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David Walker
He also became a leader of the Colored Association. Walker published four articles in 1828 and in 1829, it became "Walker's Appeal". The message of this pamphlet was clear, if slaves were not given their freedom, they should revolt with violence. 50 copies of "Walker's Appeal" were sent to a black minister in Georgia in 1829. The minister was to afraid to supply slaves with the pamphlet so he reported it to authorities. In turn, the police informed the governor of Georgia. -
David Walker
The governor held a meeting with the state legislature and a bounty was put out for Walker, $1,000 dead or $10,000 alive. The fear of the threat of "Walker's Appeal" seemed logical when Nat Turner's rebellion took place in 1831. He died in Boston on June 28, 1830, under mysterious circumstances. -
David Walker
David Walker was born free on Sept. 28, 1785. He was very intellectual; he learned to read and write and studied subjects such as resistance to oppression and revolution. He moved out of the South at age 30 because "If I remain in this bloody land, I will not live long. As true as God reigns, I will be avenged for the sorrows which my people have suffered." In 1826, Walker became an agent for "Freedom's Journal", the black abolitionist newspaper, in Boston. -
The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 played an important role in the history of United States slavery. Missouri applied to join the Union as a slave state but Congress was unsure on whether or not they should require Missouri to become a free state. Along with slavery already existing in Missouri, no territory before was admitted to statehood conditionally. Therefore, the south had a very strong argument for Missouri to become a slave state. -
The Missouri Compromise
Despite the south’s argument, the north felt it would be unfair because Congress would become unbalanced, and there would be more pro-slavery votes than anti-slavery votes. James Tallmadge, a congressman from New York, proposed that no more slaves be brought into Missouri and child slaves be released at age 25. This all lead to the Missouri Compromise: an agreement that Missouri could join the Union as a slave state, but Maine would also join the Union as a free state. -
The Missouri Compromise
This would balance Congress. In this compromise, the 36’ 30’ line was created; this was a line that separated free territory from slave territory. All land north of the line would be free (except Missouri) and all land south of the line had the option to have slaves. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
3,000 troops were sent out to capture Nat Turner's group. A lot of slaves were captured, tried for participating in the rebellion, and executed. However, some slaves were found innocent and set free. Nat Turner himself went to jail, was tried in court, and hanged. A local southern lawyer, Thomas Gray, interviewed him. The lawyer ended up publishing a book called The Confessions of Nat Turner. -
Nat Turnenr's Rebellion
Nat Turner was a very smart and religious slave in Virginia. He was very unusual; he saw visions. In August of 1831, specifically the 21st through the 22nd, he led a group of about 60 to 70 slaves. This group started at the Travis plantation where Turner was a slave. This rebellious group managed to kill the entire Travis family along with other families on other plantations. In the end, they managed to kill 60 plantation owners and family members. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
About 200 slaves were killed in following years of the rebellion by mob violence. Even slaves in other states were tried and executed for being accused of participating in the rebellion. In all the difficulty in the lives of slaves in the years following the rebellion, they wanted their freedom more than ever. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Within this book, Gray claims that Turner stated, "My object was to carry terror and devastation werever we went." It is still, to this day, very controversial on whether or not they were the true confessions of Nat Turner. Southern courts decided that the plantation owners would be reimbursed for the slaves that they lost. The rebellion scared slave owners; this was not a good thing for slaves. -
The Underground Railroad
This lasted from the 1830s until 1865 (after the Civil War). These people and places stretched from the upper south all the way up to Lake Erie and Canada and from the east coast to the western border of Illinois. There was a need because without it, most if not all fugitives in the north would both be caught and brought back into slavery or they would die while on the run. People had different roles in the Underground Railroad. -
The Underground Railroad
A conductor would guide the runaways to a safe place, usually a stationmaster’s house. A stationmaster would hide fugitives on his/her property and let them rest. A stockholder was one who donated food, clothes, and money to the Underground Railroad for fugitives to use. The Underground Railroad took a lot of dedication by abolitionists. -
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was one of the most dangerous and courageous acts in all the history of the United States of America. It involved runaway slaves (fugitives), abolitionists, free blacks, and former slaves. These groups included Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, Frederick Douglass, and William Still. The Underground Railroad was a secret network of people and places that helped fugitives reach freedom and safety, which in most cases was Canada. -
