missouri compromise · 2018. 4. 4. · missouri compromise in the early 1800’s, the united states...

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Political Decisions

Missouri Compromise


Missouri Compromise In the early 1800’s, the United States had a total of 22 states. 11 of these states did not allow slavery, while the other 11 did. In 1819, Missouri asked to be admitted as a slave state. The North, mostly opposed to slavery, did not want this. The South, however agreed with Missouri’s request.

Henry Clay “The Great Compromiser”

John C. Calhoun, from South Carolina believed in states’ rights. This meant he

thought that states should be able to make decisions for themselves. If a state wanted

slavery, he believed it should be allowed.

Henry Clay, senator of Kentucky, offered a compromise. He urged that Missouri be accepted as a slave state and to admit another state, Maine as a free state. This would keep the slave and free state count even.

Different View Points

John C. Calhoun


The Decision

In 1820, Missouri was admitted into the United States as a slave state while Maine was admitted as a free state. There were now a total of 24 states, half being slaves states and half being free states.

The government wanted to prevent issues like this from arising in the future. In addition to admitting two new states, one free and one slave, the Missouri Compromise drew an imaginary line. Any states admitted in the future above the line would automatically become a free state. Any states admitted below the line could allow slavery.

Free States Free Territories Missouri Compromise Slave States Slave Territories Compromise Line

Looking Forward


Political Decisions

The Compromise

of 1850


John C. Calhoun

The Compromise of 1850

By 1849, the United States was made up of 15 slave states and 15 free states. However, California threatened that balance when it applied for statehood as a free state. The people of the South argued against this and hoped that Southern members of Congress would force the North to turn down this request.


{The Fugitive Slave Law}

John Calhoun from South Carolina wrote a letter about his thoughts to his daughter:

Calhoun wanted the Southerners to continue resisting California’s request to enter in as a free state.


Henry Clay “The Great Compromiser”

Henry Clay, who was known for encouraging compromise, suggested that in exchange for allowing California in as a free state, a new law called the “Fugitive Slave Law” could be passed as a way to give the South what they wanted, too. This law stated that if found, escaped slaves had to be returned to their owners, even if they were found in a free state. This law, however, upset abolitionists and those involved in helping slaves escape through the Underground Railroad.

The Decision “The Compromise of 1850” was passed, allowing California to enter in as a free state. As part of the compromise, the “Fugitive Slave Law” was passed.

This decision was made in order to keep the North and South from splitting apart over the slavery issue.

The Fugitive Slave Law


Looking Forward

Free States Free Territories Compromise of 1850 Slave States Slave Territories Open to slavery by vote

The map above shows the boundaries of the United States in 1850 after the Compromise of 1850. As part of the compromise, certain territories (as shown above) would allow slavery if people living there voted for it.


Political Decisions

The Kansas-Nebraska

Act


Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 brought about another argument over slave and free states. In the middle of the country was an area of land known as the Nebraska Territory. Some members of Congress were looking to split this larger area into two smaller territories.


{Bleeding Kansas}

Stephan Douglas

Stephen Douglas, a senator from Illinois proposed that the Nebraska Territory be broken up into two smaller territories; the Nebraska Territory in the North and the Kansas Territory in the South. Both territories were above the Missouri Compromise line which stated that they should be free territories. Many Southerners, however insisted that the territories should be allowed to vote on whether it wanted to be free or slave.

Nebraska Territory

Kansas Territory

Missouri Compromise Line


The Decision

Congress passed a law known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. This law would allow each territory to vote on whether or not it would be free or allow slaves. Instead of solving the problem of differing opinions, this decision caused a new problem, specifically in Kansas.

People favoring one side or the other rushed to Kansas to put in their vote. People from the North came to vote against slavery and people from the South came to vote for slavery. The total vote showed a majority for slavery, but many who had voted didn't even live in Kansas.

Northerners claimed the vote was illegal because many of the votes came from people who didn’t even live in Kansas. Southerners stood by their vote. Leaders from both side of the issue resorted to violence against each other. So many acts of violence broke out that Kansas became known as “bleeding Kansas.”


Looking Forward

Free States Free Territories Slave States Slave Territories Open to slavery by vote

Nebraska Territory

Kansas Territory

The map above shows the boundaries of the United States in 1854. The map shows the original Nebraska Territory, now broken up into two territories; the Nebraska Territory and the Kansas Territory. The people within the Kansas Territory fought over slavery for many years. Several people were even killed over these disagreements. Eventually Kansas entered into the United States as a free state, but not until 1861.


Political Decisions

The Dred Scott Case


The Dred Scott Case Dred Scott was born into slavery in 1799. Scott was sold to John Emerson, a white slave owner and surgeon serving in the United States Army. Being a part of the army required Emerson to move often, bringing Scott with him wherever he moved. Scott’s owner moved back and forth between free states and slave states. After Emerson died, his wife, Irene, inherited all of Emerson’s property, including his slave, Dred Scott. Scott attempted to buy his freedom, claiming he was a free man since he had lived in free states. Irene refused. Scott was forced to take his case to court.


