1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Dred Scott
Leading to War!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Dred Scott

2. Daughter of an abolitionist. Angry about the Fugitive Slave Law.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Daughter of an abolitionist.
Angry about the Fugitive Slave Law.
Wrote novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852.

4. Slave life described in detail including auctions and runaways.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Story is about Tom; a friendly, hardworking slave who is beat to death by his master.
Slave life described in detail including auctions and runaways.
Novel increased the number of abolitionists and northerners were shocked with the harshness of slavery.

5. 1st American novel to sell over 1 million copies.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1st American novel to sell over 1 million copies.
Tom became the first African-American hero of American literature.
Considered one of the major causes of the Civil War.

10. Slave who lived with his owner in Illinois and Wisconsin Territory
Dred Scott
Slave who lived with his owner in Illinois and Wisconsin Territory
(free land where slavery was illegal).
Scott’s owner moved and took him to Missouri.
Anti-slavery lawyers help Scott sue for his freedom (he lived on free land).

11. Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott.
The Court Case
Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott.
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote Scott was not free for two reasons:
He had no right to sue the court because he was not a citizen
He was PROPERTY and it did not matter if he lived on free land

12. The Court Case cont…
Supreme Court also said that Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in any territory (this canceled the Missouri Compromise).

14. Reaction in the South
Happy!
This meant slavery was legal in all territories

15. Reaction in the North
Outraged!
Abolitionists get even more support after this court case.
Many had hoped slavery would just die out, this decision meant it could spread West.

16. Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer in Illinois spoke out against the decision.
He would become a very important part of the slavery debate.