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Virginia & Kentucky Resolves
LinkThe Virginia and Kentucky reolves were opposing opinions on the Alien and Sedation Acts of 1798. These acts were pushed to pass by the Federalists and gave the president the power to export supposive "dangerous" aliens, remove aliens from other enemy countries in times of war, and to stop the Rebulic critism of the Federalist Party. The Kentucky resolves were written by James Madison on the 21st of Dec in 1789 while Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia ones on Nov 10th, 1789 and Nov 14th, 1799. -
Hartford Convention meets during War of 1812
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The war of 1812, also called "Mr. Madison’s War", was highly unpopular in New England. In Hartford, Connecticut meetings were held to discuss the possibility of New England leaving the nation. It had faced great losses, but in the end the results were good for them. New constitutional amendments were created to solve the issues. -
Missouri Compromise (1820)
LinkThe Missouri Compromise occurred in 1820, and brought great changes to the United States. It added on additional territory to the west; a large portion which was unorganized territory which was to be kept free of slavery. To the slave side though, Arkansas was added as a slave state, and same with Missouri. This balanced out the ratio of slave states to non-slave states; 12 to 12. -
Tariff of Abominations Passed (1828)
[Link](: http://jackiewhiting.net/collab/leadandpower/tariff1828.htm) Also known as the Tariff of 1828; the Tariff of Abominations was passed by Congress to set a heavy tax on multiple imports. Although it benefited the North it was horrible for the South; hence the name “abomination”. This was what set South Carolina up to wish to be nullified. -
South Carolina tries to Nullify (1828)
LinkFollowing the Tariff of Abominations, or the Tariff of 1828 being passed; South Carolina spoke up to declare that it believed that states had the right to say when the government was exceeding it authority and acting in the wrong. Thus, states could reject the ideas presented as federal laws that they thought were unconstitutional. -
Aboliation of Slavery Act (1833)
Click! This act was to stop all slavery in the areas it desrcibed. this was in favor of those who were anit-slavery; yet those who were proslavery were enraged at this. -
Texas declares independancy
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After years of growing in populartion in March of 1836 Texas decieded to become an independant free state. This was apporved but off set the ratio of slave states to non slave states. -
James Polk elected
Link James Polk was elected president of the United States in 1845. He was president at the time of the Mexican War and to this day it is under question if he provoked it since some say that he wanted more land from Mexico than just Texas. It is said that Polk provoked the Mexicans by sending in three thousand troops to a disputed area to stir up tensions. When war broke out Polk spoke of how “American blood was shed on American soil” was -
Mexican War
Link On May 13th, 1846 the Mexican War between the United States and Mexico was declared. How exactly this came about is unclear due to the many opinions surrounding it; some blame it on Mexico while others blame the U.S and president Polk. It was a bloody war, and in the end the result was that the U.S won and in compromise they were sold 30,00 square miles of land for $10 million dollars. -
Wilmot Proviso (1846)
Link In 1846 a democrat named David Wilmot added an amendment to a bill that was presented to Congress asking for funds to be provided to the negotiating with Mexico. This amendment he added was for slavery to be closed off in the territories of California and New Mexico for their annexation. This was not passed by Congress but was reused by Northerners multiple times; they attached it to many bills concerning the new territories. It was nev -
California Enters the Union (1850)
Link In 1850, as a result of the Gold Rush; California’s population sky rocketed. In this year California asked to join the union and become a free state. This was not simple at all and raised many issues since before this; there had always been an equality of representation from slave states and non-slave states. California joining the United States set this off, yet it was solved by the Compromise of 1850. This compromise not only -
Fugitive Slave Law Enacted (1850)
[Link](: http://www.nationalcenter.org/FugitiveSlaveAct.html) In the Compromise of 1850, within one of the articles was the Fugitive Slave Act. This act ordered all citizens of the country to return enslaved people that escaped their owners. This act was enacted when the Compromise was passed by Congress; it was very unpopular in the Northern region of the country. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
Click In 1852, a writer named Harriet Stowe published one of the most controversial books of the Civil War, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It was a fictional story about the horrors of slavery that was read by so many; Northern felt even greater hate and pity for slavery while Southerners rolled their eyes and claimed it was not as bad as told. This book was just what was needed to pu -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
