Slavery Compromises & Conflicts (see also map on page 400 of The American Pageant 13TH ed.)
Northwest Ordinance of 1787: arranged for the organization of the Northwest Territory and for the process for admission of this territory as new
states; among other things it also specifically forbade slavery in this territory (what would later become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and
Wisconsin)
Missouri Compromise (1820) Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Territory
Acquisition
 Missouri admitted as a slave state
 Admits Maine as a free state
 All territory below Missouri’s
southern boundary (36°30´) is
slave territory but all other land
above its southern boundary is
free
 Admits California as a free state
 Texas gives up claim to disputed territory extending all the way to
Santa Fe
 New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona & Utah would be organized without
reference to slavery (the decision would be left to popular sovereignty
later when they applied for statehood)
 Repeals the Missouri Compromise
by leaving the issue of slavery up
to popular sovereignty
 While the issue was not decided by
this act, it allowed the possibility
of slavery in the Kansas &
Nebraska Territories (above the
36°30´ line)
 Kansas Territory was marked with
a southern boundary 37°, thus
creating the Oklahoma panhandle
Other
Regulations
on Slavery
Establishes the precedent that
Congress can restrict slavery in the
new territories
 Slave trade in Washington D.C. abolished, but slavery itself was
allowed to remain there
 Tougher Fugitive Slave Act passed: 1) required citizens to assist in the
recovery of fugitive slaves; 2) denied a fugitive’s right to a jury trial;
3) Instead of judges, cases would instead be handled by special
commissioners who would be paid $5 if an alleged fugitive were
released and $10 if he or she were sent away with the claimant;
4) The act created changes in filing for a claim to recapture a slave,
making the process easier for slaveowners; and 5) there would be
more federal officials responsible for enforcing the law.
Texas given $10 million by the federal government to pay off its debts
to Mexico
Other
Supreme Court’s Dred Scott Decision (1857)
 Slaves were not citizens and thus could not bring cases before courts.
 Slaves were private property, and thus could not be denied to any slave owner in any territory – this basically invalidated all Congressional
actions limiting slavery as well as limitations created by the free states. This was based on an interpretation of the 5 th Amendment which
forbids Congress to deprive people of their property without due process of law.
 Thus the Supreme Court was also invalidating the legitimacy of now repealed Missouri Compromise.