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Use Cases
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Resources
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3 March 1820
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Summary: In 1820, amid growing sectional tensions over the issue of slavery, the U.S. Congress passed a law that admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while banning slavery from the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands. The Missouri Compromise remained in force for just over 30 years before it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
Southern Perspective: Missouri Compromise was criticized by many southerners because it established the principle that Congress could make laws regarding slavery. Since the South was in favor of slavery, they did not want congress to make laws against it. They felt as if the Missouri Compromise did not benefit them as much as it could.
Northern Perspective: Even though each side benefited, the North benefited most. The North condemned it for acquiescing in the expansion of slavery (though only south of the compromise line). The North was glad that they got to have a say in congress, instead of just the South.
29 December 1845
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Texas was annexed by the US in 1845 and became the 28th state.Politics in the United States fractured over the issue of whether Texas should be admitted as a slave or free state. In the end, Texas was admitted to the United States as a slave state. The annexation of Texas contributed to the coming of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The conflict started, in part, over a disagreement about which river was Mexico’s true northern border: the Nueces or the Rio Grande.
Northern Perspective: Northerners were against the Annexation of Texas because they feared that annexation of more slave territory would tip the uneasy balance of the Senate in favor of slave states, which would prompt war with Mexico.
Southern Perspective: Southerners were in favor of the Annexation of Texas. Southerners wanted to annex Texas to the United States because they sought to extend slavery.
1846 - 1857
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Summary: The Dred Scott Court Case was a case submitted to court by Dred Scott stating that he had the right to freedom because his master had taken him to a free state where slavery was not there. He lived in the slave state for a short while, but then was taken back to a slave state, his point was therefore now he had the right to freedom. This case made it all the way to the supreme court where it was easily dismissed 7-2. The court stated that Scott lost his claim to freedom he had in Illinois (the free state) once he left the state, and no precedent obligated Missouri (a slave state) to enforce that law. The court also explained that Dred Scott did not even have the right to bring a case to court because slaves were not and would never be considered citizens. Now according to present amendments thirteen, and fourteen would overturn the Dred Scott decision. This decision was very controversial between the North and the South
The Northern Perspective: The North were enraged at the court's decision. Many Northerners now thought that the Supreme Court would agree that no state could ban slavery according to the constitution, no matter their laws/wishes. They thought that this decision proved that the south wanted to spread throughout the nation, and eventually “rule” the nation.
Southern perspective: The South approved the congress’s decision, they believed that congress had no right to outlaw slavery in the territories. Since the South disagreed with the idea of no slavery completely, they definitely did not want a mere slave to win a case in the supreme court. They were shocked his case even got him that far.
29 January 1850
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Summary: The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery and territorial expansion. California requested permission to enter the Union as a free state. This disrupted the balance between Northern and Southern States.
Northern Perspective: The North was more happy with the compromise than the South. Even though they were happier, they disagreed with a few points too. The Compromise of 1850 allowed people to decide if land in the Utah and New Mexico territories would be able to have slavery. This meant several new states could possibly join the Union as slave states if people wanted that to occur. Plus, some of this land was north of the 36° 30’ line that had been closed to slavery. Now, some of that land could possibly have slavery. The North wasn’t happy with this. Additionally, the Compromise of 1850 required northerners to help capture runaway slaves. This was part of the Fugitive Slave Act. Northerners also didn’t warmly receive this.
Southern Perspective: The South was not happy with the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise ended the slave trade in the nation’s capital. The Compromise also allowed California to enter the union as a free state. The South was not happy about that. This angered the South, once again pushing the South to a brink of succession.
1852
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Summary: Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a novel about antislavery written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It illustrated how hard a slave's life was and affected what many people had previously thought about slavery in the US. With more and more people opposing slavery the slave owners in the South had more difficulty trying to defend it. 300,000 copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin were sold in the North itself, after the Fugitive Slave law was passed the readers of this novel had a hard time being “enforced” it. Even Harriet Beecher Stowe believed that this novel was the cause of the civil war.
Northern Perspective: This was the first time that many Northerners realized how unfair and horrible slavery actually was. Uncle Tom’s Cabin “brought slavery to life” to people who lived in the North. The novel did not automatically create abolitionists, but it did open Northerners eyes to reality of slavery, and began to push the North away from the concept.
