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Underground Railroad
Although there is no official beginning of the Underground Railroad, a quaker called Isaac T. Hopper began a system to hide and aid runaway slaves in 1787. This is what started up the Underground Railroad. Spring was the safest time of the year to escape, so since March 20 is the first day of spring, March 20, 1787 became the start date of the Underground Railroad. It ended on December 6, 1865 because this was when the 13th amendment was passed, ending slavery and the need to escape from it. -
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Underground Railroad Part 2
The Underground served one purpose: to help runaways escape to freedom, AKA, Canada. In Canada, slavery had already been abolished. Abolitionists were anti-slavery supporters that ranged from white to black people. These were the brave people who ran the Underground Railroad to help runaway slaves, mainly young single men, but not all abolitionists helped out. There were many dangers to being a worker on the Underground Railroad such as fines, prison time, and death. -
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Underground Railroad Part 3
Those people, such as Harriet Tubman who made approximately nineteen trips on the UGRR, and Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin", were the brave souls who made a giant impact during this time period. Being that most of their tasks were difficult, they had certain ways of doing things. For example, they had a secret language to communicate from within their "society." Terms like "baggage", "parcel", and "bundles of wood" referred to the fugitive slaves that were currently escaping. -
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Underground Railroad Part 4
On the other hand, they had religious terms such as "Promised Land", "River Jordan", and "Moses" that reffered to Canada, the Ohio River, and Harriet Tubman in that respective order. They used this language to relay messages between workers on the UGRR. There were also phrases like "The dead trees will show you the way" that helped runaways by reminding them that moss grew on the north-facing side of dead trees. This and many other phrases helped runaways during their escape north. -
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Underground Railroad Part 5
To top it off, there were even songs (for example: "Follow The Drinking Gourd") that used these phrases to aid runaways. To put it simply, secrecy was an all-time favorite for UGRR workers. These people held burning passions when it came to liberating slaves. Whether it was aiding with the escapes or changing the mind of the public through literature, every effort helped in the fight against slavery. -
Missouri Compromise Part 3
However, for example, Senator William Pinkney of Maryland argued that the thirteen states before Missouri joined without any conditions and that having conditions for Missouri would be unfair and unequal. They were at a standstill, and nobody was budging from their opinion. So how did this problem get resolved? A two-part compromise called the Missouri Compromise was the answer. First, Missouri was granted statehood as a slave state, but there was a catch. -
Missouri Compromise Part 4
All of the Louisiana Territory above the 36’ 30’ north latitude would be free (which is a much larger chunk of land than below that which means the southerners just got swindled, but nobody knew this at the time). Second, Maine was granted statehood at the same time as a free state in order to keep balance between the free states and the slave states. The balance was kept at twelve for each side so that one side did not automatically outvote the other. The problem was solved, for now. -
Missouri Compromise Part 2
The northerners were against slavery, so, for example, Congressman James Tallmadge of New York started off by proposing that no more slaves should be transported to the Missouri territory and that ones that were already there be freed at the age of 25. The southerners wanted slavery and retaliated at this. They agreed that Congress had the ability to admit and deny statehood. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise (The Compromise of 1820) was a bill passed on March 6, 1820. Congress was deciding whether Missouri should be a free state or a slave state. The situation was complicated. To start off, slaveholders had already migrated to the Missouri territory and transported their slaves with them. This would have a major impact on the result of the bill. At this point in history there are two types of states, the north and the south, and they both had different opinions. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner was a black slave and preacher who started his rebellion of about 70 slaves against plantation owners on August 22, 1831. Turner's rebellion started at Southampton County, Virginia at the Travis plantation. Being fed up with slavery, Nat Turner started his rebellion at the Travis plantation, killing the Travis family, and went on to kill about 60 plantation owners and their families within 48 hours. This rebellion overall made life worse for blacks all over the south. -
Gerrit Smith
Gerrit Smith did a great deal as an abolitionist during his lifetime. Smith didn't start off as an abolitionist though. He was at first a member of the American Colonization Society, a group associated with exporting black missionaries to Liberia. Eventually, Smith was moved closer to William Lloyd Garrison's camp. Garrison's attack on the ACS's camp eventually lead to Smith withdrawing and becoming an abolitionist. Smith was at beginning of a career that would affect many. -
Gerrit Smith Part 2
A major turning point in Smith's abolitionist career was when he invited the members of the New York Anti-Slavery Society's Utica convention to reconvene at the Presbyterian Church in Peterboro when it was broken up by a local mob. This lead to Smith becoming a non-lethal abolitionist leader who was known for his many speeches. Before the Civil War broke out (in which Smith sided on the Union), there was one last major event. -
Gerrit Smith Part 3
Because if Smith's help in the preparation for the raid on Harper's Ferry, he suffered a psychotic episode when the raid actually failed. Other than this, Smith was a revered abolitionist leader who was one of the many reasons why history played out as it did. -
