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The Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to become a state of the Union. Some people did not want Missouri to become state without certain conditions. James Tallmadge, a Congressmen from the north, wanted to make Missouri a state as long as no more slaves be brought into Missouri and that slaves that are already there are to be freed at the age of 25. This was known as the Tallmadge amendment. -
The Missouri Compromise
Southerners were appalled by the Tallmadge amendment because they did not find it fair that no other conditions were set for a territory to become a state. For this reason, the Tallmadge amendment was passed in the House of Representatives but was rejected in the Senate. Southerners also argued that slaves should not become a free state because slaves were already there. The northerners however, wanted Missouri to become a free state. -
The Missouri Compromise
This issue came to an end due to the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state, but every state north of latitude 36 30 a free state. Also, Maine joined the Union when Missouri did, making there 12 free states and 12 slave states. In short, the Missouri Compromise settled the issue with the north and the south. -
William Still
William Still was born on October 7, 1821 in Indian Mills, New Jersey. He was a free black man whose mother was an escaped slave. Still interviewed every slave that he came in contact with and kept records of his interviews. He ended up interviewing a slave that he eventually found out was his brother. The records that he kept are still some of the few accounts of the Underground Railroad that are still around today. -
William Still
He began working in the Philadelphia Antislavery Society Offices shortly after marrying his wife in 1847. He then campaigned to end segregation on Philadelphia trolley cars in 1867 and was successful. Next, in 1884 Still started a Berean Presbyterian Church and four years later started a black-owned Savings and Loan company. William Still was known as the "Father of the Underground Railroad." -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner and his followers raided about 60 plantation in all and had about 60-70 slaves to do so. Virginia sent out about 3,000 troops to capture Nat Turner and his followers. Nat Turner was captured a few months after the rebellion ended and was tried in court, found guilty, and then hanged. This rebellion scared many slave owners and approximately 200 slaves died that next few years because of mob violence. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
The rebellion also caused Southern states to pass new laws limiting what slaves were allowed to do. Nat Turner's Rebellion was meant to put enough fear in slave owner's eyes to free their slaves, but it just made the slave owners more cruel and violent towards them. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner had visions on August 21, 1831 about freeing his bretheren by killing slave owners and their families. Nat Turner was the leader of the slave rebellion. Nat Turner's Rebellion started out in Virginia when he and a few other slaves murdered the Travis family. The group of slaves then moved from plantation to plantation murdering the families that owned them and added more slaves to their rebellion. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 occurred January 29, 1850 when Senator Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser, introduced the compromise to the senate. Senator Henry Clay had to create a compromise because conflicts were rising between the North and the South. Along with Senator Henry Clay, Senator Stephen Douglass was in favor of the compromise. Stephen Douglass took over for Henry Clay to push for a compromise when Clay died. -
The Compromise of 1850
Another part of the compromise was that slave trade was outlawed in D.C., but was still allowed slaves. After that, Texas had to give up land that it was fighting for and if it did then Texas would gain 10 million dollars to pay off debts owed to Mexico. Finally, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed. This law made everyone in the country have to help catch runaway slaves and return them to the South. If a person allowed a slave to get away then that person could be fined or jailed. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 alleviated tensions between the North and the South, but war was inevitable. -
The Compromise of 1850
President Millard Fillmore was another key person who was in favor of a compromise. One key person from South Carolina is Senator John C Calhoun. John C. Calhoun was in favor of states' rights and breaking away from the North if need be. The Compromise of 1850 made California a free state. The compromise also let people on the land won in the Mexican American War get to decide whether they were free or slave states. -
The Underground Railroad
Station masters were the keepers of the safe-houses or "stations." Then, stockholders were people who donated money, clothing, or food to the Underground Railroad. Finally, passengers, known as freight, cargo, or baggage, were escaping slaves. -
The Underground Railroad
No one knows exactly when the Underground Railroad started or ended, bur Harriet Tubman made her first trip on the Underground Railroad on April 20, 1853 rescuing her sister and her two sister's children. It is estimated that the Underground Railroad ended around the same time that the Union beat the Confederates in the Civil War. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes, people, and codes helping slaves escape from the South to freedom in the North. -
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was needed so that slaves could become free. Without the Underground Railroad it would be very difficult for slaves to escape from his or her owner and make it all the way to Canada. The Underground Railroad occurred all throughout the country. Slaves escaped from swamps located from Georgia to Virginia. The Appalachian Mountains, that ran from Georgia all the way to Maine, were also an escape route for many young male slaves. -
The Underground Railroad