ClickAfter the Missouri Compromise in 1820, Nebraska and Kansas were free State s but it was up for question of what would happen to them concerning slavery since it set an unbalance of power between slave and non-slave states. In May of 1854 President Douglass put forth the Kansas-Nebraska Act that states that both states would undergo popular sovereignty; meaning that they would vote on whether they would have slavery in the territory or not. This turned out to be a huge problem for Douglas when t -
Formation of Republican Party (1854)
ClickAs a result of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, there began to be meetings in the North held to protest the bill. A group began to form that pined itself against the slave wanting south; thus the Republican Party was born. Their support was mainly anti-slavery people and others who opposed slavery in the North. -
"Bprder Ruffians" attack Lawerence
ClickTensions over slavery were very high in the United States, especially in the newly settled territories that were newly added. Kansas seemed to be right where the breaking point occurred on May 21st, 1856. A group called Border Ruffians, settlers west of the Missouri line; attacked the town of Lawrence. They looted the town offices but sent a shiver down the spine of those who settled in the new territory. -
Pottawatomie Creek (5/24/1856)
Click In the tension filled lands of Kansas, violence finally broke on May 24th, 1856. John Brown was an Ohio man that was for slavery and on this day he and some men rampaged through a proslavery settlement near Pottawatomie Creek. There, violence began and five men were killed. This event finally brought forth the horrific name of “Bleeding Kansas”. -
Charles Sumner attacked (Summer of 1856)
ClickIn the summer of 1856, an abolitionist Senator named Charles Sumner from Massachusetts spoke out about Kansas controversy. His speech was called “Crimes Against Kansas” and blamed certain senators of the Democratic party for the uprising violence. Mostly, he blamed it on Andrew Butler. Days after this speech was given, representative Preston Brooks who was a relative of Butler, attacked Sumner. He beat him with his cane then abruptly left. This left Democrats cheering while Republicans were an -
Dred Scott decison announced (March 1857)
Click http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2932.html
Dred Scott was ina Supreme Court case suing against his owner for illegally holding him. Scott lost the case since the court ruled out that even if he was in free land, if his owner was with him then he was still enslaved. This caused huge controversy. -
Raid at Harper's Ferry
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On October 16th of 1857, John Brown led his men to the town of Harper's Ferry Virginia. Being against slavery, Brown targeted those who were proslavery in the attack and hoped to free the slaves. At the end of the night thirteen were dead including townspeople and Brown's own men. Brown was found in court to be wrong although he had good intentions. He was sentenced to death. -
Lecompton Constitution passed (Summer 1857)
ClickIn the fall of 1857, a constitution called the Lecompton constitution was written by a small proslavery group in Kansas. Most people would not vote on this since many people in Kansas were opposed to slavery and by voting for this it would protect slavery in the state. President Buchanan though hoped the slavery issue would be resolved by Kansas becoming a state and endorsed the constitution. -
Lincoln- Douglas Debates (1858)
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In the race for presidency, Abraham Linoln and Senator Douglass fought for the title. they met in a series of debates in various states about slavery; these were called the Lincoln Douglass Debates. Lincoln was anti-slavery while Douglass was pro-slavery. Lincoln ended up sucessfully winning in the end by backing Douglas into a corner about his original Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
Election of 1860 (1860)
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The election of 1860 had a huge build up to it with the Lincoln-Douglass debates that went on for months. Basically, a vote for Lincoln was to be anti-slavery while a vote for Douglas was to be pro-slavery. This election split the country, it seemed to be North against South thanks to the strong points of slavery that ruled over the election. -
Democrats Split in 1860
Click!During the election of 1860, the Democratic split started with Abraham Lincoln bringing up the point of Douglass being for "popular sovgernity" yet at the same time he said that the people should listen to the Supreme Court, this caused many democrats to distrust Douglas. The Southern Democrats split off, and elected John C. Breckinridge to represent them. -
Formation of Constitutional Union Party
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When the election of 1860's debates between the canidates broke out, some didn't seem to agree with either side. A new party was formed called the Constitutional Union Party which was represented by John Bell. Bell was probably the weakest canidate since he didn't ever talk about the issue of slavery which was a huge problem in teh country at the time.
