-
Red; Political and Social
Abandoned the ten districts established in 1784 and created a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio (which would eventually be split up into 3-5 territories). Also provided the residents of the territory the freedom of religion, right to trial by jury, the prohibition of slavery, and the ability to gain statehood at a minimum of 60,000 people. -
Green; Political
A combination of Maine and Missouri proposals for statehood: adding one free state and one slave state were being added at the same time, so there was no imbalance created. It also prohibited slavery in any part of the Louisiana Purchase territory north of the 36°30’ parallel. -
Red; Social
Nat Turner, a slave preacher, led a band of armed slaves in Southampton, Virginia with the goal of killing as many white people as possible. They killed about 60 white men, women, and children in 3 days before being overpowered by state and federal troops. The only large-scale slave insurrection in the 19th century South ended with over 100 blacks being executed. -
-
Green; Political
A Congressional rule that no proposals concerning slavery should be brought up for consideration. It was proposed by a committee led by Pinckney because dissension on slavery were preventing the discussion of other matters. -
Red; Political and Social
A group of Africans was illegally kidnapped and sent to America to be slaves. The Africans revolted and took control of the ship, which got seized after being found off the coast of Long Island. Both the CT Hartford District Court and the Supreme Court agreed that since the Africans were not legally enslaved, they should be freed. -
-
Red; Political and Social
After Texas won its independence from Mexico, it sought to join the Union through annexation by the US. Expansionists welcomed this, but Northerners opposed the addition of a large new slave territory. -
-
Red; Political
After the US admitted Texas to statehood, relations between the US and Mexico grew worse due to the Mexican government breaking diplomatic relations. A border dispute grew over whether the Texas border was the Rio Grande (as the Texans claimed) or the Nueces River (as Mexico claimed). The dispute escalated to war when President Polk sent troops to the Rio Grande to protect Texas from invasion, and the Mexican troops finally retaliated. -
-
Red; Political and Social
An amendment to the appropriation bill prohibiting slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. Introduced by David Wilmot of Pennsylvania (an antislavery Democrat). Passed in the House but failed in the Senate. Would be called up, debated, and voted on repeatedly for years. -
Red; Economic and Social
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world began flocking to California to search for gold after James Marshall discovered gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The massive increase in population created ethnic tensions and questions about how California could be added to the Union without upsetting the balance. -
-
Red; Social and Political
It required runaway slaves in the northern states be returned to their masters, and made the federal government facilitate that. It also punished those who aided fugitive slaves. -
Green; Social and Political
Created to prevent conflict between the North and South. Compromised that California would be admitted as a free state, New Mexico and Utah would decide the legality of slavery for themselves, stronger fugitive slave laws would be enacted, territory gained after the Mexican-American War could make its own decision on the legality of slavery within it, and the slave trade would be abolished in District of Columbia. -
Red; Social
A book about kind slaves victimized by a cruel system. It embedded an anti-slavery message within a sentimental novel, which sold 300,000 copies within a year and reached a large new audience. It further inflamed sectional tensions. -
Red; Political and Social
A bill introduced by Stephen Douglass to organize a huge new territory, known as Nebraska, west of Iowa and Missouri. Due to opposition from the South, Douglass added provisions that stated the status of slavery in the territory would be determined by the territorial legislature, the territory would be divided into two new territories (Kansas and Nebraska), and the Missouri Compromise would be repealed. It was then passed. -
Red; Political and Social
A private document sent to President Pierce by his envoys from Ostend, Belgium, making the case for seizing Cuba by force (since Pierce’s attempts to buy Cuba from Spain were unsuccessful). It enraged northerners, who accused Pierce of trying to add a new slave state to the Union. -
Red; Social and Political
Due to a swelling of the state election by Missourians, slavery supporters won a majority. This prompted anti-slavery people to hold their own Constitutional Convention, which was denounced as traitorous by President Pierce. In the years following, pro-slavery forces attacked the anti-slavery government, the Brooks-Sumner incident and the Pottawatomie Massacre occurred, and armed bands conducted guerilla warfare. -
-
Red; Political and Social
After the death of his master while in the free states Illinois and Wisconsin, Dred Scott sued for his freedom. After initially winning the case in a Missouri circuit court, the master’s brother, John Sanford, appealed and won at the State Supreme Court. One final appeal to the Supreme Court led to the verdict that Scott was private property and that Congress couldn’t interfere with slavery. -
Red; Social and Political
Hoping to start a large slave revolt, John Brown led 18 followers in an attempt to capture the US arsenal, Harper’s Ferry. The failure and subsequent crushing of the attempt by citizens, local militias, and US troops left 10 of his men killed, Brown himself executed for treason, and the South feeling unsafe in the Union. -
Red; Political
Proposal submitted by John Crittenden calling for several constitutional amendments that would guarantee slavery permanently in the slave states, satisfy Southern demands on the issues of fugitive slaves and slavery in the District of Columbia, and reestablish the Missouri Compromise line. Failed because, although Southerners supported it, Republicans did not.