Key Events and Concepts Leading to the Civil War

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Abolition

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Opposing slavery

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How did Southerners justify slavery economically?

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Southerners argued that slavery was essential for the economy, particularly for the cotton industry.

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The Compromise of 1850

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1. California was a Free State

Slave Trade is banned in DC

3. Popular Sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico Territories

4. Fugitive Slave Law

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John Brown

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Revolutionary Abolitionist who wanted to free slaves immediately

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Impact of the Election of 1860

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The Election of 1860 significantly influenced the onset of the Civil War.

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Platform of the Republican political party

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The Republican party's platform opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories.

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Missouri Compromise and Dred Scott decision

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The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance slave and free states, but the Dred Scott decision declared it unconstitutional.

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Bleeding Kansas

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A series of violent confrontations in Kansas between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions.

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Fugitive Slave Law

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A law that forced people to return escaped slaves to the South

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John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

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When John Brown attacked a US Army base to try and start a slave revolt