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Missouri Compromise
Tensions began to boil in 1819 when Missouri requested to join the Union as a slave state. In order to keep the peace, Congress enacted a two-part compromise that allowed Missouri to join as a slave state, and allowed Maine to join as a free state, maintaining the balance between free and slave states.
Facts:
- Henry Clay was known as the "Great Pacificator" because of his work on the compromise.
- Maine was originally a part of the Massachusetts territory. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
A slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, led my Nat Turner. The rebelling slaves killed between 55 and 65 people. -
Compromise of 1850
A series of compromises introduced by Henry Clay that made changes to the Fugitive Slave Act and also abolished the slave trade in Washington, DC. In addition, California was admitted as a free state. -
Fugitive Slave Act
A law passed by congress in 1850 that let Southern slave owners more easily recapture escaped slaves. Also called the "Bloodhound Law" by abolitionists. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Also known as Life Among Lowly, Uncle Tom's Cabin was an anti-slavery novel that detailed the life that slaves lived. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
An act passed by Congress that allowed people in the territories of Nebraska and Kansas to decide whether they would be free or slave territories by popular sovereignty. -
Bleeding Kansas
A series of violent confrontations over the debate of legality of slavery in the territory of Kansas. -
Brooks Attacks Sumner
An event that occurred in the United States Senate, when Representative Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane. -
Dred Scott Decision
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, candidates for an Illinois senate seat. Despite Illinois being a free state, all of the debates were about slavery. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
A raid by John Brown on Harper's Ferry in an attempt to initiate an armed slave revolt. -
Election of 1860
The United States presidential election in which Abraham Lincoln beat John Brecknridge, Stephen Douglas, and John Bell.
