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The Tallmadge Amendment
Missouri can only enter the Union as a free state. Southerners said that Congress doesn't have the power to force a state to be slave or free. They fear that if Congress has this power then they can declare slavery illegal in the whole U.S. -
The Missouri Compromise
Congress agreed that instead of breaking the Union. The Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also drew the 36 degrees 30' line and every state above it must enter as a free state and below it a slave state. This satisfied both the North and the South for the time being. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 said that California will be admitted as a free state. In exchange New Mexico and Utah will be admitted as territories open to slavery. It also said that slaves can no longer be sold in Washington D.C. however those who owned slaves will be able to keep their slaves. The compromise failed after 9 months of deliberations. In the end the South wanted to leave The Union peacefully. People were wary that a war might break out to end slavery. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen Douglas wanted to make a train that will go to California. Southerners in Congress attached a bill that will create 2 new territories. The Kansas and Nebraska Territories which will let people decide if they want to be slave free or not. This is called popular sovereignty.. This Act effectively cancelled the Missouri Compromise and will be one of the tipping points in the war. -
Secession of the Southern States
The South States decided to secede from the Union and for the Confederacy. By this point, the Civil War was inevitable.
