uprising, but they did not come. In the end, Brown and many of his men were killed or sentenced to death. The raid frightened people in the south who started to think of seceding.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In one fateful night, John Brown brought the country closer to Civil War

# data[].attributes.body
Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom. His case eventually reached the Supreme Court. The court made three major decisions:
1. The founding fathers believed that African Americans had no rights that white people were required to respect, so no African American person, regardless of whether or not they were enslaved, was not considered a citizen.
2.Despite living on free soil, his status depended on the laws of Missouri.
3. The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and Congress could not ban slavery in, nor prevent people from bringing slaves into any federal territory.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
American Experience | The Dred Scott Decision | Season 1 | PBS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Dred Scott decision had the potential to legalize slavery everywhere in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.body
After the attack on Lawrence, Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner denounced pro-slavery people in Kansas, and insulted senator Andrew Pickens Butler. Representative Preston Brooks, a relative of Butler, attacked Sumner with a walking cane in the Senate chambers.

# data[].attributes.body
In response to the attack on Lawrence, John Brown and some of his sons killed five pro-slavery men on May 24, 1956.
Following this, Kansas fell into civil war resulting in 200 deaths. This period is known as Bleeding Kansas.

# data[].attributes.body
In May 1856, about 800 pro-slavery rode into Lawrence to arrest anti-slavery leaders. However, they had already left. Out of anger, the group set fires, destroyed printing presses, and looted buildings. One man was killed.

# data[].attributes.body
In order to build a railroad, the Louisiana Purchase had to be organized into territories. This reignited the argument over slavery. In the end, the law was passed, leaving the decision on slavery to the residents of the territories. This up-ended the Missouri Compromise, angering Northerners.

# data[].attributes.body
Some abolitionists used literature in order to educate people on the horrors of slavery. One of these pieces was Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The book caused even more divide in the country, and is still read today.

# data[].attributes.body
The Fugitive Slave Act made it a crime to assist runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest slaves in free states. Slaveholders could now take suspected fugitives to commissioners who would decide whether or not the person would be forced into slavery. When commissioners ruled in the slaveholders' favor, they were paid twice as much as they would if they let the person go. In these cases, fugitive enslaved people and those who helped people escape slavery were barred from testifying in court.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
American Experience
Clip: Season 25 Episode 12 | 2m 19s

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made the hunting down of escaped slaves, even in free states, fully legal. To abolitionists, this represented a huge blow to their efforts. Not only had the federal government endorsed slavery, but it had also committed to preserving the institution indefinitely.

Aired: 01/08/13

Rating: NR

Problems Playing Video? Report a Problem |

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
American Experience | Fugitive Slave Act | Season 25 | Episode 12 | PBS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
American Experience Clip: Season 25 Episode 12 | 2m 19s The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made the hunting down of escaped slaves, even in free states, fully legal. To abolitionists, this represented a huge blow to their efforts. Not only had the federal government endorsed slavery, but it had also committed to preserving the institution indefinitely.

# data[].attributes.body
The compromise of 1850 consisted of these terms:
1. California would enter the Union as a free state.
2. In the rest of the land gained in the Mexican-American war, popular sovereignty would decide whether or not to allow slavery.
3. The US would pay Texas's debts in return for some of their land.
4. The slave trade would be illegal in Washington DC.
5. A more effective fugitive slave law would be put into place.
While the law did maintain peace for a short time, it angered many people. That anger fueled some of the Civil War.

# data[].attributes.headline
Disputes Over Slavery in New Territories

# data[].attributes.subject
Disputes Over Slavery in New Territories

# data[].attributes.body
With new territory gained from the Mexican-American war, debates began over whether or not these territories should be slave or free regions. The balance had been between slave and free states with the Missouri Compromise, but California's application to join the Union as a free state threatened to tip the scale.