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The Underground Railroad Part 4
She was a runaway herself and she helped an estimated 19 groups to freedom as well, starting on April 20th, 1853. The sole purpose of the Underground Railroad was to get slaves from the unfair treatment they received on plantations. While things weren’t perfect in the north, they were far better than in the south, and most times, runaways went all the way to Canada, where they had the same rights as everyone else. The Underground Railroad ended in 1865, when the Civil War had ended. -
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes that led slaves in the south to freedom in the north and Canada. The date of the start of the Underground Railroad is thought to have been in the 1800s, though slaves escaped long before that as well. Mostly slaves from the Upper South would runaway. This was because it was easier to get to safety than from the Deep South. -
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The Underground Railroad Part 2
Slaves normally left at night and could take different routes to get to freedom, each appealing in one way and unappealing in another. They could travel up the Mississippi, through swamps on the east coast, by ship in the Atlantic Ocean, or through the Appalachians. When they got up to the North, and even some places in the South, abolitionists would shelter and help them. -
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The Underground Railroad Part 3
These people had codes and phrases they used to keep pro-slavery people in the dark about what was going on in the Underground Railroad. For example, people who sheltered fugitives were known as stationmasters and the fugitives themselves were known as baggage, parcel, cargo, or packages. Some abolitionists on the Underground Railroad are more well-known than others. Harriet Tubman is a very, very famous conductor from the Underground Railroad. -
Missouri Compromise Part 3
It was decided that while Missouri would in fact join the Union as a slave state, Maine would also be joining as a free state. This was to keep the balance of free states to slave states. On top of that, it was determined that everything below the 36’30 line, in the Louisiana Territory, would be slave territory, while everything above it would be free territory, Missouri excluded. The South did not know just how much land the North would be getting if this compromise stayed true. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 occurred when Missouri applied for statehood and the question on whether or not slavery should be allowed there arose.The Southerners believed that it should join as a slave state, especially since there were already slaves in the territory. A Congressman from New York, by the name of George Tallmadge, however, suggested that no more slaves should be brought in and that the ones there already should be released at the age of 25. -
Missouri Compromise Part 2
Tallmadge’s idea was shot down in the House of Representatives, with Senator William Pinkney arguing that none of the other states had had certain conditions to follow when joining the Union. As a result of these conflicting ideas about the territory of Missouri, a compromise had to be reached. On March 6th, 1820, the document was signed by James Madison, the president at the time. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
On August 22nd and 23rd, 1831, Nat Turner and a group of sixty to seventy slaves started a rebellion in South Ampton, Virginia. The leader of this rebellion, Nat Turner, was a very religious man, and considered a preacher by many slaves. He also claimed to see visions that were sent to him by God. It was likely one of these visions that led him to gather up a group of slaves and start a little massacre. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion Part 3
For this reason, in the years after the rebellion, about two-hundred blacks were murdered by whites. Nat Turner was also tried by a jury and hanged. On top of that, he was said to have been interviewed by Thomas Gray, who later published The True Confessions of Nat Turner. It’s not certain whether the book is true or not. Even those who weren’t hanged were treated even more cruelly than before. On top of harsh treatment, some ridiculous laws were passed in the southern states. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion Part 4
These were called Black Codes, and they continued, in some cases, until the 1960’s. These said what wasn’t allowed to be done by slaves, including voting, reading, writing, meeting in groups of more than five, and much, much more. Really, this rebellion did more bad toward the slaves than good. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion Part 2
Over the duration of forty-eight hours, the rebelling slaves killed sixty plantation owners and their families, starting at the Travis Plantation, where Turner had been a slave. Three-thousand militia troops were sent to intervene and stop the slaves. Nat Turner’s rebellion shocked and scared all of the whites in the South. They had never dreamed the slaves would rebel, and after it happened once, they wanted to be sure it didn’t happen again. -
Compromise of 1850 Part 2
However, because their constitution stated that slavery would be forbidden, Southerners immediately took interest, saying that the new state should allow slavery because most of it was below the 36’30' line. The Northerners thought that California should get what they wanted, but this was just because California wanted to be free. In the end, it was determined that another compromise needed to be created. Old, trusty Henry Clay came around and presented an idea on January 29th, 1850. -
Compromise of 1850
After the Mexican-American War, there were many lands gained from Mexico. California was one of these territories obtained, and when gold was found there the population started to rise. This caused the people living there to decide that they wanted California to become a state. They went through making a constitution over many months, as well as electing a governor and a legislature before finally applying for statehood. -
Compromise of 1850 Part 3
