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Missourri Compromise of 1820
The House and Senate are debating over the question of whether to admit Missouri as a slave state. There is some fear of civil war. As a compromise, Congress adopts an amendment that there shall be no restriction on slavery in Missouri, but the institution will be prohibited from Louisiana Territory. It greatly upset the North by introducing the Fugitive Slave Act, where citizens could be fined for failing to report anyone who looked as though they could be a runaway slave. -
Slave and Free states equal
Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave state, but Congress agrees to forbid slavery in all other territory north of Missouri's southern border. With the addition of Missouri, the Union consists of twelve slave states and twelve free. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner, a Virginia slave, leads the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history; 70 whites are killed in the uprising. In the hunt for Turner, 100 blacks are killed. The Nat Turner Rebellion helped to cause the Civil War because it intensified efforts on both sides of the slavery issue. Southern slave holding states enacted stricter slave codes, and abolitionists intensified their efforts to end slavery. -
Texas Declares Independence
The Texas Declaration of Independence is enacted, creating the Republic of Texas also know as the "Lone Star Republic. The U.S. government refuses to recognize Texas because it does not want to agitate sectional strife but abolitionists oppose Texas's admission to the Union because they know it will become a slave state. -
Uncle Tom published
Uncle Tom's Cabin is published in complete form and it infuriates the South, where most states ban its sale. During the Civil War, President Lincoln will meet Stowe in the White House and reportedly say to her "So you're the little lady that caused this great big war." In the North, it opened the eyes of many ignorant people to what slaves truly were faced with day to day. People began to oppose slavery more openly, and more help was set up for them. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Bill passes, largely thanks to Stephen Douglas the Democratic senator from Illinois. In effect the bill repeals the Missouri Compromise and its prohibition of slavery in the Northwest by authorizing settlers to determine for themselves the status of slavery in their communities. Controversy over the bill will shatter Whig unity and encourage the creation of the Republican Party in the North.
