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Northwest Ordinance
Established a framework for governing the Northwest Territory, outlining how territories could become states and guaranteeing civil liberties, including banning slavery there. -
Fugitive slave act
Authorized the capture and return of runaway enslaved people, empowered slave owners to seize them, and penalized those who aided their escape, sparking resistance in the North and fueling the abolitionist movement. -
Invention of cotton gin
A machine that separated cotton fibers from seeds. The cotton gin revolutionized cotton production and made cotton a profitable crop in the United States. -
Ban on slave Importation
The United States banned the importation of slaves into the country with the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves, which took effect on January 1st, halting the international slave trade while allowing the existing domestic slave trade to continue. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
A revolt that took place in August 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia, led by the enslaved preacher Nat Turner, resulting in the deaths of approximately 55 white people and prompting harsh retaliation against Black people. -
Organization of Underground Railroad
A network of abolitionists helping enslaved people escape to freedom. Full of safe houses and places for the escapees to flee to. -
Wilmot Proviso
An amendment to an appropriations bill that was proposed in 1846 to prohibit slavery in any territory won from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise made California a free state tipping the scale. It also installed the fugitive slave act. Slave trade in D.C was abolished -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
A novel written in 1852 written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was a fiction book around the life of a slave. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing residents of these territories to decide on the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty. -
Bleeding Kansas
Kansas Territory saw intense violence and conflict as pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces clashed over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave or free state. -
Charles Sumner Attacked
Preston Books in trial went and attacked Charles Sumner with his walking cane as they opposed each other's view on slavery. -
Dred Scott Decision
Supreme court ruled that enslaved people free or not had no rights. They also had no rights to sue in the supreme courts. -
John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry
Brown attacked an arsenal and armed slaves. Some slaves refused as they were scared of the consequences. This plan failed and John Brown was hung. -
South Carolina Secedes from Union
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, following the election of Abraham Lincoln. -
Lincoln’s election
The south did not want Lincoln to take office as the south did not want Lincoln and the Republicans to end slavery in America.