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| restriction of interest to a narrow sphere; undue concern with local interests or petty distinctions at the expense of general well-being. |
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| a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. |
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| United States federal legislation that admitted Maine to the United States as a free state, simultaneously with Missouri as a slave state—thus maintaining the balance of power between North and South in the United States Senate. |
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| a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–American War. |
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| allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´ |
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| Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) |
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| the Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. |
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| passed by the United States Congress in 1793 and 1850 to provide for the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another state or territory. |
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