-
The Missouri Compromise of 1820
By admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, this legislative agreement preserved the balance of power between free and slave states in Congress. In keeping with the ongoing conflicts over the spread of slavery into new areas, it also drew a boundary between future lands that would be divided into slave and free zones. -
Period: to
The growth of the cotton Industry
The American South's cotton industry saw enormous expansion from the 1830s to the 1860s, driven by the need for cotton in both domestic and foreign markets. Slaves worked on massive plantations to grow and harvest cotton, which was a major source of labour for this expansion. -
Period: to
Underground Rail Road
The Underground Railroad served as a network of covert routes and safe havens for enslaved people trying to flee to free states and Canada between the 1830s and the 1860s. Conductors led fugitive slaves on their way to freedom; they were frequently sympathetic white people and free African Americans. -
Nat Turners Rebellion
In 1831, an African American slave named Nat Turner led a bloody uprising in Southampton County, Virginia. About 55 to 65 white people lost their lives in the rebellion, which also resulted in stricter regulations and limitations on enslaved persons in the South. -
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
This law, which was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, obliged citizens to aid in the apprehension and return of runaway slaves to their owners. It made slavery laws more strictly enforced and increased hostilities between states in the North and South over the problem of runaway slaves. -
ncle Tom's Cabin
Published in 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel presented the brutal reality of slavery and was a potent tool in the abolitionist movement. The novel's depiction of the brutality of slavery, especially as it pertains to Uncle Tom's character, provoked intense discussion and increased hostilities between the North and the South. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
By allowing settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether or not to allow slavery through popular sovereignty, this act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The ensuing bloodshed and fighting between pro- and anti-slavery settlers, dubbed "Bleeding Kansas," brought to light the profound disagreements over the spread of slavery. -
Dred Scott decision
Dred Scott v. Sandford, a decision that strengthened the institution of slavery and rendered void the notion of popular sovereignty in determining the legitimacy of slavery in new territories, held that enslaved individuals, even if taken into free territories or states, were not entitled to freedom and could not sue in federal court. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
Slaveholders were more fearful of abolitionist violence as a result of abolitionist John Brown's raid on the federal armoury at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), which he led in an attempt to spark a slave rebellion. -
The Election of Abraham Lincoln
The Civil War began when Southern states decided to break away from the Union after Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election on a platform opposing the spread of slavery into new areas. The election signalled a significant turning point in the history of the country and a rise in hostilities surrounding the slavery debate.