The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War.
free soil party
1848 - 1854
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party.
Compromise of 1850
January 29, 1850 - June 28, 1864
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–American War.
Fugitive Slave Act
September 18, 1850 - 1864
The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers.
Election of 1852
1852 - 1856
The 1852 United States presidential election was the 17th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1852.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War".
May 30, 1854
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 was an organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
Sack of Lawrence
May 21, 1856
The Sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery activists, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town which had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a "free state".
May 24, 1856 - May 25, 1856
The Pottawatomie massacre occurred during the night of May 24 and the morning of May 25, 1856. In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas by pro-slavery forces, John Brown and a band of abolitionist