-
Northwest Ordinance
Political: The Northwest Ordinance was formed as a result of criticism to policies that made it difficult for ordinary citizens (those who were not overly wealthy) to obtain land. It abandoned the ten districts established in 1784 and created a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of Ohio, in which the minimum population for statehood was 60,000. It guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, and most importantly, prohibited slavery. -
Missouri Compromise
Political: Congress adopted the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Maine as a free state, Missouri as a slave state, and made all western territories north of Missouri’s southern border free. The latitude line was 36-30 and extended all the way to the Pacific. The objective of this was to maintain the balance of slave and free states. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Social: Nat Turner, an educated slave from Southampton County, Virginia, led 40-50 slaves to kill his master and master’s family. In total, 55 white men, women, and children were murdered. Following the rebellion, 56 blacks were executed and 200 were beaten by white mobs or militias. Although Northern sympathy increased, slave mistreatment substantially rose in the South because the rebellion greatly contributed the Southern views of blacks as dangerous. -
Gag Rule
Political: The first of many, the Gag Rule of 1836 tabled any petitions on the issue of slavery. It was proposed by James Hammond, a southern Democrat, and supported by Waddy Thompson, a southern Whig. However, the Gag Rule had opposition from the North, such as John Q. Adams, a Northern Democrat. This Gag Rule greatly suppressed First Amendment rights, and angered abolitionists, which were still a relatively small part of the population. The Gag Rule was eventually repealed on December 3, 1844. -
Amistad Case
Political: The Amistad was a Spanish slave vessel carrying Africans to Cuba. The Africans seized the ship from its crew in 1839 and tried to return it to Africa, but the U.S. Navy took hold of the ship and held the Africans as pirates. There were legal efforts to free the Africans because slave trade had been abolished in the U.S. When case reached the Supreme Court, the Africans were freed and returned to Africa. Southerners were outraged because it freed blacks who were supposed to be slaves. -
Annexation of Texas
Political: After it gained independence, Southerners wanted Texas to be admitted to the Union in order create another slave state, while northerners feared that its admission into the Union would upset the balance of slave and free states in Congress. It ultimately did upset the balance, which resulted in increased tensions between the North and the South. -
Mexican War
Political: Texans claimed they had the right to all territory until the Rio Grande, but Mexicans claimed the Nueces Rivers was the boundary. Congress declared war when the Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande and attacked Americans. After General Scott seized the Mexican capital, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed to end the war. The Mexican War caused divisions between expansionists and antislavery leaders, which led to disagreements over whether the new territory would prohibit slavery. -
Wilmot Proviso
Political: The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal by Pennsylvania representative, David Wilmot, to prohibit slavery in the Mexican territory acquired by the United States in the Mexican War. It passed in the House, but failed in the Senate. It was supposed to alleviate tension by making all territories gained in the southwest from Mexico free. -
California Gold Rush
Economic: The California Gold Rush began when James Marshall found gold in the Sierra Nevada and news of the discovery spread around the world. People began to rapidly move to the mountains in California, hoping to become wealthy from finding gold. The population of California greatly increased during the Gold Rush, leading it to apply for statehood. Northerners wanted to admit California as a free state, while Southerners opposed this because it would upset the balance of slave and free states. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Political: Included in the Compromise of 1850 to appease Southerners, the Fugitive Slave Act required Northerners to assist in the capture and return of runaway slaves. It forced blacks to relinquish the rights of testifying in court, trial by jury, and having a judge present during trials. Free colored men were not safe from this act; they could be sent to the South on an affidavit. Northerners were outraged with this inequitable law, and many northern states nullified it and refused to comply. -
Compromise of 1850
Political: The Compromise of 1850, proposed by Henry Clay, consisted of five parts that included California entering the Union as a free state, popular sovereignty being instituted in Mexican territory, fixing the Rio Grande boundary between Texas and Mexico, abolishing slave trade in D.C., and passing the stricter Fugitive Slave Law. The Compromise led to sectional and temporarily averted war, ultimately increased tensions because neither the North nor the South was completely satisfied. -
Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Social: This book, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was one of the most powerful documents of abolitionist propaganda. The novel embedded the antislavery message within a familiar and popular literary form, and succeeded in bringing the idea abolition to an enormous audience. However, it greatly inflamed tensions between North and South, and is credited with starting the Civil War due to its portrayal of slavery, which was the first time people understood the brutalities of the institution. -
Ostend Manifesto
Political: Pierce had been engaged in unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to buy Cuba from Spain, and in 1854, his envoys sent him a private document from Ostend, Belgium that suggested seizing Cuba by force. Antislavery northerners were enraged and claimed that the administration was conspiring to bring a new slave state to the Union. Ultimately, Cuba was not purchased or seized from Spain. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Political: Originally proposed by Stephen Douglas, the Kansas-Nebraska Act opened new land to whites, which Southerners opposed. In order to appease the Southerners, two modifications were added: popular sovereignty and the revocation of the Missouri Compromise. Finally, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was modified to form two territories, Kansas and Nebraska, out of the Nebraska territory that had power to choose their status of slavery. -
Bleeding Kansas
Social: Tensions increased by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a group of slavery advocates burned a hotel and newspaper offices in Lawrence after the murder of an abolitionist in December 1855. This incident, the Sack of Lawrence, began Bleeding Kansas. Five days later, John Brown led the Pottawatomie Massacre, in which five slavery supporters killed. Both groups divided opposing governments, and the LeCompton Constitution was rejected. Kansas was eventually admitted as a free state in January 1861. -
Dred Scott Decision
Political: Dred Scott was a Missouri slave taken to free land by his master, but returned to Missouri upon his master's death. Scott sued his master's widow for freedom, but had it taken away when the widow's brother claimed ownership of Scott. Scott sued for his freedom once again, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court, where Roger Taney ruled that Congress could not forbid slavery in any territory, and because Scott resided in Missouri, a slave state, he was therefore a slave. -
John Brown and Raid on Harpers Ferry
Social: John Brown, an abolitionist, and his followers seized a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and expected slaves to participate. However, the slaves never joined the revolt, and Brown was captured, put on trial for murder, and hanged. This incident convinced Southerners they could not live safely in the Union and radicalized Northern advocates of reconciliation. The raid temporarily unified the Democrats in preserving slavery, leading to inflamed tension. -
Crittenden Compromise
Political: Proposed by John Crittenden, the Crittenden Compromise was an attempt to stall war by suggesting 6 constitutional amendments: reenact the Missouri Compromise, compensate owners of fugitive slaves, establish popular sovereignty in territories, protect slavery in D.C., and forbid interference with interstate slave trade. It was opposed by Lincoln and the Republicans, and was defeated in the Senate. It showed that there was no middle ground to appease both the North and the South.
