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The Missouri Compromise (Part 1)
The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820, which was put into place as an effort to preserve the balance of powers in Congress between slave states and free states. The law was passed admitting Missouri into the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery from the remaining lands of the Louisiana Purchase located north of the 36º 30’ parallel. The Missouri Compromise was repealed in 1854 by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
The Missouri Compromise (Part 2)
- Led to a sectional crisis because it had completely divided the country.
- Exposed just how divisive the slavery issue had grown.
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Nat Turner's Rebellion (Part 1)
Nathanial “Nat” Turner was an enslaved man you led a rebellion of other enslaved people. His action along with others led to a massacre of up to 200 black people and a new wave of oppressive legislation. This prohibited the education, movement, and assembly of enslaved people and it forced the nation to confront slavery, leading to the Civil War. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion (Part 2)
- Increased tensions between the north and south.
- Led to discontent over the issue of slavery.
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The Compromise of 1850 (Part 1)
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of laws passed which dealt with the issue of slavery in the United States. It admitted California as a free state, defined a Texas-New Mexico boundary, and left Utah and New Mexico to decide whether they wanted to be a slave state or a free state. The Compromise also put an end to the slave trade in Washington, D.C. and made it easier for slave owners to recover runaways under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. -
The Compromise of 1850 (Part 2)
- The Compromise overturned the Missouri Compromise and left the overall issue of slavery in the United States unsettled.
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Bleeding Kansas (Part 1)
Bleeding Kansas was mini civil war between proponents and opponents of slavery occuring between the years of 1854 and 1859. Bleeding Kansas followed the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, causing thousands of Northerners and Southerners to go to the newly created Kansas territory. Many of the Northernes intended to prevent slavery at all costs while the Southerners were completely for slavery, causing an eruption of violence. -
Bleeding Kansas (Part 2)
- Result of the people deciding through popular sovereignty whether or not slavery should be allowed in the Kansas territory.
- Made the country see the violence sectionalism and their differences between slavery were causing.
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Dred Scott v. Sandford (Part 1)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (7-2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who has resided in a free state territory was not entitled to freedom, and that African Americans were not and could never be U.S. citizens. They ruled that the Missouri Compromise (1820) was unconstitutional. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford (Part 2)
- The Supreme Court’s decision added to the sectional controversy, pushing the United States even closer to civil war.
- By preventing Congress from delicately dealing with the huge issue of slavery territories, the Dred Scott decision hardened both pro and con positions, making sectional conflict much more difficukt to avoid.
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Abraham Lincoln's Election (Part 1)
The 1860 election had turned on a number of issues: succession; the relationship between the federal government, states, and territories; and slavery abolition. The election was a quadrennial presidential election. The republican ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin won the election. -
Abraham Lincoln's Election (Part 2)
- Lincoln ran on a platform opposed to the expansion of slavery territories, so his election caused an almost immediate outbreak of the Civil War.
- Lincoln refused to accept any resolution that would result in the Southern secession from the Union.
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The Battle of Fort Sumter (Part 1)
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina. The South Carolina militia started the battle, and the United States Army returned gunfire and then surrendered. This was the battle that started the American Civil War. -
The Battle of Fort Sumter (Part 2)
- The call for thousands of troops triggered four other slave states to declare their secession from the Union and join the Confederacy.
- Started the four year war (Civil War) between the North and the South.
