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The Missouri Compromise of 1820
The Missouri Compromise was a debate over if slavery would be allowed or wouldn't be allowed. During the Missouri Compromise Maine entered as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. There was a 36' 30" line which divided whether slavery would be allowed in certain territories. -
Wilmot Proviso
This plan was presented by David Wilmot. He was a congressman from Pennsylvania. This plan was to stop the spread of slavery into the territories that were won from Mexico. The plan passed the House but failed in the senate. -
Free Soil Party
This was a new political party that was formed in Buffalo, New York. It was formed by northerners who wanted to discuss the issues of slavery. This was the first party that was formed as a sectional party, they picked Martin Van Buren as the first candidate for president. -
Compromise
Includes five parts. First California enters as a free state. Second the area from Mexican Cession divided into Utah and New Mexico; slavery issue to be decided by popular sovereignty. Third it ended slave trade in Washington D.C. Fourth it made a strict fugitive slave law. Fifth they settled border problems between New Mexico and Texas. -
Fugitive Slave Law
This law was part of compromise of 1850. It required citizens to catch runaway slaves. If a person didn't comply they will be fined up to $1,000 or put in jail for six month. Judges received $10 if they returned a slave and $5 if they freed them. Many blacks who were free were captured and sent back into slavery. Northern hated this law because it forced them to become a part of the system of slavery. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Was a novel written by Harriett Beecher Stowe. It was written to show the evils of slavery by telling the story of an older slave who was whipped to death by his owner. Many northerners began to change their view of slavery after they read it. Southerners said the book was full of lies. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Divides lands into Kansas and Nebraska territories. It decided that slavery issues would be decided by popular sovereignty. Led to violence in the Senate. Pro-slavery and Anti-slavery settlers in one area and this leads to conflict. Northerners believe this repeals the Missouri Compromise. -
Pottowatomi Creek Killings
Because of the violence going on in Kansas, John Brown and four of his sons decided to take the law into their own hands. They ride into a small town named Pottowatomi Creek and pull five pro-slavery men out of their beds in the middle of the night. The men are murdered. John Brown believed he is doing what god has told him to do. Many Northerners while they don't believe in slavery are appalled at what he did. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave. He lived in a free territory with his owner. His owner moved back into a slave state. Scott had abolitionist attorneys file a law suit for him. It went to the Supreme Court but he lost. The court ruled he was not a citizen but rather property and therefor he could not file a lawsuit. They also ruled that Congress could bot ban slavery in any of the territories. This repealed the Missouri Compromise. -
Lincoln Douglass Debate
Lincoln and Douglas debated. Douglas believed in deciding slavery by popular sovereignty. Lincoln believed that slavery should not be allowed to spread into the territories. Lincoln also believed the nation could not survive if the fighting continued to rip the Union apart with the slavery issue. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown was at it again. This time he led five blacks and thirteen whites into Harper's Ferry. They planned to raid an arsenal and start a slave revolt. There was a problem, no slaves rose to help. A number of his men died and Brown was arrested by Robert E Lee. Brown was tried and found guilty of murder and treason. He was later hung. Some northerners though of him as a martyr. -
Election
Lincoln ran against Douglass in the Presidential Election of 1860. The southern states did not like Lincoln or what he believed in. They overwhelmingly supported Douglass yet Lincoln still got elected. Southerners grew very angry. Said this showed it did not matter what their opinions were the North had to much power. Man Southerners talked of seceding from Union.
