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Slave Trade Compromise
The Slave Trade Compromise was passed in 1787 and was intended to help stop slavery. This compromise said that in twenty years congress could vote to stop the slave trade, but they could not end it any sooner. Unexpectedly, this actually increased the number of slaves exponentially. That did not please the North, and the South was worried about losing their slaves so they wanted to get as many as they could. -
Compromise of 1850
This was created by Henry Clay over the issue of slavery in California, the South was for it and the North against it. The compromise states that California would become a free state which pleased the North, however this also brought the new Fugitive Slave Act in, which pleased the South. The compromise also included other bits and pieces thrown in. This increased sectionalism because both sides disagreed with each other and both sides were not entirely pleased with the outcome of the compromise -
Fugitive Slave Act
The fugitive slave act was introduced in 1850 as a part of the compromise of 1850. This act gave federal funding for bounty hunters to catch runaway slaves to return them to their owner. This showed issues however because people would give generic descriptions that would fit almost any black person, turning free blacks into slaves. This caused for a huge upheaval in the North, they did not like that in any way. This was one of the largest causes of the civil war. -
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Slave Power Conspiracy
This was the idea that slavery was not needed, and slave owners only wanted it for power. Slavery was very economically inefficient, it cost more to house, feed, and take care of slaves than it was to hire workers. People thought that if slavery was so inefficient then why would they have slaves, then they thought it was to have power, because as long as the south had slaves, they would have a lot more votes in government, giving them a larger say, which the North didn't like the idea of. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. This book was a true story about slaves but from the slaves perspective, on how they were treated and how life was like as a slave. This book was very popular and the book brought attention to the North about all of the issues involving slavery. This story single handedly caused an outrage in the North and was one of the biggest reasons for the Civil War. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was introduced in 1854 becuse there was plans for the transcontinental railroad to go through the territory which would mean good things for the economy there. Then there became a question about if it should support slavery or be free (it was above the 36-30 line). The government decided that the state of slavery there would be decided by popular soverignty, which led to Bleeding Kansas. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was the name for the time period of 54-60 for that area because both sides wanted to win the decision of slavery, so both sides moved a lot of people there so that they would have a majority. This resulted in many fights and a lot of bloodshed. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he was a republican, meaning he was against slavery and he wanted to put an end to it. Lincoln being elected was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” in terms of the southern succession. The south realized that slavery was going to be ended in America, so they decided that they would just lave America. The south leaving America was the final event before the civil war where eventually the North would be victorious.