1. To prevent the spread of slavery in the West, the Wilmot Proviso was added to a bill in Congress.
The question of slavery in the West arose as a major issue during the Mexican-American War.
An antislavery political party, the Free-Soil Party, was formed in 1848.
The Compromise of 1850 allowed California to join the Union as a free state.

2. The Compromise of 1850 allowed people in territory acquired from Mexico to vote on the slavery issue.
The compromise included the Fugitive Slave Act, which required citizens to help capture runaway slaves. 2

3. The book was very influential in increasing antislavery sentiment.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired by her anger over the Fugitive Slave Act to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
The novel, a condemnation of slavery, put a human face on slavery and sold 300,000 copies.
The book was very influential in increasing antislavery sentiment. 3

4. Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.
The law split the Nebraska Territory into Nebraska and Kansas and allowed voters to decide the slavery issue.
Both proslavery and antislavery settlers moved to Kansas, and violence erupted. 4

5. Abolitionist John Brown conducted a raid on a proslavery settlement.
The territory came to be known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
In opposition to slavery, the Republican Party was created in 1856.

6. In 1857, the Dred Scott decision increased divisions over slavery.
• Dred Scott, a slave, sued for his freedom.
• The Supreme Court ruled against Scott in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
• The Court declared that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery in any territory. Northerners were alarmed. 6

7. In 1858 a new voice joined the slavery debate.
Abraham Lincoln ran for Senate against Stephen Douglas and challenged him to a series of debates.
Douglas won the Senate race, but Lincoln gained national attention.

8. Abolitionist John Brown seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to ignite an uprising.
Brown was put on trial and sentenced to death. His defense of his actions made him a martyr to the antislavery cause.