Slavery and Westward Expansion

By samdeg
  • Importation of slaves ends

    The importation of slaves ended in 1808. The president at the time, Thomas Jefferson, signed the act prohibiting the act of importing African slaves to the United States. This act went into effect on January first of the year. By this time, almost every U.S. state had already abolished slavery and slave trade. The importation of slaves ends was political because it was based off of the belief of anti-slavery and the freedom of slaves in the U.S. territories.
  • The Missouri Compromise

    The Missouri Compromise of the Compromise of 1820, was put in place as an effort to preserve the balance. They wanted to balance the power in Congress between slave states and free states. The compromise that was passed in 1820, admitted Missouri as a slave state and admitting Maine as a free state. The Missouri Compromise was political and social because of the want to preserve social and political balance among the Congress and U.S. territories.
  • The Wilmot Proviso

    The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessfully proposal by a Pennsylvania representative named David Wilmot. In simple terms, the Wilmot Proviso proposed that the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The Wilmot Proviso can be considered one of the events that led to the Civil War. The Wilmot Proviso was poltical because its main goal was based off of the idea of anti-slavery.
  • The Compromise of 1850

    The compromise that was put in place in 1850, admitted California to the U.S. as a "free" state, meaning a no slavery state. The Compromise of 1850 also allowed some of the newly acquired territories to decide on slavery freely and for themselves.The Compromise of 1850 was social and political because it allowed new states to choose and gave them a new found freedom to choose whether or not they wanted to be considered and free or slave state.
  • The Kansas Nebraska Act

    The territorial organic act of the Kansas Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The act repealed the Missouri Compromise. This in turn created two new territories (Kansas and Nebraska). The Kansas Nebraska Act also allowed for popular sovereignty. This act in history led to, what is known as "Bleeding Kansas". The Kansas Nebraska Act was economic because it's main goal was to create two new territories.
  • Bleeding Kansas

    The Bleeding Kansas, also called Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent outbreaks of civil confrontations in Kansas territory. These violent acts were caused by the three political groups that settled in Kansas. These groups included pro-slavery, free-staters and abolitionists. The Bleeding Kansas political because the violent outbreaks were based off of the three different political groups settled in Kansas.
  • The Caning of Charles Sumner

    The Caning of Charles Sumner was an event in United States history when representative Preston Brooks, who was a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, attacked senator Charles Sumner with a walking cane. Sumner was an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts. The Caning of Charles Sumner was political because the attack was based off of political difference between two men.
  • The Dred Scott Decision

    The Dred Scott Decision was a decision made by the United States Supreme Court. The decision upheld slavery in the U.S. territories. It also denied the legality of black citizenship in America. The Dred Scott Decision also declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional. The Dred Scott Decision had political, social, and economic ramifications.