Compromise of 1850: A package of five separate bills passed by Congress that defused political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: An 1854 law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery within their borders, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise.
Sectionalism: Loyalty or support for particular regions or sections of a nation, rather than to the country as a whole; often associated with differing economic interests or customs among regions.