Causes of the civil war

The essential question from class was  How we know the debate over slavery was the "elephant in the room" for American politics in the  early 19th century? To learn about this in class we read about Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Gadsden Purchase, Kansas ­Nebraska Act ,  Bleeding Kansas, Caning of Charles Sumner, Dred Scott Decision, Lincol/­Douglas Debates and John Brown's Raid.

The Missouri compromise of 1820 was that no state could enter as a slave state it was above the 36 degree 30 minute line. During the Gold rush of 1849, California's population increased so much that it proposed to become a free state. The problem with this is that if California enters as a free state then there would be a uneven amount of free and enslaved states. The decision about California was a 5-part compromise. While all this was going on we learned about Washington D.C being a massive slave market. The first compromise was that slavery was that slave trade would be abolished in but slavery would still be permitted. The second part of the compromise was that Texas was allowed to keep the land that it won from Mexico but in return it would be given 10 million dollars to pay off it's debt to Mexico and this part of the compromise the pleased the pro slavery advocates. The Third part of 1850 compromise was that New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah being organized without mention of slavery. The decision would be made by the territories' inhabitants later, when they applied for statehood. This part of the compromise just made everything hectic because the North and The South were sending people to the new land so they could make it either free or enslaved. California would be emitted as a free state but this angered the slave states politicians, so to loosen the tension another slave state would have to emitted to keep the balance of free to enslaved states. This created the fugitive slave act, which was the last part of the 5-part compromise The Fugitive slave act required citizens to help in the recovery of fugitive slaves. It denied a fugitive's right to a jury trial. Instead cases would be handled by commissioners who would be paid $5 if an alleged fugitive were released and $10 if he or she were sent away with the claimant.) The act called for changes in filing for a claim, making the process easier for slave owners. Also, according to the act, there would be more federal officials responsible for enforcing the law. The Fugitive Slave act made the South happy so everything was alright in United States for the time being, which didn't last long.  
http://www.counties.org/county-history,     California in 1850!

W also learned about the Gadsden Purchase, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, The Caning of Charles Sumner and this events really just proved that slavery was the elephant in the room. The Kansas-Nebraska act abolished the Missouri compromise which made it easier for slave states to expand into the Northern states. This act led to a large amount of violent outbreaks that was latter called Bleeding Kansas. A Senator named Charles Sumner would give a two day speech called "The crime against Kansas", The senator from the North criticized the South for forcing slavery into North. Sumner also insulted Rep. Preston Brooks, a member of the House of Representatives. Brook's nephew was so mad that he went up to Sumner the next day and beat him with a cane. The caning of Charles Sumner just shows that slavery can turned the most civilized men into savages. After they got rid of the Missouri compromise of 1820 it just showed me that politicians were ignoring slavery and it truly was the elephant in the room. 

Our timeline: file:///C:/Users/jonathan/Downloads/Elephant%20in%20the%20room.pdf 
In our timeline it discusses the events of the 5-part compromise, caning of Charles Sumner, Kansas- Nebraska act and Bleeding Kansas!