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With the hope of ending slavery, the Restriction of slave trade was added to the Constitution. This clause stated that the migration or importation of slaves will not be allowed prior to 1808. Adding that a tax of $10 per person will be enforced if a slave is imported. While both a political and economic event, this ultimately did not end slavery as we are learning in the years to come. If anything, this enhanced the divide of the ongoing slavery debate. -
The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the ongoing political battle of slave and free states. It was proposed that Missouri would be a slave state, Maine would be a free state and the land in remaining Louisiana Purchase would prohibit slavery. The Missouri Compromise merely delayed the debate of political balance of slave and free states as the sentiment of slavery being morally wrong by Democrats. The Dred Scott decision declared this compromise unconstitutional. -
The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal from Democrat David Wilmot that slavery would not be allowed in any territory gained from Mexico. This infuriated Southerners who believed this would impact slavery in other territories across the country. Although proposal was passed in the House of Representatives, this political event was refused by the Senate. Once again, this led to more political divide of the North and South and discontent of the Southerners in favor of slavery. -
With Westward Expansion in full swing and the political divide of slavery still strong, the Compromise of 1850 was introduced by Senator Henry Clay to settle slavery battles. California requested to be in the Union as a non slave state. This came with many complications of other territories that has been acquired from Mexico. While Clay tried to put multiple compromises in place to balance free and slave states, this political event was only temporary until the Fugitive Slave Act was created. -
Under the Fugitive Slave Act, any enslaved or free African American, could be charged with being a runaway. Not having anyway to prove their innocence, this act was a benefit to slaveholders. Federal commissioners would get paid $10 if slave was found guilty, but only $5 if found innocent. Horribly corrupt political and economic event that led to the Underground Railroad led by Harriet Tubman, who sought to give slaves freedom in the Northern states or Canada via secret runways. Yay Harriet!!! -
After receiving a letter from her sister-in-law describing the deplorable ways that slaves were being treated, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was encouraged to pen an article depicting the horrors of slavery. Article turned into a book about Uncle Tom who was tortured and killed by Simon Legree, his owner. This book was a huge hit with abolitionists in the North, however in the South it was condemned for it's 'lack of truth'. This book enhanced the already tense social divisions surrounding slavery. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act allowed the territories of Kansas & Nebraska to decide whether or not slavery would be permitted. While President Pierce thought this would create peace, it did the opposite leading the the Bleeding Kansas violence due to those against slavery and those for slavery. This political and social event was another catalyst leading to the Civil War due to the proslavery and antislavery divide in the United States. -
Bleeding Kansas was a battleground of those for and against slavery. Intense violence broke out between the two sides and this event was fundamentally the precursor to the Civil War. This social and political event set the stage for the ongoing debate of the future of slavery in the United States. For the Abolitionist's who were trying to stop the practice of slavery in the U.S., 'Bleeding Kansas' was an historical event. -
Charles Sumner was vehemently opposed to slavery. After giving a 5 hour speech, "The Crime Against Kansas" (Topic 5:1), he outraged two senators using slanderous vocabulary that incensed the cousin of Senator Andrew Butler, Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery politician. Brooks took it upon himself to violently attack Sumner with a cane to a state of unconsciousness. This attack was among many that occurred during this time of political unrest over slavery across the nation. -
The Dred Scott Decision was a landmark case where the U.S. Supreme Court denied U.S. citizenship to African American people and freedoms associated with citizenship, regardless of their status of free or enslaved. In his case, he lived in Illinois (a free state) but was a slave in Missouri thus rendering the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. This social/political event was by far one of the worst decisions made by the U.S. judicial system. -
The Westward Expansion of the U.S. while great for many did not apply to all African Americans during that period. The expansion increased the number of slaves, pushing slavery into territories that had been under political strife for decades. While multiple compromises had been attempted to balance the slavery debate, sadly, the North and South and their sectional divide started The Civil War.