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The Invention of Cotton gin: Ranked 3/11
The cotton gin is a device for removing the seeds from cotton fiber. A single device can produce up to 50 pounds of clean cotton in a day. This lead to an increase in slavery and esablished southern reliance on cotton as a cash crop. -
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The Birth of Division: The Civil War
The Civil War did not spontanously occur, it began with econmicreliance, and over the years this fundamental spark gave birth to political, social, and econmomical severance betwwen the Northern and Southern points of the United States -
The Mexican War: Ranked 11/11
The aquistion of vast western lands did renew sectional debate and over the extension of slavery. Northerns viewed war with mexico as part of a southern plot to extend the slave power. The Wilmot Proviso-David Wilmot proposed a bill that would forbid slave states in new territories. -
The Compromise of 1850: Ranked 1/11
This does the following:
-admits California to the Union as a free state
-Divides the remainder of the Mexican Cession into two territories, Utah and New Mexico, and allowed the settlers in these territories to decide the slavery issue by majority vote, or popular soverignty.
-Give the land disputed between Texas and New Mexico to the new territories in return for the federal government assuming Texas's public debt of 10 million dollars.
Adopt a fugative Slave Law and enforce it rigorously -
Literature-Uncle Tom's Cabin: Ranked 8/11
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” originally appeared in a newspaper, “National Era”. Though the tale of the Tom was fictional, it galvanised the abolitionist movement, shining light upon the harsh and unjust treatment of African American people as property. The novel was eventually released as a book and sold thousands of copies. -
Fugitive slave law enforcement: Ranked 9/11
The fugitive slave act created a harsher enforcement of the original fugitive slave laws, which allowed for the capture and return of escaped slaves who fled to the North. It imposed penalties on those who aided slaves and inspired the actions of Harriet Tubman to create the underground railroad to help ensure freedom for runaway slaves. Northern states attempted to circumvent these laws and sectionalism greatly increased as a result. -
Birth of the republican party: Ranked 2/11
In 1854, former members of the dissolved Whig party met and eventually formed the anti-slavery, anti-democratic, Republican party. Opposing the views of southern slavery, the eventual election of Republican Abraham Lincoln proved lethal to the former union, despite not yet declaring slavery illegal, the southern states saw this man as an end to their power and eventually seceded, birthing the crisis known as the Civil War. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Ranked 7/11
Steven Douglas proposed creating two territories in the area in Kansas and Nebraska. He wanted to repeal the Missouri Compromise line and leave the decision of being a slave or free state in the hands of popular soverngnty. This increased sectionalism and northern/southern aggression. -
Dred Scott v Sandford 1857: Ranked 5/11
Scott was an escaped slave who sued for his freedom after 2 years of independence. He was denied his freedom under the clauses that congress couldn’t take property without due process of law, and slaves were property. Also that congressional framers didn’t intend for slaves to be citizens. The major point is that it deemed the missouri compromise unconstitutional. -
John Brown’s raid on Harper's Ferry: Ranked 6/11
A northerner John Brown and his four sons attempted to raid a federal armory to arm the slaves for a revolt. He was arrested. Southern's now feared the northerners would definitely try to lead revolts. The southerners would later turn John Brown into a martyr. This is a major attempt of northern abolitionism. -
Lincoln’s election 1860: Ranked 4/11
He carried the majority of the electoral college votes from every northern state, but not a single southern vote, making him president. However, he won only a 40% popular vote,making him a minority president. Lincoln goes on to fight the already seceded southern states as president, eventually freeing the slaves in this conflict. -
Confederate states formed in 1861: Ranked 10/11
In December of 1860, a special convention was held in the south for the topic of secession. In February 1861, representatives of the seven states of the deep south met in Montgomery, Alabama, and created the Confederate States of America. They thought that Lincoln might let them go without a fight, but obviously not as the civil war started very soon after.
