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Northwest Ordinance (Economic) (Green)
Policy for structuring settlement of the Northwest territory and adding new states. The Ordinance abandoned the 10 districts created in the Ordinance of 1784 and created a single territory, which could then be divided into 3-5 territories. It specified a population of 60,000 for a territory to apply for statehood, guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, and prohibited slavery in the region. Southerners, hoping southerns would populate the new states, weren't opposed to this. -
Missouri Compromise (Political) (Red)
The request of Missouri to be admitted into the Union as a slave state threatened to upset the balance of slave and free states. To defuse tension,it admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) as a free state, and it established that slavery was to be prohibited for the Louisiana purchase lands north of the 36°30′ latitude line. This created tensions immediately between north and south, as northerners didn't want slavery to expand. -
Nat Turner Rebellion (Social) (Red)
Nat Turner, an educated Virginia slave and preacher, led 40-50 other slaves in killing 55 white men, women and children in Southampton County on August 21, 1831. Turner and 16 others were hanged six weeks later. This event greatly increased southern fears of uprising, and contributed to the southern view of blacks as dangerous, in their eyes further warranting their subjugation. Increased mistreatment of slaves led to northern sympathy, and this in turn created deeper divisions in the country. -
Gag Rule (Political) (Red)
Proposed by pro-slavery southern Democrat James Hammond in 1835, the Gag Rule tabled all petitions on slavery as a way to prolong the issue of slavery. With southern Whig and Democrat support, it became law in 1836. Although designed to quell tensions over slavery, it actually increased northern resentment,and brought slavery to the forefront as a major issue. The Gag Rule of 1836 was eventually repealed in 1844 when Massachusetts Representative John Quincy Adams gathered enough votes to do so. -
Amistad Case (Political) (Red)
The Spanish ship "Amistad," transporting 53 illegally purchased slaves to Cuba, was seized by its cargo, who took control and attempted to return the ship to Africa in 1839. The ship was captured near Long Island by the US navy and the Africans were held as pirates. Abolitionist efforts to declare them free, as the international slave trade was made illegal in 1808, reached the supreme court, where the slaves were declared free in 1841. This event again brought attention on the issue of slavery. -
Annexation of Texas (Political/Economic) (Red)
A large number of southern Americans had immigrated to Texas, which belonged to Mexico. Unhappiness with Mexican rule led to Texas fighting for and winning its independence in 1836. But while expansionists wanted to annex Texas, northerners opposed the idea of a large, new slave state and the increase of southern votes in Congress. Texas was, however, annexed in 1844, becoming a slave state in 1845, widening the differences in the United States over slavery and causing the Mexican War. -
Mexican War (Economic) (Red)
Tensions between Mexico and the US over land grew increasingly as large numbers of Americans moved to Mexican territory after Mexico declined an offer for the US to buy the territories. Congress declared war when a small band of Mexicans attacked a unit of American soldiers. When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was negotiated in 1848, the US gained New Mexico and California. Debate over whether the new lands should be slave or free states caused growing resentment between north and south. -
Wilmot Proviso (Political/Economic) (Red)
In 1846, while the Mexican War was still in progress, David Wilmot, an antislavery Democrat, proposed an amendment to the appropriation bill that would prohibit slavery in all territory acquired from Mexico. Known as the Wilmot Proviso, this proposal passed in the House of Representatives but failed in the senate. It would be called up, debated, and voted on for years to come, creating conflict between pro- and anti-slavery forces and division between north and south. -
California Gold Rush (Political) (Red)
Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to California after the discovery of traces of gold in 1848, including Europeans,Chinese, Mexicans, South Americans, and blacks (free and enslaved). As a result, California’s population grew dramatically, but admission of it as a state would upset the balance of slave and free states.Under the Compromise of 1850, it was admitted as a free state,balanced out by the provision declaring that territories acquired from Mexico wouldn't have slavery restrictions. -
