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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise, supported by Henry Clay, preserved the balance between slave and free states in the Senate by adding one free state and one slave state at the same time. The compromise proposed banning slavery in the Louisiana Purchase north of 30º36' N latitude and brought a temporary silence in the debate over slavery. The compromise was in effect until the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854. The line that divided the slave and free states also divided the North and South. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Led by an enslaved African-American Nat Turner, the Nat Turner Rebellion was a group of enslaved men who wanted to kill all the whites that the group encountered, which ended up being at least 55 whites. As a result, Turner was hung; the whites were scared of another uprising; and stricter slave codes wre enforced. Back then, blacks viewed Turner as a hero; however, all the whites thought he was a monster. These different views of Turner added fuel to the fire between these two distinct regions. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso banned slavery in the land the U.S.A. gained from Mexico. In effect, the southerners protested and Senator John C. Calhoun countered with a different proposal saying that neither Congress nor any territorial government had the authority to ban slavery from a territory or regulate it. However, both proposals did not pass. As a result, a bitter debate arose in Congress about the issue of slavery. The arguing grew the already existing tensions between the two sides. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 is a group of new laws that were divided into 5 bills that were passed as one bill. Senator Stephen A. Douglas was the man who divided Clay's original plan into five parts that would be voted on separately. This compromise covered the Fugitive Slave Act; California as a free state; and that there would be slavery but no slave trade in Washington, D.C. Fillmore pushed the Whigs not to vote for the parts of the Compromise with which they disagreed. -
Compromise of 1850 (cont.)
Taylor backed up California as a free stae. This compromise led to a heated debate in Congress between the slave and free states. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed as one of the five parts of the Compromise of 1850. Congress passed this law in order to pacify the slaveholders. This act said that everyone had to help catch runaways. The act also said that if anyone helped a fugitive, he would be imprisoned or fined. As a result, many northerners saw the evils of slavery. -
Fugitive Slave Act (cont.)
The northerners defied the act by having northern juries not convict the violators of this act, donating money to funds to free slaves, making the Underground Railroad, and forming antislavery groups that rescue captured slaves. This cause, yet another, disagreemet between the North and South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act, proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, nullified the Missouri Compromise and let the settlers in each territory vote on whether to allow slavery or not. Many Northerners protested while Southerners supported the bill because many people thought Kansas would be settled by slaveholders from Missouri and become a slave state. As a result, pro-slavery and antislavery groups rushed into Kansas to vote for the new government, and the pro-slavery government won. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act (cont.)
Soon after, when the new government was passing laws supporting slavery, antislavery people armed themselves, which led to a civil war within Kansas (hence the name "Bleeding Kansas"). The act led to the first time white people were fighting against and killing each other. -
Dred Scott Case
On this day, the Supreme Court made their decision regarding Dred Scott's fate. The court decide that Dred Scott was still an enslaved person because his living on free soil did not make him free. Also, the court said, according to the fifth amendment, that Congress cannot take away property without "due process of law." -
Dred Scott Case (cont.)
Finally, the court, led by Chief Justice roger B. Taney, said that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in any territory because that would amount to taking away one's property. As a result, he court's decision shocked the nation. The Republicans were outraged and caused them to be even more angry at the South. -
John Brown's Raid (cont.)
The different views on John Brown divided the nation even more, making it look like disaster was on the way. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown, a white abolitionist, led a raid on Harper's Ferry hoping to take ammunition to arm slaves so they can start a revolt against slaveholders. His raid was defeated by federal troops and local citizens; he was hung because he was convicted of treason. His raid confirmed the South's fears of a secret plan from the North was true. The Southerners were scared of another raid and felt threatened by the Republicans. Brown's execution shook the North, and his death rallied the Republicans. -
Lincoln's Election
Lincoln, a Republican, was elected to be President in 1860. He said that slavery should be left undisturbed where it existed, but that it should be excluded from the territories. Many Southerners were scared because they thought that the Republican victory would encourage slave revolts. After South Carolina seceded from the Union because they felt their rights were threatened, leaders in Congress tried to make a compromise. The North did want to compromise because they just won the election. -
Lincoln's Election (cont.)
Many other southern slave states seceded after the failed compromise to form the Confederate States of America. Lincoln tried hard to preserve the Union. Many other states were currently in the Union but the decision was not final. The secession was the last straw because the North thought the South was not following the Constitution, while the South thought the North was not protecting their rights to have slaves. -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was a U.S. fort on an island protecting the Charleston Harbor and became the first battle of the Civil War. The fort, under the Union's control, was low on supplies, and the Confederates demanded that the fort surrender. Lincoln gave orders to his Union army not to be the first people to shoot because if there was going to be a war, it would be up to the Confederacy to decide. Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy's President, ordered to attack the fort before more Union supplies came. -
Surrender of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter surrendered on April 14 after many gun rallies, but no one was killed. As a result, President Lincoln called for troops, while 4 more southern states decided to secede from the Union to join the Confederacy. The Civil War had begun.