The Dred Scott case first went to court in 1847 . Irene Emerson testified in court, claiming she legally owned Dred Scott after inheriting her husband’s property.


Dred Scott

Dred Scott, who was married and had children, believed that he and his family

should be given freedom since they had lived for an extended period in

free states. Scott took his case to both the Missouri and the United

States Supreme Courts fighting for his freedom.

The Decision After being denied freedom several

times by other courts, the final ruling in 1857 from the United States Supreme

Court said that Scott had no rights because African Americans were not

considered citizens of the United States. Therefore, Scott could not fight for his

freedom. The decision against Scott was well-received by slave owners in the

South, but many Northerners were outraged.

Looking Forward The decision made against Dred Scott only further divided the North and the South. Now, more then ever, abolitionists were fighting to end slavery.


Political Decisions

Harpers Ferry


Harpers Ferry John Brown, a white abolitionist, was becoming increasingly frustrated with slavery in the South. Brown led many protests against slavery and even helped slaves escape from slavery. He became very passionate about ending slavery once and for all, doing whatever it took. About a year and a half before the start of the Civil War, Brown planned a secret attack. His plan was to first organize several men, slaves, and free men, to steal weapons at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal in Virginia. An arsenal is a place where weapons are stored. Brown believed that once he had control of the weapons, he could give them to slaves so that they could fight back to gain their freedom. On October 16, 1859, a total of 21 men attempted to raid the arsenal. The men were quickly stopped and surrounded. Some men were killed. Brown himself survived the attempted attack, but was taken prisoner.

Different View Points John Brown believed that if he could organize enough slaves in the South to revolt with weapons, they could gain their freedom. There were around 4 million slaves in the South. If all of the slaves revolted at once, they could easily gain their freedom, Brown thought. He believed that this kind of violence was the only way. John Brown


Although many Northerners wanted freedom for slaves just as much as

John Brown, many did not agree with Brown’s violent act. Even Frederick

Douglass, a former slave and abolitionist leader, did not feel that

the raid would be successful. Brown tried to get Douglass to join

in on the revolt, but Douglass declined.

Frederick Douglass

The Decision The raid on Harpers Ferry was a failure. After being captured and held as prisoner, John Brown was put on trial for his actions. He was found guilty of treason. Treason is when someone betrays his/her country. Brown was sentenced to death. He was hanged shortly after.

Looking Forward It was becoming clear that the fight over slavery was not going to end peacefully. In fact, after the violent event at Harpers Ferry, the Civil War would soon begin. People were becoming willing to lose their lives over their cause. It wouldn’t be long before people were willing to go to war.


Political Decisions

A New President


A New President Slavery continued to be an issue throughout the 1800’s. In 1854 a group of people who opposed slavery joined forces for form a new political party known as the Republican Party. A political party is a group of people who have similar beliefs and opinions about how the country should be run. There were now two major political parties; Republican and Democrat. These two parties battled over the issues of slavery and states’ rights.


Stephan Douglas

Stephen Douglas, already a Democrat senator from Illinois, believed in state rights. He felt that each state should be able to decide for itself on whether or not it would allow slavery. Douglas fought to keep his position as an Illinois state senator in the 1858 election for the United States Senate. He would be up against a Republican lawyer from Springfield, Illinois: Abraham Lincoln.


Abraham Lincoln

The Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for Illinois State Senate. Unlike his opponent, Stephen Douglas, Lincoln was strongly against slavery and wanted to see it end completely. Although he was against slavery, Lincoln did not want to see the country break apart. He was put in a very difficult position to defend his belief that slavery was wrong while still working to keep the country together.

In the end, Stephen Douglas won the Senate election, but Lincoln became the new leader of the Republican Party. Lincoln was not through yet. In fact, in 1860, Lincoln would run for another, much bigger, government position; the President of the United States.

The Decision In the 1860 election for President, Lincoln was once again up against Stephen Douglas. This time, Lincoln won. He became the sixteenth President of the United States. The voters in the South were worried. They feared that as President, Lincoln would attempt to end slavery. They worried that they would have no voice in the government. Lincoln tried to assure them that they were on the same side. “We must not be enemies,” he said. However, the Southerners couldn’t help but view some as enemies.


Looking Forward President Lincoln had a tough job ahead of him. He had two major goals. Most importantly, Lincoln wanted to keep the country together. Secondly, he wanted to see all slaves freed. He knew that achieving both goals would be difficult, if not impossible.

“If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that...I have stated my purpose...and I intend to...express my personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.”


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missouri compromise · 2018. 4. 4. · missouri compromise in the early 1800’s, the united states...

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