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Missouri Compromise
Congress agrees to admit Missouri to the Union as a slave state, and Maine as a free state, thus maintaining the balance of free and slave states. Northern congressmen who voted to accept Missouri as a slave state were renounced traitors. Southern slaveholders resented the ban on slavery in territories that might later become states. -
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Slavery Issues
Americans confront the issues of slavery, which lead to new problems and new divisions. -
The "Gag Rule"
Congress votes to set aside antislavery petitions, which in turn gains this act the title "gag rule" becuase it silenced all congressional debate over slavery. The gag rule prevented the antislavery proposal by John Quincy Adams, a new member of Congress. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner leads the last large-scale slave revolt, which later fears Southern states into adopting strict, new slave laws. Mississippi offers a reward of $5,000 for the arrest and conviction of any person who releases information about the abolistionist writings, which many other states want to keep secret. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot adds an amendment which inquires that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist" in any territory that Mexico aquires as a result of the Mexican-American War. Southerners in Congress oppose this amendment becuase it affects the decision of where slaveholders could take their property. This led to the debate by Congress of what to do about slavery in the territory gained from Mexico. -
California Applies for Union Admission
In late 1849, California applies for admission into the Union as a free state. Northerners in Congress welcome the new free state, while Southerners reject California's request. This admission would upset the balance of free and slave states, as argued by the Southerners. -
The Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay proposes a new compromise to end the deadlock over California, yet the solution had something to please just about everyone. First, Claifornia is admitted into the Union as a free state, which would please the North. Meanwhile, it allowed the New Mexico and Utah territories to decide whether to allow slavery, which in turn would please the South. Clay's plan also ended slave trade in Washington D.C., and finally the plan called for acceptance of strong fugitive slave law. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes a novel based on a saintly slave known as Uncle Tom. She envisions this scene while sitting in church on a Sunday morning. The cruel master, Simon Legree, had Tom whipped to death. Just before Tom's soul lifted from his body, he opened his eyes and whispered to his master, " Ye poor miserable critter! There ain't no more ye can do. I forgive ye, with all my soul!" The story was published in an abolitionist newspaper, which brings the issue of slavery to a new light. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois introduced a bill in Congress that aroused an uproar. Douglas wanted to build a railroad to California, and thought the project was more likely to happen if Congress organized the Great Plains into the Nebraska territory and opened the region to settlers. Southerners in Congress agreed to support the bill if Douglas's idea included abolishing the Missouri compromise and leaving the decision of slavery to the settlers. This act was passed in 1854. -
Ostend Manifesto
The president Franklin Pierce tries to purchase the island of Cuba from Spain, and a message from three American diplomats urged the U.S. to seize Cuba by force if Spain continued to refuse to sell the land. This messgae was leaked to the public, and casued Northerners to accuse Pierce of wanting to buy Cuba in order to add another slave state to the Union. -
Senator Charles Sumner
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusettes voiced his suspicions in a speech called "The Crime Against Kansas", which described the crime as a violent assault on an innocent territory. Sumner also heaped abuse on many Southerners, including Senator Andrew P. Butler of South Carolina. Two days after the speech, Butler's nephew, attacked Sumner in the Senate, beating him with his metal-tipped cane until it broke in half. This attack showed how divided the country had become. -
Kansas Bloodshed
Proslavery settlers from Missouri invaded Lawrence, Kansas, home of the antislavery government. The invaders burned a hotel, looted several homes, and tossed the printing press of two abolitionist newspapers into the Kaw River. This raid provoked a wave of outrage from the North, and people raised money to replace the destroyed press. This raid inspired a different raid on Pottawatomie, Kansas, and was led by John Brown. The mob dragged five slavery supporting men and killed them with swords. -
Slavery Controversy in the Supreme Court
A slave named Dred Scott who had traveled to Wisconsin with his master, where slavery was banned by the Missouri Compromise, argued that his stay in Wisconsin had made him a free man. Scott applied his thoughts in court, but was met by refusal from the justices. This case raised questons: Did Congress have the power to make any laws at all concerning slavery in the territories? And, if so, was the Missouri Compromise a constitutional use of that power? -
Lincoln's Speech
Republicans in Illinois nominated Abraham Lincoln to run for Senate. Lincoln pointed out that all attempts to reach compromise on the slavery issue had failed, and he also stated his opinion that the government cannot stand half-slavery and half-free. -
Lincoln Douglass Debates
Douglas, Lincolns opponent in the Senate race, argued that the Dred Scott decision put the slavery issue ot rest, but in Lincoln's eyes he saw slavery as a moral issue. Lincoln ended up losing the election, but the debates became widely popular. -
Presidential Race
The presidential race showed just how divided the nation had become, with Republicans united behind Lincoln, and Democrats had split between Northern and Southern factions. The presidential election ended in one of three ways, with Lincoln in the lead. This election delivered an unmistakable messgae to Southerners. -
South Secedes from the Union
In the weeks following the election, talk of secession filled the air. Senators formed a committee to search for a compromise that might hold the nation together. Lincoln supported the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act and drew the line at letting slavery extend into other territories.