-
U.S. Constitution - 3/5 Compromise
-The compromise that established that a slave wound be counted as three-fifths of a person, insofar as determining the population of a state.
-This compromise resolved the issue of counting slaves towards population in regards to represented in the House of Representatives. -
Northwest Ordinance
-A law passed to regulate the settlement of the Northwest Territory, which eventually was divided into several states of the Middle West.
-It laid the basis for the government of Northwest Territory and for the admission of its constituent parts as states into the Union. -
Fugitive Slave Act
-A law passed by the Compromise of 1850, which provided Southern slaveholders with legal weapons to capture slaves who has escaped to the free states.
-This new law forcibly compelled citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves. -
Invention of Cotton Gin
-A machine that separates the fibers of cotton from the seeds.
-It revolutionized the cotton industry in the South by automating the seed separation process and made cotton production profitable, which increased trade and the economy of the South. -
Ban on Slave Importation
-A law that stated that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the U.S.
-Children of slaves automatically became slave themselves, thus ensuring a self-sustaining slave population in the South. -
MIssouri Compromise
-This compromise was a settlement reached between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery into new territories which admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
-It delayed the inevitable conflict over slavery for 25 years which erupted in the American Civil War. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
-A slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia which the state executed 56 slaves accused being part of the rebellion.
-Approximately 120 slaves and free African Americans were murdered by militias and mobs in the area. -
South Carolina Nullification Crisis
-The nullification crisis was a U.S. sectional political crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, which involved a confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government.
-The conflicts between the North and South beginning with the Nullification Crisis would ultimately lead to the American Civil War. -
Organization of Underground Railroad
-A secret organization who helped slaves escape from the bondage of slavery in the Southern slave states to freedom in the free states: Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
-This helped hundreds of runaway slaves escape to freedom. -
Wilmot Proviso
-It prohibited the expansion of slavery into any territory acquired by the U.S. from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War Settlement.
-Whigs from the South moved to the Democrat party and the Whigs from the north moved to the newly reformed Republican Party. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
-The treaty that officially ended the Mexican-American War.
-The acquisition of the new lands in the treaty ignited the slavery debate which would lead to the American Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
-The compromise was an attempt to smooth out the confrontation between the slave states and free states of the North.
-The failure of this compromise led to the American Civil War. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
-A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe about life under slavery.
-This book changed the way slavery was viewed by a majority of people. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
-It allowed citizens in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide locally whether to allow slavery or not.
-Allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery on the basis of Popular Sovereignty. -
Bleeding Kansas
-A series of violent political confrontations in the U.S. involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery.
-It was an issue that was so crucial that people stated killing others. -
Charles Sumner Attacked
-Preston Brooks attacked Charles Sumner with a cane two days after Sumner gave his speech.
-Charles Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War working to destroy the Confederacy and free all the slaves. -
Dred Scott Decision
-A controversial ruling made by the Supreme Court, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War.
-The case reached the Supreme Court and the justices ruled against Dred Scott. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
-An effort armed by abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt by taking over an United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
-John Brown led a small group on a on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to start and armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. -
Lincoln's Election
-Abraham Lincoln was elected at the 16th president as the Republican candidate on a platform opposing the expansion of slavery.
-His election represented a backlash by anti-slavery states, but precipitated the secession of Southern states. -
South Carolina Secedes from Union
-South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and was one of the founder members and the Confederacy,
-South Carolina was a source of troops for the Confederate army, and as the war progressed, also for the Union, as of thousands of ex-slaves flocked to join the Union forces.
