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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was made by Henry Clay in 1820. This compromise declared that the territory to the south of the missouri compromise line was slave territory and the territory to the north was free territory. So Missouri became a slave state and Maine became a free state. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was created by representative David Wilmot from Pennsylvania in 1846. David wilmot wanted to put a ban on slavery in all in all Mexican Cession territories. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives but not in the Senate. This bill angered Southerners because they thought that it was an attack on slavery from the North. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 made by Henry Clay attempted to limit slavery in California and Washington D.C. It allowed slavery to potentially grow above the Missouri compromise line. It said that congress would pass a strict fugitive state law. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required Northern citizens to help capture accused runaways. This allowed officials to arrest anyone accused of being a runaway slave and suspects had no rights to a trial. The Fugitive Slave Act was the most controversial part of the Compromise of 1850. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1853. The book was about an enslaved man who is abused by his cruel owner. The novel provoked strong reactions on both sides of the slavery issue. This book opened Northerners eyes to the way that slaves were treated, while on the other hand many Southerners that the book was propaganda. -
Kansas Nebraska Act / Bleeding Kansas
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was helped passed by Stephen Douglas in 1854. This act allowed the people in the territories to decide the slavery issue by popular sovereignty. North and South were both divided over the act, the Southerners supported it and the Northerners were outraged. The Southerners hoped that the new territories would become slave states and the North felt that Douglas betrayed them into following slave states. Kansas was named bleeding Kansas because the violence was so bad. -
Dred Scott Case
The Dred Scott case was when a slave named Dred Scott sued for his freedom in 1857. Scott lived with his slave owner in places where slavery was illegal so he thought that this meant that he was a free man. Scott was not able to sue because he was a slave which meant he wasn’t a U.S. citizen, and living in a free state did not make Scott free. -
Lincoln Douglas Debate
The Lincoln-Douglas debate was when Lincoln ran for Senate against his rival Stephen Douglas in 1858. Lincoln thinks that slavery is wrong and should not spread to the Western territories and that African Americans are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Douglas thought that each state should determine if they want to be a slave or free state. In the end Douglas won the election. -
John Brown’s Raid
An abolitionist from the North John Brown raised a group of followers to help him free slaves in the South in 1859. The group stole guns and planned to start a revolt. John Brown said that the bible instructed him to care for the poor and enslaved. John Brown was found guilty and was sentenced to death. The Southerners thought that the North was out to destroy their way of life and the North praised Brown’s attempt to start a slave revolt. -
Lincoln’s Election of 1860
In 1860 four candidates ran for president, John Bell, John Breckinridge, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln. The democrats were divided over whether to support slavery in territories. The outcome of the election was that Lincoln won in every free state, Douglas won Missouri, Bell won three states in the upper South, and Breckenridge won most of the slave states. In the end Abraham Lincoln received enough electoral votes to win the election. -
Southern Secession
During the Southern Secession in 1861 many Southerners felt that congress and the president were against many of their issues, the biggest one being slavery. Because of this the South seceded from the nation and the confederate states of America. The new president of the confederate states became the former senator Jefferson Davis. On April 12, 1861 confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter and the U.S. surrendered this marked the beginning of the civil war.
