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The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was meant to create balance between slave and non-slave states. It made the north seem more aggressive in its anti-slavery views and contributed to southern resentment, which led to the Civil War occurring sooner. It contributed to the disagreement between the north and south regarding the issue of slavery and made it more contentious between the two sides of the country. Altogether it was meant to create balance between slave and non-slave states. (ancestralfindings.com) -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
In August of 1831, a slave named Nat Turner incited an uprising that spread through several plantations in southern Virginia. Virginia lawmakers reacted to the crisis by rolling back what few civil rights slaves and free black people possessed at the time. Education was prohibited and the right to assemble was severely limited. This moved the country to civil war because of the problems with slavery in the South.
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The Fugitive Slave Act
Northern whites resented having to be deputized, or forced into hunting slaves, against their will by the officials enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act was one of the most controversial provisions of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a “slave power conspiracy.” This pushed them to the Civil War with the South. (history.com page 1) -
The Compromise of 1850
With national relations soured by the debate over the Wilmot Proviso, senators Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas managed to broker a shaky accord with the Compromise of 1850. The compromise prevented further territorial expansion of slavery while strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act, a law which compelled Northerners to seize and return escaped slaves to the South. (civilwar.org) -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s fictional exploration of slave life was a cultural sensation. Northerners felt as if their eyes had been opened to the horrors of slavery, while Southerners protested that Stowe’s work was slanderous. Its popularity brought the issue of slavery to life for those few who remained unmoved after decades of legislative conflict and widened the division between North and South. (civilwar.org) -
Dred Scott
In March 1857, in one of the most controversial events preceding the American Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford.The court found that no black, free or slave, could claim U.S. citizenship, and therefore blacks were unable to petition the court for their freedom. The Dred Scott decision incensed abolitionists and heightened North-South tensions, which would erupt in war just three years later (history.com) -
John Brown’s Raid
In mid-October of 1859, the crusading abolitionist organized a small band of white allies and free blacks and raided a government arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He hoped to seize weapons and distribute them to Southern slaves in order to spark a wracking series of slave uprisings. He was tried for treason and, upon his execution, became a martyr for the abolitionist cause. Southerners, on the other hand, began to militarize in preparation for future raids. (civilwar.org) -
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's basic strategy for avoiding war was trying not to antagonize the South. He did this through his actions and through his words. In his inaugural address, Lincoln was very conciliatory. He spoke about how there was no need for bloodshed and he talked about how the North and the South were one country with a common heritage. (enotes.com)