Most of the slaves that escaped were from the Northern Southern states such as Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, and Maryland. The Underground Railroad worked by Peg Leg Joe, someone who taught slaves the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd," teaching the slaves the song to freedom. The slaves then memorized the song and around wintertime the slaves started heading north. The slaves used the song to guide themselves North until they met up with an Underground Railroad worker. -
The Underground Railroad
The worker would help the slaves get to Canada, or sometimes other Northern states, through stations and shepherds. Many different people were involved in the Underground Railroad. For instance, there were conductors, shepherds, station masters, stockholders, and passengers. First, conductors were people who operated the Underground Railroad and led escaping slaves along the route to safety. Next, shepherds were the people escorting the slaves. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed on May 30, 1854 by Stephen Douglass. Stephen Douglass wanted to run for president, so he introduced this act to gain southern supporters and keep northern supporters. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 that made every state above the 36 30 line, except for Missouri. Now that Kansas and Nebraska were not automatically free states, they had popular sovereignty. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Popular soveriegnty let the states decide whether they were to be free or slave states. Many proslavery supporters moved into Nebraska to make Nebraska a slave state. While proslavery supporters moved into the territory, so did antislavery supporters. When these two different groups moved in to the same territory many conflicts broke out. The Kansas-Nebraska Act started all of these conflicts, known as the summer of Bleeding Kansas. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas started on May 24, 1856 when John Brown led antislavery supporters in an attack on proslavery settlers near Pottawatomie Creek. Bleeding Kansas lasted throughout the summer of 1856 all throughout Kansas. Bleeding Kansas occurred because of The Kansas-Nebraska Act. This act stated that the 36 30 line was no longer in effect it abolished The Missouri Compromise. -
Bleeding Kansas
Now that this line no longer existed Kansas and Nebraska had popular sovereignty, giving them the right to determine if they were going to be free or slave states. When The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, both proslavery and antislavery supporters moved to Nebraska to make it either a free or slave state. Quarrels broke out all over Kansas when an act of violence occurred in Lawrence Kansas led by proslavery supporters. -
Bleeding Kansas
John Brown reacted with an attack on proslavery settlers near Pottawatomie Creek and by raiding Harpers Ferry, a military arsenal. These events started murderous raids all throughout Kansas fiving the territory the name, “Bleeding Kansas.” -
Dred Scott Case
Scott felt that he was a free man from living in free territories for so long. Three years after his owner died, Scott sued for his freedom against Mrs. Emmerson. He lost the initial case,and then appealed and the case was overturned to Scott's favor. Mrs. Emmerson then appealed to that decision and it was overturned again. She was tired of dealing with Scott so she sent him to her brother, John Sanford. -
Dred Scott Case
After Chief Justice Taney ruled Scott property and the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, Scott and his family were gave back to the Blow family, his original owners. The Blow family gave the Scott's their freedom, but Scott died a year later. -
Dred Scott Case
On March 6, 1857 Chief Justice Taney ruled that Dred Scott did not have the right to sue because he was property of John Sanford. Taney also ruled that the Missouri Compromise, passed in 1820, was unconstitutional because it was illegal for the government to tell people that they could not move freely through the country with their private property. Dred Scott accompanied his owner, Dr. Emmerson, through Illinois and Wisconsin for 12 years, both free territories. -
The Election of 1860
The Presidential election of 1860 occurred on November 6, 1860. Republican Abraham Lincoln was running against Democrats Stephen Douglass and John Breckinridge. Lincoln also ran against John Bell, candidate for the Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln’s vies were to stop the expansion of slavery, Breckinridge’s views were aggressive to expand slavery, Douglass’s views were popular sovereignty, and Bell was neutral. -
The Election of 1860
The Southerners were sick of the Northerners and this election was “the straw that broke the camel's back.” -
The Election of 1860
Lincoln won all of the Northern States except for Southern New Jersey, which Douglass won along with Missouri. Breckinridge won all of the Southern States, while Bell won the Border States. Since there was a higher population in the North, Lincoln won with 180 electoral votes. Breckinridge had 72 electoral votes, Bell had 39 electoral votes, and Douglass had only 12. This election outraged the South. All of the Southern votes went to Breckinridge, and he still lost by a landslide. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
General Beauregard threatened that he would form a “circle of fire” around Fort Sumter if General Anderson did not surrender. Since General Anderson did not surrender, General Beauregard ordered his troops to fire on Fort Sumter. The bombardment went on for 24 hours until General Anderson surrendered the following morning. During the bombardment, Union supply ships were in route to supply Fort Sumter with much needed supplies. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter on the morning of April 12, 1861. Union troops were occupying the fort. Fort Sumter was located in the Charleston Harbor near South Carolina. Two Confederate forts along with eight Confederate gun batteries surrounded Fort Sumter. Confederate General Beauregard got the “okay” from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to fire on Fort Sumter after warning Union General Anderson to surrender. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The ships did not try to reach Fort Sumter because if they did try then they probably would have been sunk by Confederate forces. This attack on Fort Sumter started the most bloodies war in American history. This terrible war was known as the American Civil War.
