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Eli Whitney&The Cotton Gin
The invention of the cotton gin made the process of seperating the seeds from the cotton much easier. It allowed slaves to process fifty times more cotton per day. This made the cotton production go sky high and rich plantation owners saw money signs. More production of cotton, increased the needed number of slaves. America was the leading cotton exporter. The increasing number of people enslaved tore the North and South apart even more.
<a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C_3RYmKggw' >Cott -
Annexation of Texas
Sam Houston and Steven Austin went to Texas with other families to farm the land. The Mexican government wanted this but they also wanted them to pay taxes and not bring slaves. They did the complete opposite of that. This outraged the Mexican government and led to The Battle of the Alamo and The Treaty of Valasco which made Texas an independent country. This caused slavery to spread west to Texas with no sign of it stopping, which caused the tension between North and South to increase. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 made California a free state and slavery in the new territories were based on popular sovereignty. The compromise also ended the slave trade in Washington D.C. But in return the Fugitive Slave Act was renewed and was now funded by the government. The North was angry that their tax money was being used to catch ruanway and free slaves. This compromise favored the South. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a book that was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This was the first book that opened up the horrors of slavery to the North and this book outraged the South. Abraham Lincoln said to her about her book, "so you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war." This book was so well known, excerpts of it were published in the newspaper, almost everybody in the North had read it. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott's owner took him to Illinois which is now present day Missouri, this area was declared a free state by the Missouri Compromise. He sued for his freedom because he was in a free state. The supreme court ruled that he was a slave, property not a citizen so he had no right to sue, and he was still a slave. They also ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. The supreme court was mostly southern, slave owners and the decison was only accepted by the South. The union was failing. -
John Brown&Harper's Ferry
John Brown was an abolitionist who believed in violence to solve the problem. He planned a slave rebellion. The slaves were suppose to spread the word and they didn't because they were most likely scared. He and his sons raided Harper's Ferry where all kinds of ammunition was kept. He seized it no problem but then was defeated by the militia. This caused a deeper divide between North and South. The South was scared of him and the North admired him. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln being elected caused the South to slowly secede. The South viewed this as a constitutional right. Lincoln viewed this as an act of treason and decided to use military force, freed slaves for military measure.
