-
Northwest Ordinance
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- Abandoned 10 districts established in 1785 & created single Northwest territory (60,000 must be population for statehood). Upset the balance between free and slave states. -
Period: to
Road to the Civil War
-
Missouri Compromise
POLITICAL/ Postponed Tensions- Made Missouri a slave state and drew a line across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave states (the north was considered free, while the southern states were slave states). This was an effort to calm tensions between the North and the South. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
SOCIAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- A slave revolt organized by Preacher Nat Turner, of which 50 slaves killed about 55 white men (masters and other whites). 56 blacks were ultimately executed for participating in the revolt, it led to further subjugation of slaves, and assisted in dividing the North and the South. -
Gag Rule
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- The Gag Rule put off any petitions of the people regarding the issues of slavery. It instigated Southern states, angered the North, and disregarded the first amendment. -
Amistad Case
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- 53 African slaves being transported from Cuba staged a successful mutiny, killing two crew members. A federal court judge ruled that the slaves were not liable for their actions because they were enslaved illegally. The Supreme Court ruled the same and that the slaves should be granted their freedom. -
Annexation of Texas
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836, and, originally, there was question of whether Texas should join the Union (would upset balance of free vs. slave states). Following the annexation, relations between US and Mexico deteriorate because of unresolved dispute over border. Ultimately led to the Mexican War. -
Mexican War
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- Dispute between the US and Mexico after the annexation of Texas. Mexicans refuse to fight for months and then a small band of Mexican troops cross the border and attack, forcing US congress to declare war. Mexico ultimately loses about 1/3 of its territory, upsetting the balance between free vs. slave states in the US. -
Wilmot Proviso
POLITICAL/ Postpones Tensions (doesn't pass)- A proposal to prohibit slavery in the territory acquired by the US at the end of the Mexican War. Passes in the House of Representatives, but fails to pass in the Senate. -
California Gold Rush
ECONOMIC/ Exacerbated Tensions- Hundreds of thousands of people moved to California after the discovery of large traces of gold (wished to obtain riches), pushing and attacking indigenous societies off their lands. Though California's population grew dramatically, there was a dispute over whether or not it should be admitted as a state because it would upset the balance between free and slave states. -
Compromise of 1850
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- Incorporated several different aspects that heightened tensions between the North and the South, such as: passing a stricter fugitive slave law, outlawing slave trade in DC, settling the Mexican-Texas boundary dispute, creating popular sovereignty in the territories acquired through Mexican cession, and admitting California into Union as a free state (Southern resent). -
Fugitive Slave Act
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- The Fugitive Slave Act was an element of the Compromise of 1850. It required the return of runaway slaves, allowed for free blacks to be sent to South on affidavit, took away black right to testify in court or have a trial by jury, and all authorities had to assist in the capture of runaway slaves. There was harsh opposition from the North, leading to a more intense sectional divide between the North and South. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
SOCIAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- An anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that had an intense effect on attitudes towards African Americans and slavery in the US. Uncle Tom's Cabin was so important because it set the groundwork for the Civil War. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- Allowed for popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska regarding free vs. slave state. This act also repealed the Missouri Compromise, increasing tensions. -
Ostend Manifesto
ECONOMIC & POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- The Ostend Manifesto was a document describing the rationale for the US to purchase Cuba from Spain. It implied that the US should declare war if Spain refused. Slave owners sought for new territory for slavery's expansion, but there was strong northern opposition. -
Bleeding Kansas
SOCIAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- Result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. A period of extreme violence over the question of slavery (whether Kansas would become a free vs. slave state). -
Dred Scott Decision
POLITICAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- In this case, the Supreme Court declares that Dred Scott, an enslaved African American man who was brought into free land by Mrs. John Emerson, was not a free man. This decision challenged the Missouri Compromise and would heavily influence the election of 1860. -
John Brown and the Raid on Harper's Ferry
SOCIAL/ Exacerbated Tensions- An attempted armed slave revolt (attack of the federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry to retrieve supplies for a rebellion) led by John Brown, an American abolitionist, that ultimately failed. This revolt convinced white Southerners that they were unsafe in the Union and radicalized Northern advocates. It also further divided the North and the South. -
Crittenden Compromise
POLITICAL/ Postponed Tensions (defeated)- Legislation proposed in December of 1860. This was an attempt to stall the Civil War, as it aimed to reenact the Missouri Compromise and extend westward, compensate owners of fugitive slaves, award popular sovereignty in territories, allow for protection of slavery in DC, and would forbid interference with interstate slave trade. However, it ultimately failed to pass.
