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Missouri Compromise
In 1819, there was many requests to make Missouri a slave state. This would’ve made it so there was more slave than free states. Then in 1820, Missouri was added as a slave state, and to balance the power, Maine split from Massachusetts and became a free state. The remaining area of the Louisiana Purchase would be closed off to slavery. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was made to get rid of slavery within the land they got as a result of the Mexican War. Soon after the war began, President James Polk sought the reward of $2 million as part of a bill to negotiate the terms of a treaty. Fearing the addition of a pro-slave territory, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot proposed his amendment to the bill. Although the measure was blocked in the southern-dominated Senate, it heated the growing controversy over slavery. -
Compromise of 1850
Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, a series of laws meant to solve the controversy over slavery. It was brought up by Henry Clay. The bitterness between the North and South caused all attempts at compromise to fail. One of its main topics was slavery. The way it dealt with it was Congress would admit California as a free state. The slave trade would be ended in DC. Congress would pass a new fugitive slave law, The people of New Mexico and Utah would decide the slavery question by vote. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was the act that required Northerners to report if they had seen an escaped slave or face a fine and jail The north reacted poorly to this law, whereas the south loved it.
It was made as part of the controversial Compromise of 1850, a set of 5 laws made to decrease tension with slavery between the north and south. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. This book described slavery in great detail, and her experience with it. Everyone was very shocked about the book. The North was horrified about the facts about slavery they were hearing, while the South was saying it was all propaganda. This caused fights between the North and South and is said to be, “The book that started the Civil War”. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Kansas and Nebraska were both meant to be chosen whether free or slave because of popular sovereignty, however, northerners and southerners flooded Kansas using sometimes violent methods to get the Kansas natives to vote for their side. Causing Kansas to become a battleground, hence the nickname, Bleeding Kansas. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act was passed in May 1854. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
It allowed the states of Kansas and Nebraska to choose if they were a slave or free state based on votes from the citizens. This caused many people to move to these states to try and make their side win. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a slave whose owner died while they were on a trip into the Northern states. He went into court and sued for his freedom, snice he had no owner and he was in the North. The case took over 10 years, and was eventually brought to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that he was not free and must return to the South to be bought by another owner. -
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Debates between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. They were fighting over a spot in the Senate. There were a total of 7 debates. One of the main topics was slavery. Douglas said that a state should choose their view on slavery, while Lincoln said that slavery is wrong, and it should be banned all across the United States. Douglas ended up winning the spot in the Senate, however, these debates paved the pathway for Lincoln becoming president, as this was how he was introduced to the public. -
John Brown Harper's Ferry
John Brown, a Christian man and strong abolitionist who promoted use of violence to end slavery, took a few men and decided to raid an armory in the South called Harper’s Ferry. The armory's weapons were going to be handed out to slaves so they could start a revolution over their owners. He failed and this merely added onto the hate the South had for the North, increasing tensions before the secession of South Carolina. He later was hanged for treason against the United States. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 consisted of 4 major candidates. Breckinridge, Lincoln, Douglas, and Bell. Lincoln won, but many southerners said that he got lucky. Once Lincoln was elected president in 1860, southerners felt like they didn’t have a voice in the government anymore. This was due to the fact that Lincoln was very against slavery. The south then decided to secede from the Union. -
Secession
Days after Lincoln was elected into office, before he even took the Oval Office, the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union. Even though Lincoln said he wouldn’t abolish slavery, he would stop its spread into Western states completely, and that alone was a big enough threat for the South. After South Carolina seceded, all of the southern states proceeded to secede as well. They formed the Confederate States of America, and elected Jefferson Davis as their President.
