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Period: to
1845-1861
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Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was an amendment introduced by Congressman David Wilmot. It was designed to prevent slavery in the land added to The United States as a result of the Mexican-American War. The southern-dominated senate completely shot down the Wilmot Proviso, but it managed to stir the pot of growing controversy over slavery and the ideals within the Wilmot Proviso became the base for the formation of the Republican Party. -
Frederick Douglass establishes The North Star
Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave and abolitionist. He gave speeches in the North and helped people escape captivity through the Underground Railroad. In 1847 he established The North Star, an antislavery newspaper, in Rochester, New York. The North Star not only fought slavery, but women's rights as well. This newspaper was read by over 4,000 people in the United States, Europe, and the West Indies. -
Harriet Tubman Escapes Slavery
Harriet Tubman was born a slave in Maryland and escaped in 1849. After finding her own freedom, Tubman returned multiple times to lead other slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Over her life she led hundreds of people to freedom in the North. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was introduced by Henry Clay and temporarily resolved war over territory gained in the Mexican-American War. There were five parts to the compromise. California would be admitted as a free state, Utah and New Mexico would become states with popular sovereignty, a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute would be settled, the slave trade would be abolished in Washington, D.C., and new fugitive slave laws would be put in place. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is Published
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin was an iconic anti-slavery novel. It sold 300,000 copies in the first three months of its existence. The way that Stowe portrayed slavery in her book increased already boiling tensions between the Southern slaveholders and the Northern abolitionists. This tension eventually brought the United States to civil war. Supposedly when President Lincoln met Stowe he said, "So this is the little lady that brought the nation to civil war." -
The Kansas-Nebrasa Act Passed by Congress
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. This Act repealed the previous Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery in the same area. -
The Sack of Lawrence
The town of Lawrence was the power house of Kansas's anti-slavery movement. In 1856 Judge Samuel Lecompte demanded that members of this anti-slavery government be indicted for treason. In May, over 800 pro-slavery men from the surrounding are rode into Lawrence to arrest the members of government. Lawrence decided not to resist, but the mob continued to destroy two newspaper offices, burn and loot homes and shops, and finally they shot their cannons at the Free State Hotel. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a slave to an army surgeon. At one point, he and his master lived in a free state. Scott tried to sue for his freedom multiple times, with varied results. Finally in 1857 he went before the Supreme Court and lost. The court decided that all people of African ancestry could never be citizens of the United State and could not sue in federal court. It also ruled that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in the states. -
John Brown's Raid of Harper's Ferry
John Brown was an abolitionist who wanted to spark a major slave rebellion in the South. His plan was to take weapons and ammunition from the federal arsenal, arm slaves with them, and move south along the Appalachian Mountains. He did not succeed, for his plan was weak. he did not have food or an escape route. However, this rebellion deepened the divide between the North and the South even farther. -
South Secedes and Confederation is Established
The first state to secede was South Carolina, then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all left the Union as well. These states formed the confederacy, and elected Jefferson Davis as their President. This rapid secession was the final straw that sparked the war over slavery.
