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Missouri Compromise
-The Northern and Southern politicians have heated debates over the growth of slavery
-Henry Clay, known as the Great Comprimiser, settles the debate
-The Missouri Compromise were a series of laws that helped maintain the balance between slave states and free states -
The Nullification Crisis
-Southern states felt that the tariffs were unfair and only supported the North.
-Vice President John C. Calhoun said any state could nullify(make void) a federal law it considers unconstitutional.
-The federal government denied South Carolina's argument
-South Carolina threatened to secede.
-Henry Clay came up with a compromise and lowered the tariff. -
Compromise of 1850
-Congress had many heated debates as to whether the new territories won from Mexico would be admitted as slave states or free states.
-Henry Clay makes another compromise:
1. California would be admitted as a free state
2. Congress would not pass laws banning slavery from the rest of the territories -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
-The Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850 by the Congress. The act permitted the capture of African-Americans who had fled to the north to escape bondage.
-These laws heightened tension, and set the stage for John Brown's Raid and the American Civil War. -
Bleeding Kansas 1855
-5,000 people from nearby proslavery Missouri came and voted for proslavery representatives in Kansas illegally.
-Anti-slavery opponents started their own government.
-The anti-slavery government was attacked by proslavery forces.
-To avenge this attack, extreme abolitionist John Brown murdered several of his proslavery neighbors. -
Dred Scott Decision
-Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom.
-Dred Scott was the property of his owner and property could not be taken from a person without due process of law. -
Attack on Harpers Ferry
-John Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom.
-He planned to capture the arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia to arm the slaves.
-Brown and his men were captured
-Abolitionists saluted John Brown as he was put to death, the issue of slavery had raised tensions in America to the breaking point -
The Election of 1860
-Abraham Lincoln wins the election
-Southern states begin to secede from the Union shortly after Lincoln is elected.
