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The Missouri Compromise
In 1820, Missouri requested to enter statehood as a slave state when there were 22 pre-existing states: 11 free and 11 slave. To prevent a pro-slavery majority in Congress, the Missouri Compromise was proposed. It would admit Missouri into the Union as a slave state, admit Maine as a free state, and draw a line through the western territories along the 36°30' parallel- prohibiting slavery north of that line. This compromise marked the beginning of sectional conflict regarding slavery in America. -
The Compromise of 1850 (Continued)
to capture runaway slaves or receive a fine. It required everyone to actively participate in the institution of slavery. This act influenced many moderate Northerners to become opponents of slavery and protest the extension of it into other territories; this polarized centrist citizens. The precedent of popular sovereignty (allowing states to decide whether they will allow slavery or not) also led to future sectional problems in America when the Nebraska-Kansas Act was passed. -
The Compromise of 1850
After the U.S. received land through the Mexican-American War, controversy arose regarding whether slavery should be allowed in the new land. The Compromise of 1850 sought to appease people on both sides of the slavery argument. The compromise would admit California as a free state, establish popular sovereignty in the territories of Utah and New Mexico, ban the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and create a new Fugitive Slave Act. The new act angered many Northerners because it required them... -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
In 1852, abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe published a fictional novel called Uncle Tom's Cabin. This book depicted the atrocities associated with enslavement and changed thousands of Northerners' attitudes on the issue of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act. Though the book did exceptionally well in the North by growing the abolitionist movement, the South labeled it slanderous. The differing ideologies in the North and South further divided the two regions against one another. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act & Bleeding Kansas (1854-59)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1824 established popular sovereignty in the newly created territories of Kansas and Nebraska. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise by giving the territories an opportunity to allow slavery north of the 36°30' parallel line. With Kansas having the chance to either allow or prohibit slavery, pro and anti-slavery settlers came from neighboring states to vote in the referendum. However, violence in the form of small skirmishes soon erupted between the two factions... -
(Continued) Kansas-Nebraska Act & Bleeding Kansas (1854-59)
in the event known as Bleeding Kansas. During this time, the town of Lawrence was burned down by pro-slavery settlers, and in response, abolitionist John Brown came to Pottawatomie Creek and massacred five pro-slavery settlers. These events sparked a new political party to emerge called the Republican Party. Republicans opposed the expansion of slavery into western territory. Bleeding Kansas is an example of extreme sectional tension and political discontent between the North and South. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford Case
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri who sued his master John Sandford for his right to freedom. Scott had resided in a free territory before returning to Missouri; therefore, Scott believed he should be a free man. His case eventually made it to the Supreme Court where it was ruled that all black people, free or enslaved, were not U.S. citizens and could not sue. The court also ruled that slaves were property and, therefore, a master's rights to property were protected and that the Missouri... -
Dred Scott v. Sandford Case (Continued)
Compromise was unconstitutional, so Congress could not prevent the expansion of slavery in America. Abolitionists in the North reacted to this court ruling with outrage while Southerners took this as an opportunity to push their pro-slavery agenda even further. This case created further tensions over the issue of slavery between the North and the South and would become a focal point in debates between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown and his supporters entered Virginia in the middle of the night to launch another attack after the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre. Brown planned to arm local slaves with weapons and ammunition stolen from the federal armory at Harpers Ferry where he would lead an insurrection against the government. Before Brown could round up slaves, military leader Robert E. Lee ordered an army of men to successfully capture Brown. Brown was later found guilty of treason... -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry (Continued)
and sentenced to death by hanging. Many abolitionists in the North praised Brown's martyrdom while the South vilified him and feared similar anti-slavery attacks. Brown's raid made any reconciliation between the North and South impossible, making it a driving force behind the start of the Civil War. -
The Election of 1860 (Continued 2)
to succeed which began a chain of events that led up to the start of the Civil War; the sectional conflict and political divide in America were at their peak, and war was inevitable. -
The Election of 1860
In 1860, there were four presidential candidates running for office: Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, Southern Democrat John Breckinridge, Constitutional Unionist John Bell, and Republican Abraham Lincoln. Politics in America were so divided at this time that the Democratic Party had to split into two separate candidates. The South openly opposed Lincoln because of the Republican ideology that believed the expansion of slavery in American territories should be prohibited. The rest of the... -
The Election of 1860 (Continued)
candidates either supported the idea of expanding slavery, or they believed popular sovereignty in the western territories should decide the outcome. In the end, Lincoln won the election with 180 electoral votes; he did not win the popular vote, and he had almost no votes from the southern states. Lincoln's victory signaled to the South that their influence in politics was diminishing. They felt there was no other option but to begin seceding from the Union. South Carolina was the first state...
