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3/5 Compromise
The 3/5 Compromise was added to the Constitution to determine representation in the House of Representatives. Slaves equaled 3/5 of a person. This shows sectionalism over slavery and the concern of which side has power in the government. -
Manifest Destiny
This was a period of time when people thought America could expand from coast to coast. Settlement began to spread west and this fueled Native American removal and the Mexican American War. -
Missouri Compromise
Congress passed this bill so that Missouri can join as a slave state and Maine can join as a free state to keep the balance. Any other state joining the Union north of the 36th parallel will be a free state. -
Mexican American War
A mexican cavalry attacked a group of American soldiers causing America to fight back. The Mexicans lost the battles against the American soldiers and the United States gained territory in the northern part of Mexico. -
Compromise of 1850
There was 5 bills passed by Congress to defuse a problem between the free and slave states. Both sides fought over the status of the states acquired during the Mexican American War. As a result California joined as a free state, Utah and New Mexico were to determine their own status, and the slave trade started to come to an end. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Any runaway slave or slave suspected of running away to the north was to be arrested and brought back to the south. All slaves were brought back and punished very harshly. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Congress passed this act by allowing the people of Kansas and Nebraska to determine themselves whether or not to be a free or slave state. This act also repealed the prohibition of slavery above the 36th parallel. -
Dred Scott decision
Dred Scott was a slave who escped to freedom and challenged his slave ownder in court. This decision was made that any African American, slave or not, couldn't be a citizen of the United States. Therefore no slave could sue in court. -
Southern States Secession
The Southern states seceded from the Union when Lincoln was to be elected as president. They seceded because Lincoln was trying to end slavery in the south and that would ruin their work for agriculture therefore they seceded to avoid Lincoln's ideas. -
Lincoln's Inaugural Address
His speech was a part of him taking oath in office as the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln wanted end slavery in the Confederacy but nowhere else. The South feared this and would soon act out in violence.
