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Mum Bett Case
Mum Bett was an enslaved Massachusetts woman who earned her freedom through the court system by suing her enslaver and winning. Mum Bett established the precedent that enslaved people could earn their freedom in the courts. As a result, there were hardly any slaves in the North and this increased regional tension between the north and south. -
3/5 Compromise
The compromise said that an enslaved person was ⅗ a US citizen. It was created to settle disagreements between the north and south because the south had a majority population of slaves and they wanted to have better representation in the House of Reps, since the north had more free people and wouldn’t outnumber them. This agreement increased tension over slavery and made slaves seem like they weren’t even real people, making it harder for them to gain rights every American citizen was granted. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinances were a series of laws that established how to govern the Northwest territories. The Northwest Ordinance in 1787 included a clause that banned slavery in all of the Northwest territories. This angered the south and caused tension between the north and the south. -
Creation of the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney that completely changed that way people farmed cotton. Before it would take hours just to create one bale of cotton, but with the cotton gin, farms could produce hundreds, maybe even thousands of bales per day. The cotton gin created an increased need for more cotton. In turn, this created a greater need for slaves to grow and harvest the cotton. -
Start of the American Industrial Revolution
A period in American history where people shifted away from manufacturing everything they needed in their homes and everything began being mass produced in factories. More cotton was needed to make textiles, so more slaves were needed to grow and harvest the cotton. Slavery became further entrenched in southern life, making it harder to abolish it from the south. -
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Second Great Awakening
A period in time when religion, especially protestant christianity, became more important in everyday lives. During the Second Great Awakening, ideas of freedom and equality became more prominent in everyday society. People called for the abolition of slavery, putting pressure on the south and angering them. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a large territory in the Midwest that Thomas Jefferson purchased from France. This land started the idea of westward expansion and the settlement of Americans in what would become the western half of the United States. With the Louisiana Purchase, the federal government had to decide whether or not slavery would be allowed there. This led to increased frustration between the north and south. -
Missouri Compromise
A compromise between the north and south over slavery. Maine and Missouri are granted statehood to balance each other out (one free, one slave state) and slavery is prohibited above a certain latitude line. The Missouri Compromise was only a temporary solution to the arguments between north and south. The Supreme Court decided that this compromise was unconstitutional, which caused tensions to increase. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner was an enslaved preacher who thought he was chosen by God to end slavery. In 1831, he led an uprising with 80 other enslaved people and killed nearly 60 white people. Nate Turner's Rebellion led to increased slave laws that restricted what slaves could and couldn’t do. These laws increased tension about the topic of slavery and angered many people in the north. -
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Mexican American War
Mexico was upset when the United States made Texas a country, and the two countries went to war. The American army was way stronger than the Mexican army, so the war ended in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Mexico gave the US what is now the American Southwest. The south wanted Texas to expand slavery and have more power compared to the north. This caused tension between them because the north felt the war could be avoided if the south hadn’t wanted the land. -
California Gold Rush
Gold was discovered in California, and many people from the US and all around the world came to find some for themselves. But instead of getting rich, most people lost money. With many people coming from all over to California, California had enough people to become a state. California applied to be a free state, which made southeners mad. Admitting California as a free state and forever imbalancing Congress in favor of the north, something that increased tension between the north and south. -
Frederick Douglass gives July 4th Speech
Fredrick Douglass gave a speech trying to convince Americans that slavery was a violation of the Declaration of Independence and that Americans were hypocrites for boasting about freedom but also having slaves. Douglass’ speech prompted US citizens to want to abolish slavery. This caused more tension between northern Abolitionists and southern Pro-Slavery advocates. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 admitted California to the US as a free state, established harsher fugitive slave laws, let Utah and New Mexico decide if they would be slave states through popular sovereignty, and allowed slavery in DC but outlawed the slave trade in the city. The Compromise of 1850 was only a temporary solution to the arguments between north and south. The south still felt powerless in Congress since California was added as a free state. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act allowed all territories to decide the issue of slavery within their borders by popular sovereignty. This makes the south happy because territories that were originally banned from allowing slavery could decide to allow it or not. However, popular sovereignty also caused Bleeding Kansas, increasing tension between the north and south. -
Bleeding Kansas
While Kansas was voting on whether or not to become a slave state or not, both Abolitionists and Pro-Slavery groups rushed to vote in Kansas illegally. Violence erupted between the two groups. This event caused physical fights between pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates. This fighting was a key contributing factor to the beginning of the civil war. -
Attack on Charles Sumner
In the Senate, a senator, Charles Sumner, was giving a passionate speech when another senator disagreed with him, beating Sumner almost to death with his cane. The senators started carrying knives and arming themselves while they were at work. The senators didn’t trust each other, showing large amounts of tension between sides. -
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
The Supreme Court faced a decision on whether or not a slave should be free since he was a resident in a free state and a free territory. This case also questioned the legality of the Missouri Compromise. The court ruled that as a slave, Scott didn’t count as a US citizen, and therefore couldn’t sue in court. This set back the abolitionist movement and angered the north. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown attempted to steal weapons from Harpers Ferry to arm slaves and start a rebellion to overthrow slavery. This event angered the south. This incited them to begin to form the Confederate army to control slavery in the south. -
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln is appointed president of the United States despite not even appearing on the ballots in several southern states. This greatly angered the south because if Lincoln was elected without any southern votes, how was the south even remotely equal in terms of votes. This led to the southern states wanting to secede. -
Southern Secession
Several southern states formally left the United States, forming the Confederate nation. Tensions between the north and the south were at an all time high. The southern states decided to leave the US since they thought that their voices weren’t being heard. -
Shots Fired at Fort Sumter
This was the official start of the fighting in the American Civil War. Union troops (Northern troops) stationed at Fort. Sumter in South Carolina was attacked by the South Carolina militia. Union lost and surrendered the fort to the Confederate militia. Unlike previous acts of violence, this was the first time violence broke out between organized military units. Fighting in the Civil War would continue for 4 more years after this event.