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Missouri Compromise
The nation argued over whether Missouri should be a free or slave state. Debate raged in congress over a proposal made by James Tallmadge of New York to ban Slavery in Missouri. Angry southerners claimed that the constitution didn't give the right to congress to do this. People were afraid slavery would be banned altogether. They decided to make Maine a Free State and Missouri a slave state to keep balance of power. Sectional tension started to grow. -
Wilmot Proviso
A bill made by Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania to outlaw the expansion of slavery in Mexico. Slaveholders believed that congress had no right to prevent slaves coming into any of the territories. The Wilmot Proviso removed all slave rights. It divided Congress along regional lines. The bill passed the house of representatives but southerners prevented it from passing the senate. It led to the free soil party political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery. -
Compromise of 1850
California couldn’t become part of statehood. This was dividing congress. Taking the lead was Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky who had helped create the Missouri Compromise of 1820. To please the North, California was added to the north and slavery stopped in Washington, D.C. To please the south laws on slavery were passed. People were tired of regional bickering -
Uncle Toms Cabin
A book made by Harriet Beecher Stowe that showed her feelings about how outraged she was about the new Slave Law. This novel portrayed slavery as Brutal and immoral. The book increased the popularity of Theater and abolitionism. The main character was Uncle Tom, a respected older slave. The book was based on Tom’s life and his three owners. Two of his owners were nice but the third one was cruel. The book was popular in the North hated in the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Sack of Lawerence
In May a proslavery mob attacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas. They destroyed offices and the house of the governor of the antislavery government. The attack became known as the Sack of Lawrence. Then came John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, to avenge to attack Brown and 7 other men murdered 5 proslavery neighbors in there sleep. -
Pottawatomie Massacre
An attack after the Sack of Lawrence to get vengeance. John Brown and seven other men went to cabins of several proslavery neighbors and murdered five other men. This became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre. The victims were found in a creek. As the news spread so did the violence. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
An African American arguing how he should be admitted as a free slave because he was a slave that moved to free territory. The court called Dred Scott v. Sanford the court voted that he is a free black. Southerners ruled that he was property so he should be used as property. But he ruled that the Missouri compromise would've been unconstitutional. But it came down to that Dred Scott is not a legal U.S. citizen. He became a slave again -
Election of 1860
An election for U.S. president divided up over the North and the South. The south left because they thought that if Abraham Lincoln Won that he would try to abolish slavery. Lincoln won and in his inaugural address he stated friendship and how he wasn’t going to abolish slavery. The south thought that if they voluntarily joined the union that they should be able to leave when they want to. -
South Carolina Seceding from the Union
Before the 1860 presidential election many southerners told Lincoln that if he won they would secede from the union. They argued that since the voluntarily joined the union that they can leave. On December 20, 1860 South Carolina left the union. In the next six weeks Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas also joined the secession. They all met in Alabama and formed the confederate states of America. Jefferson Davis was named president. They Formed a Constitution.