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Invention of cotton gin
Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. This ended up increasing slavery in the south. -
Missouri Compromise
Congress reached a boiling point after Missouri’s 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state, which threatened to upset the balance between slave states and free states. To keep the peace, Congress created a two-part compromise, granting Missouri’s request but also admitting Maine as a free state. It also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave regions. -
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Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of people who helped escaped slaves on their way to freedom in the northern states or Canada. -
The Liberator is published
The Liberator was an anti-slavery weekly newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison in Boston, Massachusetts. The slaveholders in the South demanded the end of the paper and the state of Georgia offered a $5,000 reward for Garrison’s capture. The Liberator was a mighty force from the beginning and became the most influential newspaper in the antislavery crusade. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is published
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Stowe, was an anti-slavery book that had a major influence on the way the American public viewed slavery. It was reported that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe he said, "So this is the little lady who made this big war." Which led people to believe that she had a direct influence on the Civil War. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was the term used to describe the violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. Abolitionist John Brown led anti-slavery fighters in Kansas. Bleeding Kansas
