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Anti-Slavery Society
In this time frame the Anti-Slavery Society flooded Congess with petitions requesting the aboliton of slavery in D.C., an end to the interstate slave trade, and no more new slave states to be admited into the Union. Some of these requests ended up being followed and the southern states were still able to grow and increase their slave count. -
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Slaver in the South
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Wilmot Proviso
This was a bill that banned slavery in any territory gained in the Mexican American War. This bill was passed quickly but it was loosely followed in the future. Slavery was a decision given to the people in these territories through popular sovereignty. This helped pro slavery people have a chance at having another slave state. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 had five different laws within it. First a new Fugitive Slave Act was made which let slave catchers have federal support . Second was that California was admitted into the Union as a free state which apeal to the North. Third and Fourth were setting boundary disputes involving Texas and land west of it. The fifth was that the slave trade was abolished in D.C. The land west of Texas was given popular sovereignty for the decision of slavery. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a way for slaves to get help escaping into free states. There would be abolitionists and families that would provide housing until the escaped slaves could be moved into a "safe" city in America or moved to Canada. The slaves were provided, not only with a place to stay for a while, but also with food and directions for the journey ahead. This was an issue for Southerners because they were losing slaves that made them money. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
This was part of the Compromise of 1850 which directly impacted slavery in the south. This act made it possible for slave catchers to get paid when they brought escaped slaves back into the south. The federal government supported these slave catchers which made it harder for abolitionists to stop what they were doing. The slave act also let any African be taken from their home weather they were a fugitive or free. This was an example of what the south would do to keep its way of life. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act ended the Missouri Compromise becsue it prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Purchase north of the Ohio River. The two new territories were give popular sovereignty to chose slavery or not. The southern one, Kansas, was said not to be sutable for plantations because Douglas knew that there would be a huge fight over free or slave in Kansas. This bill barely passed in the Senate and House of Representatives. Slavery in the south now had a chance to spread more to the north of the US. -
The Election of 1856
This was when some people thought that if a republican won the election there would have been a separation of states. The south felt threatened by the republicans because of their antislavery opinions. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
Bleeding Kansas was a term used to describe the violence going on in Kansas between pro- and anti-slavery groups fighting for their majority to win popular sovereignty. There were almost 200 lives lost in these attacks first started by proslavery people who were mad when they heard that most people in Kansas were leaning towards no slavery. John Brown an abolitionist from New York said that you need to fight fire with fire so he and his followers killed five proslavery leaders in Kansas. -
Dred Scott vs. Standford
This was a court case in which Dred Scott an enslaved African believed htat since his owner lived in Illinois now that he was free because slavery was prohibited in territories north of the Ohio River. The Supreme Court said that he was still a slave because he was property and property stays property even if the owner moves. This was a test of the authority of Congress on the topic of slavery. This case showed that slavery was a touchy topic which still favored whites even on a national level. -
The Planter Elites
This was what the top five percent of the population in the South was called. They owned over 50 percent of the total population of slaves in the South. They grew half of the total cotton crop and made almost 20 times more money than farmers in the South. These famalies dominated the economy and for them none of it would have been possible without their slaves. This is reason why slavery in most southerners' eyes was a "positive good" because it paid for their life of luxury.