Underground Railroad
I chose this date, May 4, 1834, because the Underground Railroad is said to have started in the early-mid 1830s and the reason I chose May 4 is that slaves usually escaped in early spring and I made an assumption that they wouldn't arrive to people on the Underground Railroad until about early May, -
Compromise of 1850
In 1850, the Union was equal with the same number of free states and slave states. California wanted to become a free state, but that made the South upset because this would mean that there would be more free states than slave states and the government power balance would be in the anti-slavery supporters' favor. Henry Clay, or "The Great Compromiser", begged for the North and South to compromise. He was 73 and he was sick and weak. However, he was still determined to find an answer. -
Compromise of 1850
Senator John C. Calhoun from South Carolina was opposed to Clay. He wanted slavery to be allowed in the western territories and if it wasn't, he though all Slave states should secede. He was dying from tuberculosis. The debate carried on and in the midst of it, both Calhoun and President Taylor died. The new president was Millard Fillmore and he liked the idea of Henry Clay's compromise. After more than 70 speeches, Clay was too sick to fight anymore; Stephen Douglass took over for him. -
Compromise of 1850
Douglass helped get the compromise passed. It had five parts. The first part of the Compromise of 1850 was that California was allowed to become a free state. Second, the land gained from the Mexican Amercian War would be voted in by popular sovereignty to decide whether slavery would be outlawed there or not. Third, slave trade was no longer permitted in the nations capital, Washington D.C. However, slavery would still be allowed there. -
Compromise of 1850
There was also a dispute in Texas over where the official border was; it was resolved by this compromise. Texas would be paid $10 million to give up the land it was fighting for. The last part was the Fugitive Slave Act. Under this act, all people in the country had to help catch runaway slaves. People who knew of a runaways but still didn't report them were either fined or put in prison for up to six months. Judges were paid more money to send a runaway back to slavery rather than free them. -
Compromise of 1850
This extra money for judges meant that free black men and women would be sent to the South for slavery. This outraged abolitionists; many blacks were scared and fled to Canada. This act put the Underground Railroad in full effect. Although this resolved issues at the time, everyone knew a civil war was coming. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This all made the southerners very happy; the northerners weren't so happy. In fact, they were outraged by it. Northern Democrats denounced Douglas. This became a bill on May 30, 1854 and eventually led to "Bleeding Kansas". -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Stephen Douglas wanted to be president and by proposing this act, he thought he could please everyone; little did he know, this would raise the tensions of the North and South to a boiling point. The Kansas-Nebraska Act proclaimed that "popular sovereignty", or a vote in the territories, would determine whether they would become free states or slave states. This basically said that the country should forget about the 36'30' line created by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. -
Bleeding Kansas
It all started with the tension created between the North and South when the Kansas-Nebraska Act became a bill in 1854. The first act of violence was performed by the pro-slavery suppoters; they looted from an anti-slavery camp in Lawrence, Kansas. This raid stirred a big reaction from abolitionist John Brown. John Brown was a very stern, but religious man; he believed he was an instrument of God. -
Bleeding Kansas
John Brown led several New Englanders, who rushed to the Kansas/Nebraska territories to vote, to a pro-slavery camp near Pottawatomie Creek where they, in the middle of the night, dragged five men from their homes and killed them with swords in front of there families. These two acts of violence started a whole summer full of violence and murderous raids in Kansas giving it the nickname "Bleeding Kansas"; this violence also spread to the nation's capital. -
Bleeding Kansas
I chose this date, May 24, 1856, because this is the day that the Pottawatomie Creek massacre that was led by John brown occured. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was born in Virginia as a slave in 1799.In 1830, his owners, the Blow family, moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly after arriving there, they sold Dred to an army doctor just south of the city. Over the next 12 years, Scott accompanied Dr. Emerson in the Wisconsin and Illinois territories which were free territories. He ended up marrying Harriet Robinson, another slave, but did not fight to stay behind when Emerson moved back to Missouri in 1842. -
Dred Scott Case
After the death of the doctor the following year, his widow made Dred and his family work for other people to earn money for herself. Three years later, Scott decided to sue for his freedom. It was an ongoing court battle between Dred and Mrs. Emerson; she had one the first time, but then he appealed and won the second time. The State Supreme Court overturned the decision of Scott's appeal. Mrs. Emerson then turned the Scott family over to her brother, John Sanford. -
