The document summarizes key events leading up to the American Civil War around the issue of slavery. It discusses the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which balanced the number of slave and free states. It also discusses subsequent compromises in 1850 and 1854 regarding the status of slavery in western territories which temporarily delayed the conflict over the issue. Rising tensions and conflicts ultimately led to southern states beginning to secede from the Union after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, marking the start of the Civil War.

1. A Dividing Nation
Chapter 20
Could a nation
born in freedom
endure half-slave
and half-free?

2. Confronting the Issue of Slavery
In 1819, the
number of slave
states and free
states stood at
11 apiece

3. Free States
 Free states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts New
Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

4. Slave States
 Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama

5. Questions about Missouri
 Congress
questioned whether
Missouri should be
admitted as a slave
state
 As a slave state, it
would spread
slavery into the
Louisiana Territory

6. Issue 1: Missouri applied for
statehood as a slave state
Northerners
favored/opposed
this because…
Southerners
favored/opposed
this because…

7. Issue 2: The Tallmadge Amendment
proposed that Missouri be admitted
as a free state
Northerners
favored/opposed
this because…
Southerners
favored/opposed
this because …

8. On your own…
Given these two issues,
create a compromise that
satisfies northerners of
southerners.

9. The Missouri Compromise
 Missouri entered the Union as a slave
state
 Maine entered the Union as a free state
 Congress drew an imaginary line across
the Louisiana Territory at latitude 36°30‫׳‬
 Slavery was permitted south of that line
and prohibited north of it

10. The Missouri Compromise
 North of the line,
slavery banned
forever, except in
Missouri
 South of the line,
slavery permitted

11. The Missouri Compromise Unravels
 Because of slavery, southerners threatened to secede,
or withdraw from the Union
 Northerners felt that slavery was a crime against
humanity… a great evil.

12. Issue 1:Abolitionists wanted to stop slavery in
Washington, D.C., but Congress refused to
consider anti-slavery petitions.
Northern
abolitionists
were
pleased/angered
because…
Southerners
were
pleased/angere
d because…

13. Issue 2: Some northerners assisted
fugitive slaves.
 Northerners
tolerated/condemned
this practice because…
 Southerners
tolerated/condemned
this practice because…

14. Issue 3: The Wilmot Proviso stated slavery
would not be allowed in the Mexican Cession
 Northerners
favored/opposed this
amendment because…
 Southerners
favored/opposed this
amendment because…

15. Issue 4: California applied for
admission as a free state
 Northerners
favored/opposed
admitting California as a
free state because…
 Southerners
favored/opposed
admitting California as a
free state because…

16. On your own…
Given these four issues,
create a compromise
that satisfies
northerners and
southerners.

17. The Compromise of 1850
 California was admitted as a free state
 New Mexico and Utah were organized as
territories open to slavery
 The slave trade was ended in Washington,
D.C.
 A strong fugitive slave law was passed

19. The Fugitive Slave Law
 A fugitive is a person who flees or tries to
escape from slavery.
 Under this law, any person arrested as a
runaway slave had no legal rights.
 It also stated that those who helped a slave
escape could be jailed.

20. Fugitive Slave Law
 The North was against
this law and refused to
support it.
 The assistance or help
that northerners gave
the escaped slaves
caused hard feelings
for southern
slaveholders.

21. Slave Auction

22. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 Harriet Beecher
Stowe wrote this
novel after
experiencing a
vision that detailed
the horrors of
slavery

23. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle
Tom’s Cabin”
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin
turned millions of
people against slavery
 Abraham Lincoln
commented to Stowe,
“So you’re the little
woman who wrote the
book that made this
great war”

24. The Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
 Created the
territories of Kansas
and Nebraska
 The Missouri
Compromise was
removed, allowing
slavery in the north

25. Popular Sovereignty
 Left it up to the settlers themselves to vote
on whether to permit slavery in Kansas and
Nebraska
 Popular Sovereignty is rule by the people
 Northerners were outraged because they did
not want slavery and it violated the Missouri
Compromise

26. Bloodshed in Kansas
The struggle over slavery turned violent on May 21,
1856
Pro-slavery vs. Anti-slavery
John Brown, an abolitionist, got revenge by
dragging 5 men who supported slavery and hacked
them to death with swords

27. The Dred Scott Case
 Dred Scott was a
slave who sued for
his freedom when
his master took him
to Wisconsin,
where slavery was
illegal

28. The Dred Scott Decision
 The United States
Supreme Court
ruled against Scott
because African
Americans, whether
slave or free, could
not become
American citizens

29. Dred Scott Decision
As a result of the Dred
Scott decision, slavery
allowed in all territories
(yellow states)

30. Issue 1: The Fugitive Slave Law caused
bitterness between North and the South
 Northerners were
satisfied/dissatisfied
with the way the Fugitive
Slave Law was enforced
because…
 Southerners were
satisfied/dissatisfied
with the way the Fugitive
Slave Law was enforced
because

31. Issue 2: The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin told
the story of a slave and his master.
The book was
popular/unpopular
in the North
because …
The book was
popular/unpopular
in the South
because…

32. Issue 3: The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that the issue of slavery in
those territories would be decided by popular sovereignty. Both pro-
slavery and anti-slavery forces rushed to the territories to vote
Northerners were
pleased/unhappy
about the act
because….
Southerners were
pleased/unhappy
about the act
because….

33. Issue 4: The Dred Scott case. Scott was
a slave who believed his trip to
Wisconsin made him a free man.
 Northerners probably
believed he was a
free/still a slave because
….
 Southerners probably
believed he was free/still
a slave because…

34. On your own
 Recommend a ruling to the Supreme Court
on the Dred Scott case that satisfied
northerners and southerners. Your ruling
must address these issues: Was Scott a
citizen with the right to sue in federal court?
Did Scott’s visit to Wisconsin make him a
free man? Can Congress ban slavery in the
territories?

35. The Dred Scott Decision
 Scott could not sue for his freedom in a
federal court because he was not a citizen,
nor could any African American ever
become an American citizen
 Scott’s stay in Wisconsin did not make him a
free man because the Missouri Compromise
was unconstitutional
 Congress cannot ban slavery in the
territories

36. Issue 1: During the Lincoln-Douglass
debates, positions regarding slavery were
made clear
 Lincoln, representing the
opinion of the North, felt
slavery was a legal/moral
issue because…
 Douglas, representing
the opinion of the South,
felt that slavery was a
legal/moral issue
because…

37. Issue 2: John Brown attacked the
arsenal at Harpers Ferry to get
weapons for a slave rebellion.
 Some northerners
upset/reassured
southerners after
Brown’s raid because…
 Southerners were
unconcerned/fearful
about Brown’s raid
because…

38. Issue 3: In 1860 Abraham Lincoln
was elected president
 Northerners were
happy/unhappy about
the election because…
 Southerners were
happy/unhappy with the
election because…

39. On your own…
Given these three issues,
create a compromise that
satisfied northerners and
southerners and can save the
Union.

40. Secession
South Carolina and six other
states seceded from the
Union
South Carolina fired on Fort
Sumter (first shots)