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Missouri Compromise of 1820
This was an act that brought Missouri into the union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. All states purchased in the Louisiana Purchase North of the Southern boundary of Missouri would not have slavery. The act lasted for about 30 years until the Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted. -
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The Dred Scott Case
This was a case of true inspiration. Dred Scott, a slave moving from a free state to a state with slavery, tried to sue for his freedom. Scott believed that since he was coming from a free state, he deserved his independence no matter where he resided. Sadly, he lost his case in federal court. The Chief Justice believed that no slave could claim citizenship in the U.S., whether they were free or not. This case pushed Abolitionists to end slavery in the near future. -
The Compromise of 1850
This compromise aided the resolvement of the Mexican-American War. The compromise did the following things: Allowed California to become a free state, created Utah and New Mexico with a question of slavery or no slavery, Texas-New Mexico boundary, end of slave-trade in Washington D.C., and an easier way for runaway slaves to be recovered. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This act commanded the return of any and all runaway slaves. If you were a fugitive slave and found by a slavehunter, you were to be returned to your owner right away. Also, no fugitive slaves would be given the right to a jury trial. Federal officials were in charge of forcing the laws by any means necessary. -
The Caning of Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner was an Abolitionist and leader of the Republican Party of Massachusetts. On May 21, 1856, he gave a speech called "The Crime Against Kansas." He talked about murders and spoke badly of Andrew Butler, a Senator from South Carolina. Many people believed that his speech went too far, especially Preston Brooks, a Representative from South Carolina. Enraged by the words of Sumner, Brooks went to Sumner's office and proceeded to strike Sumner over the head with a cane. -
Black Codes
The Black Codes were a set of forceful laws created by white southerners to recreate civil authority in past confederate states. These laws restricted the power that African Americans who were supposedly free actually had. Some states made African Americans sign labor contracts, forced them into unpaid labor if ever arrested, and made their activity limited. -
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Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow laws were created in the South to ensure Racial Segregation during the end of the Reconstruction period to the Civil Rights movement.
