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The Missouri Compromise of 1820
The Missouri Compromise 1820 brought many changes like Missouri becoming a slave state and Maine becoming a free state. Also an imaginary line divided the country in half to determine which states would allow slavery and which would not. -
The Missouri Compromise of 1850
This compromise made changes that caused California to enter as a free state, and the area from the Mexican Cession divided into Utah and New Mexico. Whether or not slavery was allowed was meant to be decided by the people in these areas. Also, slave trade was no longer allowed in Washington, DC. A fugitive slave law was made that was strictly enforced. Finally, problems about the border between New Mexico and Texas were solved. -
The Fugitive Slave Law
This law was part of the Compromise of 1850. It forced citizens to catch runaway slaves or they would face punishment. The punishment for not obeying this law was that a citizen would be fined up to $1000 or put in jail for six months. Also, judges were paid $10 for every slave they returned and $5 if they freed them. Many blacks who were free were actually captured and sent into slavery. Northerners despised this law because it forced them to encourage and help the system of slavery. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This novel was written by Harriett Beecher Stowe to show the horrors and brutality of slavery. She did this by telling a realistic fiction story. The story is about an older slave who was whipped to death by his owner. After reading it, many Northerners began to think differently about slavery. Southerners said the book was untruthful, when in reality slaves were beaten to death and faced a lot of hardship. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act was used to divide Kansas and Nebraska into two different territories. This bill was sponsored by the Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas. It was decided that slavery in these territories would be decided by the people or by popular sovereignty. There were people who had very different strong opinions about slavery that were in the same place and that inevitably caused fighting. The difference in opinion also caused violence in the Senate. -
Pottowami Creek Killings
There was fighting between people who supported and those who hated slavery in Kansas. In response, a man named John Brown rode to the small town of Pottowatomi Creek with his four sons, and kidnapped 5 men who supported slavery. John Brown was a Christian man who was very strong in his beliefs. He believed that slavery was a terrible sin so he killed the five men he kidnapped. He later claimed that he killed those men for God. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave who lived with his owner in a free state. His owner moved back to a slave state and died while he was there. Scott then filed a lawsuit with the help of some abolitionist attorneys. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, but when he got there he lost. He then was told that he was just property so he had no right to file a lawsuit. The Judges also ruled that banning slavery in any territories was not allowed. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debate
During the Presidential debate before the election, Douglass said that he wanted slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty. Lincoln said that slavery should not spread to the territories. Lincoln also believed that if arguments over slavery continued the country would rip apart,. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown, five black people, and thirteen white people raided an arsenal so they could start a slave revolt. The only problem was none of the slaves revolted. Many of John's men died and he was arrested by Robert E. Lee. John Brown was found guilty of murder and treason and was hanged. Many Northerners considered him to be a martyr, a man who died for his beliefs. -
Election of 1860
During the Presidential election, Lincoln ran against Douglass in 1860. Many Southerners didn't like Lincoln and supported Douglass. They even took Lincoln's name off the ballot in some Southern states, but Lincoln still won. The southerners were furious and said that Lincoln's election proves that the South's opinion didn't matter, and that the North had too much power. The South finally seceded from the Union to become the Confederate States of America.
