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An early act enacted to organize the land north of the Ohio River by establishing a single, expansive Northwest territory which would eventually be divided into several smaller territories, who could apply for statehood once reaching the population requirement of 60,000. The ordinance guaranteed the rights of the citizens of the territory and prohibited slavery in the region.
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Missouri was seeking to enter the Union as a slave state, which would upset the balance of free and slave states in the US. Thus, the free state of Maine was created, to offset its addition into the Union. In addition, the compromise also provided for the creation of 36 degree 30' north latitude line as the boundary of free and slave territory in the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, with all land north of the line prohibiting slavery.
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The largest slave insurrection in the 19th century south, organized by Nat Turner who led a small group of armed African-American slaves through Southampton County, VA. The group went from home to home, killing around 60 whites before they were overpowered by local militias. The event created fear among southern whites of further slave violence, leading to the passing of slave codes which greatly restricted the lives of African-Americans, in order to increase control over slaves.
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A motion instituted in the House of Representatives which prevented the legislative body from considering or even reading any anti-slavery petitions, in response to the thousands of petitions sent from abolitionist Americans. Many representatives, most notably John Quincy Adams, were opposed to the provision, variations of which were passed in Congress until 1844, when it was determined, amid growing antislavery sentiment, that restricting a citizen’s right to petition was wrong.
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53 smuggled slaves aboard a Cuban ship, took control of the vessel, sailing up the Atlantic coast, where it was captured by the US R.S. The question arose over the status of said slaves: Pres. Van Buren supported returning them to Cuba while John Quincy Adams, along with abolitionists, argued that as the foreign slave trade was illegal, the slaves could not be returned to slavery. Adams ultimately prevailed, as the S.C ruled in favor of his argument, returning the slaves to Africa.
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American settlers in the Mexican territory of Texas rivaled the power of the Mexican government. After several notable battles, the settlers achieved independence from Mexico in 1836, and soon after, began petitioning the United States for statehood. However, fears about welcoming such a large slave state into the Union, which would increase the South’s influence, delayed the annexation of the state for many years, as the issue aggravated sectional tensions in the nation.
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President Polk maneuvered the US into war with Mexico due to tension over the Texas-Mexico border and desire for Mexican territory for white settlers. Many were opposed to the war, seeing it as a drain on the nation’s resources in order to satisfy the expansionist beliefs of the president. After 2 years of fighting, the US was victorious, establishing the Texas border as the Rio Grande River and acquiring NM and CA, which came with the issue of expanding slavery into these new territories.
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A controversial amendment to an appropriation bill which allocated $2 million for the purchase of Mexico, prohibiting slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico, including land obtained during the Mexican-American war. The provision was fiercely debated for years in Congress and eventually vetoed as southern militants claimed their right to move their property, including their slaves, into the newly acquired territory.
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Americans abandoned their lives in the east, as they flocked to California, hoping to strike it rich after the discovery of gold. While few were successful in their quest, many in settled in the region, as its population greatly increased, putting pressure on the federal government to resolve the issue of slavery in the territory. Pres. Taylor proposed annexing the state, however this received harsh backlash from southerners who feared it would upset the balance of free and slave states.
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A highly debated compromise created to address the mounting crisis of slavery and its expansion. It admitted CA as a free state, formed territorial governments in the land acquired from MX, without restricting slavery, abolished the slave trade in DC, and established a new, more effective fugitive slave act. The compromise briefly settled sectional conflict between the North and the South, however tensions arose again in 1854.
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A clause included within the Compromise of 1850 which required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners even if they had escaped to a free state and declared the federal government responsible for finding returning, and trying all escaped slaves. However, the act was met by significant resistance from northern states, which passed laws and held riots in order to prevent the deportation of slaves, leading white southerners to hunt for the runaway slaves in the free states themselves.
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The release of the best-selling novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe which served as a powerful piece of abolitionist propaganda, exposing the horrors and realities of slavery to a new audience through literature. Her emotional novel captured the attention of many Americans, inflaming sectional tensions, as it gained support for the abolitionist movement in the north, while receiving harsh backlash in the south.
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Stephen A. Douglas proposed a bill to organize the territory of NB. In order to appeal to the demands of the south, clauses were added which ensured slavery in the territory would be determined by popular sovereignty, split the territory (into KS and NB), and repealed the MI compromise. Led to Bleeding KS as pro-slavery and anti-slavery activists rushed to territory, leading to the fraudulent election of a pro-slavery state legislature, followed by outbreaks of guerrilla warfare.
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Amid unsuccessful attempts by President Pierce to purchase Cuba from Spain, a private document sent from a group of his envoys in Belgium was leaked to the public, in which the advisors advocated for seizing Cuba by force. This document infuriated the antislavery northerners who viewed it as an attempt to add another slave state to the Union.
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A S.C. decision concerning the freedom of the enslaved Dred Scott, who believed his residence in a free state for an extended period of time granted him freedom. In Roger Taney’s Supreme Court, Scott was defeated in a 7-2 ruling, which asserted that as property, Scott could not be freed without due process of the law, which is protected in the 5th amendment, and thus the Supreme Court had no power to grant his freedom, essentially ruling the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional.
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John Brown, an antislavery zealot who had formerly led the Pottawatomie Massacre in KS, seized control of the US arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA, hoping to foment a slave insurrection in the South. However, the slave uprising failed to emerge as they were soon besieged by troops and convicted of treason by VA. The incident convinced many white southerners they could not safely live in the Union, incorrectly believing the episode had support from the northern public and the Republican Party.
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A last ditch effort to quell tensions over slavery in the US and to appease the south after the election of Abraham Lincoln. It proposed 6 constitutional amendments guaranteeing the existence of slavery, satisfying southern demands on the issues of fugitive slaves and slavery in DC, and re-establishing the MO Compromise. However the effort was unsuccessful, as SC soon seceded and Republicans refused to agree to the compromise, unwilling to allow for the expansion of slavery.
