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Northwest Ordinance (Green) (Political/Economic)
The Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory. It also outlined the process for admitting a new state into the Union, along with guaranteeing that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen states. This was good because the U.S made money off selling the land and also made new states. it also took the public eye off slavery because there was new land to go to. -
Missouri Compromise (Green) (Political)
The Missouri Compromise was made so that it would be easier for congress to emit slave states and free states into the union. There was an imaginary line that depicted what the state would become. The states north of the line would be free states and the states south of the line would be slave states. This set a president for future states and made it easy for congress to determine a free state from a slave state. This in turn made it so there was no arguments. -
Nat Turner Rebellion (Red) (Social)
Nat Turner was a slave who started a rebellion with other slaves. They went around to plantations and mass murdered whites. Rebellion lasted 2 days. This made southerners hate African Americans even more and grew tensions. -
Gag Rule (Red) (Political)
The gag rule was implemented in congress which did not allow them to talk about slavery. This meant they could not talk about solving the problem and just let it be. Got repealed in 18444 by John Quincy Adams. -
Amistad Case (Green) (Political)
The Amistad was a Spanish ship that was carrying slaves. The slaves overthrew the crew of the ship and tried to set sail home. However they sailed to America. The supreme court decided that the African Americans on the Amistad were free individuals and no longer slaves. -
Annexation of Texas (Green) (Political)
The annexation of Texas made Texas a part of the United States. It was considered a slave state which made the Southern states happy and lessened the tension. This was also good because it led to the Mexican War which made people forget about the issue of slavery. -
Wilmot Proviso (Green) (Political)
The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal by David Wilmot and it was to prohibit the expansion of slavery into the new territories. It would have been good if it had passed because slavery would not go into the new states. However it is better that it did not pass because then the south would get very mad. This is because slave states would be outnumbered by free states. This may have caused greater tensions. -
Mexican War (Green during the war- Red after the war) (Political)
The Mexican War was a war between America and Mexico over where the territory of Texas ended; either the Nueces River (the Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (the U.S. claim). The Mexican War did in fact help loosen tension because people were sidetracked by the war and did not think about slavery for a while. However, after the war people disputed on whether the new territory should be pro-slave or free. -
California Gold Rush (Green) (Economic)
The California Gold Rush started when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. This quickly spread and up to 300,000 people went to California to hopefully become wealthy. This was good because it gave the U.S something else to think about besides slavery. -
Compromise of 1850 (Green) (Political)
Henry Clay proposed the idea of the Compromise. The slave trade was banned in Washington D.C. California joined as a free state. Utah and New Mexico can decide for themselves whether they are free or slave. Finally a new Texas boundary. -
Fugitive Slave Act 1850 (Red) (Political/Social)
Plantation owners were allowed to chase and recapture runaway slaves in free states. They did not need to prove that the slaves were their's to begin with. Made northerners mad because southerners were just taking African Americans and they could do nothing. -
Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Red) (Social)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe shows the life of a slave. This book showed the life of a slave to the northern people and made them mad. This made tensions worse because the North now looked down on the South and disliked slavery even more. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act/Bleeding Kansas (Red) (Political)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act made two new states Kansas and Nebraska, and most importantly had Kansas and Nebraska decide whether they wanted to be free states or slave states. This in turn started bleeding Kansas which was an era of constant fighting in Kansas to decide if it should be a free state or slave state. -
Ostend Manifesto (Red) (Economic/Political)
The U.S wanted to gain Cuba from Spain and would use force to get it. The U.S wanted to use it to expanse slavery. It was also a part of Manifest Destiny and the U.S wanted land. This was bad because slavery was starting to spread farther. -
Dred Scott Decision (Red) (Social/Political)
The Dred Scott Decision was made by the supreme court and they came to the conclusion that African Americans were not included in the constitution and they could be taken from any free state. This showed that slavery was not dying in the country. -
Raid on Harper’s Ferry (Red) (Social)
John Brown led a revolt on Harper's Ferry in hopes of raising more followers and gaining weapons and ammunition. However they got stopped and the resurrection got shut down. -
Crittenden Compromise (Green because it did not happen) (Political)
A proposal to make slavery permanent in the southern slave states. If it passed Congress would never be able to end slavery. It would also reintroduce the Missouri Compromise line. Compromise never got passed.