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Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance, enacted in 1787 abandoned ten districts established in 1784 and formed a single Northwest Territory. It specified that 60,000 must be the population for statehood, guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury of the residents and prohibited slavery. This was one of the first instances in upsetting the balance between free states and slave states. -
Missouri Compromise
Proposed by Henry Clay, the Missouri Compromise in 1820 set a line at the 36-30 longitude line on the southern border of Missouri. States north of the line were free states and south of the line were slave states. When Missouri had enough population to be a state, there was no corresponding free state to be admitted. Maine separated from Massachusetts to become a free state in 1820 and Missouri became a slave state in 1821. The line established where slavery would be prohibited and allowed. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Beginning on August 21, 1831, the two-day march across Southampton County, Virginia began. Nat Turner, a literate slave, and preacher in Virginia led 40-50 slaves across the county, killing 55 white men, women, and children in hopes of a successful slave revolt. However, it instead increased Southern views towards the danger of African Americans, resulting in stricter legislation in Virginia and North Carolina against slaves. -
Gag Rule of 1836
John Hammond, proposed the Gag Rule of 1836, the first of many gag rules, that would table any petitions on slavery. It was strongly opposed by John Quincy Adams, as he rightfully believed it was a direct violation of the 1st Amendment. It passed by May 1836, but Congress eventually repealed the law in December 1844. The Gag Rule was credited with creating slavery as a major political issue and setting a precedent of gag rules that would further limit the opposition to slavery. -
Amistad Case
Africans, destined for slavery in Cuba on the Spanish vessel Amistad, seized the ship from its 1839 crew to return to Africa. In response, the U.S. captured the ship and held the Africans as pirates. The case reached the Supreme Court when abolitionists argued that the Africans should be free because international slave trade had been outlawed in the U.S. since 1808, and by 1841, the Africans were declared free and sent back to Africa. -
Annexation of Texas
In 1836 after the Battle of San Jacinto, Texas claimed their independence from Mexico. By 1844, Texas petitioned for statehood after being an independent republic for 8 years. There were arguments over the issue of slavery since the admission of Texas would upset the slave state and free state balance. It could also upset the balance of slave and free representation in Congress and the electoral college. Eventually, Texas was admitted to the Union with popular sovereignty in 1844. -
Wilmost Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso, proposed by New York Democrat David Wilmot in August 1846, stated that slavery would not exist in any land gained from Mexico. The House of Representatives, filled with a large population and representation from the North, passed the bill, however, it failed to pass in the Senate. -
Mexican War
Once Texas became a state, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations and began a dispute of the Texas-Mexico border. Polk sent troops to protect Texas from invasions, then sent them to the Rio Grande where Mexicans attacked Americans. Congress declared war in 1846. The war was very controversial; some believed that Polk staged the conflict and others thought that they should use resources on issues in the Pacific Northwest. Polk settled to establish a border at the Rio Grande in 1848. -
California Gold Rush
In 1849, word spread that gold was found in California, so thousands flocked into the area. California’s non-Indian population increased nearly twenty-fold in 4 years, leading to statehood and decision of whether it should be a free state or slave state. It also attracted the first Chinese immigrants to the west hoping to profit from economic opportunity, especially in railroad construction. However, this created a serious labor shortage in California resulting in Indian slavery. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was included in as a section in the Compromise of 1850 by Henry Clay. The act greatly restricted both fugitive slaves, where runaways had to be returned, and free black men who could be sent back to the South and had numerous rights revoked, such as testifying in court. As this was clearly seen to appeal largely to Southern politicians, many states in the North nullified the act, however, it was strictly enforced through the assistance of Southern marshals and citizens. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay enacted the Compromise of 1850 in response to land gained from the Mexican War, increased population, and western settlement. Five main parts were included. California entered the Union as a free state, popular sovereignty in land gained from Mexico, established the border of Texas and New Mexico, prohibition of slave trade in Washington D.C., and the fugitive slave act. It created sectional peace, but upset the balance between slave and free states, resulting in further divisions. -
Publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s fiction novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is credited as the most powerful document of abolitionist propaganda. First appearing in an antislavery, newspaper, it was published as a book in 1852. It sold over 300,000 copies within the first year, embedding an antislavery message in a popular literary form. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In an attempt to solve the controversy of admitting Nebraska as a large territory and possibly upsetting the slave state and free state balance, Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The final version of the bill repealed the Missouri Compromise and formed Kansas and Nebraska as individual territories with popular sovereignty. -
Ostend Manifesto
Franklin Pierce began pursuing unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to by Cuba after efforts by Polk had previously taken place. Cuba would serve as a slave state to even the balance of free states and slave states the U.S. was currently comprised of. In 1854, a private document, known as the Ostend Manifesto, was sent from Ostend, Belgium making a case for seizing Cuba by force. This document was eventually leaked to the public, enraging antislavery Northerners. -
Bleeding Kansas
By 1854, Nebraska became free and Kansas was a slave state until Bleeding Kansas in 1861, where settlers from the North and South violently disputed over allowing or prohibiting slavery in the territory. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott, Missouri slave, was often taken to free territory by his owner John Emerson throughout the late 1830s. After the Missouri state court that reversed its verdict of granting Scott his freedom, Scott v. Sanford was tried at the Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, on the grounds of Scott’s freedom from being taken into free territory with the consent of his owner. Roger Taney, the Supreme Court chief justice declared Scott a slave, resulting in a major setback for the antislavery community. -
John Brown and the Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown, a Kansas abolitionist, raided Harper’s Ferry in Virginia on October 16-17, 1859 to unsuccessfully attempt to start an armed slave revolt. After ceasing federal arsenal, Brown was captured by Robert Lee, sent to trial for murder and hanged. The raid was unsuccessful in its goal to get slaves to join in the revolt, and it additionally temporarily unified the Democrats in preserving slavery, radicalized Northern advocates of reconciliation, and contributed to the sectional rivalry. -
Crittenden Compromise
The Crittenden Compromise was made up of six main parts including reenacting the Missouri Compromise and extending it west, compensating owners of fugitive slaves, allowing popular sovereignty in territories, preserving slavery in Washington D.C., and forbidding any federal interference with the interstate slave trade. This bill, proposed by Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden, was unsuccessful when it was defeated in the Senate in March 1861, showing there could be no middle ground on slavery.