For eight months after, it was debated and tweaked by members of Congress. The members that took part in this compromise were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, and Stephen Douglas. In the end, it was decided that California would be admitted as a free state, slave trading would be outlawed in Washington D.C., and the Fugitive Slave Act would be passed. The Fugitive Slave Act was the most controversial part of this compromise. -
Compromise of 1850 Part 4
This new law said that all runaway slaves needed to be returned to their owners in the South. The new law was a disaster for both free and runaway blacks. Many escaped to Canada. Any that didn’t were at risk of being captured and sold, no matter their status. The Compromise of 1850 only served to further build up the tensions between the North and the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act completely wiped away the Missouri Compromise and the 36’30 line. Created by Stephen Douglass, this act completely outraged the North and gave the South hope. It came about for a few reasons. Stephen Douglass wanted Chicago to become a railroad hub. In order for that to happen, Kansas and Nebraska needed to be states. Now, Stephen Douglass also wanted to be President, so he knew he needed to get the South to like him. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act Part 2
Because of this, he made the Kansas-Nebraska Act which was passed on May 30th, 1854. While wiping out the earlier compromise, it said that popular sovereignty should be used instead. This used a voting system to determine whether a state would be free or slave. Douglass assumed that the states would both peacefully choose to be free. He couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the cause of Bleeding Kansas. -
Bleeding Kansas
On May 21st, 1856, lootings in Lawrence County, Kansas marked the start of a bloody summer. Over the summer months, people in Kansas used violence and deceit to try and tip the scales one way or another, on the matter of Kansas becoming a free or slave state. Bleeding Kansas was a direct effect of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. One abolitionist, named John Brown, led a raid on Harpers Ferry and another attack at Pottawatomie Creek. -
Bleeding Kansas Part 2
These violent acts led to Brown’s hanging. There was so much unnecessary bloodshed there all because of slavery. However, violence was not the only problem: it was only the main one. Pro-slavery activists were also sneaking into the state of Kansas to illegally vote on critical subjects, that were determining whether Kansas would be a slave state or a free state. This was the result of tensions, but it also caused more tensions and led up to the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Case
Four years after returning to slave state Missouri, from living in free territory Wisconsin and free state Illinois for twelve years, a slave named Dred Scott went to court to try and gain his freedom. The case ended up lasting about eleven years, from 1846-1857. Finally, on March 6th, 1857, the Supreme Court decided that Dred Scott would not be freed. -
Dred Scott Case Part 2
Also, it was decided that all people of African descent, freemen and slaves, could never become United States citizens and could not sue in federal court. On top of that, the Missouri Compromise was officially “thrown out” and the 36’30’ line was “erased”. In the end, Peter Blow’s sons, which were childhood friends of Dred Scott, purchased him and his wife and set them free. Sadly, however, only nine months later Dred Scott died. -
Gerrit Smith
Gerrit Smith was a white stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. His station was in Petersboro, New York and that was where he lived and helped runaways. Surprisingly, he was nominated for President four times and he also owned the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. He was known for donating money to the cause as well as for being in the Secret Six, a group of six men that supported John Brown’s anti-slavery activities. -
Gerrit Smith Part 2
Gerrit Smith even helped with the attack on Harper’s Ferry from October 16th, 1859 until October 18th, 1859 (Civil War Trust). After the failed attempt, Gerrit Smith suffered a psychological breakdown. He is not one of the really well-known abolitionists, but he was still important to the Abolition Movement. -
Harpers Ferry
On Sunday October 16th, 1859, three years after the attack at Pottawatomie Creek, John Brown led another attack. This one was at Harpers Ferry. He gathered twenty-two men with him, five blacks and thirteen whites, bringing them and guns into this Virginian town. He expected the slaves to rise and join him, but this was not the case. Instead, they took hostages and a handful of people died. -
Harpers Ferry Part 2
Then, the Tuesday after the attack had started, a troop, led by Robert E. Lee swooped in and killed about half of Brown’s people, including his sons. Once they had surrendered, John Brown was taken and convicted of treason. He was found guilty and was executed by hanging on December 2nd, 1859, about two months after the attack on Harpers Ferry. He truly believed slavery wouldn’t end without bloodshed. Sadly, he was right. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The Presidential Election of 1860 took place right before southern states started seceding and the start of the Civil War. The actual president was chosen on November 6th, 1860. In this election, there were four parties and therefore four candidates to choose from. The first was Republican Abraham Lincoln, who had moderate views on slavery. He didn’t want slavery to end, but he didn’t want it to spread either. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The next was Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, who was for states’ rights and popular sovereignty. He thought of whites as superior to blacks. There was also Southern Democrat John Breckinridge, who had an aggressive policy of expanding slavery into the territories. Lastly, there was Constitutional Union John Bell, who moderately supported slavery and was a slaveholder. -
Presidential Election of 1860
In the end, Lincoln won the electoral votes from the Northern States plus Oregon and California, Douglas won Missouri and the lower half of New Jersey, Breckinridge won the Lower South, and Bell took the Border States. The standings ended with Lincoln having 180 electoral votes, Douglass having 12, Breckinridge having 72, and Bell having 39. Abraham Lincoln had won the Presidential election without a single Southern vote.
