Problems caused by the Compromise of 1850
This best-selling novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe was a fictional attack on the practice of slavery and especially the Fugitive Slave Act
What is Uncle Tom's Cabin?
This law replaced the Missouri Compromise line with popular sovereignty, allowing states to decide for themselves whether or not they would allow slavery
What is the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
After speaking at an 1856 Republican party conference, this lawyer from Illinois rose through the ranks and quickly became their leading candidate
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
This document is considered to be the supreme law of the land in the United States
What is the Constitution?
These laws, passed by the North in response to the Fugitive Slave Act, helped protect those who had escaped from slavery
What are Personal Liberty Laws?
This politician was the main advocate for popular sovereignty and a transcontinental railroad.
Who is Stephen Douglas?
It is said that on May 22nd, 1854, this political party officially died
What is the Whig party?
This national survey, taken every 10 years, revealed the disproportionate growth of free states in comparison to slave states
What is the Census?
during this event, members of the Liberty Party who happened to be attending a nearby rally helped a man escape via the Underground Railroad. The slave owner chasing him was shot and killed, and the resulting violence caused US Marines to be called in to restore order
What is the escape of William Parker? (or the Christiana Massacre)
The period of violence in Kansas that resulted from pro-slavery and anti-slavery voters flocking to the state to sway the election results
During the mid 1850's, the belief grew that it was better to be part of a large party with some chance of gaining power rather than to remain a small party with little or no chance. As a result, we now have this system in US politics
What is the two-party system?
Supporters of slavery used this amendment to argue that only the states, not the federal government, had the power to choose whether to be slave or free
What is the 10th amendment?
Anthony Burns, who had escaped slavery and was living in Massachusetts, was arrested and returned to slavery after President Franklin Pierce intervened to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. Federal troops were called in to control the thousands of protestors who took to the streets
What is the Boston Slave Riot?
This attack on an abolitionist Senator marked the breakdown of all peaceful discussion around slavery
What is the Caning of Senator Sumner?
Historians generally agree that the Whig party died on the day that this bill was passed by the House of Representatives
What is the Nebraska Bill? (or Kansas-Nebraska Act)
The term that describes the fact that the US government has different levels that share some powers but also have exclusive authority over other kinds of decisions
What is federalism?
This abolitionist led the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and founded the newspaper The Liberator
Who is William Lloyd Garrison?
In reaction to the destruction of a free-state town, John Brown led an attack on a couple of family households. The attackers killed five men, assuming they had taken part in the sacking of Lawrence
What is The Massacre of Pottawatomie?
The Republican Party's 1856 presidential campaign slogan cleverly included their candidate's name - "Free Speech, Free Press, Free Men, ____________________"
Who is Fremont?
In this Supreme Court case, the Court ruled that Personal Liberty Laws passed in northern states did not supersede the Fugitive Slave Act, which was federal law
What is Prigg v Pennsylvania?