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Importation of slaves ends
Event: U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1) prohibits the importation of slaves.
Significance: Political - marks a federal legal stance against the international slave trade, influencing domestic slavery policies. -
Missouri Compromise / The Compromise of 1920
Event: Missouri admitted as a slave state; Maine as a free state; slavery prohibited north of 36°30' in the Louisiana Territory.
Significance: Political and social - aimed to maintain balance between free and slave states; highlighted regional tensions over slavery’s expansion. -
Wilmot Proviso
Event: Proposal to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico.
Significance: Political - increased sectional conflict; reflected tensions over westward expansion and slavery’s spread. -
Compromise of 1850
Event: Series of laws including admitting California as a free state, enforcing stricter Fugitive Slave Law, and allowing popular sovereignty in territories.
Significance: Political and social - attempted to balance free/slave states; intensified debates over slavery’s expansion into new territories. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Event: Law requiring the return of escaped slaves, even in free states.
Significance: Social and political - increased tensions; fueled abolitionist sentiments and resistance in the North. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Event: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel depicting the brutal realities of slavery.
Significance: Social - galvanized anti-slavery movements; shifted public opinion against slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Event: Allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery via popular sovereignty.
Significance: Political and social - led to violent conflicts ("Bleeding Kansas"); intensified sectional tensions over slavery’s expansion. -
Bleeding Kansas
Event: Violent confrontations between pro- and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas.
Significance: Social and political - demonstrated the violent consequences of slavery debates; a precursor to civil war. -
Caning of Charles Sumner
Event: Senator Sumner was assaulted on the Senate floor by Preston Brooks over anti-slavery speech.
Significance: Social and political - symbolized escalating tensions and violence surrounding slavery debates. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford Decision
Event: Supreme Court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress couldn’t prohibit slavery in territories.
Significance: Political and social - effectively expanded slavery’s reach; declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional; increased sectional divide.