Dred Scott Decision (Political) (Red)
Dred Scott, a slave, was brought to Illinois and Wisconsin, free territories, sued his deceased master Sanford’s wife for freedom in 1846. The circuit court declared him free in 1850. Then, John Sanford claimed ownership of Scott, and appealed to the state supreme court, reversing the prior verdict. Scott appealed to the federal courts. The Supreme court ruled what Sanford had argued: Scott was property and couldn’t sue. The court also ruled that the federal government couldn't act on slavery. -
Fugitive Slave Act (Political) (Red)
Part of the Compromise of 1850 allowing slave hunters to capture runaway slaves in any territory or state and only required them to give oral confirmation in front of a judge that the person was an escapee.When southerners began pursuing blacks they claimed were fugitives, northern opposition grew. Mobs formed to prevent enforcement of the law and some northern states barred the deportation of fugitive slaves. The south became angry as one of their victories of the compromise become meaningless. -
Compromise of 1850 (Political) (Green)
Made California a free state,formed territorial governments in the lands obtained from Mexico with no restrictions on slavery,abolished the slave trade in Washington DC, and created a new fugitive slave law. Instead of being passed with widespread agreement, the bill was a series of separate measures voted on individually, driven by self-interest. While both north and south received some of what they wanted, allowing the other side to benefit upset them. Defused tension over Mexican land status. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin (Social) (Red)
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, sold 300,000 copies within three months. It was extremely popular, and showcased the hard lives of slaves. The novel is said to have lain the groundwork for the Civil War, and when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862, he reportedly said, “So this is the little lady who made this big war.” -
Bleeding Kansas (Social) (Red)
Violence that ensued in the Kansas territory from 1854-1861 due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Whites from both north and south migrated to Kansas to influence the territory’s verdict on slavery. Kansas legalized slavery in 1855, but anti-slavery forces set up their own government excluding slavery. Pro-slavery whites sacked Lawrence, the anti-slavery headquarters, then John Brown the Pottawatomie Massacre in May of 1856, leading to more violence in Kansas in the form of skirmishes by armed bands. -
Ostend Manifesto (Economic) (Red)
Pres. Pierce had been trying to buy Cuba from Spain.When his envoys sent him a document from Belgium suggesting he seize the nations by force, the document leaked to the public and was dubbed the "Ostend Manifesto," causing outrage among northerners,who believed that Pierce was trying to bring a new slave state into the Union, furthering tensions over slavery. Similar potential annexations failed due to slavery: the north didn't want more slave states,and the south didn't want more free states. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act (Political/Economic) (Red)
Proposed by Stephen A. Douglas, who opened the Nebraska territory to white settlement, ensuring a transcontinental railroad route that would benefit Illinois, knew that the territory would be opposed by the south as it lay north of the Mississippi Compromise line. Made law in 1854, the act overturned the Missouri Compromise, allowing new states to choose to become a slave or free state rather than using location relative to the 36°30' latitude line. Exacerbated tensions, led to Bleeding Kansas. -
John Brown and Raid on Harpers Ferry (Social) (Red)
John Brown, a religious anti-slavery zealot, led 18 followers in capturing a US arsenal from which he planned to begin a slave uprising in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The slave uprising didn't occur, and various militia and army forces pushed Brown to surrender. He was found guilty for treason and put to death.This event convinced southerners that the north was now committed to producing a slave insurrection, which greatly hastened the rush towards disunion. -
Crittenden Compromise (Political) (Red)
Plan created by John J. Crittenden in 1860 in an attempt to stall full-scale conflict. It proposed 6 Constitutional amendments trying to appease the south, like reenacting the Missouri Compromise and ensuring slavery would be permanent in slave states. Despite strong support, the plan was opposed by Republicans, the Free-Soil Party, and Lincoln, as they didn't want slavery to expand. It was defeated in the Senate in 1861. This last chance to keep the nation together drove it still farther apart.
