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The Missouri Compromise
In 1819, Missouri’s request for admission into the U.S. as a slave state threatened to upset the balance between states. Henry Clay administered the compromise in which Missouri would be admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state. In addition, all territory in the Louisiana purchase north of the latitude 36 degrees, 30’ would be excluded from slavery, besides Missouri of course. -
The Missouri Compromise
This compromise solved the balance issue, but it was criticized by southerners because it established that Congress could make laws regarding slavery. The Missouri Compromise, officially completed in 1820, held the Union together for more than 30 years after. -
Wilmot Proviso
On August 8, 1846, Congressman David Wilmot from Pennsylvania proposed this idea after the Mexican American War and the Mexican cession. He proposed a ban on all slavery within the Mexican cession territories. The new territory could break the tie between slave and free states in America and Congress. The idea passed in the Senate, but not in the House of Representatives. While the bill never passed, it angered the South who viewed the proposition as an attack by the North. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay passed the Compromise of 1850 to try and solve issues of slavery between states. It included five laws that addressed slavery related issues: Congress would admit California as a free state, the people in New Mexico and Utah would decide on the issue of slavery within their state by popular sovereignty, the slave trade - but not slavery - would end in Washington D.C., -
Compromise of 1850
Congress would pass a fugitive slave law, and Texas would give up its claims on New Mexico in return for $10 million. Admitting California as a free state upset the Missouri Compromise because it was above the latitude. The compromise was signed into law by President Filmore. The fugitive slave law upset Northerners and caused increased controversy. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Slave owners had the write to go to the North and recapture any of their escaped slaves, including slaves that they thought were previously theirs. Northerners were also forced to help slave owners capture slaves. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin. The book was about a slave that was abused by his slave owner. It spread awareness in the North and fueled the abolition movement. The South, however, claimed it was propaganda. -
Kansas Nebraska Act/ Bleeding Kansas
The Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed Kansas and Nebraska to be admitted as states into the country. It also said that they would decide the issue of slavery by "popular sovereignty" or voting. The Southerners supported the act, hoping that the states would become slave states. The Northerners felt betrayed because the government had allowed more slave states. -
Kansas Nebraska Act/ Bleeding Kansas
Nebraska went over easily, but violence broke out when both anti- slavery and pro- slavery people migrated to Kansas to vote to win over the state. The state had two governments, one for each movement, and eventually violence broke out. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a slave brought into a free state by his owner. He lived there for a while and decided that since he was living in a free state he was free, so he decided to sue for his freedom. He lost his case because they ruled that slaves were property and people could take their property places. This made it so that slavery was basically legal in every state. -
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Lincoln - Douglas Debates
He also felt that African Americans were entitled to equal rights and liberties. The debates not only focused attention on Congress, but also entreated civilians. This type of focus in debates had never been practiced before. In the end, Douglas won the seat in the Senate, but the debates helped Lincoln become a national figure. The debates were also critiqued to see how well the Democratic party could stand under pressure. People wanted to see how the party handled issues of slavery with morale -
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Lincoln - Douglas Debates
In 1858, Lincoln joined the Republican party and ran for Senate against his rival Stephen Douglas. The two engaged in a series of debates about slavery and other issues that were followed throughout the country. Douglas supported the practice of popular sovereignty for territories to decide whether or not to allow slavery. Lincoln firmly believed that slavery was wrong and he did not want it to spread to the western territories. -
John Brown's Raid
On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a small army of 18 men into Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. His plan was to instigate a major slave rebellion in the South. He would seize the arms and ammunition in the federal arsenal, arm slaves in the area and move south along the Appalachian Mountains, attracting slaves to his cause. He had no solid plan, so it was not likely to go through. It’s important to history because it did succeed to deepen the divide between the North and South. -
Lincoln's Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but defeated the other candidates greatly. When Lincoln was inaugurated, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established, with Jefferson Davis as its elected president. -
Southern Secession
When Abraham Lincoln was elected as president in 1860, some southerners thought the government was becoming too strong. They feared that the North would control them. South Carolina was the first to leave the Union and form a new nation called the Confederate States of America. Four months later, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Later Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined them.
