Missouri Compromise






Missouri territory applied for statehood as
a slave state 1819.
Nation was currently divided with 11 free
and 11 slave states
Maine was admitted as a free state.
Made slavery illegal north of the 36°30’
parallel – an attempt to stop the spread of
slavery out west.
Slavery was still legal south of the 36°30’
line.
Missouri was admitted as a slave state –
1820.
Wilmot Proviso



Proposed by David Wilmot in 1846
Called for a law to outlaw slavery in the
land won from the war with Mexico
Passed in the House but defeated in the
Senate
Compromise of 1850






Presented by Rep. Henry Clay
California was admitted as a free state.
New Mexico territory was divided into NM
and Utah. The people of these territories
were allowed to vote on whether to allow
slavery – popular sovereignty
Abolish the slave trade in Wash. D.C.
Proposed a new, more strict Fugitive Slave
Law.
Settled a border dispute between Mexico
and Texas, increasing the size of Texas
(does not create TX as a state).
Fugitive Slave Act





Required all citizens to help catch runaway
slaves
Special courts were set up to handle
runaways
Judges received $10 for sending the
accused back to the South, but only $5 for
setting them free
Made northerners feel as though they
were part of the slave system again
Accused not allowed a jury trial
Kansas-Nebraska Act




Introduced by Stephen Douglas in 1854
Repealing the Missouri Compromise
Organized Kansas and Nebraska territories
on the basis of popular sovereignty
Pro-slavery Missouri residents crossed into
these territories to cast ballots (in order to
sway the vote)
Tension in Kansas and
Nebraska









• Kansas and Nebraska territories north of 36°30’ line, closed to
slavery
• 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act allows popular sovereignty on slavery
Act is supported by Senator Stephen Douglas because he knew
Southerners did not want to add another free state and he wanted
to build a transcontinental railroad from Chicago to the Pacific
“Bleeding Kansas”
In 1855, proslavery settlers from Missouri cross border to vote in
Kansas
Fraudulent victory leads to violent struggle over slavery in Kansas
(Continued on the next slide)
Violence in the Senate
Charles Sumner verbally attacks slavery, singles out Andrew Butler
Preston S. Brooks, Butler’s nephew, assaults Sumner on Senate
Bleeding Kansas



Pro-slavery activists traveled to Lawrence,
KS, an anti-slavery stronghold, and
smashed the press of the Free-Soil
newspaper
John Brown, an abolitionist, traveled to
Pottawatomie Creek and killed five proslavery men
Describes the blood-shed and violence in
the western territories
John Brown




1856-Kansas
Pro-Slavery raided the town
of Lawrence Kansas an antislavery stronghold.
John Brown, an abolitionist
who had moved to Kansas
to make it a free state,
struck back. He road into
the town of Pottawatomie
Creek in the middle of the
night. Along with his 4
sons, Brown killed 5
proslavery settlers.
Guerilla warfare erupted
and by 1856, 200 people
had been killed in Kansas






1859 Harpers Ferry, West
Virginia
Led followers east on his
anti-slavery campaign
Planned an attack on a
federal arsenal
He hoped enslaved AfricanAmericans would flock to
the arsenal and he would
provide guns for a revolt
Robert E. Lee captures
Brown and followers
Brown and four others were
hanged
Crittenden Compromise



Proposed by John J. Crittenden in 1860
Rejected by President-elect Lincoln
Re-institute the Missouri Compromise line;
north of the 36°30’ line slavery was illegal
and south of the 36°30’ line slavery could
expand.