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Missouri Compromise
Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise seeming to solve problems by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, keeping the number of free and slave states equal. It also divided the rest of the Western States into slave and free territory. Congress passed a bill granting Missouri the right to be a slave state under the condition that slavery was prohibited to spread above the Missouri Line. After this event, Congress tried to balance the number of free and slave states. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal created by David Wilmot on August 8th, 1846 to ban slavery in the Mexican Cession territories. This was created to stop the expansion of slavery into the new territories. The proposal was turned down but the Southerners still were angry with the North for this. They saw it as an attack. The conflict over the Wilmot Proviso was a major factor leading to the American Civil War -
Compromise of 1850
Clay's Compromise of 1850 allowed slavery to grow above the line of the Missouri Compromise. It also allowed slavery to not be practiced in certain states such as California and Washington D.C. New Mexico and Utah could decide if they wanted slavery. Henry Clay proposed this compromise to settle the differences between the North and the South. The South threatened to secede. The South gained the Fugitive Slave Act. The North gained a new state, California. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was a part of the Compromise of 1850. John C. Calhoun created this law so that runaway slaves or anyone accused of being a runaway slave would be sent back to their owners. Slaves could be returned even when in a free state. Northerners began to resist this law because it made slavery look even worse. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin and it was very graphic and used to exposed the issue of slavery. Uncle Tom's Cabin exposed slavery and changed our nation's view on slavery. Slave owners were the political elite in the South. Slavery was more popular in the south because the economy depended on it. The South felt targeted and claimed these were false statements since they were secondary encounters. The Compromise of 1850 kept our country united at the time. -
Kansas/Nebraska Act
The Kansas/Nebraska Act passed by Franklin Pierce in 1854, stated that Kansas and Nebraska could choose whether they would be free or slave based on the popular vote. Population rose in both states from the northerners and southerners looking to help vote. Violence struck over this issue. The violence carried on into the Senate when Charles Sumner had a brawl with Andrew Butler. The act eradicated the laws of the Missouri Compromise. Every bit of compromise the states had failed them by 1856. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott sued for his freedom and his argument was that he lived in two states where slavery was illegal (Illinois and Wisconsin). It took 10 years to finish. He did not get his freedom because he was not a citizen and because he was property protected by the US Constitution. Scott believed that he could sue because he had lived in two states with his master where slavery was illegal. The issue was settled in 1857.The Dred Scott decision brought more tension on the slavery issue. -
Lincoln Douglas Debate
Lincoln and Douglas both decided to run for senator of Illinois. Lincoln was against the expansion of slavery and thought it was bad. Douglas wanted states to pick whether they would be free or slave. They would go on the road for several debates. Douglas ended up winning the position. But Lincoln became a national figure. This debate brought the issue of slavery to light even more than before. -
John Brown’s Raid
John Brown was a religious man who opposed slavery. John Brown helped in the Underground Railroad as well. His motives were based on the Bible. John Brown raised a group of people to help free slaves in the South and attack the Harper Ferry. He believed he had to help the poor in those in pain (slaves). John Brown was charged for treason and hanged to his death. His speech before his death lived on. -
Lincoln's Election of 1860
It was time for new candidates for the new president. Lincoln was a republican who criticized slavery, Breckinridge (southern democrats) supported slavery, Bell (constitutional union) wanted to protect slavery, and Douglas (northern democrats) wanted popular sovereignty. Lincoln ended up winning in the electoral college and all of the free states. Most northerners were happy, but not southerners. This election would lead to the south seceding. -
Southern Secession
In response to the election of Lincoln, the Southern states seceded. Starting with South Carolina on December 20th, 1860, the state that always threatened to secede. Jefferson Davis was named the president of the Confederate South. The South was seceding from the union because they felt that that the Government opposed their interests. South Carolina wanted US troops to surrender Fort Sumter. Lincoln sent help, but the troops ended up surrendering. The secession ultimately led to the Civil War.
