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The Missouri Compromise
The 36' 30' line was drawn.
On the north side slavery was banned from new states and on the south side slavery was allowed.
It was effective for 30 years before it fell apart.
Due to this law, slavery became much more controlled, therefore making it harder to spread. When the south decided it wanted slavery to grow more this line became a problem. -
Compromise of 1850
- California entered as a free state.
- Area from Mexican Cession divided into Utah and New Mexico. Slavery issue to be decided by popular sovereignty. ended slave trade in Washington D.C.
- Made a strict Fugitive Slave Law
- Settled border problems between New Mexico and Texas.
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Fugitive Slave Law
In the Compormise of 1850, a strict fugitive slave law was made. This law forced people to capture slaves. If a person did not comply, they could be fined up to $1000 or put in jail for six months. Judges received $10 if they returned a slave and $5 if they freed them. This was an element in the Civil War because this law was hated by many because it forced them to become part of the slave process. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This was a novel writen by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
It showed the evils of slavery and changed many people's view of slavery.
Southeners claimed the book was full of lies and even went so far as to ban it. This book showed how evil slavery was, it made many poeple who were neutral on the topic of slavery to hate it. -
Kansas-Nabraska Act
This divided Kansas and Nebraska into two territories.
The slavery problem was going to be decided by poupular sovernty.
Pro Slavery and Anti Slavery people fought fo almost ten years
This was a major cause of the Civil War due to the fact that it is was one of the first major conflics between Anti_slaver and Pro-slavery people. It earned the name "Bleeding Kansas" -
Pottowotomi Killings- John Brown
He was very strongly against slavery
He believed God told him to stop slavery. So he pulled five pro-slavery men out of their beds and killed them. He thought it was ok because God told him to do it. Due to this, many people became outraged therefore escalating the issue of slavery further. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave. He had lived in a free territory with his owner. His owner moved back into a slave state. While there, the owner died.
It went to the Supreme Court. They ruled that he couldn't even file a law suit since he was property. They also ruled that Congress could ban slavery in territories.
The South loved the ruling because they could spread slavery, but Northerners hated it for the same reason.
This allowed slavery to come into the North's "back yard" they didn't like it. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debate
Lincoln and Douglass had a debate.
Douglass believed in deciding the slavery issue by popular sovereignty.
Lincoln believed that slavery should not be allowed to spread into the territories.
This brought up many issues in the union and got them on every one's mind. -
Harper's Ferry Raid
John Brown lead 13 whites and 5 blacks into Harper's Ferry and planned to raid an arsenol and start a slave revolt.
Sadly, nobody came to revolt, so Brown was captured.
He was later hung for treason.
This event escalated the cause very quickly. People realized how far some people were willing to go for the cause. Also, the reactions were completely different, the North mourned him and the South despised him. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln ran against Douglass in the Presidential Election of 1860.
The South hated Lincoln and what he believed in but he was still elected.
This made the South believe that the North had to much power. This election was the reason the South seceded from the Union.
They feared that Lincoln was going to do away with slavery and the South did not want that to happen.
