Political Disputes Before 1860

The U.S was only able to settle political disputes through compromise until 1860 because of the increasing sectionalism, the Abolitionist Movement and the Secession of South Carolina. New states joined into congress creating an unbalanced senate forcing congress to make decisions to balance the nation between freedom and slavery. The Missouri Compromise failed as an attempt to maintain peace between the North and South because it created an greater sense of sectionalism throughout the country. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a decision to make Missouri a slave state to maintain an even number of free and slave states. It led to uproar in congress and the North retaliated by declaring the rest of the Louisiana territory to be free. Stephen Douglass later fought for the Kansas-Nebraska Act to allow for popular sovereignty in the region. This led to violence within Nebraska and Kansas because anti and pro slavery settlers were unable to reach a firm decision. With

Abolitionist Movement occurred in both the North and South in attempt to rebel against slavery in a variety of ways. One prominent Abolitionist attacks included John Brown's raid. He believed that armed rebellion was the only way to overthrow institutional slavery and he attempted to raid a weapons arsenal killing multiple people until he was killed. The underground railroad acted as an opportunity for slaves to sneak into the North with Abolitionist protection. To retaliate against escaping slaves the Fugitive Slave Act was created and overruled state authority forcing any state to return a runaway slave. Northern State argued that their states rights were being oppressed when the federal government forced this upon them. This created conflict between Southerners and Northerners in congress over these issues leading to further separation in the