Compromise of 1850 Part 4
This would lead to the capture of many runaways and free black people. Blacks had no rights in court meaning that they were defenseless. This made abolitionists even more determined to free slaves down south. This act benefited the South and sngered the North. Now there was an even bugger divide between the North and South. -
Compromise of 1850
On January 29, 1850, the Great Ccmpromiser, Henry Clay, prensented a compromise that would decide the fate of the Union. Along with Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, and Stephen Douglass, an eight month debate would go on inside Congress to decide the structure of this compromise. As all debates go, you must know the main points of the discussion. In this situation, there are four. The first was to decide what to do with the territories acquired from the Mexican American War in terms of slavery. -
Compromise of 1850 Part 3
California became a free state, but only along with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. Texas was given $10 million dollars to drop its land dispute, and Washington D.C.'s slave trade was abolished. Everything was fine, except that this would further endanger the Union. The Fugitive Slave Act forced everyone in the nation to aid in the capture of runaway slaves, those who turned any runaway in would receive $10, and any who didn't help faced fines and prison time. -
Compromise of 1850 Part 2
The second thing to decide was to determine whether California would become a state. Thirdly, they had to resolve Texas' land dispute; they claimed their southern border streched to Santa Fe. Finally, they had to make some decisions about Washington D.C.'s slavery issues. After eight months of debate, the Compromise of 1850 was made. Many bills were made to resolve the many issues at hand. The territories from the Mexican American War would decide for theirselves whether to allow slavery or not. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act Part 2
Douglas' idea of popular sovereignty, the idea of people choosing, was going to be a problem. The balance between free states and slave states was at risk, and as a result, northerners were enraged and southerners were delighted. Stephen would soon be faced with shame for this act would bring about the bloody massacre, "Bleeding Kansas." -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
On May 30, 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Stephen Douglas, the man who presented the idea of this act, was hoping to please both northerners and southerners because he wanted to be president, and he wanted more railways to connect to Chicago. This act allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether they would allow slavery. This act therefore said to ignore the 36' 30 line from the Missouri Compromise. Southerners loved this act, but northerners hated it. -
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Bleeding Kansas Part 2
People like John Brown who had a literal bloody passion for either freedom or slavery that kept the blood spilling. Events like the Patawotamie Massacre and Bleeding Sumner either foreshadowed or reflected Nleeding Kansas in that resoective order. Fortunately, this fued only lasted about 5 years and didn't last longer, but it still had its effect on people throughout the nation. More blood equaled a bigger push towards war. -
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Bleeding Kansas
On May 21, 1856, pro-slavery troops burned down Lawrence, Kansas. This would lead to "Bleeding Kansas", a big mess of murders over the next few years. This battle between pro-slavery supporters and free-soilers (anti-slavery supporters) would lead to many more deaths.This large fued would finally be put to rest when Kansas becomes a free state on January 29, 1861. Kansas would have been admitted earlier if pro-slavery supporters hadn't caused more troubles two years earlier. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott, a man born into slavery, decided that on April 6, 1846, he was going to start a petition to sue for his freedom. On March 6, 1857, the Supreme Court ordered their final verdict on the case. The Supreme Court decided that all blacks are considered inferior and are below whites. They also decided that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, the 36' 30' was abolished, and Scott lost his final battle. Both northerners and southerners passions were inflamed by this verdict. -
Dred Scott Case Part 2
The main issue at hand was whether state rights or the federal government should be held higher. The Supreme Court had made its decision, and both sides had mixed feelings. One more push had been made towards the beginning of the Civil War. -
Election of 1860 Part 2
There was a clear sectional divide between the votes (all of the other votes were either from the South or border states). California and Oregon both went for Lincoln, so they had decided where they stand. With this new divide, the secession of almost of the southern states (starting with South Carolina) would be one of the final pushes towards the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
On November 6, 1860, votings for the Election of 1860 began. The candidates were Abraham Lincoln, a Republican with moderate views on slavery, Stephen Douglas, a northern Democrat who wants popular sovereignty, John Breckenridge, a southern Democrat with an aggressive passion to expand slavery, and John Bell, a Constitutional Union member who wanted slavery but wasn't aggresive for its expansion. At the end of it all, Lincoln won with 182 votes, but all of them from the northern states. -
Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861, the Union fort was attacked by Confederate troops when General Anderson refused to surrender. After his refusal, a 24-hour bombardment had begun at Fort Sumter by Confederate gun batteries. At first, Abraham Lincoln was trying to resupply the fort by sending ships, but the Confederate took offense to this and ordered the fort to surrender. The Union ships held back in fear of death. With the attack and the surrender of Fort Sumter, the Civil War had officially begun. -
Fort Sumter Part 2
Each side was blaming the other that they had started the Civil War, but that is just their opinion. Depending where you are in the country, a different opinion will be found. Who the real culprit was is for you to decide.
