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Invention of the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to make harvesting cotton easier and less painful. He thought it would decrease slavery in the south because a large number of slaves would no longer be needed to harvest cotton. Instead, slavery increased because the slave owners could produce even more cotton with help of the cotton gin. This caused slave owners to force slaves to have children, in order to get more workers. This outraged the north. -
Nat Turner Slave Revolt
Nat Turner led the most successful slave revolt. In one night, he freed several slaves by killing 57 white slave owners. This led people to believe that slaves were very rebellious and couldn't handle freedom because they would just kill all their owners. This led to harsher circumstances for most slaves because slave owners were afraid fo revolts. Because of the harsher rules on slaves, the north grew more frustrated with the south. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was suggested by David Wilmot in 1846. It banned slavery in all new additions of land in the US. It was declined, but the Compormise of 1850 was created instead. This gave the right of popular sovereignty to new territories, or the ability to chose whether it would be a slave or free state based on popular decision. It would keep the amount of slave and free states balanced. This increased sectionalism because the south wanted slavery where it would be beneficial. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made helping slaves excape illegal. It was designed to bring back runaway slaves, but it also brought free blacks. This act paid people to turn in runaway slaves, and paid judges more money to say that the person did, in fact, run away than if they said they were not a runaway slave. This act caused unfairness to everyone, and increased tentions all over the country. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beacher Stowe in 1852. It shared the cruelness slaves dealt with everyday. This book sold a lot of copies. People who read it who werent necessarily against slavery became against it. More and more people grew to hate slavery and want an end to it. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
The election of Abraham Lincoln caused the southern states to start seceding from the Union. The southern states believed that Lincoln was for the north's interests and anti-slavery. They used Lincoln being elected as one of their excuses for seceding. Seven states had seceded before Lincoln was inaugerated.
