1. Compromises before the Civil war
SPI 5.4 Draw on information from multiple print or digital resources explaining the events that made slavery a national issue during the mid-19th century, including:
Missouri Compromise; Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Compromise of 1850; Brook’s attack on Sumner; Kansas-Nebraska Act; John Brown’s Raid; Dred Scott case

2. Missouri Compromise (1820)
Maine = Free State
Missouri = Slave State
36°30’ boundary

3. Missouri compromise

4. Uncle tom’s cabin A book that talked about the cruelty of slavery
Northerners increased their protests against the Fugitive Slave Act
Southerners protested against the book because they felt it was an attack on the South

5. Compromise of 1850 California = Free State
Utah and New Mexico Territory => up to people who live there
Fugitive Slave Law: Free States must help catch and return escaped slaves

6. Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay created the Compromise of 1850 to give both the North and the South part of what they wanted in the slavery debate. The Fugitive Slave Act required all free states to return escaped slaves to their owners in the South.

7. Brooks attack on sumner
Northern Senator: Charles Sumner
Southern Senator: Preston Brooks
Senator Brooks attacked Senator Sumner in the Senate over the issue of slavery.
In May of 1856, an abolitionist Senator Sumner gave a 2 day speech against the Kansas-Nebraska act. Making many southerner Senators angry, including Preston Brooks. Senator Brooks physically attacked and severely beat Senator Sumner.

9. Kansas - Nebraska Act (1854)
Establishes Popular Sovereignty in Kansas & Nebraska Territory, meaning the people who live there will vote on the issue of slavery.

10. John Brown Violent Abolitionist
Lead a raid by attacking an arsenal to gain weapons for slaves

11. John Brown’s raid
John Brown and his men tried to steal weapons from the arsenal. They were caught and didn’t get away with it. Seven people died in the fight. John Brown was later hanged for his role in the raid.
In 1859, John Brown and a group of his supporters attacked the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. It didn’t work, but the South was afraid that his raid would have led to a slave uprising if it had worked. The North celebrated his raid and even wrote songs about him!

12. Dred Scott case Owner takes Scott to a free state (Wisconsin)
Scott sues for freedom
Supreme Court states that slaves were personal property and that Blacks are “so inferior that they had no rights which a white man was bound to respect”