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Missouri Compromise
Originally published on 6 March 1820, the Missouri Compromise determined that Maine was a free state, and Missouri was a slave state. Additionally, it stated that no state (other than Missouri) above latitude 36°30′ would permit slavery. The main purpose of the Missouri Compromise was to balance the power in Congress between slave and free states. Created tensions between the Northern and Southern States -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850, passed by Congress in September of 1850, contained five provisions.
1. California became a part of the Union as a free state
2. The remaining Mexican cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah
3. The claim of Texas to a part of New Mexico was agreed upon with a payment of $10 million
4. Amendment and passing of the Fugitive Slave Act
5. Buying and selling slaves was abolished in the District of Columbia (but not slavery itself). -
Fugitive Slave Act
An Act passed in 1850, in the United States, that slaves, regardless of freedom status were to be returned to their owners. This left it mainly up to the slave owners and their hired slave catchers to capture and return. People of Colour in all States, despite being considered "free" in the North, would be forced to return to their "owners". This made many in the Northern States more defiant in their support of fugitives. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
"Uncle Tom's Cabin", or "Life Among the Lowly", is an Anti-Slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published on 20 March 1852. It tells the tale of "the good-hearted slave, Uncle Tom" facing extreme challenges and hardship. It aimed to show how Christian love can overcome any human cruelty. The novel had an intense impact on the attitudes around slavery at the time, and "helped lay the groundwork for the American Civil War" -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This bill proposed by Senator Stephen Douglas, divided the land directly west of Missouri into two, Kansas and Nebraska. He suggested that the settlers in each state could determine slavery's legality. Both states were above latitude 36°30′, going against the Missouri Compromise. Settlers rushed to the new states as soon as the bill was passed to determine the results, and eventually, a violent conflict arose, "Bleeding Kansas". The United States moved closer to civil war. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott case was a decade-long fight for the freedom of enslaved black man, Dred Scott. The main argument for his freedom was that he was living in a free state and territory where slavery was prohibited. In 1857, the US High Court ruled that, as an enslaved man, Scott was not a citizen, but another person's property under the Constitution. The court's decision angered abolitionists and served as a stepping stone to the Civil War. -
Lincoln/Douglas Debates
The Lincoln/Douglas Debates were a series of formal political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas that took place to decide one of Illinois' two US Senate seats. Over the course of seven debates, Douglas accused Lincoln of being an abolitionist while Lincoln accused Douglas of wanting to nationalise slavery. Lincoln lost this election, but it brought him to national prominence, leading to his election as President. -
John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown was born into an anti-slavery family. After attending an abolitionist rally in 1937, he was so moved, he decided to dedicate himself to the eradication of slavery in America. On October 16, 1859, John Brown and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out en route to Harpers Ferry. Over the next few days, they took hostages, raided the armoury, and 16 men died until the 19th, when the US Marines arrived and arrested Brown. This siege was known as a prelude to the Civil War. -
Election of President Abraham Lincoln
In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln ran against John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), John Bell (Constitutional Union), and Stephen A. Douglas (Northern Democrat). He was originally part of the Whig Party, but switched parties, becoming the first Republican president of the U.S. Since Lincoln opposed slavery, his election was the key factor in the session of the Southern States, forming the Confederate States of America. On April 12, the Civil War began with shots fired on Fort Sumter.