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Missouri Compromise of 1820
Henry Clay as well as the state of Missouri tried to find a solution to a problem, the problem being that is if Missouri wanted to enter statehood as a slave state or even a free state the balance of powers between pro-slave states and anti-slave states would become uneven. Clay being the "Great Compromiser" had created the Missouri Compromise. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot along with other northern democrats didn't grow very fond of James K. Polk due to many things that the South benefited from that hurt the North. One of these actions was James K. Polk lowering the protective tariff thus making it cheaper to import good which meant that buisness in the North was going to decrease thus causing buisnesses to maybe close down. -
Compromise of 1850
"The Great Compromiser" Henry Clay had thought of another compromise, this one letting the new 2 states created from the Mexican Cession (New Mexico and Utah) decide whether their territory who be pro-slave or anti-slave. He thought of this because in the new American territory slavery was the primary issue, California had already decided that they would not allow slavery so people started thinking if they would like to become a slave state. -
Fugitive Slave Act
U.S Congress was started to get complaints about slaves escaping and becoming free, so they came up with an act that warned that there would be consequences for helping slaves escape slavery and become free. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Stephen A. Douglas and Franklin Pierce as well as Congress all decided to give Kansas and Nebraska the opportunity to decide if they were for or against slavery in their state. To take it a step further they decided to let popular sovereignty decide. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise which stated that slavery was prohibited above 36 degrees,30' -
Bleeding Kansas
Violence had erupted between"Free-Stater"(anti-slavery) and "Border Ruffion" (pro-slavery) and it didn't help that people moved to Kansas just to swing the vote toward their belief. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott and his wife were both slaves, but they lived in Illinois a state where slavery was illegal. THey filed a lawsuit for their freedom. Chief Justice Roger Taney had claimed that they were not official citizens of the U.S so they couldn't file a lawsuit. He also talked about the 5th amendment, private property could not be taken away without due process. THis means Mr and Mrs Scott weren't able to gain freedom from John Emerson. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Douglas planned to get democratic representatives in Illinois (a place where there were more republican representatives) in the House of Representatives to increase his chances of becoming president.But wherever Douglas went, Lincoln was hot on his trail 2 days after he was in those areas to give reasons why he would be a bad president. Once they started getting into debates, Douglas had given a doctrine in Freeport. This was called the FReeport Doctrine and Douglas had stated that if citizens -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (Continued)
didn't want slavery all they had to do was elect a legislature that wasn't for slavery
