The Civil War- Important Events that lead to it

The Compromise Act of 1850: The Compromise Act of 1850 is the result of 4 different events.

First it was the result of the Americans getting the land of Mexico after a war. After the Americans got the land they didn't know whether they had to use it as a slave land or not to have slaves in the land.

Then there was California which was growing alot because of the gold rush of 1849, and then there was a petition on whether California should be a free state.

There was also dispute for land, for example Texas claimed that Santa Fe was part of them.

Then there was Washington D.C which was for slavery and had the largest slave market in North America.

After all of these events, Jan. 29, 1850 , Clay claimed a compromise.

Citation for this paragraph : http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html

Kansas-Nebraska Act: The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The act was meant to cancel the Missouri Compromise.After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election held there after the law went into effect. Pro-slavery settlers carried the election but were charged with fraud by anti-slavery settlers, and the results were not accepted by them.

Violence soon erupted, with the anti-slavery forces led by John Brown. The territory earned the nickname "bleeding Kansas" as the death toll rose. President Franklin Pierce, in support of the pro-slavery settlers, sent in Federal troops to stop the violence and disperse the anti-slavery legislature. Another election was called. Once again pro-slavery supporters won and

once again they were charged with election fraud. On January 29, 1861, just before the start of the Civil War, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state.

Citation for this Paragraph : http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/kansas.htm

Presidential Election 1860: In 1860 it was Ibraham Lincoln who was elected President. Although during that time, the main problem was slavery. The main debate was wether the United states should support slavery or not.

When Ibraham ran for presidentcy, he was against Douglas. Even if Douglas got elected in 1858, Ibraham made a big impact on the Americans after giving his speech in New York city . It was after his speech that he got elected.