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Northwest Ordinance
This document was drafted by the Second Continental Congress to outline the way new states could be admitted from the land in the Northwest Territory. One of the strict guidelines was that none of the 3-5 states created from that territory could have slavery. At this point, it was the only territory other than the current states that the U.S owned, and slave-owners became angry that the institution could not be spread to new areas. Thus the strain in the country began steadily climbing. -
Creation of the Constitution
The Constitution was created shortly after America gained independence in order to form a stable government. This document is full of bargains like the 3/5 Compromise. These, while helpful at the time, provided a rocky foundation for the nation, which already had clear northern and southern regions. Without granting either side a "win", it only stalled the tension and delayed the issue until later. There's also no clear statement about leaving the Union, giving the South a chance at secession. -
Invention of the Cotton Gin
With good intentions, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to make slavery more humane. What he didn't realize was that his machine made slavery more profitable than ever and drastically increased the U.S. slave population. Even the Father of Capitalism, Adam Smith, admitted that the cotton gin made slavery more fruitful, whereas beforehand he had dismissed it as an economically worthless system. This frustrated Northerners, who didn't want slavery to grow, and created sectional tensions. -
Missouri Compromise
When Missouri wanted to enter the union as a slave state, there was a bitter debate because it would've increased the number of pro-slavery legislators in Congress. To solve this problem and the one about where slavery would be allowed in the Louisiana Purchase, the Compromise let Maine in as a balancing free state and decided that no slavery would be allowed in the new land above the 36-30 line. This created a literal divide in a geographic sense, contributing to the rising sectionalism. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
In mid-1831, a slave named Nat Turner sparked a revolt in which he and a group of others killed 60 white people. After 2 days of violence, they were stopped by a small militia. After this, Turner and 50 slaves were then executed, and many more were lynched. It was the bloodiest revolt of the period, so the reaction was harsh. Southerners used it as proof that slaves were monsters and would only murder if freed, creating even more tension with the north over whether slavery should be abolished. -
The Nullification Crisis
When several highly protective tariffs were passed after a bad economic spell, South Carolina was furious. Tariffs protected northern businesses, not them. The state declared the tariffs unconstitutional and therefore null/void, but that didn't please president Jackson. He soon sent a letter to SC saying that the country is a union, and to go against it was treason- asking if they wanted to incur the consequences of that. A compromise was eventually reached, but the idea had already taken hold. -
Compromise of 1850
After the debated Wilmot Proviso, this Compromise prevented the expansion of slavery while strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act. By forcing Northerners to participate in the institution of slavery, there was an increased polarization among citizens. There weren't any outright violent acts yet, but the two regions of the U.S. were becoming more tense as their differences were reinforced. This also put off the eventual need to directly address the slavery issue, as compromises won't work forever. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Second in popularity only to the Bible, this book became the Common Sense of the Civil War. It widened the gaps in thought between people in different regions as more Northerners had their eyes opened to the repulsive act of slavery, and Southerners became enraged and accused the book of being false. Those who had no opinion before or tended to ignore slavery if it didn't affect them were now convinced that the institution should be at least stopped from expanding, if not completely abolished. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act & Bleeding Kansas
When the Kansas-Nebraska Act left the issue of slavery up to popular sovereignty, an abundance of clashes ensued. Abolitionists and pro-slavery people alike both flocked to Kansas and Nebraska just long enough to vote to try to get their agenda to pass. 56 people were killed in the 5 year span as numerous outbreaks of violence occurred. Although both states became free, the brutality in these territories inspired the rest of the country to take drastic measures in order to push their opinions. -
Lincoln's Election
Having a Republican as president was the last straw for the south. Lincoln only got 39% of the popular vote and didn't appeal to them in the least. He promised protective tariffs and a no expansion of slavery policy, which prompted SC to secede after years of considering it because state rights were not being respected in their opinion. Most people in the north had no problems with Lincoln's policy, and some didn't mind slavery, but they shared the idea that secession was unconstitutional.
