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In the weeks after the  election, the talk of seceding filled the South, and alarmed senators formed a committee to find another compromise that would keep the Union together, but the events in two cities would dash their hopes. In Springfield, Illinois, a reporter called on Abraham Lincoln if he would support a compromise on slavery, but Lincoln answer clearly, saying that there would be no compromise; futhermore, in Charleston, South Carolina, delegates attending a state convention voted that same day -- December 20, 1860 -- to leave the Union and the city supporting the act, soon, six more states left the Union, and joined tegether as the Confederate States of America.

Source: USHistory.org

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Abraham Lincoln had his position divided in three ways, and easily sailed to victory, winning with only 40% of the votes, all from the North, Lincoln was not even in the ballot in the South. For Southerners, the 1860 election projected an unmistakable message to them: the South is now a minority, no longer with the power to shape national events or policies, and Congress will try to abolish slavery; therefore, it would result in the loss of liberty, home, country, and everything worth living for.

Source: WhiteHouse.gov

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Abolitionist John Brown had an extreme approach to stop slavery, he planned to seek federal arsenal, and arm slaves for a rebellion that would end slavery. In the end, everyone in Brown's group was captured or killed, including John Brown himself, and he said that the crimes will only be solved with blood shed on his way to death.

Source: History.com

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Lincoln's opponent for the senate race was Stephen Douglas, and during the Lincoln - Douglas debates, Douglas argued that the Dred Scott decision put the issue of slaver at rest, but Lincoln disagrees. Lincoln says that slavery is a moral issue, and though he lost the election, the debates were widely reported and brought the issue of slavery into sharp focus.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

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The Dred Scott Decision was made when a slave named Dred Scott escaped to Wisconsin, and he returned to court to win his freedom, and he was ruled a slave. The Dred-Scott Decision stated that African Americans can never be citizens of the United States and that the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

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The violence in Kansas greatly disturbed Charles Summer, and he spoke a passionate speech called "The Crime Against Kansas" and he described it as a violent attack on an innocent place, and voiced his suspicions on Douglas for trying to make Kansas a slave state. The speech was popular in the North and got good feedback, but the South hated him, and Preston Brook's savagely beat Summer until his metal tipped cane snapped in half on Summer's head; because of this action, the North saw Brook's no better than the pro slavery men in Kansas, and very brutal, while the South saw this as defending the South.

Source: Smithsonian

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After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, settlers poured into Kansas, most were peaceful farmers, others moved their either to support or oppose slavery, and southern young men were sent to Kansas, and Northerners raised money to send weapons to antislavery settlers. The struggle over slavery soon turned violent, and Southerners from Missouri raided Lawrence, Kansas, this greatly angered the North and people raised money to replace the destroyed things, and John Brown, an abolitionist, wanted revenge, so he and 7 others hacked 5 people to death with swords.

Source: Son of the South

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Stephen A. Douglas created a bill known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and it abolished the Missouri Compromise by leaving it to the settlers themselves to decide whether or not to allow slavery. The Act hit the North like a thunderbolt, giving them visions of slaves marching across fields, and Douglas tried to calm them down by saying that the climate for farming in Kansas and Nebraska is not so good, but after studying maps, Northerners were not so sure.

Source: U.S. History

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Both the North and South were unhappy with the Fugitive Slave Act because Northerners did not want to enforce the act, while Southerners felt that it did not ensure the return of their property. Under the Fugitive Slave Act, a fugitive slave has no rights and that a person must help a slave catcher catch a slave or else they could be jailed, making everyone a slave catcher.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Henry Clay had a new compromise that would satisfy both the North and the South, but needed Daniel Websters support to get his plan through Congress. The compromise began by admitting California to the Union as a free state, pleasing the North, and it also allowed the Utah and New Mexico territories to decide whether to allow slavery or not, which would please the South. It also ended Slave Trade in Washington D.C., and called for passage of a strong fugitive law. Despite Websters support, Clay the debate on the Compromise of 1850 lasted for 9 long months, and Congress finally agreed to it because few people wanted war, making most Americans happy, but some still skeptical on the compromise.

Source: U.S. History

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Congress debated on whether to allow slavery in the territory earned from Mexico, Northerners wanted it to all be free, Southerners wanted them to be free to slavery. In 1849, California asked to join the Union as a free state, the North welcomed them, while the South rejected them, saying that it would upset the balance between free and slave states, and the year ended with Congress in a deadlock on whether to accept California or not.

Source: California Department of Parks and Recreation

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The gag rule kept slavery out of Congress for many years, but David Wilmot added an amendment known as the Wilmot proviso, and it states that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall every exist" in the territories acquired from Mexico. But, Southerners in Congress opposed the amendment and was turned down by the senate.

Source: Up Front with the National Genealogical Society

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The last large-scale revolt is Nat Turner's revolution, but slaves continued to rebel by running to the North, to freedom. These slaves were often helped by Northerners, and Southerners saw them as no better than bank robbers because they saw slaves as part of their property.

Source: U.S. Marshals Service

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Abolitionists deluged Congress with antislavery petitions, and the "Gag Rule" was made which set aside all antislavery petitions. Abolitionists continued to attack slavery in many ways,  and Southerners resented the attacks, but adopted strict laws to control the movement of slaves after Nat Turner's slave rebellion.

Source: Library of Congress

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The Missouri Compromise of 1820 is an agreement made by Congress where Maine is admitted as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state. Congress also drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana Purchase at latitude 36 degrees 30', where North of this line slavery was to be banned forever, except Missouri.

Source: Essential Civil War Curriculum.com by Mattew Mason.