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Events Leading to the Civil War
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Missouri Compromise
This compromise said all states above the 36 30' parallel would be free except for Missouri which would be a slave state. Maine would enter as a free state. This worked for awhile to keep the peace, until Missouri wanted to join the Union. -
Compromise of 1850
California joined the Union as a free state. The territories of Utah and New Mexico would decide on whether to allow slavery. Slave trade in Washington D.C. was ended. The abolitionists liked this part. A strong fugitive slave law was passed, which the South liked. Again, this was a temporary agreement where each side got something they liked, but neither side was totally happy. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act created two new territories: Kansas and Nebraska. The settlers in these territories could use popular sovereignty to decide whether to be slave or free states. This abolished the earlier Missouri Compromise since both Kansas and Nebraska were above the 36 30' parallel and should have not allowed slavery. The bloodshed that came as a result of this act was a hint of the bloodshed to come in the Civil War.
