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Period: to
Pre-Civil War Era (Slavery in the South)
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Gag Rule
The "Gag Rule" was an action from the Congress which prohibited the discussion of issues pertaining to slavery. This act most likely prolonged slavery and the civil war because not national decisions would be made on the matter. The Gag Rule was repealed on December 3, 1844. -
Fredrick Douglas
This date was the date Fredrick Douglas escaped slavery. Fredrick escaped to be come a popular abolitionist. Since he was intelligent and could read and write, he gave many speeches and even wrote a book about his life as a slave. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso banned slavery in any territory which was gained from the Mexican War. Due to the equal representation of North and South in the Senate the bill never passed. This gave the South the ability to flow into the new territory. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 ruled California to be a free state. To make the compromise also appeal to the South the Fugitive Slave Act was put into action. The compromise made the South angry that they couldn't have slavery in California causing futher tension. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was imposed to counteract the fact that California was just made into a free state. This act allowed Souther slave owners to go to, or send people to, the north to retrieve escaped slaves. This was often abused by the southerners by retrieving fee blacks, because there was no proof that they weren't escaped slaves. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beacher Stowe wrote the book to show the brutalty of slavery. The plot follows the life of a slave who is treated pooly and helps the people to understand the life of a slave. This book was quickly regarded as one of the most popular books of the period. This caused many on the fence about slavery to turn to favor abolition. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act created the territories of Nebraska and Kansas. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed for popular soverignty in those new territories by white male settlers. Popular Soverignty was not agreed upon whch led to "Bleeding Kansas". -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a battle betweeon Pro-slavery and Anti-Slavery activists. The Pro-slavery activists made the claim that people were allowed to bring their property into those territories and slaves, at that time, were property. The Anti-slavery activists propsed that the slave owners would buy up all the land and farm it with slaves, which left little opportunity for non-slaveholders. This resulted in arguments in the territories, which led to violence. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a slave living with his master in a free state. Dred figured that since he was in a free state that he could sue for his freedom. Once in court, the final decision was that no black can claim citizenship therefore, as a black, the could not sue or petition for their freedom. This caused major controversy between North and South which would turn into a war in just a few years. -
Election of 1860
On Tuesday, November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was eleceted as the next president. Due to lincoln winning the election, paired with his abolitionist type thoughts on slavery, the South would now have an excuse to secede, but they thought it would be peaceful but that was wrong. Just a year after election Lincoln would be dealing with one of the most controversial wars in the United States, which would change slavery and the U.S.A. forever.