1. The Nation Breaking Apart
Events That Divided the United States

2. 1793 – Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
This invention dramatically increases the amount of cotton grown AND the need for more slaves

3. Missouri Compromise 1820
Issue: Balance of power in Congress 11 free states vs. 11 slave states The next state would give the power to either the proslavery of antislavery interests

4. Missouri Compromise Missouri admitted into the US as a slave state
Maine admitted as a free state
Latitude line 36 30’ – everything above this line would have no slaves; everything below the line would allow slaves

5. Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Virginia, 1831
Turner and 70 followers (other slaves) killed 55 white men, women, and children

6. Nat Turner’s Rebellion
After running out of ammunition, Turner and his men were captured
They were tried and hanged
Whites killed more than 200 African Americans for revenge

7. Why was it important?
The rebellion spread fear in the south because the number of slaves was so large that many were afraid of a large scale rebellion
Strict laws were imposed that kept free African Americans from owning weapons
Also, slaves could not gather without having whites in attendance

8. Kansas Nebraska Act “Bleeding Kansas”
Issue: The territory of Kansas would allow voters to decide (popular sovereignty) whether or not to have slavery

9. Kansas Nebraska Act “Bleeding Kansas”
Proslavery people did not want to lose the vote, so 5,000 people crossed the border into Kansas and illegally cast their vote in favor of slavery
Antislavery forces boycotted the results
John Brown and seven men murdered 5 proslavery people as an act of revenge
Violence spread throughout Kansas
One newspaper reporter claimed that there was so much killing in Kansas that the “streets were soaked with blood.”

10. California wants to join the US as a free state!
Compromise of 1850
California wants to join the US as a free state!

11. Compromise of 1850 Henry Clay designed a compromise
California admitted as a free state
New Mexico and Utah will be open as slave territories
No more slave trade (auctions, etc.) in Washington DC
Adopt stronger fugitive slave laws

12. Compromise of 1850

13. Some slave catchers captured free African Americans
Fugitive Slave Act
It required all Northerners to help recapture runaway slaves or go to jail
Some slave catchers captured free African Americans

14. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852
Very popular book in the North that told about the morals of slavery
People in the South believed that it falsely portrayed the South and slavery

15. Republican Party
As a result of the violence in Kansas, politicians who were against slavery formed the Republican Party. Their main belief was that “no man can own another man….”

16. Lincoln – Douglas Debates
Stephen Douglass and Abraham Lincoln debated each other during the election for senator of Illinois.
Abraham Lincoln said that African Americans had rights under The Declaration of Independence
Lincoln lost the election, but became a national political figure as a result of the debates

17. Residents vote to decide an issue
Popular Sovereignty
Residents vote to decide an issue
Stephen Douglass believed that each state should be able to decide if they wanted slavery

18. John Brown
Planned an armed rebellion with slaves in Harpers Ferry, Virginia
After raiding an arsenal, Brown’s plan was foiled by local militia, then US Marines
He was captured, convicted of treason, and hanged.

19. Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave who moved with his master to a free state, where he lived for four years.
His master then moved them to Missouri (a slave state)
His master died in Missouri, leaving Scott to his wife.

20. Dred Scott v. Sanford
Scott believed he should be free because he once lived in a free state.
He sued his owner for his freedom and won.
She appealed the ruling and won.
The case eventually makes its way to the US Supreme Court

21. Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court Ruling
Scott is a possession, not a person, and cannot sue in a court of law
As a possession, he should remain a slave
Missouri Compromise was illegal – people should be able to decide the issue of slavery in their state.