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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes to help runaway slaves escape to free states and Canada. The routes contained meeting points and safe houses, accompanied by abolitionist sympathizers. With the help of abolitionists and african-americans like Harriet Tubman an estimated 100,000 slaves escaped slave states through the Underground Railroad in the 1800's. -
The Gang-Labor System
The gang-labor slave system was created in the 1820's in the South. The system was created to increase the amount of cotton output, in order to increase the profits for plantation owners. White overseers and black drivers supervised slaves, organized into groups "gangs". These overseers and drivers were instructed to lash the slaves to keep them working at a steady pace, making slave labor much more grueling. -
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Slavery in the South
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Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner's Rebellion is a slave rebellion lead by slave, Nat Turner, in virginia. More than 70 enslaved and free blacks joined the rebellion to free slaves. The rebellion began on August 21, 1831 and ended two days later on August 23. Within these two days rebels killed between; 50-60 people, including women and children. The rebellion was ended by Belmont Plantation in Virginia. After the Nat Turner's rebellion there was widespread fear amongst the white population of another slave rebellion. -
The Gag Rule
The gag rule was created in 1836 after congress received thousands of petitions demanding slavery to be abolished. The house passed the gag rule to prohibit the discussion of these protests. The rule was said to go against the first amendment, because it prohibited congress to voice their opinions about abolishing slavery. *The image is of a political cartoon from 1839, on the "gag rule". -
The Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a political party formed in 1848, it consisted mostly of former anti slavery Whig and Democratic party members. The party's main focus was to limit the expansion of slavery into western territories. They opposed slavery and found it morally wrong and believed, free land was more beneficial economically than slavery. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 was a set of five laws passed by the United States Congress. The majority of the five laws pertain to slavery in the United States, the first law was the Fugitive Slave Law; required escaped slaves when captured to be returned to their owners. The compromise also admitted California as a free state, and abolished the slave trade in Washington D.C. It also settled border disputes, and allowed Utah and New Mexico to decide if they wanted to be slave states or not. -
The Fugitive Slave Law
The fugitive slave law was passed on September 18, 1850 by the United States Congress. The law required escaped slaves when captured to be returned to their owners. Citizens of free states had to follow the fugitive slave law although many were abolitionists. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a best selling novel in the 19th century. The book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a white abolitionist woman, stressed the idea of anti-slavery. The book helped the abolitionist cause in the 1850's, by depicting the realities of a slave. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was an African American man who pressed for his right to be free from slavery in the federal court. He was an enslaved in a southern slave state, and when he moved to a free state he was still classified as a slave. He brought his case to the court, where he was not given his freedom because it was considered to be unconstitutional for his owner to be deprived of Scott as his property. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of seven debates between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas of the Democratic party. The main topic of the debate was slavery. Lincoln was an abolitionist who believed the American Declaration of Independence applied to both whites and blacks. Douglas did not believe in equality between white and black men, and recognised slavery in the South.
