Slavery and the Prelude to War: Part II U.S. and Virginia History

Slave REsistance 1831 – Southampton, Virginia Nat Turner, a slave pastor, leads a slave rebellion – resulted in the death of 57 whites (including women and children) The rebellion is put down, resulting in the punishment of slaves and free blacks throughout the South – led to harsher slave laws

Abolitionist Movement The abolitionist movement continued to grow in the North during the 1800s Abolitionist – a person who favors the abolishment of slavery William Lloyd Garrison – a Massachusetts man who owned an abolitionist newspaper called The Liberator Garrison, like many northern abolitionists, saw slavery as a violation of Christian principles

Abolitionist movement New Englander Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin The novel inflamed and angered abolitionists in the North with its realistic depiction of slavery Southerners were angered at the “unfair” representation of slave owners and began to fear the growing strength of the abolitionists

Compromise of 1850 New territory is claimed from Mexico after the Mexican-American War – slave or free? California enters as a free state, but the rest of the territories are free to decide for themselves – called Popular Sovereignty Strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act – allowing slave owners to pursue runaway slaves in northern states

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) Repealed the Missouri Compromise line and gave the people of Kansas and Nebraska the option of popular sovereignty This produced much fighting between the pro-slavery Kansans and the anti-slavery Nebraskans The territory became known as “Bleeding Kansas” due to the number of deaths

Dred Scott Decision Ruled that Dred Scott, a slave, could not sue a white person because he was not a citizen Also said that no black person (free or slave) was a citizen of the United States Huge loss for northern abolitionists and African-Americans around the country