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The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise forbade slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of Missouri's southern border. Missouri itself entered the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state for "balance" because of the Missouri Compromise. (The actual date(s) is unknown, but the Missouri Compromise was enacted in 1820.) -
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was thought to be a "radical" abolitionist. He founded "The Liberator", an abolitionist newspaper, and the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832. In the following year, he helped organize the American Anti-Slavery Society. (January 1st, 1831 is the day when the first issue of his newspaper, "The Liberator", was published.) -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal system where a network of people, predominantly blacks, helped slaves in the South escape to the North. Vigilance communities helped greatly as they donated food, lodging, and money for fugitives. (They also helped fugitives settle into communities & find jobs.) Some estimate that the South lost around 100,000 slaves from 1810-1850 because of the Underground Railroad. (January 1st, 1831 is used as it's the year when the system was named.) -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner, a black slave preacher from Virginia, led a revolt in Southampton, Virginia and slaughtered around sixty whites (women and children included) in forty-eight hours. Two hundred blacks were killed in retaliation, and laws that censored abolitionist papers, limited black education, and limited blacks' religious practices were passed because of his rebellion. -
Maria W. Stewart
Maria W. Stewart was a free black woman who was an abolitionist (spoke out against slavery), feminist, author, & educator. She was the first African-American woman to hold a public lecture in the United States, and her first address in 1832 (thus the year used) was to an audience of black women at the African American Female Intelligence Society, an institution founded by the free blacks of Boston. Her speeches, poems, and essays were later published in 1835 by William Lloyd Garrison. -
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was a leading spokesman for African-Americans in the 1800's. He was born a slave, but he became a well-known reformer, author, and orator. He fought for the abolition of slavery and black rights his entire life. In 1847, he founded "The North Star", an anti-slavery newspaper in Rochester, New York (thus the year used). He also, among many other things, led a successful campaign against segregated schools in Rochester. His home was also a part of the Underground Railroad. -
The Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was established in Buffalo, New York in 1848. It was composed of anti-slavery groups that disagreed with the westward expansion of slavery and the addition of new slave states to the Union. (The Republican Party was later born from the groups/members of the Free Soil Party.) (The actual date of formation is unknown, but the party was organized in 1848.) -
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention in the United States, was held at Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls, New York from July 19th - 20th in 1848. Women's rights activists like Amy Post, Angelina Grimke, & Susan B. Anthony all spoke out against slavery, and the convention was "sparked by the politicization of women in the abolition movement" (Encyclopedia of New York State). -
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was an African-American who is famous today for her work on the Underground Railroad & for helping hundreds of slaves escape to freedom in the United States. Slaveowners offered thousands of dollars for her arrest, but she & the 300 slaves she helped before the Civil War were never caught. She was a great supporter and defender of John Brown & worked to help slaves (more than 750) even during the Civil War. (1849 is used as it's when she escaped slavery.) -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in 1850 that addressed the issues with slavery. Because of the Compromise, California joind the Union as a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended, slave trade in Washington D.C. came to a halt, a territorial government was created in Utah, and an act was passed that settled the boundary disputes between Texas and New Mexico. (Exact dates are not known, but the Compromise of 1850 was passed in September of 1850.) -
"Uncle Tom's Cabin"
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a very well-known novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, first published in weekly installments in "The National Era" newspaper from June 5th, 1851 to April 1st, 1852. Stowe was a white woman herself, and slavery infuriated her, stating that "...the enslaving of the African race is a clear violation of the great law which commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves." "Uncle Tom's Cabin" forever changed American views on slavery - demanding equality for all. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed on May 30th, 1854. It "exposed" the flaws of the Compromise of 1850, and it also completely ignored the Missouri Compromise which had prohibited slavery north of the 36°30' parallel. The Kansas-Nebraska Act determined the fate of Kansas and whether or not it would become a slave state by popular sovereignty, outraging many as the Missouri Compromise had been preventing the territories north of the 36°30' parallel from becoming slave states since 1820. -
John Brown
John Brown was a radical abolitionist whose efforts to free slaves ended up costing many lives & indirectly helped start the Civil War. In 1851, he helped found the League of Gileadites, an organization that helped protect escaped slaves from slave-catchers. On October 16, 1859 (thus the year), he led 21 men on a raid of federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, hoping to arm slaves. His plan failed, however, & most of his men were captured and or killed. He was later hanged for treason.
