The Mexican Cession: The Mexican Cession was the transfer of land from Mexico to the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The United States gained control of the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The acquisition of this territory increased tensions between the North and the South, as the issue of slavery in the new territories became a major political debate.
Bleeding Kansas: Bleeding Kansas refers to a period of violence in the Kansas Territory in the 1850s between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions. The conflict arose when the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed the people of the Kansas Territory to decide whether it would be a free or slave state. The resulting violence and political instability contributed to the growing divide between the North and the South.
John Brown's Raid: John Brown's Raid was an armed attack led by abolitionist John Brown on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in 1859. Brown's intention was to incite a slave rebellion by seizing the arsenal and distributing weapons to enslaved people. The raid failed, and Brown was captured and executed, but the event further intensified tensions between the North and the South.
These three events were all part of a larger historical context leading to the American Civil War (1861-1865), which was primarily fought over the issue of slavery and states' rights. The Mexican Cession and Bleeding Kansas contributed to the growing divide between the North and the South, while John Brown's Raid further escalated tensions and solidified the differences between the two regions, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War.