Wilmont Proviso 1846

On August 8, 1846, David Wilmont introduced a bill stating that slavery shall never exist in any terrritory the US might obtain from war with Mexico. This meant that territories out west such as California, Utah, and New Mexico. The Wilmont Proviso divided congress along regional lines. The northerners supported the proviso and the Southerners opposed it. Southerners feared that if the bill becomes a law, northerners, would have more power in congress than the south. The bill was then rejected by the senate.

Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay stepped forward with the Missouri compromise, believing it had something for everyone . It admitted California into the union as  free state.  It pleased the north that it would be a free state . It also divided the rest of the Southwest into two territories –New Mexico and Utah which were opened both for slavery. This pleased the south. It also ended slave trade in Washington D.C but allowed existing slaveholders to keep their current slaves. Thought this would please both north and south, but it didn’t . Clay and Webster (Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts opposed slavery but agreed to support Clay’s compromise)would hope this compromise would pacify both sides and ease the tensions over slavery, But it never did. The compromise included a strong Fugitive Slave Law, which was one of the reasons the north disliked the compromise. Because any escaped save was told to return to their owners. Those who didn’t or helped house them would be fined or jailed . The north didn’t want to follow this law and refused to obey it . The norths resistance to this law outraged the south.

Fugitive Slave Law 1850

The Fugitive Slave Law was part of the Compromise Of 1850 . This stated that all escaped slaves would be required to return to their owners. The south had demanded this for many years. But it had also stated “All good citizens , are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law.” And as part of this law those who did not would be fined or jailed. This angered the north because they believed if the slaves had escaped to the north they were free and didn’t have to return to their owners. Clay needed to get this law through to congress so he went to Senator Daniel Webster Of Massachusetts to get support, Webster was opposed to the idea of slavery but he decided to support Clay’s compromise in the effort to end the crisis between the north and south . Webster gave a speech to the congress urging his fellow senators to unite for the good of the nation . Quoted “ I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man , nor as a northern man, but as an American , I speak today for the preservation of the union .” The debate went on for many months but the Congress finally approved Clay’s Compromise which included the Fugitive Slave Law. This took a big toll on the north. The north was against slavery and thought that any slave that had run to the north would be free.Now the south could get back the slaves they wanted.

Uncle Toms Cabin 1852

Published in 1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a best-selling novel . Harriet Beecher Stowe  described the cruelties of slavery through the story of a dignified slave whose name was Uncle Tom. In the novel Stowe goes on through Tom’s experiences as a slave, with three slaveholders. Two of the slaveholders treated him kindly, but the third slaveholder Simon Legree would abuse Tom. Eventually Tom was whipped too death for having refused to tell where two escaped laves were hiding . Harriet Beecher Stowe was hoping this novel would help bring slavery to a quick and peaceful end. But alas it was not to be, instead the book increased the hostility of many northerners towards the south and the southerners to the northerners . southerners saw her description of slavery was both inaccurate and an insult to their way of life. The north found it heart breaking and they wanted slavery to end. The south was not pleased, they were upset the book was about a slave.The south believed slaves had no rights to be free or have no owner.This increased conflict between the north and the south.

New Republican Party 1854

On July 6, 1854, the new Republican party was created in Jackson, Michigan. The founder was Horace Grealy. The party was created in the hope that they could keep slavery out of the territories. Because the Republican Party has lots of support, they had more strength to win than the other parties. Even though they had strength, they lacked organization.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act- May 30, 1854

The Kansas Nebraska act was put into effect on May 30, 1854. This allowed the people in the territories of Kansas or Nebraska to decide themselves if they want to be a slave state or not. This act was created as a compromise for the issue of slavery. Because slavery was a huge debate between the North and The south this was put into place so that the people could make the choice. Though, the North believed with more  states becoming territories for slavery the South would have to much power. The North also believed that if the great plains turned into slave territory, slavery may spread rapidly through the country. Northerners did not agree with this change because it went completely against the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise stated any states past a certain point could or could not be a slave state. The South liked the change though because they would be able to have more slavery therefore more power. With the North and the south disagreeing on this act it was not long before conflict arose. Once the new act was passed anti-slavery and pro-slavery supporters rushed to the scene to settle Kansas to affect the first election being held. Pro-slavery supporters carried out the election but were charged with fraud by anti-slavery supporters. Anti-slavery supporters held another election but pro-slavery supporters refused to vote. When violence soon erupted the anti-slavery supporters were being led by supporter John Brown. These actions were soon named “Bleeding Kansas”. The Kansas- Nebraska Act caused great commotion between the north and the south but had a greater affect on the North. The North was strongly angered by this decision that it did not take long for conflict to arise.

Bleeding Kansas- 1854-1858

During the years of 1854 and 1858 the state of Kansas was going through a time of great anger which did not take long to lead to violence. What first caused citizens to become angry was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This act allowed the people of Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether or not it is a slave state which goes completely against the Missouri Compromise. With slavery already being an ongoing issue in the states this didn’t make it any better, in fact it made it worse. Violence soon broke out between the people in Kansas as well as in the state Senate. Senator Charles Sumner decided to make a 2-day speech about this new act and how it was not appropriate. During this speech he had brought up three people in particular and not in a good way. When I say "Not in a good way" I mean, bashing them due to their part in the new Act. Unfortunately one of the Congressmen present had been related to one of those people causing his to get angry and savagely beat Sumner with his cane on the Senate floor.  This event was a direct result of the the Kansas-Nebraska Act and surely caused a lot of commotion between the north and the south and the violence continued.