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1818 - 1820
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Summary: When Missouri first applied for statehood in 1818, it lead to a stalemate the first time due to the uneven amount of slave states and free states there would be. In 1819, Missouri renewed its application for statehood but this time Henry Clay proposed that Congress admit Missouri to the Union as a slave state, but also admit Maine as a free state. In February 1820, the Senate added a second part to the joint statehood bill: "With the exception of Missouri, slavery would be banned in all of the former Louisiana Purchase lands north of an imaginary line drawn at 36º 30’ latitude..." which ran along Missouri’s southern border. On March 3 of the same year, the House passed the Senate version of the bill, and President James Monroe signed it into law four days later.
Northerners: They opposed the extension of the institution of slavery. They feared the South would control the Senate and would be one step closer to legalizing slavery in states newly admitted to the Union. Because of their fears, Northern members of the United States Congress refused Missouri admittance to the United States as a slave state.
Southerners: They argued that new states should be given the freedom to choose whether to permit slavery or not. Though there was much controversy as this Compromise created Maine (which was decided to be a free state) and Missouri (which would be a slave state) and the debate prolonged the fighting and disagreement for a longer period of time. South also didn't have the advantage of plenty factories so they could not make as many weapons when it came to war.
December 29, 1845
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Summary: When Mexico founded Texas in 1821, the land was barely populated, so Texans recruited settlers from parts of the United States to help grow their population. By 1830, there were approximately 7,000 settlers from the United States living in Mexican Texas. But tensions between the Mexican government and settlers from the United States grew as Mexico attempted to halt further immigration. In 1835, settlers from the United States who lived in Texas formed a government, and in 1836 requested for independence. In turn, the Mexican government deployed the Mexican leader Antonio Lopez and his troops into the region in an effort to regain regional control. In March of 1836, following a thirteen day siege, Santa Anna’s 5,000 troops attacked and killed 187 Texans at the battle of the Alamo. However, the following month, Sam Houston led his forces to defeat Santa Anna’s army at the Battle of San Jacinto, and forced Santa Anna to recognize their independence. Later Texas requested to admitted to the USA as a slave state. Though a controversial matter for some time, Texas was added to the U.S as a slave state, realizing that by doing so they would be one step closer to fulfilling the Manifest destiny.
Northerners view: They opposed annexation because they feared that annexation of more slave territory would tip the uneasy balance of the Senate in favor of slave states---and prompt war with Mexico. They also knew that the growth of slave states would lead to the further suppression of anti-slavery and abolitionism. Finally, the nature of Texas society did not appeal to cultivated New Englanders.
Southerners view: They saw a strong need for the annexation of Texas as it would allow for the South to grow as lands which have slaves. Through the annexation they could acquire a large piece of land.
1846
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Summary: The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War. Soon after the war began, President James K. Polk sought the appropriation of $2 million as part of a bill to negotiate the terms of a treaty. Fearing the addition of a pro-slave territory, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot proposed his amendment to the bill. Although the measure was blocked in the southern-dominated Senate, it enflamed the growing controversy over slavery, and its underlying principle helped bring about the formation of the Republican Party in 1854.
Although the measure was blocked in the southern-dominated Senate, it helped widen the growing sectional rift, and it inspired such politicians of the time as James Buchanan, Lewis Cass, and John C. Calhoun to formulate their own plans for dealing with slavery as the nation expanded its territory.
Northerners view: A growing number of Northerners, including many Ohioans, opposed slavery's expansion. Some of these Northerners opposed slavery on moral grounds, arguing that African Americans were human beings. Other people feared economic competition from slave owners. Though they were extremely angry due to the fact that it could have prohibited the extension of slavery into the territories.
Southerners view: They were extremely happy as they were able to avoid the suppression of slaver. The South perceived the Wilmot Proviso in this way because it would have confined slavery to the places where it already existed. This would have doomed the slave states to permanent minority status in the growing Union. And therefore they were delighted for the suppression of the Wilmot Proviso, as they continued to advance slavery into other states through loopholes.
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 further expansion of the U.S. In 1849 California requested permission to enter the Union as a free state, potentially upsetting the balance between the free and slave states and therefore denied. Again in January of 1850, the U.S. Senate. Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. Even more so, California entered the Union as a free state and a territorial government was created in Utah.
Northerners view: They were happy with the new balance of the Senate now being with the free states, but majorly disappointed with the Fugitive Slave Act, which they did not back at all.
Southerners view: The southerners were not happy at all with the compromise because slavery was the main point of income. They received their money from crops, and slaves did their work for them for free.
March 20, 1852
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Summary: Stowe was born in 1811, the seventh child of minister Lyman Beecher. She studied at private schools in Connecticut, then taught in Hartford from 1827 until her father moved to Cincinnati in 1832. She accompanied him and continued to teach while writing stories and essays. While living in Cincinnati, Stowe encountered fugitive slaves and the Underground Railroad. Later, she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in reaction to recently tightened fugitive slave laws. The book had a major influence on the way the American public viewed slavery. Over 300000 copies were sold, enough for her to meet the president of the time.
Northerners view: The northerners were surprised as the book was a learning curve for the Northerners as many now realized how unjust slavery really was.
Southerners view: The southerners were very defensive as the book pointed the many brutalities of slavery and badly hurt their economy. With increasing opposition to slavery, Southern slave owners worked even harder to defend their institution.
