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The Missouri Compromise
When Missouri and Maine applied to be states, congress did not want the power to be uneven, so Henry Clay created the Missouri Compromise. It stated that Missouri would become a slave state while the territory of Maine would be a free state. This pleased the North and the South. Along with the new territories, the Missouri Compromise line would be in effect. Future states north of the line would be free states, while states below the line would become slave states. -
Wilmot Proviso
Between 1820 and 1848, the Mexican Cession, the territory that America fought and won from Mexico, was questioned whether it would become a free state or a slave state. Wilmot Proviso proposed a law to Congress that would ban all slavery in all of the Mexican Cession states. The bill passed in the Senate but it did not pass in the House. Though the law did not pass, southerners were angry that Congress was considering the law. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850 to Congress that would address five laws related to slavery: California would become a free state, civilians in the Utah and New Mexico territories would decide on slavery through popular sovereignty, the Slave Trade in Washington D.C. would end(but not slavery), the Fugitive Slave Law would be in effect, and the territory of Texas would be apart of the Union in return for ten million dollars to Mexico. -
The Fugitive Slave Act
A lot of Southern slaves were escaping the plantations, and their owners wanted them back. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 allowed officers to arrest anyone accused of being a runaway slave. Suspects had no right to a trial. Northern civilians were required by law to report any runaway slaves to authorities, otherwise they would be prosecuted. This made the North very upset because they had to participate in the practice of capturing slaves and putting them back on plantations. -
Uncle Toms Cabin
After the Fugitive Slave Law passed in 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the daughter of an abolitionist speaker, was deeply moved by the events before her. In 1853, Stowe published the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which told of an enslaved man who was abused by his master. Many Northerners were shocked and they began viewing slavery as a serious moral problem more than a political issue. But, many white Southerners said that the book had misleading information that was meant to further a cause . -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
After the Fugitive Slave Law passed in 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the daughter of an abolitionist speaker, was deeply moved by the events before her. In 1853, Stowe published the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which told of a slave who was abused by his master. Many Northerners were shocked and they began viewing slavery as a serious moral problem more than a political issue. On the other hand, many white Southerners said that the book had misleading information that was meant to further a cause. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act
Many Southerners wanted to admit Kansas Nebraska territory as a slave state even though it was above the Missouri Compromise line. In 1854, Stephen Douglas helped pass the Kansas Nebraska Act, which allowed the people to vote on the issue, Southerners agreed to this act because they thought Kansas would become a slave state, but Northerners were mad, feeling that Douglas had betrayed them by allowing more slave states. Many people had migrated to the states and caused rage and violence. -
The Dred Scott Case
In 1857, a slave named Dred Scott was sued for his freedoms. Scott lived with his owner in places where slavery was illegal. He argued that he was free man. The Chief Justice Roger B Taney proposed to the Dred Scott case that Scott couldn't sue because he was a slave, living in a free state did not make him free, and slaves were considered property by law, so therefore Scott couldn't sue for his liberties. Taney also ruled that Congress didn't have the power to ban slavery in free territories. -
Lincoln Douglas Debate
The Lincoln and Douglas debate was 7 separate debates that were held for Lincoln and Douglas throughout the state of Illinois, the debating matter was whether or not slavery should exist in the united states, Lincoln had taken the side of a free union while Douglas had supported slavery. All of theses debates were on stake to get the presidency and have power over the union and its decisions on slavery. -
John Browns Raid
John Brown was a man who wanted to end slavery, so he started his own little militia that included him and his sons, his plan was to attack Harpers Ferry, Virginia on October 16, 1859, and to supply themselves with the weapons, and supplies that they needed for more attacks, they had picked up some slaves on the way and got in a battle between themselves and some local citizens, eventually authorities had arrived and arrested Brown and sentenced him to hanging. -
The southern session
The southern secession started with South Carolina seceding from the union, then days later almost the whole south had seceded and held a meeting to start their own government. After the many states had left they met and decided that Jefferson Davis would be their president for the south. The south was then deemed as its own country and was against the north and its government. This affected the history of the united states forever by being start to the civil war. -
Lincolns election of 1860
During the election of 1860 there was lots of controversy between whether we should have a president for or against slavery. The two candidates for the presidency were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln was voted into office in 1860 by mostly the voters in the north who didn't support slavery. The election was known as the primary catalyst of the American Civil war, and on Monday, March 4 of 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president.
