# data[].attributes.body
With the end of the Mexican War in 1848 and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, America was ceded western territories. This posed a problem. As these new territories would be admitted as states, would they be free states or those that practiced enslavement.To deal with this, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, which basically made California free and allowed the people in Utah and New Mexico to choose for themselves. This ability of a state to decide whether it would allow enslavement was called popular sovereignty.

So how this was related to the civil war was that when america wanted to cede the western territories it posed as a problem because they had trouble deciding whether they should be free states are those that had to do with enslavement. so therefore they decided to make the compromise for 1850 and allowed for california free and utah and new mexico choose themselves

# data[].attributes.body
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850. This act forced any federal official who did not arrest a freedom seeker to pay a fine. This was the most controversial part of the Compromise of 1850 and caused many North American 19th century Black activists to increase their efforts against enslavement. This act also prompted more activity along the Underground Railroad as freedom seekers made their way to Canada.

# data[].attributes.body
"Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly" was written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an activist who wrote the book to show the evils of enslavement. The book became a best-seller and had a huge impact on the way that Northerners viewed enslavement. It helped further the cause of Black activism, and even Abraham Lincoln recognized that this book's publication was one of the events that led to the outbreak of the Civil War

# data[].attributes.headline
1856: 'Bleeding Kansas' Riots Shock Northerners

# data[].attributes.subject
1856: 'Bleeding Kansas' Riots Shock Northerners

# data[].attributes.body
In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, allowing the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves using popular sovereignty whether they wanted to be free or practice enslavement. By 1856, Kansas had become a hotbed of violence as pro- and anti-enslavement forces fought over the state's future to the point where it was nicknamed "Bleeding Kansas." The widely reported violent events were a small taste of the violence to come with the Civil War.

# data[].attributes.headline
1856: Charles Sumner Attacked by Preston Brooks on the U.S. Senate Floor

# data[].attributes.subject
1856: Charles Sumner Attacked by Preston Brooks on the U.S. Senate Floor

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most publicized events in Bleeding Kansas was when, on May 21, 1856, pro-enslavement supporters in Missouri—known as the "Border Ruffians"—sacked Lawrence, Kansas, which was known to be a staunch free-state area. One day later, violence occurred on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Congressman Preston Brooks, who favored enslavement, attacked Sen. Charles Sumner with a cane after Sumner had given a speech condemning the pro-enslavement forces for the violence occurring in Kansas.

# data[].attributes.headline
1857: Dred Scott Loses His Case to Be Free

# data[].attributes.subject
1857: Dred Scott Loses His Case to Be Free

# data[].attributes.body
In 1857, Dred Scott lost his case that argued that he should be free because he had been held as an enslaved person while living in a free state. The Supreme Court ruled that his petition could not be seen because he did not hold any property. But it went further, stating that even though he had been taken by his "owner" into a free state, he was still an enslaved person because such individuals were to be considered the property of their enslavers. This decision furthered the cause of North American 19th-century Black activists as they increased their efforts to fight against enslavement

# data[].attributes.headline
1858: Kansas Voters Reject the Lecompton Constitution

# data[].attributes.subject
1858: Kansas Voters Reject the Lecompton Constitution

# data[].attributes.body
When the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, Kansas was allowed to determine whether it would enter the Union as a free state or one that practiced enslavement. Numerous constitutions were advanced by the territory to make this decision. In 1857, the Lecompton Constitution was created, allowing for Kansas to be a state that practiced enslavement. Pro-enslavement forces supported by President James Buchanan attempted to push the Constitution through the U.S. Congress for acceptance. However, there was enough opposition that in 1858 it was sent back to Kansas for a vote. Even though it delayed statehood, Kansas voters rejected the Constitution and became a free state.

# data[].attributes.headline
October 16, 1859: John Brown Raids Harper's Ferry

# data[].attributes.subject
October 16, 1859: John Brown Raids Harper's Ferry

# data[].attributes.body
John Brown was a dedicated activist who had been involved in anti-enslavement violence in Kansas. On Oct. 16, 1859, he led a group of 17, including five Black members, to raid the arsenal located in Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). His goal was to start an uprising led by enslaved people using the captured weapons. However, after capturing several buildings, Brown and his men were surrounded and eventually killed or captured by troops led by Col. Robert E. Lee. Brown was tried and hanged for treason. This event added more fuel to the growing Black activist movement that helped lead to open warfare in 1861.

# data[].attributes.headline
November 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln Is Elected President

# data[].attributes.subject
November 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln Is Elected President

# data[].attributes.body
With the election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 6, 1860, South Carolina followed by six other states seceded from the Union. Even though his views about enslavement were considered moderate during the nomination and presidential campaign, South Carolina had warned it would secede if he won. Lincoln agreed with the majority of the Republican Party that the South was becoming too powerful and made it part of the party platform that enslavement would not be extended to any new territories or states added to the Union.

# data[].attributes.body
Even as Lincoln took office in March 1861, Confederate forces threatened the federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. On April 12, after Lincoln ordered a fleet to resupply Sumter, Confederate artillery fired the first shots of the Civil War. Sumter’s commander, Beauregard. Four more southern states–Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee –joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter. Border slave states like Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland did not secede, but there was much Confederate sympathy among their citizens.

# data[].attributes.body
George B. McClellan–who replaced the aging General Winfield Scott as supreme commander of the Union Army after the first months of the war–was beloved by his troops, but his reluctance to advance frustrated Lincoln. In the spring of 1862, McClellan finally led his Army of the Potomac up the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, capturing Yorktown on May 4. The combined forces of Robert E. Lee and Jackson successfully drove back McClellan’s army in the Seven Days’ Battles (June 25-July 1), and a cautious McClellan called for yet more reinforcements in order to move against Richmond. Lincoln refused, and instead withdrew the Army of the Potomac to Washington. By mid-1862, McClellan had been replaced as Union general-in-chief by Henry W. Halleck, though he remained in command of the Army of the Potomac.

# data[].attributes.headline
After the Emancipation Proclamation (1863-4)

# data[].attributes.subject
After the Emancipation Proclamation (1863-4)

# data[].attributes.body
Lincoln had used the occasion of the Union victory at Antietam to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all enslaved people in the rebellious states after January 1, 1863. He justified his decision as a wartime measure, and did not go so far as to free the enslaved people in the border states loyal to the Union. Still, the Emancipation Proclamation deprived the Confederacy of the bulk of its labor forces and put international public opinion strongly on the Union side. Some 186,000 Black Civil War soldiers would join the Union Army by the time the war ended in 1865, and 38,000 lost their lives.