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The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a temporary solution to disagreements between slave states and free states. When Missouri wanted to enter the Union as a slave state, the north was angered because this would cause an imbalance of power, to resolve this issue, Maine was added to the Union as a free state, and slavery was outlawed in other territories from the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30′. The compromise appeased both sides but brought light to the disagreements between them. -
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Slavery grows and reaches its peak in America
During the 1840s to the 1860s, slavery reached its peak in the United States. In 1860, there were nearly four million slaves in the United States. As the slave trade grew it became an integral part of the South's economy and directly affected the entire country's economy as well. The economic expansion of slavery during the mid-1800s and the push-back it faced from the Abolitionist Movement and the North, was one of the main reasons for the civil war. -
Wilmot's Proviso
The debate over slavery in new western territories acquired from the Mexican-American war led David Wilmot to propose a possible solution. He proposed that slavery should be outlawed in territories obtained from Mexico. He believed this would encourage white settlers to expand and settle in those areas. His proposal was successful with some Northerners because they fear southern 'Slave Power' but it was blocked and never passed. But it brought added to the debate between the two sides. -
California Petitions for Statehood
The issue of balanced power arose again in 1849 when California petitioned to become a state. Because of California's anti-slavery sentiments many Southerns feared that letting it into the union would give the North an advantage. Some southerners were hoping for California to become a state before restrictions could be placed on slavery there. California created an anti-slavery constitution a few months later and its eventual statehood signaled a change in the balance between north and south. -
The Compromise of 1850
With the acquisition of new territories in the west and the creation of the state of California, tensions were high surrounding the balance of power in congress. For the North, it ended the slave trade in DC and allowed California to join as a free state. For the South, it toughened slave laws in the North and allowed popular sovereignty in the New Mexico and Utah territories. The compromise was shaky, but was able to hold the union together for a couple more years before it fell apart. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
In 1854, the Nebraska territory petitioned for statehood, but would enter the union as a free state, angering the South because of the imbalance in power it would create. The admission of a Southern state (Kansas) was proposed to prevent this and appease the South. However this went directly against the Missouri Compromise and when it was passed the compromise was repealed, which led to the split of the Whig party and to further distance and conflict between the two sides. -
Bleeding Kansas
Expansion of the union with the creation of Kansas and Nebraska led to violence between slavery supporters and abolitionists in Kansas after a group of 'Border Ruffians' were led into Kansas to vote for its creation as a slave state. As tensions rose violence broke out in and around Kansas, lasting for roughly two years. Many people died and the name 'Bleeding Kansas' was given to this violent period. This violence spread east and greatly contributed to the tensions that led to the Civil War. -
The Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott Decision was a ruling by the supreme court that declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. The case concerned a slave who had lived in a free state (north of the 36°30' line and in the Louisiana Purchase) for two years and who sued for his freedom. Scott lost, and the Missouri Compromise was found unconstitutional, this furthered the sectional controversy and inched the country closer to civil war.
