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Northwest Ordinance
Under the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance was a new method to admit states into the Union. There were rules that the territories had to follow, and one rule was there could be no slavery in the territories. This creates a strong relationship between the North and West, resulting in the South being left out of this relationship. This is the first time government dictated where slavery was permitted, which caused an underlying tension between the free and slave bearing regions. -
3/5 Compromise
While drafting the constitution, there was an issue with slavery and representation. The South wanted slaves to be counted on the census, while the North thought it was unfair that property could be counted for votes. The founding fathers decided that slaves would count as 3/5 of a person. Even though the North got tax money, they felt this was unfair because the South got extra representation that the North did not have the opportunity for. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to join the union as a slave state; but there was conflict withing the government because there would be more slave states than free states in result. Therefore, they admitted Maine as a free state. To prevent this from happening again, they created the 36'30 line, which did not permit slavery from going above the bottom boarder of Missouri. Besides the Northwest Ordinance, slavery was not limited from certain areas before this compromise, therefore creating a divide and issues -
VA Slave Debates
After Nat Turner conducted the most successful slave revolt, Virginia had a slave debate. The state government debated on whether they should emancipate the slaves, or make stricter rules. By a slim margin, slavery became harsher, criticism became illegal, and the South's attitude changed from "necessary evil" to "positive good". This cause the the North to be outraged and the South to push slavery harder, This created tensions to rise and a change the attitude between the two regions. -
Mexican War
John Slidell tried to make an agreement with Mexico to sell the U.S. land. The agreement does not work, and we end up going to war after the Battle of the Alamo. We won the war and create the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gives us all of Texas, New Mexico, and California. This resulted in an issue with slave expansion and upset the balance between North and South. The two regions will argue about where and how slavery should be permitted and how to balance power. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was an omnibus bill that tried to bring the North and South together. This compromise included the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, admitted California as a free state, and allowed Utah and New Mexico use popular sovereignty to decide if they would become a slave or free state. The South believed this compromise favored the North, and the North hated the Fugitive Slave Act. This caused tension and disagreement within the two regions, resulting in future issues. -
Panic of 1857
America was providing food and war supplies for Russia while they were at war, but after the war, Russia did not need the goods. This resulted in an economic panic because the North and West had too many goods created for the demand. The West nearly collapsed, the North suffered, but the South was able to rebound quickly. Therefore, the South believed that their method was superior, which made slavery more popular in this region and created tensions between the free and slave holding states.
