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Following the election, the South seceding from the Union became more and more possible. Senators desperately looked for a compromise to please both the South and North, but could find none. When Abraham Lincoln was questioned, he said he would strengthen the Fugitive Act and would not interfere with slavery, but he could not extend the territory of slavery. That same day, it was voted that the South would leave the Union.

Source: “The Civil War, Part 1; Why The South Seceded.” The Bottom Line, 17 Nov. 2013

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#14 Abraham Lincoln is Elected for President

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#14 Abraham Lincoln is Elected for President

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Lincoln finally won the presidency when his opponents were split three ways. But the election proved something odd and frightening for some, Southerners were now the minority. They feared Congress would try to abolish slavery and they would lose everything they had to live for.

Source: “Lincoln, Grant, and the 1864 Election.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interio

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Unlike Lincoln's methods to stop slavery through politics, John Brown decided to take a different, and more drastic, approach. He decided to the federal arsenal in Virginia. Brown planned to arm slaves for a rebellion that would end slavery. All of his men were captured or killed. He was caught and sentenced to death and his last note was "I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."

Source: “John Brown's Raid (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

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Abraham Lincoln ran for president, his opponent, Stephen Douglas. Lincoln requested a debate regarding slavery and Douglas agreed. Douglas believed the issue of slavery had been settled for a while, but Lincoln disagreed and claimed that slavery  itself was not the problem, but the two opposing sides with two different views on slavery was the issue. Although Lincoln lost the election, he created a name for himself and his belief of the real problem regarding slavery came into the spotlight.

Source: Alchin, Linda. “Abraham Lincoln.” The Lincoln Douglas Debates: Topics and Significance ***, Siteseen Limited, 9 Jan. 2018

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A slave named Dred Scott was taken to Wisconsin, a free slave, with his owner and he returned to Missouri to go to court for his freedom. People wondered if he had the right to go to court and if his time in Wisconsin made him a free slave. Chief Justice Taney hoped that this case would help settle the controversy on slavery. The court rejected Dred Scott's argument because slaves were property and only bringing them to a free state was like taking away property; it was unconstitutional. Southerners were pleased that it seemed that the matter of slavery had been solved in their favor.

Source: Lowry, Rich, et al. “Supreme Court Decides Dred Scott Case, March 6, 1857.” POLITICO, 6 Mar. 2018

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The violence present in Kansas led to accusations and suspicions in Congress. Charles Sumner gave a passionate speech and labeled Stephen Douglas as "a noisome, squat, and nameless animal." He also verbally abused many other Southern representatives, like Andrew P. Butler. This led to his beating by the nephew of Butler with a metal-tipped cane and proved how divided the country had become. Northerners claimed it proved the brutality of the Southerners.

Source: Americaninno.com

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After the Nebraska-Kansas Act, people poured into Kansas: most looking for land, some simply for proslavery, and some abolitionists. Kansas soon became two separate governments, one for slavery and one against. The two sides grew violent and plotted attacks against the other side.

Source: Quantrill's Lawrence Kansas Raid

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The new President had been trying to buy the island of Cuba from Spain, but was refused and continued to persist. When this information was heard by the public, the Northerners were outraged and accused the president of wanted to buy Cuba to make another slave state. That same year, Stephen A. Douglas wanted to build a railroad to California, but it required the Great Plains to be organized into the Nebraska territory and open it up to settlers; a Northern part of the Missouri Compromise. His final plan was to abolish the Missouri Compromise and create the territories of Nebraska and Kansas and leave the choice of slavery to them.

Source: “The Kansas-Nebraska Act.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association

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The Fugitive Slave Act angered both Northerners and Southerners; the northerners did not want to support it, the southerners felt it did not do enough. Under the Fugitive Slave Act, any runaway slave that was captured had almost no rights and anyone who helped slaves escape would be arrested. The act only angered both sides more and was not effective since only a small portion of escaped slaves were caught.

Source: History.com Staff. “Fugitive Slave Acts.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009

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In the beginning of 1850, Henry Clay created a compromise that would please both Northerners and Southerners. California would be admitted as a free state and New Mexico and Utah would be given the decision of making the new claimed territory free or slave. Additionally, slave trade would be ended in the nation's capital. After nine long months, Clay's plan was approved, but some Southerners were still wary about the compromise.

Source: “AmericanCivilWar.com.” The Slavery Compromise of 1850

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Congress debated over three years on whether the new claimed territory would be a free state or slave state. They came with a compromise to extend the Missouri Compromise line, but Northerners rejected it. Then, in 1849, California applied to be part of the Union as a free state, Southerners pointed out that it would make the slave state representation smaller. Congress ended 1849, not able to make a decision regarding California's request.

Source: Skye, Starla. “Best State in the Whole Land!” Pinterest, 8 May 2015

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In 1846, funds were needed for the war with Mexico and David Wilmont added the Wilmont Proviso to the bill that stated, "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" would exist in any of the lands acquired from the war. Southerners opposed and claimed the Congress could not tell slaveholder where they could and could not go. The Wilmont Proviso passed the House of Representatives , but did not pass the Senate.

Source: From the Wilmot Proviso to the Compromise of 1850

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Slaves continued to quietly rebel against slavery by running away, therefore becoming fugitive slaves. These slaves were often helped by Northerners to their freedom and the Northerners were viewed as criminals by slaveholders. Since the slaves were their "property" the Northerners were committing crimes by helping them escape.

Source: Moore, Jordan. “Nationalism/Sectionalism.” Fugitive Slave Law-1850, 1 Jan. 1970

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People, abolitionists mainly, began to attack the idea of slavery by creating petitions and questioned the Congress on what they were doing to abolish slavery. The Congress silenced them by voting to stop all  antislavery petitions, but they still continued to attack slavery in newspapers, books, and at public meetings. Southerners slowly began to fear the abolitionists and created strict new laws to control the movement of slaves and to keep abolitionist writings from their slaves.

Source: Georgini, Sara. “John Quincy Adams Kept a Diary and Didn't Skimp on the Details. ”Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 11 July 2017

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The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state . Though the compromise kept the Union together, it did not please most people; northerners were upset about another slave state and southerners resented the ban on slavery in territory that will later become states.

Source:  South Carolina - Antebellum Key Events - The Missouri Compromise