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Northwest Ordinance (Political)
The Northwest Ordinance established a process by which territories could become states; a requirement of 60,000 minimum for statehood. It abandoned the 10 districts established in the Ordinance of 1784 and created a single Northwest Territory (lands north of Ohio), which had the ability to become constituent parts of the union. The ordinance guaranteed freedom of religion and right to trial by jury to Northwest residents; it also prohibited slavery, and established governments in the territory. -
The Missouri Compromise (Political)
The compromise was an attempt by Congress to lessen tensions between the North and the South regarding Missouri being admitted to the union as a slave state, and the balance of slave to free states, in general. The plan stated that Missouri would be a slave state, but would be balanced by Maine being admitted as a free state, and slavery would be illegal in all new states north of the southern border of Missouri. The compromise was later repealed by the Kansas and Nebraska Acts of 1854. -
Nat Turner Rebellion (Social)
Nat Turner, a Virginian slave, led the only sustained slave revolt in United States history, in Southampton County, Virginia. The insurrection began with the murder of his owner, John Travis, and his family. The rebels secured weapons and horses, and enlisted the help of about 75 other slaves. In total, the rebellion took the lives of 51 white people. The revolt was eventually overpowered by the Virginian militia; Turner and 16 of his followers were found guilty of treason and hanged. -
Gag Rule (Political)
In reaction to abolitionist groups conducting petitioning riots and the thousands of petitions being sent to Congress daily regarding slavery, the House of Representatives adopted a Gag Rule; it stated that petitions regarding slavery would be tabled, in which no further action would be taken. The Gag Rule was ultimately repealed in December of 1844, when John Quincy Adams, who strongly opposed it, finally mustered up enough opposition within Congress. -
Amistad Case (Political)
52 African captives revolted as they were being illegally transported on the Spanish ship, Amistad, from Havana to Cuba. The rebel slaves forced two of the Spaniards to sail the ship towards Africa. In August, the U.S.S Washington seized the Amistad near Long Island. The rebels were first brought to court in Connecticut, where they were found guilty of murder and piracy. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that the illegally captured slaves were to be set free. -
The Annexation of Texas (Political)
The 1824 Colonization Law by the Mexican government attracted Americans to Texas; it promised cheap land and a four year exemption from taxes. However, conflict arose when settlers wanted to legalize slavery in Texas, though the Mexican government had made it illegal. Southern expansionists were for the annexation, as Texas was declared independent in 1836, and sought support from Europe. President Tyler urged Texas to apply for statehood in 1844; it was admitted to the Union in December 1845. -
The Mexican War (Political)
War was declared when President Polk sent armies to the Rio Grande to fight Mexican troops, while a small American army captured Santa Fe. California became a free republic after the Bear Flag Revolution. The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; the Mexican government gave California and New Mexico to the United States and acknowledged the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas. In return, the United States agreed to assume any financial claims, and pay the Mexicans $15 million. -
Wilmot Proviso (Political)
The Wilmot Proviso was proposed by David Wilmot, a Democrat from New York, and it was an amendment to a bill that stated that slavery would not exist in any land gained from Mexico. The Proviso passed the House of Representatives, but didn't pass the Senate, as southern states feared increased northern representation in Congress. If the bill was passed, it would have closed California and New Mexico to slavery as a requirement for their annexation; the balance of free to slave states upset. -
The California Gold Rush (Economic)
When James Marshall, a carpenter for John Sutter, found traces of gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Sutter tried to keep it quiet, fearing a gold rush would ruin his land. However, news leaked, and hundreds of thousands of people from around the world migrated to California for gold. Sadly, many of the "forty-niners" that arrived did not become wealthy from finding gold The Gold Rush did however, cause a labor shortage, which opened up jobs to foreign migrants. -
Compromise of 1850 (Political)
A compromise by Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, ratified in January of 1850, to ease the tensions between the North and South over slavery. The compromise stated that California would be a free state, the boundary of Texas would be the Rio Grande, territorial governments in the lands acquired from Mexico would decide its slavery status through popular sovereignty, the slave trade in Washington D.C. would be abolished, and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 would be enacted. -
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (Political)
The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of 1850; it added harsher provisions to the Slave Act of 1793 regarding the capture and return of runaway slaves. The act was met with fierce Northern opposition, as Southern slave captors would enter northern states in search of escapees. The act endangered free black people, as they could be sent to the South solely on an affidavit. Northern states enacted personal liberty laws and some nullified the act. The policy was repealed in 1864. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin (Social)
Selling 300,000 copies within the first year of publication and one of the biggest best-sellers in history, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the fueling forces of the Civil War. The book exposed the brutal institution of slavery, and caused immediate cries for the abolition of slavery. The book was also very popular in Europe, and fueled anti-slavery passions there as well. -
Ostend Manifesto (Political)
President Pierce continued to pursue unsuccessful diplomatic attempts, as President Polk had, to expand on the United States by purchasing Cuba and Spain. In 1854, a group of Pierce’s envoys sent him a private document from Ostend, Belgium, making the case for seizing Cuba by force. The document leaked to the public; antislavery northerners were enraged, as they thought that Congress was attempting to bring a new slave state into the Union. The proposal was eventually declared unconstitutional. -
Kentucky and Nebraska Acts (Political)
The Kansas and Nebraska Act was proposed by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and ratified in May 1854. The goal of Douglas was to advance the transcontinental railroad through his city, Chicago, and to introduce the new territory, Nebraska, to white settlement. Nebraska would be a split into two territories; Nebraska would be free state, and the second territory, Kansas, would decide its slavery status through popular sovereignty. The act also repealed the Missouri Compromise. -
Bleeding Kansas (Political)
Following the Kansas and Nebraska Acts of 1854 was the period of Bloody Kansas. Opposition arose, as Kansas, a newly created territory, became a slave state, upsetting the balance of free to slave states within the country. The Kansas legislature was divided; one was made up of pro-slavery Missourians, the other made up of Free-Soilers. Guerrilla warfare, and rebellions, like the Pottawatomie Massacre, continued to plague the territory of Kansas, as the issue of slavery continued to intensify. -
Dred Scott Decision (Political)
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, a Missourian slave, sued for his freedom. Scott argued that since he had lived in free Illinois and Wisconsin, his enslaved status should be erased. The case was overseen by Chief Justice Roger Taney. The Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 against Scott; the court ruled that no slave had the right to testify or sue in court, as they were not citizens, living in a free territory did not make a slave free, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry (Social)
Abolitionist John Brown gathered a troop of white and black men to attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown and his men hoped to seize the weapons from the arsenal and give them to enslaved people to facilitate an even bigger rebellion. The United States troops under command of Robert E. Lee were alerted to the attack; the troops killed half of Brown’s men before the rebels surrendered. Brown was charged with treason and sentenced to be hanged. -
Crittenden Compromise (Political)
A series of failed Constitutional amendments and resolutions proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky in December of 1860. The Missouri Compromise line would be extended to the Pacific Ocean; slavery would be prohibited north of the line, but protected south of the line. It also forbid the abolition of slavery in slaveholding states, compensated owners of runaway slaves, and repealed northern personal liberty laws. On January 16th, 1861, the Senate refused to consider the compromise.
