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Massachusetts Constitution
The Massachusetts Constitution laid the groundwork for following case trials that would leave a prominent mark on the abolitionist movement - such as the Quock Trials which sited a phrase within the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, "all men are born free and equal", arguing that slavery was constitutionally abolished within the state. -
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The Quock Walker Case
This case is widely believed to have abolished slavery in Massachusetts. A 28 year old former slave, Quock Walker, ran away from his callous owner, Nathaniel Jennison. Walker soon prosecuted Jennison in court to attain his freedom and obtain civil damages for assault and battery. Proceeding a jury trial, Walker was deemed a free man and was awarded £50 in damages. -
Gabriel's Rebellion
Gabriel as well as nearly 1,000 other slaves, coordinated a plan to attack Federalists and merchants within the city, Richmond, as an attempt to resist slavery. Gabriel hoped his efforts would be supported by Quakers, Methodists, and Frenchmen, who he deemed were the most "friendly to liberty". The revolt was planned for August 30th, but ultimately failed when a rainstorm hit, and a traitor within the movement alerted white authorities of the attack.Gabriel and 27 other slaves were later hung. -
The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
President Thomas Jefferson signed this act to "prohibit the importation of slaves in any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January [1808]". Jefferson hoped this would end the international slave trade, but did not prohibit the institution of slavery or the domestic sale of slaves. -
The American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society advocated for the manumission of slaves and the settlement of free blacks in West Africa, namely Liberia. The organization, composed of abolitionists and slaveowners alike, purchased and freed slaves, as well as paid for their passage to West Africa in the belief that "free blacks could not be integrated into white America". Many abolitionists supporting the cause however, began to question the ACS's true intent - whether the ACS was working to uphold slavery. -
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The Missouri Crisis
Financial panic swept across the United States. "Unemployment mounted, banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed, and agricultural prices fell by half." In the midst of this conflict, an issue over slavery erupted out of seemingly nowhere. Missouri had applied for statehood - challenging the status of slavery west of the Mississippi River, which had no clear indicator separating the boundary between free and slave territory. -
The Missouri Compromise
Congress voted to admit Missouri as a slave state, but balanced this out by admitting Maine as a free state, which had previously been a part of Massachusetts. The compromise also prohibited the formation of slave states within the Louisiana Purchase north of 36º 30' north latitude. -
An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World
David Walker, an African American leader and activist, authored a pamphlet that denounced slavery and racism within the United States. Walker used his beliefs as a religious man to appeal to white Christians. Despite penalties that discouraged the circulation of the pamphlet, the appeal had been widely distributed and read by 1830, in what has been considered “one of the boldest and most extensive plans to empower slaves ever conceived” in the U.S. before the Civil War. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner led a rebellion of enslaved Virginians, who systematically traveled from eleven different plantations in Southampton County, VI. Killing any white personal they found connected to slavery, including men, women, and children.The mortality total neared 55 individuals - in what was the deadliest and most sustained slave revolt in U.S. history. The outcome led to stricter and more oppressive legislation, prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves. -
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Gag Rule
The House passed a resolution that automatically "tabled," or postponed action on all petitions relating to slavery without hearing them. As antislavery sentiment in the North grew, more Northern congressmen supported Adams’s argument that, whatever one’s view on slavery, stifling the right to petition was wrong. In 1844 the House rescinded the gag rule. -
Wilmot Proviso
Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso, which would have prohibited the expansion of slavery in any territory acquired by the United States from Mexico, as a result of the Mexican-American War. However the senate was evenly divided between free and slave states, and a majority was never reached for approval. As a result of this proposed amendment, debate among Democrats lead to a new party - the Republican party- composed of anti-slavery Democrats. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 is comprised of five legal revisions pertaining to slavery and territorial expansion in an attempt to avoid conflict between the North and South following California's request to enter the Union as a free state. These revisions, proposed by Senator Henry Clay, include: the Fugitive Slave Act, abolishment of the slave trade in Washington D.C., California's admittance into the Union as a free state, territorial government created in Utah, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is a controversial anti-slavery novel that aided in strengthening Northern abolitionism, and weakening the British's sympathy for the Southern cause. Overall, the published work majorly affected the way the public viewed slavery. Uncle Tom's Cabin was an instant best-seller, selling 300,000 copies in its first year alone. By 1857, nearly 2 million copies were sold worldwide. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, repealing the Missouri Compromise and allowing for popular sovereignty -whether the states accepted slavery or not. This act furthered the sectional divide, leading to the violent uprising "Bleeding Kansas", a period of outbreaks between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, disregarding their freedom status, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked the power to prohibit slavery in U.S. territories. -
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Election of President Lincoln
Lincoln was severely opposed to the expansion of slavery in the territories. His election served as the immediate impulsion for the outbreak of the Civil War. After being sworn in as president, Lincoln refused to accept any resolution that would result in Southern secession from the Union. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring "that all persons held as slaves' with the confederate states "are, and henceforth shall be free". -
The 13th Amendment
This amendment, passed by the Senate, states "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
