Legality of Slavery Prior to the Civil War

Three-Fifths Compromise (1787) During the Constitutional Convention, Southern states wanted slaves to be considered in the census for the purpose of determining representation in Congress. Northern states opposed this because slaves weren't considered citizens and counting them would give Southerners more influence in Congress. They compromised and allowed every 5 slaves to be counted as 3 citizens for the purposes of representation and taxation. This meant each slave individually counted as 3/5ths of a person EFFECT: Gave Southern states additional representation in Congress and thus more influence in creating laws that favored slavery

Missouri Compromise of 1820 Congress was considering whether to admit Missouri as a state and there was significant debate about whether it should be a free state or a slave state. Ultimately, it was admitted as a free state on the basis that the rest of the former Louisiana Purchase territory above a specific latitude would not be eligible for admission to the union as slave states at any later date.

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 included several major provisions: California was admitted as a free state. The slave trade was abolished in Washington, D.C. The Territories of Utah & New Mexico were allowed to vote on whether they wanted slavery or not. Texas gave up much of the western land which it claimed and received compensation of $10,000,000 to pay off its debt. A harsher Fugitive Slave Act was passed May have delayed Civil War for 10 years, but made those years some of the worst for enslaved people

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) Allowed potential new states (like Kansas and Nebraska) to vote for themselves about whether to allow slavery Nullified the Missouri Compromise Controversy over whether Kansas would be a free state or a slave state led to bloody confrontations known as “Bleeding Kansas” John Brown, a white abolitionist, thought the only was to end slavery was through violent insurrection; led a band of people who murdered 5 supporters of slavery

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Dred Scott was a slave who’d been taken by his owners to free states and territories. He tried to purchase freedom for himself and his family, then tried to sue for his freedom. The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans (slave or free) were not be American citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court. Also ruled the federal government couldn’t regulate slavery in territories acquired after 1776.

How do conflict and geography relate to the changing conditions of slavery? Essential Question