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Invention of Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney created the Cotton Gin in 1793. He was hoping to bring down the numbers of slavery by creating this machine that increased the rate of cropping cotton. It did the opposite; actually making it grow a lot in the South and Southwest. Numbers of slavery were actually declining before the invention. -
Congress passes new law
Congress passed a law banning the importation of any new slaves starting January 1, 1808. This helped decline the rate of slavery and pleased many in the North. The South of course did not like this, not improving the relationship between the North and South any. -
Tariff Act of 1832
Industry in the North and Western America had always been much more advanced and sophistacated than in the South. There were a couple tariffs prior to the Tariff of 1832 to supported industry in the North and displeased the South. The Tariff Act of 1832 always supported industry in the North. After this act was passed, the South were very upset and felt it was unfair and wasn't being treated right. -
Underground Railroad
In 1838, Robert Purvis organized the first underground railroads. They were successful and many slaves escaped using this system. There were many codes to the Underground Railroad. People who knew about it used code names and words. Their were also houses with significant features that were a safe house for the slaves. Another figure important in this system was Harriet Tubman. She saved a few hundred slaves and was a great influence for ending slavery. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. It was a book much like Common Sense that influenced and changed the thoughts of many Americans greatly. It talked about the life of a slave and made many people think badly of slavery. Many people of the South were upset of course because the book showed power against them. It was the first big push for anti-slavery. -
Dred Scott decision
Dred Scott was a slaved aquired by a man from his family member. The man lived in a free state but had now had a slaved. Dred Scott filed a law suit for being a slave. The supreme court said that he was a slave only because he didn't have the legal citizen rights to file a law suit. This caught the attention of a lot because the supreme court was saying that blacks were not citizens and just property of their owners. Tension started to really rise after this event. -
Southern states secede
Tension was at its max other than the actually Civil War fighting at this point. The states left the union and declared themselves as a seperate country. Linclon who was president at this time said that they couldn't and seceding was unconstitutional. This event is what really started the war, and caused fighting to begin.