May 30, 1854
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Summary: On January 4, 1854, Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill to organize the territory of Nebraska in order to bring the area under civil control. But southern senators objected, arguing that under the terms of the Missouri Compromise the land would become a free state. To gain the southerners’ support, Douglas proposed creating two territories in the area–Kansas and Nebraska–and repealing the Missouri Compromise line. Whether the territories would be slave or free would be left to the settlers through the means of popular sovereignty. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election. But it resulted in an stalemate. Violence soon erupted and the territory earned the nickname "bleeding Kansas" as the death toll rose. In the end, Kansas was admitted as a free state, but essentially had failed in itss purpose.
Northerners view: The North was outraged because territory north of the 36°30' line was now open to popular sovereignty and, more importantly, slavery. They saw this as an abuse of power, as they government was able to give territory above the line to the South ergo negating the Missouri Compromise.
Southerners view: They held positive views for two reasons, one for the timing and geographical location of Kansas, and secondly, the creation of two slave states. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election held there after the law went into effect.
February 11, 1856 - March 6, 1857
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Summary: Dred Scott, a slave, fought in the Supreme Court to earn his rights as a citizen. In 1818, he moved with his owner Peter Blow to Alabama, then in 1830 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri. When Peter died, he was purchased and taken to Illinois, a free state, and then to Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory where the Missouri Compromise had outlawed slavery. Dred Scott appealed to many courts before the Supreme Court, but he either lost or won, but then overridden by a higher court. When he appealed to the Supreme Court he argued that he was taken to two free states while he was a slave and thus is no longer a slave. The Supreme Court had to decide if he had the right to be free, if they could even give the verdict, and if during the time in which he stayed in Wisconsin and Illinois should account for a valid notion of freedom. A verdict was made and he was denied as when he left Illinois, he gave up his freedom. Even after his denial though he was still able to be free, as he was sold to Peter's son, who freed him and his wife.
Northerners view: The northerners viewed this as a great loss as they wanted to stop slavery from spreading and they could feel the nation was slipping into a chasm of war. The decision helped convince many Northerners that they now resided in a government dominated by Southern slaveholders. Some anti-slavery leaders in the North believed that Southerners wanted to extend slavery throughout the nation and ultimately rule the nation itself.
Southerners view: The South felt that slavery was a "right" they earned and that it was "beneficial" for the salves as well. At the end of the case. they approved the Dred Scott decision believing Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories.
Oct 16, 1859
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Summary: On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and his helpers raided an arsenal, word of the raid spread and by morning Brown and his men were surrounded. On the morning of October 19, the soldiers overran Brown and his followers. Brown was tried by the state of Virginia for treason and murder, and he was found guilty on November 2. He went to the gallows on December 2, 1859.
Northerners perspective: The northerners saw Brown’s rash exploit at Harpers Ferry seemed part of a widespread abolitionist plot to incite slave rebellion throughout the South. But his raid was greeted by many with widespread admiration. While they recognized the raid itself was the act of a madman, some northerners admired his zeal and courage. Though most abolitionists agreed with his actions, others were still tedious about his actions.
Southerners perspective: White Southerners vilified Brown, almost without exception; his attempt to ignite an armed rebellion of enslaved African Americans played upon some of their deepest and most feverish fears. Most believed that the Northerners were coming to end slavery and them along with it. As tensions grew among the Southern states, the North and the South creeped closer to war.
November 6, 1860
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Summary: Lincoln first gained national stature during his campaign against Stephen Douglas of Illinois for a U.S. Senate seat in 1858. Though Lincoln lost the Senate race his campaign brought national attention to the young Republican Party. In 1860, Lincoln won the party’s presidential nomination.
In the November 1860 election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the Northern faction of a heavily divided Democratic Party. The announcement of Lincoln’s victory signaled the secession of the Southern states. By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established.
Northerners view: The Northerners rejoiced as they had just received a leader who strongly believed in abolitionism. Many Northern voters agreed with him that slavery should not expand. These people also agreed with Lincoln that the federal government could not end slavery where it already existed but that it could prohibit slavery in new territories and states.
Southerners view: The Southerners were infuriated when Lincoln took the presidency. They saw how even though they chose other candidates, as the North chose Abraham, he received more votes overall. They saw this as not a representation of the States but rather the decision of one side and therefore, not a real decision. and seven southern states even seceded to create their own "country" with many more to follow.
December 20, 1860
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Summary: South Carolina was the first state to leave the United Sates of America and become an independent state. As the force of events moved very quickly upon the election of Lincoln, South Carolina acted first, calling for a convention to secede from the Union. State by state, conventions were held, and the confederacy was formed. Within three months of Lincoln's election, seven states had seceded from the Union and more were to follow as the imminent war was at the verge of breaking.
Northerners view: They were surprised by the actions of South Carolina, but it wasn't unexpected for them. With the recent election of Abraham Lincoln, it was inevitable the South declare war. But what wasn't expected was the South seceding.
Southerners view: Due to the recent appointment of Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina grew restless as they realized slavery would soon end if they stuck around, so they decided to become a seperate nation. It was risky but knew it to be necessary for the continuation of the usage of their slaves. They therefore soon separated from this great, independent nation.