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Northwest Ordinance (Red)
Political
Who: The United States
What: Was a land ordinance that outlawed slavery in the newly formed Northwest territory as well as setting it up for future sale of the land
Where: The Northwest
Why: The Northwest territory was a piece of land that was not organized and people wanted to expand westward and settle the fertile lands, so the U.S started dividing the land up. -
Missouri Compromise (Green)
Political
Who: Henry Clay and other senators throughout the nation
What: A compromise that drew a line dividing the nation indicating whether or not new states would have slavery. States north of this line would be free, while states south of this line would become slave states
Where: US
Why: To mostly resolve the issue of slavery by creating a clear divide to indicate where slavery would become legal -
Nat Turner's Rebellion (Red)
Social
Who: Nat Turner
What: A slave uprising that was started by Nat Turner who believed that he had been chosen by God to deliver the enslaved people of America from their bondage
Where: Southampton County, Virginia
Why: Nat was an educated slave who believed that it was his duty to help free the slaves from their bonds, and the only way to do that was to start a violent uprising against their masters -
Gag Rule (Red)
Political
Who: John Quincy Adams and Joshua Giddings, and Pro-Slavery advocates in Congress
What: A law that would prevented the discussion of slavery in the House of Representatives making it impossible for abolitionists to make any ground on the institution of slavery
Where: Washington DC
Why: The South wanted to suppress the Northerners who wanted to stop the institution of slavery from taking a hold and to increase their power in Congress -
Amistad Case (Red)
Political/Social
Who: 54 illegally sold slaves, John Quincy Adams
What: Aboard the Amistad, the illegally sold slaves were being transported when they revolted and gained their freedom. They were captured by the US and then a legal battle ensued about whether or not they were free. Eventually the Supreme Court decided they were free as they had been sold illegally
Where: Havana, Cuba and Connecticut
Why: Was important as it gave slaves freedom when they had been wrongfully taken as slaves -
Annexation of Texas (Red)
Political
Who: James Polk, Samuel Houston, Stephan Austin
What: In 1845 the US annexed Texas and made it an official state after it had won its independence 9 years earlier
Where: Texas
Why: Texas was a country that had been settled by many American settlers who wished to return to the Union after gaining their freedom from Mexico and the South wished to expand Slavery into the region -
Mexican War (Red)
Political
Who: James Polk, Mexico
What: After a border dispute over territory near the Rio Grande, the Americans marched on Mexico City and claimed the territories of New Mexico, California and changed the border of Texas
Where: Mexico, New Mexico, Texas, California
Why: The U.S. wanted to expand its territory into Mexican claimed lands -
Wimot Provisio (Red)
Political
Who: David Wilmot, James Polk, Southern dominated Senate
What: A bill introduced to restrict slavery from all of the land that was gained during the Mexican War though it was killed in the Senate
Where: New Mexico, Southern California, Arizona, expansion of Texas
Why: The North feared that the new land gained in the Mexican War would give too much power to the South eventually, when the new territory became states so they proposed this bill to oppose the South -
California Gold Rush (Red)
Economic/Social
Who: James Marshall, John Sutter
What: James Marshall discovered gold flakes at Sutter's mill and word soon got out and thousands of men flocked to California in the hopes of becoming rich from the promise of gold
Where: Sutter's Mill in California and the Sierra Nevadas
Why: Many flocked to the gold fields looking to make a fortune as they were brought up from a poorer background. Many immigrants from China also came at this time making up much of the labor pool in California -
Compromise of 1850 (Green)
Political
Who: Henry Clay, Stephan Douglas
What: A bill originally proposed by Henry Clay to dissolve tensions between North and South. It was later broken into five different bills by Stephan Douglas so that it would be accepted.
Where: Division between North and South, signed in DC
Why: Noticing the growing divide between the North and South, Congress tried to create the Compromise of 1850 to lessen the secular tension that had been growing in the US -
Fugitive Slave Act (Red)
Political
Who: Senators and Reps, North and South
What: A law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 that required the federal government and citizens of the North to assist Southern slave owners regain the slaves that had run away from their plantation. This law was unpopular in the North and widely ignored in the North
Where: The United States, more concerning the North
Why: Fugitive Slave Act was passed to please the South and reach an agreement that would allow the Compromise of 1850 pass -
Publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (Red)
Social
Who: Harriet Beecher Stowe
What: A novel written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe explaining the viewpoint of slavery from a black woman
Where: Popular in the North, written about a Southern plantation
Why: It was a novel written to expose the horrors of the system of Slavery so that Northerners would be much more likely to act on the horrendous practice. -
Kansas - Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas (Red)
Political/Social
Who: Anti-slavery fighters like John Brown, Pro-slavery fighters
What: An act that stated that the issue of slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty in Kansas and the bloody battles that occurred as people fought over slavery in the territory
Where: Kansas and Nebraska
Why: Stephan A. Douglas wanted to pass the continental railroad through the North so he proposed the Kansas Nebraska act to pacify the South and then the fighting occurred due to the act's controversy. -
Ostend Manifesto (Red)
Political
Who: Secretary of State William L. Marcy, Spain, Pierce
What: The U.S. tried to coerce Spain to give them the territory of Cuba. Pierce indicated that if Spain did not sell the land, he might invade Cuba and take it anyways.
Where: Ostend, Belgium
Why: The U.S. had desires to expand its territory, so it looked southward towards Cuba, where it hoped to secure land from the Spanish and create a new slave state at the same time. -
Dred Scott Decision (Red)
Political/Social
Who: Dred Scott, John Sandford, Roger Taney
What: Dred Scott was a slave who had been brought to a free territory where his master died. He then sued his master's widow claiming to be free as he now resided in a state where slavery was illegal.
Where: Missouri, Illinois
Why: Taney and the court decided that Scott could not bring the case to court since he was property. Also affirmed that the government couldn't take property making the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry (Red)
Political/Social
Who: John Brown, Robert E. Lee
What: An attack on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry led by John Brown, a radical abolitionist.
Where: Harper's Ferry, Virginia
Why: Brown wanted to start a slave uprising in the Appalachian Mountains that would fan out southward and free more slaves. -
Crittenden Compromise (Green)
Political
Who: John J. Crittenden
What: A last ditch effort by the Union to stay together by ceding lots of demands to the South in return for their continued loyalty to the Union. It was killed in the Senate.
Where: Washington D.C., The U.S.
Why: South Carolina had just seceded from the Union and they wanted to keep the Union together
