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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a way for enslaved people to escape from slavery in the South to the North to be free by hiding in network of 'safe houses' along the way. This practice to become free became increasingly popular in the 1830's when important abolitionist figures such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, William H. Seward became involved as "conductors" or "stationmasters". It is believed that the Underground Railroad helped between 40,000-100,000 people escape slavery. -
Indian Removal Act
With the Indian Removal Act of 1830 many white Europeans flooded the once Native American lands in search of land to claim as their own to build larger plantations on. These much larger plantations called for the rapidly increasing demand for slaves. -
Formation of American Anti-Slavery Society
William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1831. It's abolitionist members would argue against slavery both in public and in abolitionist newspapers. The society would urge Americans to disobey the Constitution and it's laws regarding slavery and runaway slaves while condemning those in support of slavery and what it stood for. -
Turner's Rebellion
Named after the rebellions leader, Nat Turner, this rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia terrified slave owners. Turner was able to create a group of roughly 75 enslaved men to attempt to fight back against the white owners in their area. the rebellion carried on for 2 days and in that span the group killed 55 white people. The end of the rebellion only occurred once state militia was involved with help from local whites. -
The Gag Resolution
The Gag Resolution was an agreement within the US House of Representatives to ignore slavery and any issues concerning it. They did this because whenever the topic of slavery was brought up nothing else was done within government because people had extremely different viewpoints and opinions. So instead of attempting to solve this problem before tackling other issues the government decided it was best to ignore slavery altogether. This was ended in 1844 by John Quincy Adams. -
Dred Scott Supreme Court Case
This is the legal battle regarding that Dred Scott and his family were brought into free territory and therefore should be free. They argued that they could not be re-enslaved by being moved into a slave state after going into a free state. The rulings of this case were reversed many times and Supreme Court ruled they were not free in 1857. This caused outrage for many abolitionists because he had been living in a free state and the ruling meant that slavery could virtually exist in any state. -
Fugitive Slave Acts
The Fugitive Slave acts are known as one of the most controversial laws of the 19th century. They're a set of laws which greatly encourage citizens to aid in the capture of runaway slaves. Not only did it compel everyday people to assist in capturing runaways but if runaways were captured the didn't have the right to a fair trial, or any trial at all. The laws were much more in favor of Southerns than the majority of those living in the North because it further protected slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act sparked many new battles between pro slavery vs anti slavery forces. This act meant that new territories would decide whether slavery was allowed or not as a choice of popular sovereignty. This act also brought down the remainder of the Whig party in the north and replaced it with the new Republican Party. -
Lincoln's Election
Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 leads to Southern states beginning to secede in protest of some of his policies. This is the beginning of the Civil War, which at the end of slavery is deemed illegal by the 13th amendment -
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation freed all enslaved people living in the Confederacy but did not make slavery illegal. The document only applied to slaves living in the Confederacy, but not any slaves living in border states which chose to side with the Union.
