-
Cotton gin
An invention created by Eli Whitney that led to manufacturing. This invention was initially created to decrease the need for slavery, mainly because it made harvesting cotton much easier and fewer people would be needed. However, this effect was the opposite of how it was intended, and because fewer people were required, the production rate would be much higher. This led to a mass increase of slavery in the south. -
Missouri Compromise
This admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state to not disrupt the balance between slave and free states. This also created the 36-30 latitude line for the rest of the Louisiana territory. This began the official conflict between slave and free states that eventually led to the civil war. -
Nullification crisis
This issue was caused by the protective tariffs of 1828 and 1832 that placed taxes on certain imported goods that only benefited the north, thus causing further separations between the North and South. This issue almost caused a civil war, with the federal government authorizing force to be used against South Carolina, and South Carolina threatening cessation. This was only ended by the compromise of 1833. -
Nat Turner
A slave by the name of Nat Turner led one of the largest slave rebellions in history. Roughly 60 white people died. This rebellion led to the state of Virginia actually debating on ending slavery, however instead they decided to impose further restrictions on escaped slaves. This would instill white panic within the south, and was likely one of the reasons the South seceded. -
Prigg V Pennsylvania
This court case presented a contradiction to the Fugitive slave act. A woman escaped slavery and fled to Pennsylvania, and the state was against the slaveholder taking her back. The court declared it to be unconstitutional for everyone but the slaveholders to capture slaves. This weakened the Fugitive slave laws. -
Mexican Cession
This ended the ongoing war between the United States and Mexico. This treaty caused Mexico to cede 55 percent of its territory in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The massive influx in land without a solid resolution to the issue regarding slavery was essentially the “last straw” for slave states in the south and led to their secession. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This act forced slaves should always be returned to their owners, even if it was a free state. This upset the South because they thought this law was already written in the constitution, and adding another law would be unnecessary.