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Cotton Boom
The cotton boom started with the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1794. This invention increased the rate of de-seeding the cotton and made cotton a very profitable cash crop in the south. After the war of 1812, the south started producing much more cotton than before. This, in turn, greatly increased the demand for slave labor. -
Period: to
Pre Civil War-Reconstruction Era
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Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner was a slave in Virginia who was convinced by a solar eclipse that he should rebel, He recruited up to 75 other slaves and acquired guns and horses. They killed up to 55 whites. This resulted in Nat turner and16 other blacks being hung for their crimes. This rebellion scared southerners and resulted in more severe laws against slaves. It also widened the gap between the free-soilers and the slave owners. -
Gag Rule
This was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives in May, 1836. It was meant to stop all petitions, discussions, and debates about ending slavery. The gag rule was supported by South Carolina, Tennessee, and other southern states. The Gag Rule was repealed by a group in the House of Representatives led by John Quincy Adams in 1844. -
The Free-Soilers
The Free-Soilers were an anti slavery political party that existed from 1848-1854. A notable free-soiler was Martin Van Buran who ran for president in 1848 but lost to the Whig's Zachary Taylor. The slogan of the free-soilers was: "free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men". When the free-soil party dissolved in 1854 many of it's members joined the Republicans and carried on the free-soil ideals of opposing slavery and describing it as a moral evil. -
Compromise of 1850
This was proposed by Henry Clay and was meant to organize the territory gained by Mexico in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This brought popular sovereignty to all territories that were unorganized along with the addition of California to the union as a free state. It also made the fugitive slave act more severe. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This required escaped slaves to be returned to their owners regardless if they were in a free state or a slave state. This act was a part of the Compromise of 1850 proposed by Henry Clay. The Fugitive Slave Act mad it illegal for other citizens to help a slave escape. It made it legal for people to become slave hunters, they would attempt to recover the slaves so they would be given a reward by the slave's owner. The punishment for returned slaves was often severe. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act created two new territories in formally unorganized territory. This also repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing for slavery above the previously decided on Missouri Compromise line. Slavery would only be allowed here if the people living there voted on it through popular sovereignty. This caused a massive influx of people in these territories who wished to be able to vote on the issue of slavery which inevitably led to Bleeding Kansas. -
Dred Scott v Sandford
Dred Scott v Sandford was a Supreme Court case where Dred Scott was a slave to Doctor Sandford. He would travel with Dr. Sandford around to free states and argued that he should be free. It was ruled that as a slave, Dred Scott was property, therefore Dr. Sandford could bring him anywhere and Dred Scott would still be a slave. -
John Brown
John Brown was an abolitionist leader in America. He was responsible for Bleeding Kansas. He also tried to start a slave rebellion in Harper’s Ferry but was captured and executed. This was one of the main things that led to the civil war as John Brown was viewed as a hero in the North but a murderer in the South -
Sharecropping
Black farmers were called sharecroppers because they worked on the land of a planter or other landowner in return for a share of the crop that was grown. This was a strategy used by landowners after the 13th amendment was passed which allowed them to retain their source of labor. -
The 13th Amendment
This was the 13th amendment to the Constitution passed by Congress. This abolished slavery in the United States. This was supported by Andrew Johnson and the Republicans because they thought that ending slavery was the only way to restore the union. The 13th amendment was a continuation of steps made in the Emancipation Proclamation.