The Road to the American Civil War Early attempts at containing slavery A Series of Compromises Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Incidents of Suspicions.

The Road to the American Civil War

Early attempts at containing slavery

A Series of Compromises

Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Incidents of Suspicions

Early Attempts of Containment

• 1808 the slave trade is no longer allowed in the United States

• Missouri Compromise of 1820 divides the nation at the 36 30’ parallel

• Slavery is prohibited above the line while slavery is allowed below the line

The Wilmot Proviso• During the Mexican War,

Pennsylvanian Congressman David Wilmot proposes an amendment called the Wilmot Proviso

• In 1848 the Wilmot Proviso attempted to prohibit the expansion of slavery into territory acquired from the Mexican War

• The proviso does not pass

The Wilmot Proviso

• John Calhoun will propose laws that state Congress has no right to prohibit slavery in any part of the U.S.

• Southerners like Calhoun would like the Missouri Compromise of 1820 to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into other areas

The Compromise of 1850

• Kentucky Congressmen who seeks to keep the Union together through compromises

• Henry Clay, “The Great Compromiser” suggested a compromise

• He had assisted with the Compromise of 1820

• John Calhoun will be against the compromise and argues against

The Compromise of 1850

1. California is a free state2. The slave trade is

abolished in Washington D.C.

3. New Mexico and Utah will decide if they want slavery or not

4. Texas gives up its land claims in New Mexico for payment of their debts

5. Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

The Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

• The Fugitive Act allows southerners to recover escaped slaves in the North

• Blacks in the North panic and move to Canada and Abolitionist stop the enforcement of the Act and make its enforcement very difficult

• Southerners are outraged at its limited enforcement

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) a novel that becomes a national best seller because it reveals the ugliness of slavery

• Northerners are shocked by the novel’s stories of slavery whereas Southerners are angered by the “lies” about the south

Enter Stephen Douglas

• Congressman who based his politics on expansion and popular sovereignty

• Popular sovereignty• He opposes expansion of

slavery but he does not admit that it is evil

• Douglas argues that slavery cannot expand in the southwest (climate)