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Missouri Compromise
A plan proposed by Henry Clay upon receiving Missouri and Maine in 1820, it decided that Maine would be admitted as a free state while Missouri would be admitted as a slave state, in order to keep the balance in the electoral college. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
In August of 1831, Nat Turner, an enslaved man, launched a rebellion in Southampton County. 55 white people (including women and children) were killed on the rebellions way toward Courtland. They were quickly defeated after an altercation at James Parker's Farm. Following this, many black people were killed without trial. Slave owners were compensated for any killed or lost slaves. Turner avoided capture but was ultimately captured on October 30th. He was executed on November 11th, 1831. -
Mexican American War
The Mexican-American war was caused over a border dispute between Mexico and the USA in 1846. The issue was that Mexico said the American border stopped at the Nueces River whereas America was adamant it was the Rio Grande, which naturally resulted in war. -
Wilmot Proviso
Proposed by the current president James K. Polk in 1846, the "Wilmot Proviso" served to ready and allocate a sum of 2 million dollars for the purchase of any territory from Mexico following the war. -
Gold Rush in California 1848-1849
The California Gold Rush was an event in which hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the running waters of California in search of finding gold, it began when James W. Marshall discovered a piece of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California in January of 1848 -
Compromise of 1850
During the presidency of Millard Filmore, with the admission of California, Utah, and New Mexcio, an odd number of states, the balance of slave and free stats was at risk, so the compromise of 1850 was set in place to not say that states would now decide their placement on slavery with popular sovereignty, it also banned the slave trade in D.C., amended the Fugitive Slave Act, and fixed the Texas border. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This act was a part of the Compromise of 1850, it served as the federal implementation that any and all runaway slaves are required to be returned to their owners if they are found, even if found in a free state. -
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman created and ran the Underground railroad from 1851 to 1863, the Railroad served as a way for slaves to escape from their owners and into free states. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and published in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was placed on many shelves and selling 1.5 million copies in its first year. The novel was about a slave called Uncle Tom, and the book gave insight into the life of a slave and inhumane treatment they were subjected to. It was to counteract any slave owners thought process, and changed many people. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed the previous Missouri Compromise. This act created two new territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and put in place popular sovereignty, allowing the territories to decide whether they wanted to be slave states. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
In 1846, a trial involving an enslaved black man, Dred Scott, and his enslaved wife, Harriet Scott sued for freedom on the belief that since they were in free territory, they would be free. They were in the territory of Wisconsin, and had been staying at Fort Snelling. The case went on for 11 years and the ruling was that enslaved persons were not US citizens, and could not be protected on a federal level. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Democratic Stephen A. Douglas and Republican Abraham Lincoln debated during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign. These debates were about slavery extending into new territories. -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
On October 16th of 1859, John Brown and some of his supporters hid out on Harper's Ferry. Brown is an avid abolitionist and during the raid captured prominent citizens and took supplies. The next day, Brown hid in the engine house, eventually getting captured and sentenced to death on December 2nd, 1859. -
Presidential Election of 1860
In 1860, Republican Abraham Lincoln won the election against Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. This was the first time a Republican had been elected president, and Lincoln won without any support from the Southern States. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
South Carolina was the first state to secede on December 20th of 1860. After Lincoln was elected, people of South Carolina began to call for disunion and many southern states followed that mindset. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas lasted from 1854 to 1861. It resulted after the Kansas-Nebraska Act and anti-slavery and pro-slavery individuals swarmed the state to sway the vote. These protests began to escalate and led to series of of violent confrontations.