Abolitionist known for radical actions like Bleeding Kansas and Harper's Ferry.

Abolitionist and publisher of The Liberator newspaper.

Abolitionist and publisher of the North Star newspaper.

Argued slavery was a “positive good.”

Author of 'The Institution of Slavery as It Exists in the United States,' arguing slavery was beneficial.

Author of 'An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism,' arguing slavery was supported by the Bible.

Author of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' a powerful anti-slavery novel.

Author of 'The Impending Crisis of the South,' arguing slavery was economically harmful.

Members of the American Party, fueled by anti-immigrant sentiment.

An escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker. He became a leader in the abolitionist movement, which sought to end the practice of slavery, before and during the Civil War.

Cause: Large-scale immigration. Effect: Anti-immigrant sentiment and the formation of the Know-Nothing Party.

Cause: Southern desire to enforce slavery. Effect: Increased tensions and resistance to slavery in the North.

Cause: Desire to settle the slavery question. Effect: Further inflamed tensions and pushed the nation closer to war.

Cause: Harriet Beecher Stowe's desire to expose the horrors of slavery. Effect: Swayed public opinion against slavery.

Cause: Desire to organize new territories and decide on the issue of slavery. Effect: Led to violence in Kansas ('Bleeding Kansas') and further divided the nation.

Cause: Moral opposition to slavery. Effect: Increased sectional tensions and Southern defense of slavery.

Cause: To maintain balance of power between free and slave states. Effect: Temporarily eased tensions but ultimately failed to resolve the issue of slavery.

Cause: Economic reliance on slavery in the South and westward expansion. Effect: Increased sectional tensions and debates over whether new territories should be free or slave states.

Cause: Economic reliance on slavery and belief in white supremacy. Effect: Justification of slavery through racism and paternalism, leading to increased sectional tensions.

Cause: Hinton Rowan Helper's belief that slavery was economically harmful to the South. Effect: Provided economic arguments against slavery, which was a new approach and further divided opinions.

Belief that long-term residents needed protection from recent immigrants.

Movement to end slavery.

Anti-alcohol movement, partly driven by anti-immigrant sentiments.

Loyalty to regional interests rather than the nation as a whole.

The belief that slaveholders were like fathers to their slaves and responsible for their care.

Laws passed by Northern states to nullify the Fugitive Slave Act.

Mexicans living in California before it became part of the U.S.

Neighborhoods where immigrants of the same ethnicity settle.

A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to freedom.

The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives, who are the source of all political power.