Ch. 14: From Compromise to Secession, 1850-1861, pg 401-429 Chapter Lead-In, pg 401 Edmund Ruffin ? southerner champion of succession, noted agriculturalist, hated Yankees and the north, committed suicide February 1861-led by South Carolina seven states than the lower south had already seceded April 1861 ? Ft Sumter, Charleston Bay South Carolina Mid 1850s ?formation of a purely northern republican party ? dedicated to stopping the extension of slavery October 1859 ?john brown ?abolitionist, lead people to seize a Federal arsenal and harpers ferry, Virginia in hopes of igniting a slave insurrection ? failure THE COMPROMISE OF 1850, pg 402 Mexican ? American war victory ended with 15 each free and slave states however the acquired territory threatened to upset that balance