Southern Perspective: With more and more people opposing slavery the slave owners in the South had more difficulty trying to defend it. The Southerners felt threatened by Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and referred to it as “a pack of lies”. The people in the South wanted to protect their beloved institution so much that they went to the extent of banning the book. A man named Samuel Green was sentenced to ten years in prison just for owning the book! The South tried to argue that blacks felt no pain when beaten, that they could not love, and that the book was exaggerating the reality of how slaves lived.
30 May 1854
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a bill that mandated “popular sovereignty” which meant it allowed settlers of a territory to decide whether slavery would be allowed within a new state’s borders. The bill overturned the Missouri Compromise’s use of latitude as the boundary between slave and free territory.
Northern Perspective: The Northerners were enraged because the compromise would allow the North to open up to slavery. They objected to slavery in general, and did not approve the spread of it. This would also upset the balance between free and slave states. There were originally 11 free states, and 11 slave states, adding a slave state would possibly give slave states a voting advantage.
Southern Perspective: The Southerners were overjoyed at the prospect of new slave territory. They were in favor of slavery and encouraged the idea of more slave states. There were even proslavery bands known as “border ruffians”, they would cross into Kansas and vote illegally, so that a proslavery legislature was elected, and laws were made that supported slavery.
16 October 1859
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Summary: John Brown’s raid was a raid orchestrated by white abolitionist named John Brown on Harpers Ferry. Brown hoped to lead an armed slave revolt against the Southern states by seizing control of an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He felt that it was his responsibility to end slavery, and that god sent him to earth for this purpose. John Brown and his men killed four people, and wounded nine. As a result Brown was sentenced to death by guilty of murder and treason, he was hung. There were mixed emotions about John Brown.
Northern perspective: In the North people admired John Brown. While most believed the raid was quite crazy, they still praised him for his courage. On the day that John Brown was executed, church bells rang in honor of him, and songs and paintings were created. Brown was made into a martyr very fast. Even though most newspapers in the North and the Republican party spoke ill of the raid, the South saw believed the North thought something different.
Southern perspective: The people were furious, the fact that people were sympathizing to Brown was insane! The South hated the idea of not having slavery. They believed that the North promoted the “murderous abolitionist”, so how in any way could they share the nation with them? The South assumed that since most in the North promoted Brown, they could also refer to them as murderous. They were convinced that the North wanted to destroy slavery and with it the South itself.
(John Brown’s raid was a vital event which lead to the civil war.)
6 November 1860
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Abraham Lincoln ran for president, he represented the new Republican party. Abraham Lincoln was strongly against slavery. He won because the North’s population was bigger than the South’s. Lincoln’s name was not even on the ballot in most of the Southern states. There was a lot of controversy about Abraham Lincoln.
Northern Perspective: The North was happy about Lincoln winning the election. Most of the states had elected for him because of his anti-slavery ideas. Majority of the North voted for Lincoln, so they were content when he won. Even though most of the Southern states did not even have Lincoln on the ballot he still won the election, this proves that the Northerners as a whole all voted for Lincoln, and the South was divided between the other candidates.
Southern Perspective: The South became outraged because they knew that Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery. The South hated the idea of life without slavery, so of course they would be furious with the idea of the leader of their nation wanting to abolish it. Lincoln didn't even win any southern states. When Lincoln won the election, this angered the South sparking states to secede from the Union.
20 December 1860
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Summary: South Carolina was the first slave state in the South to declare they were seceding from the United States. South Carolina justified seceding by saying that the free states refused to follow the Fugitive Slave Acts. The state governor, William H. Gist was very determined about the succession.
Southern Perspective: They believed that since they entered the US with their own free will, they had the right to leave when they wanted. After Lincoln was elected the southern states had no choice but to secede. Most of the southern states agreed with South Carolina’s choice, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas followed, forming a new nation called the Confederate States of America.
Northern Perspective: After the South starts to secede, the North tries to call for a compromise, but the South disagrees. Many Northerners along with Abraham Lincoln thought it was illegal and unlawful for South Carolina and other states to succeed. Lincoln’s goal as president is to enforce the U.S constitutional law throughout the entire nation, which the North agrees he should do. The Northerners portray succession as treason.