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Eli Whitney creates the cotton gin
The invention of the cotton gin made slavery harsher and created a greater need for more farming land. This was invented to make slavery easier but made in reality it made it harsher. The slave trade increased and slavery expanded creating a greater opposition to it. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise created a definite line and expanded slavery to Missouri and outraged people that were hoping that the expansion of slavery would end. This was important because it set a definite line to prevent the expansion by law. -
Tariff Nullification Crisis
In 1832 South Carolina deemed the Tarriff of Abominations of 1828 and the Tariff of 1832 unconstitutional. They refused to recognize their validity and nullified both tariffs. This increased tensions between the US government and the state of South Carolina because nulllification challenged the power of the national government. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This book, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, showed the brutality of slavery and how it split slave families. This was wildly circulated and created an anti-slavery frenzy that split the country on the morality of slavery. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a sla e whose owner died and inheritor moved to a free state where Scott sued for his freedom. He was denied his freedom and the supreme court ruled that slavery is legal everywhere increasing sectionalism between free and slave states. -
The Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was caused due to the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance company. The North felt the effects of the panic much greater than the South. The South's economy had a slower decline because the main export was cotton, which was insulated by foreign markets. The South would use this as propoganda to prove their superiority economically. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
The election of Abraham Lincoln was the last straw for many Southern states who were on the fence for secession. Before he was even innagurated South Carolina had seceeded from the union. Other states would follow due to his anti-expansion slavery ideology.
