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Arrival of African Slaves in English North American Colonies
The purchase and forcible importation of 20 and odd Africans into the Jamestown colony began an oppressive economic and social system that would lead to secession and the Civil War. -
Ratification of the Constitution
The Three-Fifths Compromise and Fugitive Slave clauses, combined with a lack of federal stance on slavery, led to sectional tensions between free and slave states. -
The Market Revolution
Factory and mechanization revolutionized the economy, putting commerce and business in the center of the northern economy, while the southern economy remained largely agricultural. -
Invention of the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney's cotton gin revolutionized the production of cotton, making it more profitable for southern slaveholders and increasing the number of enslaved people. -
Louisiana Purchase
The purchase of the Louisiana Territory opened the floodgates for western settlement. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise ended in compromise, but the Tallmadge Amendment failed in the Senate, leaving the fate of Missouri and slavery's expansion uncertain. -
The Rise of the American Abolitionist Movement
The American abolitionist movement broke onto the national stage in the 1830s, forcing southerners to defend their way of life. -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Turner's Rebellion in August 1831 caused panic among whites and retaliated, killing an estimated two to three hundred African Americans. Fear of slave rebellions highlighted the interconnectedness of slavery and the role of violent coercion in maintaining it. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis marked the first major threat of secession by a state government, with John C. Calhoun's Doctrine of Nullification arguing that states had the right to reject or nullify any law created by the federal government. -
Mexican-American War
Polk's goal was to expand the United States and acquire territory in the southwest, and he exploited tensions between Texas and Mexico to declare war on Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ended the war and added 525,000 square miles to the United States. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso showed the growing strength of sectional politics, with both northern Democrats and Whigs supporting the amendment and southern Democrats and Whigs voting against it.