Dred Scott Case
I chose this date, March 6, 1857, because this the day the final decision of the Dred Scott Case was made. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred continued to fight for his freedom; an abolitionist lawyer agreed to present his case to the Supreme Court. Throughout the case, they had to rule whether their decisions were in line with the U.S. Constitution. The first aspect of it was to decide whether or not Scott was even a citizen of Missouri; he wasn't. Slaves are considered property or an inferior race. The second aspect was to decide if the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was even legal. -
Dred Scott Case
By the words of the U.S. Constitution, the government can't deny you of your personal properties. Since slaves were considered property, the government could not grant Scott and his family their freedom even if they had stayed in free territory for 12 years. This decision basically outruled the 36'30' line and made it as if it never existed. In 1857, Mrs. Emerson gave the Scott family back to the Blow family and they gave Dred his freedom. Although he died the next year, he was a free man. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The North nominated Stephen Douglas of Illinois and the South nominated John C. Breckinridge, the current Vice President. Breckinridge was committed to an aggressive policy of expanding slavery. In contrast, Republican William Henry Seward of New York was committed to an aggressive policy of ending slavery. Even though this is what the Republicans really wanted, they felt he was too extreme to run for president and wouldn't get the votes of people 'still on the fence'. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The presidential election of 1860 was very different and unique from other elections. Three parties elected four candidates to run for president; those parties were the Republicans, the Democrats, and the Constitutional Union. The Democrats chose two candidates, one northern and one southern, because the southern Democrats (which was most of the party) did not agree with the northern Democrats. They made the division official when they met in Baltimore in the summer of 1860. -
Presidential Election of 1860
They wanted to win the swing states (PA, IN, and IL). Abraham Lincoln, however, held more moderate views toward slavery the Republicans felt he could attract the votes they needed and certainly win his home state, Illinois; they nominated him. Southerners had heard too much extreme anti-slavery language from the Republicans so they couldn't trust them. The Constitutional Union party was formed by less extreme southerners and a meager amount of northerners. These moderates were former Whigs. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The Constitutional Union nominated John Bell of Tennessee, a moderate slaveowner, to run for president. The election was essentially two elections, one in the North between Lincoln and Douglas and one in the South between Bell and Breckinridge. Lincoln won every free state with the exception of New Jersey which they split with Douglas Democrats. Breckinridge won all of the South with the exception of the border states. Bell took the border states. Douglas took Missouri. -
Presidential Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln recieved 180 out of 303 electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote. Stephen Douglas recieved 12 out of 303 electoral votes and 29 percent of the popular vote. John C. Breckinridge recieved 72 out of 303 electoral votes and 18 percent of the popular vote. John Bell recieved 39 out of 303 electoral votes and 13 percent of the popular vote. Lincoln's victory was decisive, but sectional because he did not get one southern vote. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was a Union fort that was an island surrounded by Confederate forts and gun batteries. This made the fort very easy to capture. It was located in Charleston, SC, a state that was part of the Confederacy since it had seceded from the Union. In the eyes of Confederates, Fort Sumter was the enemy's fort. As a result, they attacked. Conf. Gen. Beauregard from New Orleans was called to duty to lead the attack. He said he was going to form a "ring of fire" around the island. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Abraham Lincoln didn't believe that the Confederacy was an independent country. He felt it was safe to send his supply ships through the rivers and harbors of Confederate territory. While Fort Sumter was under attack, Union supply ships were on route to Charleston Harbor where the attack took place, but they didn't want to get into the battle so they stayed behind. If they were to try to reach the fort, they would have had to go through the Main Ship Channel. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
This attack marked the start of the Civil War. The Union would not go without revenge, and after all, they had an army and money and the South didn't. The South thought they were ready and that the war would be easy because they were outdoorsmen and better with weapons than the North. Little did both sides know, the war would be a tough and brutal occurence that would last four years.
