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President Lincoln was asked about slavery issue and said that he would not interfere with The South's slavery and enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. Another compromise to hold the country together was trying to be made. But, South Carolina had already seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860.

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Lincoln won the election with 40% of votes in a three way opposition. though it was an odd victory since he won with 40% of the votes which were all cast in the North. Also 10 Southern states did not even put him on the ballot. For white Southerners the Election of 1860 had an unmistakable message, the South was the minority. It no longer had the power to shape national events or policies. Because of this they feared that the government would try to abolish slavery.

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John Brown was an abolitionist who took an extreme approach to abolish slavery instead of waiting for Congress to act. He planned to attack a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia to arm slaves for a rebellion to end slavery. In 1859, he did just that, but in the end his men were killed or captured. Brown himself was convicted of treason and was sentenced to die. On the very day of his hanging, he left a note that read, “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with Blood.” After this Southerners felt uneasy because it would be their blood that would be spilled if there was a slave rebellion. Northerners viewed Brown as a hero, which made the Southerners more uneasy.

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Lincoln's opponent was Senator Stephen Douglas, he thought that there wasn't a problem for the nation to be half-free and half-slave. Lincoln disagreed, Lincoln said slavery was a moral issue not a legal issue and challenged him to debate it, there were a series of these debates. Although Lincoln lost the election, the debates were widely reported and it helped make him into a national figure. These debates also brought the moral issue of slavery into sharp focus.

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In 1857, a slave named Dred Scott made a case arguing that since he traveled to Wisconsin with his owner he was now free since he crossed the Missouri Compromise Line. The case went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court ruled that he could not sue for his freedom because he was not a citizen and since he was an African-American he could not become one and the Court rejected that his stay in Wisconsin did not make him a free man because the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

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The violence in Kansas disturbed Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, to him it was proof that Senator Stephen Douglas had plotted with Southerners to make Kansas a slave state. He voiced his concerns in a speech and because of this Representative Preston Brooks beat him in Congress. Some Southerners applauded Brooks for this and sent him new canes.

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After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed settlers poured into Kansas. Most were peaceful farmers looking for good farmland, but some were there to support or oppose slavery. This soon turned violent, on May 21, 1856, proslavery settlers from Missouri invaded Lawrence, Kansas. They were armed and burned a hotel, looted several homes, and tossed the printing press of an abolitionist newspaper into the Kew River.

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The bill wanted to make a railroad to California. In order to do this though, the bill said that Congress needed to organize the Nebraska Territory and the Kansas Territory and open it up to settlers. The bill said nothing about slavery and the Missouri Compromise.

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The North and the South were unhappy with the Fugitive Slave Act but for different reasons. The North was angry because they did not want to enforce the act. The South was angry because they felt as though it did not do enough to get their escaped property back.

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A compromise that has California admitted to the Union as a free state, which would please the North. It also has The Utah and New Mexico Territories choose to be free or slave, which would please the South. It also ended the slave trade in Washington D.C. but the slaveholders there would be able to keep their slaves. It also called for a strong fugitive slave act.

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For three years Congress debated about what do to with the issue of slavery in the territories gained from Mexico. Southerners wanted the Mexican Cession open to slavery but the Northerners wanted it all closed. As a compromise the South proposed that the Missouri Compromise line was extended but the Northerners rejected this. Then, in late 1849, California applied to the Union as a free state. Northerners in Congress welcomed California with open arms but the Southerners in Congress warned it would throw them off balance. The year ended with Congress deadlocked over California's statehood. This made the both sides angry about the topic all over again.

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The gag rule kept the issue of slavery out of Congress for 10 years. But, in 1846,  President James Polk sent a bill to Congress to ask for funds for the war against Mexico. Pennsylvanian Representative  David Wilmot added an amendment to the bill known as the Wilmot Proviso. ( A proviso is a condition to an agreement.) The Wilmot Proviso stated that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist" in any part of the territory that would be gained from the war with Mexico. Southerners did not like this and when it was sent to the House it was approved but in the Senate it was rejected.

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Nat Turner's revolt was one of the largest slave revolts but individual slaves still ran to freedom in the North, because of this the slaveholders asked Congress to pass a fugitive slave law to get their slaves back.

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A "Gag Rule" was set so antislavery petitions were set aside indefinitely, this was meant to hold off the debate of slavery and it worked for 10 years.

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When Congress returned to Washington Henry Clay of Kentucky came up with a compromise. He proposed that since Maine was wanting to join the Union why not let Missouri join as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Also they drew an imaginary line at 36'30 so North of this line was free and South of them as a slave state.