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Latin American Colonies declare Independence
During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon removed the Spanish king and put his brother on throne. The Latin American colonies in response revolted against the foreign king's rule. Many slaves on the sugar plantations followed Toussaint Louverture to freedom. Napoleon was unable to stop the revolt. In turn the trade markets holding slaves, sugar, copper, and rubber. This hurt the French economy. This downfall led to Napoleon selling the Louisiana Territory to Thomas Jefferson. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana purchase was an exchange of land for money between France and the new United States. For the low price of $15 million the US obtained around 830,000 square miles of land. This was the start of a whole new era of western exploration and new states later on, such as Missouri. The Louisiana purchase did cause tensions between north and south over wether or not the new land would allow slave ownership. -
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
This act prohibited the importation of slaves into the US by any ship. While this act did not cause a total stop to the importation of slaves, many less slaves were imported than before. This furthered the sectional issue of slavery between the north and the south. -
Missouri Enabling Act / Tallmage Amendment
In February of 1819 New York congressman James Tallmadge introduced the idea of freeing all Missouri born slaves when they reach the age of 25. This amendment however was rejected by by the Senate. In general this amendments passing would have led to Missouri becoming a free state instead of a slave state. -
Alabama is Admitted into the Union
The Missouri Compromise would have never happened if Alabama had not just entered the union one year prior. The admission of Alabama caused the number of free and slave states to become equal at eleven each, causing there to be a debate when Missouri looked to become a state. -
Missouri Enters the Union (The Compromise Itself)
In 1821 Missouri entered the union as an independent slave holding state. This lead to Maine, after being separated from Massachusetts, to become a free state. This was meant to maintain the balance between free and slave holding states so further conflicts would not arise. This decision was for strictly political reasons instead of morals surrounding slavery. As a further compromise, all slavery was prohibited in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30' line. -
Compromise of 1850
The newly gained land from the Mexican-American War caused another division concerning slavery. So, Clay drafted a Compromise in which California was admitted as a free state, territories of Utah and New Mexico were created, each getting to choose for itself whether or not to prohibit slavery, and lastly, the slave trade in D.C. was ended. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act
Act passed in 1854 which allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not slavery is allowed in their territory. Repealed the part of the Missouri Compromise stating that slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line. Act was hated in the north, but strongly supported in the south. This led to Bleeding Kansas before the Civil War. -
Missouri Compromise Declared Unconstitutional
In 1857 the Missouri Compromise was declared unconstitutional in the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court. The Dred Scott decision declared that Congress does not have the power to prohibit slavery in the territories -
The Civil War Begins
The tensions between the north and the south fueled by the Missouri Compromise could not be contained any longer, and war broke out
