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Missouri Compromise
In 1820, Congress tried to make a compromise whether Missouri should be a slave state or not. They ruled that Missouri was a slave state but Maine should be a free state so there was a balance between free and slave states in government They also ruled that any states north of latitude 36°30′ were a free state and any state under was a slave state This increased tensions by debating how slave and free states should be chosen. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner started a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Over 50 white people were killed during the rebellion and later Nat Turner was hanged and killed after hiding for 2 months. Increased tensions by bringing significance to slaverly morality and wether it was the right thing to do -
Compromise of 1850
In 1850, Senator Henry Clay introduced answers to the growing debate about slavery to try and keep the union together In the compromise, the Fugitive slave act would be enforced harder but as a result, Californa would be admitted as a free state. It increased tensions as it gave free states more power in the balance of government but gave federal support towards slavery. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Congress passed the Fugitive Slave law in 1850 in DC. The law made it legal to recapture runaway slaves.
Many people who were captured were free black men who got mistaken as slaves.They were usually sent to a field to work. Judges also got a commission for each person they sent back to the fields so most of the time if it was a free man they didn't care that much.This increased tensions by having normal people from the North get sent into the South even though they shouldn't have been there. -
Underground Railroad
It was a pathway to freedom for slaves that was lead by no one in the mid 19th century. Over 300 slaves were free by the underground railroad and many people tried their best to hide slaves from people enforcing the Slave Fugitive Law. This created tensions because many of the South's slaves were being set free and the North didn't want to help them with sending the slaves back down to the South -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
It was an anti-slavery novel that was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. The south banned books that spoke badly about slavery and called them a bunch of lies while the North had many books come out that criticized the morality and usefulness of slavery This increased tensions because it brought more attention to the workings of slavery and how effctive it was -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
It was an act passed by Congress on May 30, 1854, in DC. It split the Nebraska territories into 2 states and people should decide whether it should be slave or free states. Many people crossed the border and came from their places and tried to shift the balance of people and make them slave states. This brought controversy because it went against what was previously mentioned in the Missouri Compromise and the line that determined free or slave. -
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“Bleeding Kansas”
It was a civil war that happened in Kansas and lasted 7 years. Many people came in from other states in order to try and make the state a slave state even though they didn't live there. There was a lot of voter fraud and assaults as people came in and tried to change the results of the voting. This brought lots of tension as it shoewed that in order to come to a decision there would have to be bloodshed and fighting -
Brooks Attacks Sumner
It happened on May 22, 1856, in the Senate Building when Representative Brooks attacks senator Sumner with his cane. The North was shocked at what happened and wanted him to lose his job while the South gave him more canes in the mail and told him to beat more people up. This built tensions as the different places had different sides on the matter and realized that epople would relaiate with vilence if they didnt like the others opinion. -
Dred Scott Decision
It involved Dred Scott a slave that ran away and went to a free state. He later came back wanting to sue the state in the US supreme court in1857. The rulings that came out made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Along with the fact that slaves were property and not citizens. This increased tensions by destroying the thing that made it easy to determine what should be a slave state or a free state and what whould happend to the power balance in Governemt. -
Lincoln–Douglas debates
It was a set of 7 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas that took place in different cities in Illinois on 1858. They talked about slavery of the US in a whole and how the morality of it was wrong. Lincoln lost the election for senator but it created the ground for him to stand on while running as president. It created more tensions buy creating more attention to how wrong slavery was and what they should do to end it. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
In 1859, John Brown initiated an armed slave revolt in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He was later captured by the marines and hung to death. His revolt failed to do any big changes. This created tensions by showing how the slaves were treated and how they didnt like it so as a result they fought back. -
Election of 1860
It was a presidential election of 1860 where Abraham Lincoln beat the other party nominees. After being sworn into office the South announced their secession from the US because they had a Republican President. Lincoln won the election because every single free state voted for him so the had a majority over the slave states. This was a conflict because this lead to the Civil war because the South felt oppressed and didn't want to stay under a Republician President.