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American Colonization Society
The ACS was an organization created by James Finley in 1819, which attempted to unite abolitionists and slave-owners and translpant fomer slaves back into Africa (Liberia). Although members consisted of abolitionists and slave-owners, many saw this as an attempt to rid the country of educated blacks and preserve the slave system, -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was enacted in 1820 after Missouri requested to be admitted as a slave state. This would have upset the political balance between slave and free states. As a result, Maine was admitted alongside Missouri as a free state to keep the balance. It also passed an amendment creating a boundary between free and slave states across the former Louisiana Territory. It significantly increased sectional tensions between the North and South and showed the ease of slave expansion west. -
Indian Removal Acts
Passed by Congress in 1830, the Indian Removal Acts allowed the President (Andrew Jackson) to remove southern Indian tribes from their native lands and relocate them in the midwest. This act was heavily favored by Southern slave-owners, who were eager to gain access to the native lands to grow cotton. -
Prigg v. Pennsylvania
A U.S Supreme Court Case discussing Pennsylvania's state law blocking the Figitive Slave Act from being enforced. An unformally emancipated black woman named Margaret Morgan, who lived in Pennsylvania, was abducted by Edward Prigg, who was hired to recover Morgan by her former owner's heir. Prigg was proven not guilty, setting an example that even freed blacks weren't free from being reabducted into slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska whether or not they wanted to be admitted as slave or free states. This Act conflicted with the Missouri Compromise, which restricted slave states to below the 36 30. This inflicted violence as pro-slavery and pro-abolition citizens rushed to claim Kansas, and can be marked as the beginning of violence between Northern Abolitionists and Southern Slave suopporters. -
Dredd Scott v. Sanford
U.S Supreme Court Case in which Dredd Scott, a former slave from Missouri and residing in the free state of Illinois, sued his new owner Scott Sanford for his freedom after Sanford, his late owner's heir ,refused to allow Scott to purchase his freedom from him. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sanford, stating that since Scott was a former slave, he was not a citizen and therefore could not sue. This case along with Prigg v. Pennsylvania displayed Chief Justice Tawney's bias towards whites, -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas occuring across the state of Illinois for a seat in the Senate. These debates served as entertainment for the nation, and were exceeding popular as people flocked to Illinois to view the debates. The debates were intense, and deeply opinionated the population of the concepts of Popular Soverignty, which Douglas defended, and Lincoln defended the equal treatment of blacks as citizens. These debates allowed the country to divide on the issues.
