Balance between slave and free states
The balance between slave states and free states was outweighed after California joined the Union. The Southern States were angered because there were more now more free states than slave states. So as a result the Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 to balance the States again.
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California’s admission as a state
In 1850, California applied for admission to the Union as a free State. This would make slave states a minority in the Senate. Southerners in Congress opposed the admission of California as a free state. California admission would causes problems and would help create the Compromise of 1850
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Abolitionists call for ending slavery
Abolitionists want to end slavery because it took the jobs of immigrants that came from Europe and Americans. The abolitionists want to end slavery by proposing the Wilmot Proviso. This bill proposed to end slavery from entering any territories that the United States won from Mexico. The bill never passed the senate.
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Violence in the territories and in Congress
Violence also exploded as a result there was Bleeding Kansas. Bleeding Kansas was a battle over slavery between Pro slavery and Anti Slavery. It was a bloody battle that extend over three years. There was also violence in Congress a senator Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner. After this happened Many Congress man came armed to protect themselves.
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Supreme Court on slavery
There was a Supreme Court Cases over slavery. The cases was between Dred Scott v. Sandford. The cases was that Dred Scott claimed he was a freeman after he step into a free state. So he sued for his freedom. But the case ruled in favor of Sandford and said that slaves were property.
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
After the Dred Scott decision, the Republicans charged that all Democrats wanted to make slavery legal in all U.S. states and territories. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, a Democrat from Illinois, was one of their main targets. In 1858 Stephen Douglas ran for reelection to the senate. Republican Abraham Lincoln ran against him. Lincoln and Douglass held a series of debates about the expansion of slavery. Lincoln argued that slavery should not be expand. Douglas argued that voters in each territory should decide the slavery issue for themselves. Douglas won the election. But the Lincoln-Douglas debates made Lincoln a national figure.
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John Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry
In 1859, John Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom. He planned to capture the weapons in the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He hoped to inspire slaves to rebel against slavery. On October 16, 1859, Brown and his followers captured the arsenal He sent out the word to arm local slaves But no slaves joined the fight with Brown. Brown and his followers were captured by the U.S. marines. They were tired, convicted, and executed.Brown praised in the North for his fight against slavery. Southerners were furious at the reaction of the Northerners to Browns execution.
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