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Missouri Compromise
Due to increasing debates over the growth of slavery, Henry Clay, the "Great Compromiser", rules that Maine will be admitted as a free state, and Arkansas as a slave state. The Missouri Compromise was a series that helped keep the balance between slave and free states. -
The Nullification Crisis
The South felt that tariffs were an injustice, and only were set to benefit the North. The Vice President John C. Calhoun said that any state could nullify a law passed by Congress that it feels is unconstitutional. The federal government argued that South Carolina was wrong. However, South Carolina then threatened to secede. Henry Clay made a compromise that lowered the price of the tariff, and the South then accepted the tariff. -
Compromise of 1850
There were many arguments over whether the new land acquired from Mexico were to be slave or free states. Henry Clay, again, assisted in creating this compromise. Congress and Henry Clay ruled that California was to be admitted as a free state, and that Congress would not pass laws that stopped the growth of slavery in the rest of the won territories. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed by Congress. It allowed escaped slaves to be captured and sent back to the South, if they managed to get to the North. Some African-Americans who have lived in the North their entire lives got sent back, too. Tensions rose and led the US even closer to a Civil War. -
Bleeding Kansas
Kansas was holding an election to determine whether it was going to be a slave state or free state. 5000 people from Missouri, a slave state, voted in favor of slavery illegally. Kansas became a slave state. Abolitionists started their own government, but was attack by forces from slave states. Fueled with vengeance, John Brown murdered 5 pro-slavery people. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a former slave who sued his owner for his freedom. The case made it up to the Supreme Court, and they ruled that he is the property of his owner, and that he is not a citizen. -
Attack on Harpers Ferry
John Brown planned to steal from and capture an arsenal with the help of his sons and nearby slaves. With the weapons from the base in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, he wanted to arm the slaves that came to his aid. However, no slaves showed up, and John and his men were captured. Many abolitionists were proud of John Brown, but he was executed. Tensions between the two sides were growing more tempestuous. -
The Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln wins the election. Southerners don't trust him, despite Lincoln never saying he'll end slavery. Slave states start to secede after the election. His main opponent was Stephen Douglas, who promised to keep slavery.
