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Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was a law that organized the Northwest territory. It provided a system for buying land by adopting the grid system and changed the way new territories became states, requiring only 60,000 people. It also gave citizens of the Northwest the same rights as those of the states. Most importantly, it banned slavery in the Northwest. This would lead to the admission of 5 free states cementing the North as free. This event was political as it was an act of the new government. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was proposed by Henry Clay. It allowed the admission of Missouri as a slave state and the addition of Maine as a free state in order to maintain balance of free and slave state representation. It also barred new slave states from forming above the 30 36 parallel. This postponed tensions as both sides were content with the conclusion. It both banned slavery in the North while acknowledging it as an institution in the South. The Missouri Compromise was political in nature. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner was a slave and preacher from Southampton County, VA. He and a band of slaves went on a killing spree, killing about 60 white men, women, and children. The rebellion was quashed in a matter of days and all that were caught were executed including Nat Turner. The Rebellion was social in nature as it frightened the white southern population and in retaliation the states passed much stricter slave codes. These included banning slave literacy and restricting slave mobility. -
Gag Rule of 1836
The Gag Rule of 1836 was a proposition that was passed in the House and later denied in the Senate. It was proposed by SC representative James Hammond and opposed by John Quincy Adams. The Gag Rule tabled any petitions sent to Congress over the issue of slavery and forbade any discussion of those petitions or the topic of slavery. This event was political as it was a rule of Congress limiting speech. The Gag Rule postponed the Civil War but inflamed sectional tensions and could not last. -
The Amistad Case
The Amistad was a Spanish slave ship whose slaves were taken from Sierra Leone and to be sold in Cuba, En route the slaves killed the captain & crew in an insurrection and were captured and taken to New London, CT. Spain claimed ownership of the slave cargo but the Supreme Court decided that the Amistad slaves couldn't be owned as they were illegally exported to the US as the slave trade was banned in 1808. This event was social as it gained national attention and rallied the abolitionist cause. -
Annexation of Texas
The Annexation of Texas was pursued by John Tyler. The annexation saw the popular resistance from northern representatives. They argued that this was a power grab by Tyler, a supporter of slavery, to expand slavery's scope. Supporters of slavery were determined to grant Texas statehood though. This event exacerbated sectional tensions that lead to the Civil War. This event was political in nature as it saw the political division and partisan outrage over the annexation. -
Mexican American War
With the failure of the Slidell Mission and Mexican aggression Polk urged Congress towards war despite Whig opposition. Through the Bear Flag Revolution and the Invasion of Mexico the US won in 2 years. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded Northwestern Mexican territory to the US and set the Rio Grande as the border. Polk, displeased with the treaty, signed it anyway. This was political as it saw conflict between Southern expansionist and Northern Whigs who thought the war would expand slavery. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot, an anti-slavery Democrat, amended the war appropriations bill. The Wilmot Proviso, as it was called, called for all lands acquired from Mexico to prohibit slavery. The bill passed the House but not the Senate. This as well as Polk's plan to extend the 30 36 parallel to the Pacific and the idea of popular sovereignty were debated to decide slavery's status in the west.This event was political as it saw supporters of slavery and abolitionist propose different visions of the west. -
California Gold Rush
After gold was found at the Sutter's Mill, thousands of farmers and workers from the East and China came to California to look for gold. Many of the migrants were men from free states in the East. The Forty-niners of California were decidedly anti-slavery and when California was admitted into the Union it joined as a free state. This event was economic as these men came to seek riches. This exacerbated tensions as it made the west seem more anti-slavery and threw the balance in the Senate. -
Compromise of 1850
Proposed by Clay and eventually passed by Douglas, The Compromise of 1850 called for: the admission of California as a free state, the formation of territorial governments in lands acquired by Mexico without limits on slavery, the end of the slave trade in Washington DC, and a fugitive slave law that would be enforced across the country. This was political as it saw the fading of the old political class and the rise of the new as well as the bargaining and self interest that allowed it to pass. -
The Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act required the federal government and compelled northern states, towns, and individuals to assist in securing fugitive slaves. Anyone caught assisting a runaway was fined. All a slave-catcher needed to enslave someone was an affidavit which lead free men to being enslaved. There was resistance from the North as mobs protected fugitives and certain states passed laws barring deportation of slaves. This was political as was an act of Congress designed to return runaway slaves. -
Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in a sentimental style that attracted hundreds of thousands of readers to read the book. While the book was written in the popular sentimental style it had an underlying abolitionist message. The publication introduced hundreds of thousands of people to abolitionist literature. The book was hated in the South but revered in the North. This was a social event as it changed the way American culture portrayed slavery less as benevolent and more cruel. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Proposed by Stephen Douglas, the Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska, left the territory's slave status up to popular sovereignty, and repealed the Missouri Compromise. This act destroyed the Whig Party, divided the northern Democrats who supported the Missouri Compromise, and out of Anti-Nebraska Whigs and Democrats the Republican Party was formed. This event was political as it saw the destruction and creation of parties as well as legislative reform. -
Bleeding Kansas
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act numerous slavery advocates settled the state in an attempt to alter Kansas' slave status and as a result Kansas legalized slavery. Enraged free-staters flooded the state and elected their own government in Lawrence. A federal marshal burned Lawrence escalating tension. In response John Brown committed the Pottawatomie Massacre which killed 5 pro-slavery settlers to discourage settlement. This was social as it signified the new lengths sectional rivalry would go. -
Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto was a document leaked from Belgium that suggested the US seize Cuba by force from Spain. This leaked during negotiations for the US to buy Cuba. The Manifesto outraged anti-slavery Northerners who accused the Pierce Administration of conspiring to admit another slave state into the Union. Pierce never acted on the Ostend Manifesto despite desires to expand. This event was political in nature as the Manifesto was fought in the halls and chambers of Congress. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott Decision decided Dred Scott v. Sandford. In the end the Supreme Court ruled in Sanford's favor. In the majority opinion Chief Justice Taney ruled that Scott couldn't sue as he was property and under the Constitution had no rights. It also ruled the government didn't have the power to ban slavery in any territory or state thus the Missouri Compromise had always been unconstitutional. This was social as it designated the worth of a slave and was a blow to the abolitionist movement. -
John Brown and Raid on Harper’s Ferry
John Brown, funded by notable abolitionists, tried to start a slave insurrection in the South by getting weapons from the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, VA, and giving those weapons to slaves. The raid failed and John Brown was besieged by local, state, and federal troops. John Brown surrendered and was hanged. Horrified, Southerners falsely associated the raid with the Republicans, providing a solid case for disunion. This was social as it wedged the nation further and lead to Southern distrust. -
Crittenden Compromise
The Crittenden Compromise was proposed by Senator John Crittenden. It called for several amendments to the Constitution that included the permanent existence of slavery in states that already had it and the reestablishment of the Missouri Compromise line. It also provided tougher laws regarding fugitive slaves and allowed slavery to exist in Washington D.C. This was political as it was an appeasement to the South to stay in the Union but the Republicans rejected it because it expanded slavery.
