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Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to be admitted as a slave state, but the North didn’t want to lose power in the senate so they made a compromise- Missouri would be admitted as a slave state and Maine would break away from Massachusetts and become a free state in the North. -
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Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a bill proposed by Senator David Wilmot attached to the annexation of Texas in an attempt to get it admitted as a slave state. This bill was rejected for years and never made it to law hood. -
The Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay proposed a package of 5 bills to be voted on together following the Mexican-American War- California would be a free state, New Mexico and the Oklahoma territory (Utah) would be open to slavery or abolishment of slavery via popular sovereignty, established the boundary between Texas and New Mexico, and reinforced a new Fugitive Slave Act that allowed the federal government to fund the capture and re-enslavement (or enslavement) of suspected fugitive slaves -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beacher Stowe that described the horrors of slavery in great detail. It was the second best selling novel the year after being published after the Bible and every one of the 2 million copies sold over the following decade filled the North with a newfound opposition to slavery. -
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Bleeding Kansas
When Kansas was first admitted as a State the legality of slavery was up to popular sovereignty. This lead to two feuding Kansas state governments: pro-slavery vs anti-slavery. While neither government could banish the other from Kansas, the pro-slavery settlers in Missouri-the only way from the Eastern Staes to Kansas-could make the trek through their state hell for Northern abolitionists seeking land in Kansas. This bloody affair earned Kansas a fitting title from 1854-1859- Bleeding Kansas. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
During one month in 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas participated in a series of 7 long debates on the institution of slavery all over the state of Louisiana. Lincoln advocated for human rights while Douglas defended the legality of slavery. -
Crittenden Compromise
Senator John J. Crittenden, a Know-Nothing from Kentucky, believed slavery was a state decision. He attempted to have the right to own slaves ingrained in the constitution so future governments could not abolish it. In exchange, the southern states would retract their secession from the Union. His proposition was rejected by both Northern and Southern congressmen.
