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Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin
The invention of the cotton gin made a more effective way to harvest cotton manned by slaves. To produce more cotton more slaves were needed. -
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Events leading up to the South secession
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The Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon sells the Louisiana territory to the Americans to help fund his war. This new land makes America double in size with new resources and fertile land. -
Missouri Compromise
This compromise made by Henry Clay somewhat helped with the balance in the Senate at the time. This compromise stated that any new states under the 36:30 line would be a slave state, and states above would become free states. To make it equal Maine was adopted as a free state. -
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Manifest Destiny
Many Americans (middle class) left to establish homesteads and to mine gold. -
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The Mexican-American War
The Mexican American war was a result of the Americans annexing Texas. America wins the war and makes them sign the Treaty of Guadalupe which established that the Rio Grande was the border.. Mexico also cedes more than half of its territory to America including California and New Mexico. Opening up more land for settlers. The Wilmot Proviso was made saying that any land ceded by Mexico would become a free state. This was ultimately turned down, but still left the issue, slavery. -
Popular Sovereignty
Created by General Lewis Cass, let the people decide if they wanted their state to be a free state or a slave state. Most chose a free state which upset the balance in the senate. This led to the Compromise of 1850 which favored the north extremely. It admitted California as a free state, allowed New Mexico and Utah decided by popular sovereignty, abolished the slave trade in Washington D.C., and made provisions to the Fugitive Slave Law. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
this broke the compromise of 1850 by making all of the states below the 36:30 line become a slave state. This also birthed the Republican Party which strictly opposed slavery. Also, a book published called Tom's Cabin states the horror that had happened to the slaves which angered people even more.
