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3/5 Compromise
The 3/5 compromise was one of the first pieces of legislation involving slaves. This is the closest the slaves have come to being included as parts of society. This compromise states that every 5 slaves accounted for 3 citizens, adding to the population, increasing representation in southern states. Slave owners were not happy though as it was the first rights the slaves gained. Although this was a compromise, it further separated people who wanted full representation of slaves and who did not. -
Protective Tariffs of 1816
Designed to protect the industrial lifestyle of the Northern region from overseas competition, the south became quickly outraged by the tariffs, as it did nothing to protect their slave-based agriculture, and consistently opposed the tariffs throughout the Ante Bellum period. -
Nat Turner Slave Rebellion
A major slave uprising, killing 55-65 people, 50 or more of them being slaves. This mass killing instilled fear in the owners of slaves and ended the emancipation movement in that region. This also resulted in harsher laws against slaves and their education and movement. The uprising destroyed the false belief that "slaves are happy." -
Fugitive Slave Act Of 1850
As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act required that runaway slave owners be returned to their owners, even in free states. The Federal Government paid bounty hunters to capture and return slaves. This caused sectionalism by further dividing the country between those who believe in slave freedoms and those who do not. This also gave the southern plantation owners power they did not have in the past. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise comprised of 5 separate bills in an attempt to diffuse political decent between free and slave states. California is admitted into the country as a free state, and did not have a slave state to pair. Due to the massive size of the new state, the south was outraged. This compromise also enacted the new "Fugitive Slave Act." -
Kansas- Nebraska Act
This was an act the divided the two states to what we know them as today. The division allowed both states to decide if their state would be free or not with popular sovereignty. Kansas enabling slavery violates the Missouri Compromise and leads to terror in the state. -
Abraham Lincoln is Elected
President Lincoln was against the expansion of slavery. His election enraged the south because they knew their agenda would be shut down. The election called for immediate war, and quick uprising in the south.
