Before the War, There Were The Compromises

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Setting the Stage…

Slavery had been a troublesome issue in the United States for many years before the territory of Missouri petitioned Congress for admission to the Union as a state in 1818. Since the American Revolution, the country had grown from 13 states to 22 and coincidentally 11 were free states and 11 were slave states. This gave an equal representation in the Senate and the power to prevent the passage of any legislation that either side may not like or agree with, like getting rid of slavery. BUT the free states, with their much larger populations, controlled the House of Representatives, 105 votes to 81.

The Missouri Compromise  "A Balance of Power"  March 3, 1820

In February 1819, New York Representative James Tallmadge proposed an amendment to ban slavery in Missouri even though there were more than 2,000 slaves living there. The country was again faced with the explosive issue of the spread of slavery into new territories and states. More and more folks in the north were speaking out against the South's "peculiar institution" had grown louder through the years.

The South's economy was dependent upon black slavery, and 200 years of living with the institution had made it an integral part of Southern life and culture. The South demanded that the North recognize its right to have slaves as secured in the Constitution.
Through the efforts of Henry Clay, a compromise was finally reached on March 3, 1820, after Maine petitioned Congress for statehood. Both states were admitted, a free Maine and a slave Missouri, and the balance of power in Congress was maintained as before. Remember what we talked about in class….a compromise is sometimes just a bandaid for a quick fix. This compromise wasn’t going to last for long!  Knowing this, to address the issue of the further spread of slavery, the Missouri Compromise fixed it so that all the Louisiana Purchase territory north of the southern boundary of Missouri, except Missouri, would be free, and the territory below that line would be slave.

August - The Nat Turner Rebellion To the white residents of Southampton County, it came as a surprise that a slave named Nat Turner was the leader of a slave rebellion that resulted in the deaths of 55 white people. This rebellion, which Turner believed was directed by God, became one of the most famous slave insurrections in U.S. history. The rebellion ended when the militia began pursuing Turner and the other slaves. During the pursuit, some slaves were captured and about 15 were hanged. Turner escaped and hid out for about six weeks until he was captured. He was imprisoned, and was sentenced to execution on November 5, 1831. While in prison, he dictated his confession to Thomas R. Gray. On November 11, 1831, he was hanged and skinned.

Compromise of 1850
September - Congress implements several measures forming the Compromise of 1850. The measures included California joining the Union as a free state, the territories of New Mexico and Utah are organized with no restrictions on slavery, slave trading is abolished in the District of Columbia effective January 1851 and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 is modified and strengthened to allow slaveholders to retrieve slaves in northern states and free territories.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act   1854

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal (cancel) the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act angered many in the North who considered the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement. In the pro-slavery South it was strongly supported.
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle Kansas to influence the outcome of the first election held there after the law went into effect. Pro-slavery settlers carried the election but were charged with fraud by anti-slavery settlers, and the results were not accepted by them.

By 1855 As Kansas prepares for elections thousands of Border Ruffians from Missouri enter the territory in an effort to influence the election. This begins the Bloody Kansas period with duplicate constitutional conventions, separate elections and constant and violent attacks.

1857

March - Dred Scott Decision - The Supreme Court rules in Scott v. Sandford that blacks are not U.S. citizens, and slaveholders have the right to take existing slaves into free areas of the county.

October - John Brown attacks Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Robert E. Lee, then a Federal Army regular leads the troops and captures Brown. John Brown and two of the black members of his band were hanged.