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3/5 compromise
This compromise stated that 5 slaves would count as 3 free Americans in counting population for the purpose of representation in the house of representatives. In the short term this would bind the free states and slave states together but in the long term it would worsen the growing sectional divide in the united states. By counting slaves the south inflated its representation in the house,this allowed the south to force legislation that otherwise would have not had enough support otherwise. -
The invention of the cotton gin
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney as a way to quickly and easy remove the seeds of the cotton plant. This took much less time and manual labor then separating the seeds by hand. This made cotton production much more profitable for southern plantation owners. Therefore slavery exploded in the south because it was so profitable. -
missouri compromise
The Missouri compromise was a compromise reached during the year of 1820 that was meant to halt the expansion of slavery. This compromise set up the 36,30 line, the compromise stated slavery was prohibited in new states above this line. It also states that for Missouri to enter the union as a free state Maine would be admitted as well. This calmed tensions in the short term, but in the long term it divide the country. With a physical line now separating north and south sectionalism flourished. -
The Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession consisted of the present day states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Texas, and parts of Arizona, Wyoming, new Mexico, and Colorado. This land was sold the U.S. after the Mexican war. Problems started to arise when southern plantation owners wanted to expand into parts of these new lands because they had depleted the soil in their home states. the north however strongly opposed the expansion of slavery.This lead to arguments about how some of these states should be admitted. -
uncle toms cabbin
Uncle toms cabin was a book written in the north that told the stories of runaway slaves. This book was an inspiration to many abolitionists as it detailed the problems with slavery. The book was there fore banned in many southern states because it was deemed incendiary. Southerners were afraid it would inspire not only slave revolts but also more abolitionists. -
kansas nebraska act
This act was meant to open up lands in the west for settlers. However the use of popular sovereignty to admit these states caused many problems. First of all if these states were admitted to the union as slave states it would go against the Missouri compromise. Secondly it caused a rush of pro-slavery and antislavery settlers to rush into the state in an effort to make it a free or slave state. The resulting conflicts between the two groups of settlers would come to be known as bleeding Kansas. -
dred scott v sandford
In this revolutionary court case an African American slave tried to sue for his freedom because his master had brought him into a free state. The court however deemed that because he was property and was therefore protected under the constitution he could not be freed. The court also stated that if a slave owner moved into a free state he could keep his slaves. This completely dissolved the idea of free states. which quite angered the north. This case pushed America even closer to civil war.
