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1550
The Fugitive Slave Act
Henry Clay proposed the Fugitive Slave Act.
This law allowed any white man to accuse an African American of running away and claim them as their slave. -
Importation of slaves ends
In 1808, the government passed a law to stop the trading and importing of enslaved people from Africa.
Although this law didn't completely stop the slave trade, it did make it harder to bring slaves into the country. -
The Missouri Compromise/The Compromise of 1820
Missouri was declared a slave state for the Union, and Maine became a free state.
they switched so they could keep a balance between slave states and no slavery states. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a bill that said slavery should be banned. It was approved in the House of Representatives and made many southerners upset. -
The Compromise of 1850
In 1850, Clay Henry proposed the Compromise of 1850, which offered different solutions.
One of the solutions was making California a free state, and any extra land from Mexico. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a story that was made for northern countries and wealthy white families to empathize with the emotional toll slavery had on Black individuals. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act was a law that canceled the Missouri Compromise, added two new states to the country, and gave those states the power to choose if they wanted slavery or not. -
Bleeding Kansas
In 1855, people who supported and unsupported slavery went to Kansas to protect their beliefs. -
The Caning of Charles Sumner
The southerners caned Charles Sumner because they disagreed with his anti-slavery speech, and left him severely injured. -
The Dred Scott Decision
In 1857, Dred Scott asked for the right to vote since he wasn't a slave. The courts agreed that African people with slave ancestry weren't allowed to vote.