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Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner's Rebellion was a rebellion of enslaved people led by Nat Turner that resulted in the death of about 55 white people. The rebellion spread fear among the Southerners, and deepened the divide between slave holders and non-slave holders. The few rights that both slaves, and free African Americans had were taken away by Virginia lawmakers. Education was prohibited, and the right to assemble was limited. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery in the territory gained from the Mexican War. This proposal passed through the House of Representatives but was denied in the Senate. While this proposal failed, it sparked one of the first serious discussions of secession. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was made up of five bills that attempted to resolve disputes over slavery and territorial expansion.The compromise admitted California as a free state, and left Utah and New Mexico to decide whether to be a slave state or free state. To satisfy slave-state politicians, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. In the end, neither the North nor the South were happy with the agreement, and both sides eventually grew agitated about the state of affairs. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act allowed any free African American living in the North to be returned to their master. Many abolitionists fought against the capture and return of these runaway slaves. This weakened the Slave Act and frustrated slave owners. Those who complied with the act and captured the "fugitives," were given bonuses, but anyone found to be assisting the slaves, were fined and punished. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was an abolitionist novel. It achieved wide popularity in the North by vividly explaining the experience of slavery. This anti-slavery novel significantly changed attitudes toward African Americans and slavery. The novel strengthened Northern abolitionism, and weakened British sympathy for the Southern cause. It has been that Uncle Tom's Cabin helped "lay the groundwork for the Civil War." -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act mandated popular sovereignty, allowing a territory to decide whether slavery would be allowed within a new state’s borders. The act reversed the Missouri Compromise and allowed slavery in the remaining areas of the Louisiana Purchase. This helped to lead to the Civil War a tensions between the North and South continued to increase. -
Mexican-American War
The war resulted in the United States’ gaining Mexican territory extending westward from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean. The Mexican-American war changed the slavery debate between Northerners and Southerners over what to do with the newly acquired land. -
Dred Scott v Sandford
Dred Scott was an enslaved man whose owners had taken him from Missouri into Illinois where slavery was illegal. When his owners brought him back to Missouri, Scott sued in court for his freedom. The Court ruled that black people "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States." -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown supported violent action against the South to end slavery, and he played a role in starting the Civil War. After the Pottawatomie Massacre, Brown returned to the North and began more threatening act. Brown and 19 supporters led a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan was to take the town's federal armory and ignite an uprising against slavery. -
Abraham Lincoln's Election
As a Republican, Abraham Lincoln's anti-slavery outlook struck terror into many Southerners. In the months following Lincoln’s election, seven Southern states seceded, setting the stage for the American Civil War. Lincoln's opposition to slavery, and will to preserve the Thirteenth Amendment, contributed to officially ending slavery in America.
