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Jamestown Slaves
In late August it is noted of an arrival of “20 and Odd” blacks at Point Comfort in Hampton from aboard a Dutch man of war. These blacks were sold/traded into servitude for supplies. They became the first known importation of slaves into the new colony. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was an act passed in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation that created the Northwest Territory but slavery was banned. This angered the South because they did not have a say in what this land was going to be used for. -
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Second Great Awakening
The second religious revival within the country. -
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney patented the Cotton Gin in 1793. With the invention of the Cotton Gin plantation owners had a reason to buy more slaves and expand into newly aquired territories to produce more cotton. Restoreing the dying out ways of the use of slave labor. -
Louisiana Purchase
After the Louisiana Purchase not only did President Thomas Jefferson double the size of the nation he also created problems for borders and what part of this new land should be slave and what should be free. -
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening gave the country ideas that slavery is wrong. It initiated an abolitionism reform and condemned slavery. Furthering the hatred the North had of the South. The true date unknown but it was belived to start in 1790 really effecting the nation in 1830. -
The Mexican War ended
At the end of the war America gained the western land Mexico previously occupied. Like the Louisiana Purchase this created issues on whether to have slaves in the new territory or not. To deal with this, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 which allowed California to be free and allowed the use of popular sovereignty to decide in Utah and New Mexico. This angered the South who wanted this new land for plantations. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 proposed by Henry Clay. It enforced that any federal official who did not arrest a runaway slave was liable to pay a fine. Being the most controversial part of the Compromise of 1850 it caused many abolitionists to increase their efforts against slavery. Also increasing the Underground Railroad activity as fleeing slaves made their way to Canada. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist who wrote this book to show the evils of slavery. This book, which was a best seller at the time, had a huge impact on the way that northerners viewed slavery. It helped further the cause of abolition and even Abraham Lincoln recognized that this book as one of the causes that led to the outbreak of the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
In 1857, Dred Scott lost his case proving that he should be free because he had been held as a slave while living in a free state. But it went further, to state that even though he had been taken by his 'owner' into a free state, he was still a slave because slaves were to be considered property of their owners. This decision furthered the cause of abolitionists as they increased their efforts to fight against slavery. -
Election of 1860
When the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated on November 6, 1860, South Carolina followed by six other states seceded from the Union. Even though his views about slavery were considered moderate during the nomination and election, South Carolina had warned it would secede if he won. Lincoln agreed that the South was becoming too powerful and claimed that slavery would not be extended to any new territories or states added to the Union. -
Beginning of the Civil War
The Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina.
