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Northwest Ordinance (red line, political issue)
Established a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio River. The Ordinance also specified the method for a state to be admitted into the Union and listed a bill of rights (freedom of religion and trial by jury). Most importantly, the Ordinance prohibited slavery throughout the territory. -
Missouri Compromise (red line, political issue)
Both Missouri and Maine were applying for statehood to be free states at the same time. If they were both free states, there would be an imbalance of slave and free states and the North would have more political power. To solve this, Henry Clay proposed that Missouri be admitted as a slave state and Maine be admitted as a free state, to keep the balance. Senator Jesse Thomas also proposed an amendment prohibiting slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase Territory (above the 36°30 parallel). -
Nat Turner Rebellion (red line, social issue)
Nat Turner was a slave preacher who led a group of slaves who were armed with weapons through Southampton Country, Virginia. First, they killed Turner’s owner and then went from house to house killing white men, women and children before they were stopped by state and federal troops. They killed a total of 60 white people. Turner, the slaves involved, and many innocent slaves were executed in the aftermath of his rebellion. It was the only large-scale, effective slave rebellion in the 1800s. -
Gag Rule (red line, political issue)
The Constitution gives all citizens a right to petition the government. During the mid-1800s, abolitionists sent many petitions to Congress to end slavery. In response to this, the House passed a resolution that automatically postponed consideration, printing, and referral on all petitions relating to slavery without discussion. The gag rule limited/prohibited the raising, hearing, or consideration of topics related to slavery in Congress. -
Amistad Case (red line, political issue)
A revolt of slaves aboard the Spanish vessel Amistad on its way to Cuba. The slaves took charge of the ship and tried to sail back to their homeland in Africa. Having no experience with sailing, the slaves tried to force the crew to steer them, but the ship went up the Atlantic coast until it was captured by an American ship. Many Americans thought the slaves should be returned to Cuba, but they were instead freed and sent to Africa. -
Annexation of Texas (red line, political issue)
The many Americans who settled in Texas were unhappy with the Mexican rule (one reason being that Americans wanted to legalize slavery in Texas, but Mexico had outlawed it), and many wanted independence from Mexico. Sporadic fighting between the Mexicans and Americans began in 1835 and worsened as more Mexican troops were sent. American settlers claimed their independence from Mexico in 1836, but the US didn’t annex Texas right away. Texas was annexed after the election of Polk in 1845. -
Mexican War (red line, political & social issue)
Both the US and Mexico claimed Texas, and eventually tensions erupted in war between the two. During the war, American forces were able to capture much of the Mexican territories they wanted. The war ended 2 years after it was declared with both sides signing a peace treaty. The treaty set the border between Mexico and Texas and ceded New Mexico and California to the US. There was conflict between Americans over whether slavery should be legal in these new territories. -
Wilmot Proviso (red line, political issue)
An amendment to the appropriation bill prohibiting slavery in any new territory acquired from Mexico. Passed in the House and failed in the Senate the first time it was proposed. Was voted on repeatedly but was never passed. -
California Gold Rush (red line, political & social issue)
Traces of gold were discovered by a carpenter of John Sutter's sawmills. The news spread quickly and sparked thousands of people from other parts of America and around the world to move to California. Among the people who came to California were free African Americans, and both Northerners and Southerners. Because of this variety in population, there was conflict over whether California would be admitted into the Union as a free or slave state. -
Compromise of 1850 (red line, political issue)
A compromise spearheaded by Henry Clay that sparked a long-lasting debate. It was an attempt to avert a crisis between the North and the South that could be provoked by California’s request to be admitted as a free state. The Compromise amended the Fugitive Slave Act, abolished the slave trade in Washington D.C., admitted California as a free state, defined the boundaries between Texas and Mexico, and created territorial governments in Utah and New Mexico (that could vote on legalizing slavery). -
Fugitive Slave Act (red line, political & social issue)
The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of 1850 that catered to the Southern opinion. It was passed in response to Northern resistance to the previous Fugitive Slave Acts. The act required escaped slaves to be returned to their owner, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, trying, and returning slaves. -
Publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (red line, social issue)
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe was a fictional story that was written in protest to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Though it was fictional, the book contained lots of antislavery messages that applied to the political climate at the time. The book was revered in the North, but harshly criticized in the South. The book inflamed sectional tensions between the North and the South to a new level, which is an impact that few other books have been able to accomplish. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act (red line, political & social issue)
Divided the Nebraska territory into two new territories, Nebraska and Kansas. Both territories’ territorial legislature was given the power to determine the status of slavery (popular sovereignty). Nebraska was more likely to be a free state and Kansas was more likely to be a slave state. The Act also explicitly repealed the Missouri Compromise, which many Northerners were upset by. The K-N Act caused the downfall of the Whig Party, the rise of the Republican Party, and Bleeding Kansas. -
Ostend Manifesto (red line, political issue)
President Pierce had been continuing President Polk’s efforts to attempt to buy Cuba from Spain. A group of Pierce’s delegates sent him a private document from Ostend, Belgium arguing to forcefully seize Cuba. When this document was leaked to the public, many antislavery Northerners were upset because they thought Pierce’s administration was conspiring to bring a new slave state into the Union. -
Bleeding Kansas (red line, social issue)
Bleeding Kansas describes a series of civil uprisings throughout the Kansas territory from 1854-1859. It started when citizens of Missouri (slave state) went to Kansas to try and try and sway their slavery election. This sparked lots of controversy and many abolitionists staged insurrections (that were usually violent). The Republican party used Bleeding Kansas as a political weapon in the election of 1856 to gain support for antislavery causes. -
Dred Scott Decision (red line, political & social issue)
The outcome of the court case Scott v. Sandford. The Supreme Court ruled that Scott couldn't bring a suit to courts because he wasn't a citizen (and therefore had no rights under the Constitution). The Court also said that, under the 5th amendment, Congress was prohibited from taking property without "due process of law" which meant that Congress had no authority to pass a law depriving people of their slaves. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry (red line, social issue)
John Brown, an abolitionist, made plans to seize the Harpers Ferry Arsenal (in Virginia) in hopes that it would lead to a slave insurrection. He and 18 of his followers attacked the arsenal and seized control, but the slave uprising he had hoped for didn’t happen, and he had to surrender. He and some of his followers were tried, found guilty, and hanged. -
Crittenden Compromise (red line, political issue)
A last-ditch effort to resolve slavery tensions between the North and the South. It was made up of constitutional amendments and congressional resolutions that would reinstate the Missouri Compromise line, ensure that slavery could exist in Southern states, satisfy Southern demands about fugitive slaves and slavery in D.C., and guarantee that none of the amendments in the Compromise could be modified or repealed. It was rejected by Congress, but by that time 4 states had already succeeded.
