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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was approved by Congress to resolve the argument between slave states and free states. Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state, Maine a free state, so that there would be a balance in power. The compromise also established a line known as the 36° 30’ parallel, which prohibited slavery in western territories north of Missouri's southern border. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes and houses that helped slaves to freedom. They would travel to the North or to Canada. Harriet Tubman was one of the conductors who guided the slaves to freedom. The Underground Railroad brought thousands of slaves to freedom. -
The Liberator
William Lloyd Garrison of Boston published The Liberator, the most famous anti-slavery newspaper. This newspaper served as a major platform to attack slavery and its supporters, inspire action, and promote equal rights for all regarding their race. The newspaper had a significant impact on shaping people's views, and helping the abolitionist movement. It argued that slavery was a violation of human rights and how the nation valued freedom, but was supporting the opposite by allowing slavery. -
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Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner led a revolt in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner’s group, which eventually numbered around 75 black men, murdered about 55 white people in two days before armed resistance from local white people and the arrival of state military forces overwhelmed them. Slavery supporters used this rebellion against black people because they believed it showed why they needed discipline. This led to the South strengthening and becoming more strict about slaves and what they were allowed to do. -
Frederick Douglass
He was born into slavery and became a well-known activist, author and public speaker after escaping from slavery. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), described his time as an enslaved worker in MD. It was one of three autobiographies he wrote, along with dozens of speeches, even though he had very little education. His speeches started to gain attention in the 1840s. He was also the only African American to attend the Seneca Falls Convention. -
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War with Mexico
The Mexican-American war added a significant amount of western territory to the United States. It almost doubled the size of the United States and began a debate, between Northerners and Southerners, over what to do with the newly added land. -
The Compromise of 1850
It was a series of laws passed by Congress. This compromise brought California into the United States as a free state and opened up lands like New Mexico and Utah to allow slavery. This upset the South because it created an imbalance of power. The Fugitive Slave Act supported the return of escaped slaves to the owners, which made the South happy but made the North even more fueled with anger. This compromise also abolished the slave trade in Washington D.C. but not slavery completely. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act opened all new territories to slavery by asserting the rule that a popular vote of the settlers would determine if territories became free or slave states, leading pro- and anti-slavery forces to battle it out in the new state of Kansas. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise which opened up the possibility for slavery to exist in the unorganized territories of the Louisiana Purchase. -
Dred Scott decision
At first, the Missouri Court decided that Scott would become a free man, but later decided against it. Scott went to the Supreme Court where they ruled against him and said that slaves were property and didn't have rights. The Supreme Court stated that any black person was not a citizen of the United States even if they were free and that they could not expect any protection from the federal government. Abolitionists in the North were terrified and continued their argument against slavery. -
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John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the United States military equipment stored at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). His effort failed, and he got arrested and later executed. This raid only increased the tensions between the North and South.