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Importation of slaves ends
Congress made a law to prohibit the importation of slaves within the jurisdiction of the United States. This is to be no more than ten dollars per slave. -
The Missouri Compromise
Henry Clay had a huge role in the two part solution known as the Missouri Compromise. The United States Legislation prohibited slavery expansion and made Missouri a slave state. Many people thought this compromise was flawed. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso added to the war appropriations bill, the bill stated, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” (Chapter 8 L1). This proposal outraged many Southerners. Many of these Southerners believed that antislavery decisions about these places would then threaten slavery in other places. -
The Compromise of 1850
Stephen A. Douglas and Henry Clay, with the support of the president, divided the compromise into five separate bills. Senators could then vote against parts they didn’t like while still supporting other parts. Congress then passed all parts of the proposal in the fall. -
The fugitive Slave Act
Henry Clay made this Fugitive Slave Act to benefit the slave holders over the slaves. All African Americans could be accused of running away or being captured. The accused then had no way to prove there case. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin book changed many Northerners minds of Slavery and African Americans. Southerners then tried to have the novel banned but that didn’t happen. This book dramatically changed the public opinion which then led up to the Civil War. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
This Act created the territories called Kansas and Nebraska. Douglas drafted and then passed it by congress and was signed into law by president Franklin Pierce. This Act then allowed many settlers decide weather slavery would be allowed or not -
Bleeding Kansas
The reason it's called Bleeding Kansas is because Kansas was a battleground for the people who were for and against slavery. Many settlers wanted to move here so they could bring enslaved persons with them. Northerners didn’t want them to bring enslaved people so they moved to the territory quickly to make it an antislavery state. -
The Caning of Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner gave a speech accused many senators who were pro-slavery forcing Kansas into a slave state. Preston Brooks then used a gold-handled cane to beat Sumner and left him injured and bleeding on the floor. Southerners thought of Brooks as a hero while Northerners were outraged. -
The Dred Scott Decision
James Buchanan thought that the Supreme Court should decide the question of slavery in these territories. Many Southerners pressured the Supreme Court justices on slavery. Southerners thought the majority of the court would favor their position and they were correct. Dred Scott was an enslaved man that was taken to live in the free territory. Scott sued to end his slavery, the time he spent in the free territory meant that he was free.
