Exam IIIPolitics in America from 1846 to 1861 has been remembered primarily for being heavily influenced by slavery. It was the hot topic of the time. Abolitionism was on the rise as pro-slavery Americans maintained their beliefs. With the Compromise of 1850 declaring the states free, the division of the North and South, incidents such as the Kansas Bleeding, the Dred Scott Affair, and the election of 1860, it was clear that American politics was all about slavery. was boiling over and the area's population had grown immensely. This influx of population led to California's demand for statehood. But the admission of California into the union seriously unbalances Congress. And the South realized that California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah were all territories that were becoming states and none were willing to lend themselves to slavery. Debate over these territories raged in Congress until 1850, when Henry Clay proposed a compromise. The compromise approved by Senator Stephen A. Douglas allowed California to be admitted as a free state and abolished the slave trade in the District of Columbia. As a concession to the South, Congress also passed the Fugitive Slave Act and gave the New Mexico Territory the ability to determine its own slavery status. Through the Compromise of 1850, America was able to temporarily resolve divisive problems. But the solution would soon become meaningless. Abolitionism reached its peak after the Second Great Awakening and the publication of Harrier Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Slaveholders in America would not support this abolition movement and this created tension and conflict throughout the country. Kansas-Nebraska in… middle of paper… was more ready than ever to secede. Southern Secession resulting from Lincoln's victory in the 1860 election was a direct cause of the impending Civil War. The Civil War in America is known to this day to be the key turning point for slavery. But all the events in American politics that occurred in the years preceding the war are equally crucial. Slavery was the solid foundation of American political history because of the enormous impact of the Compromise of 1850, the abolitionist/pro-slavery incidents, and the election of 1860. It is interesting to think about how different America would have been if it were not been for these exciting times in history. How much longer would America be divided over the battle involving slavery? While this will never be known, it is undeniably true that these events defined and changed our nation in a time of crisis.