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The Liberator
The Liberator was an anti-slavery newspaper written by William Lloyd Garrison, an abolitionist from Massachusetts. The newspaper was published weekly all the way to 1831-1839. His newspaper spoke more religiously than it had politically, which "appealed to the conscience" of the people who read it. Garrison used things like the media and speeches to gain follower and inspire others such as Fredrick Douglas, who became a future abolitionist speaker. -
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The Liberator
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Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner's rebellion was a rebellion of slaves in Virginia that was considered to be the bloodiest slave uprising. The rebel slaves and Turner killed around 60 people, 51 of them being white. As a result, 55 slaves as well as Turner were tried and executed, and 200 plus were lynched by angry mobs. Virginia lawmakers then prohibited education to slaves and limited their civil rights and rights to assemblies. -
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes and safe-houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape into free states in the North or even to Canada. The safe-houses were usually places such as private houses, churches, and schools. Many of the slaves on the routes had escaped from Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. -
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Antebellum Period
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The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a proposition made by David Wilmot during the end of the Mexican American War. The proposition, if passed, would have outlawed slavery in the new territories that the United States had gained from the war. It was turned down and did nothing but provoke controversy and form the Republican Party in 1854. -
The Compromise of 1850
After the Mexican-American War, there were debates over whether the new territory gained should be a free state or a slave state. These debates were settle by The Compromise of 1850. The Compromise consisted of 5 separate bills/laws that dealt with slavery and territorial expansion. It deemed California as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico to be determined by popular sovereignty. Another act was the new Fugitive Slave Act, which upset non-slave owners and created an increase in polarization. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe about slave life. The book had impacted the Northerners, but not so much the Southerners. To North settlers, the book had opened their eyes to the true horrors of slavery, whereas to the Southerners, they protested and claimed the novel as being untrue. The book has “brought issues of slavery to life and widened the division between the North and South.” -
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Bleeding Kansas
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the US Congress and established Kansas and Nebraska as territories that had popular sovereignty. Settlers from both the North and the South came flooding into Kansas with the aspiration to increase their numbers in the debate. Many settlers’ opinions were aroused and violence increased between the North and the South, which led to controversy. -
The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre was ignited by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. John Brown, an abolitionist from the North who came to Kansas to “fight for the forces of slavery”, and some of his supporters, had brutally killed 5 pro-slavery settlers. This had enraged the South and filled the territories with terror and fear caused by sporadic violence such as the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was an African American slave from the state of Virginia who tried to sue for his freedom. His case had lasted for about a decade and was ultimately brought to the US Supreme Court. Once it was brought to the Supreme Court, the justices of the Court declared Scott as merely a piece of property and had no legal rights to a human being. This case was considered to be a "stepping stone to the American Civil War." -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of public debates for the position of Democratic Senator between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. The debates took place across the state of Illinois and mainly focused on one topic in particular; slavery. Douglas came out winning the debate, however, the debates pushed Lincoln into the "national spotlight" and permitted his nomination for presidency in 1860.
