Slavery: Key Events Leading To The Civil War

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Slavery became a key issue in the arguments of the north and the south. The south was very agricultural while the north was industrial. The south feared the declaration of freedom for the slaves by government leaders in the north. Government officials at the time were not interested in ending Slavery in the slave states, but instead in keeping newly admitted states from becoming slave states. The first official disagreement of this came in 1820. By the end of 1819, there were eleven Free states and eleven slave states. In 1820 Maine and Missouri wanted to enter the union and Congress had to decide whether to admit them in as Free states or slave states. At the time, Missouri had about two thousand Slaves. An amendment was introduced in the House by James Tallmadge, a New York Representative to ban slavery in Missouri when the amendment was voted on and passed in the house. In the Senate where the amount of slave state representatives was equal to the amount of Free states, it became a tie. A heated battle started between the representatives from the Northern and Southern states following the Missouri Compromise. …show more content…

It stated that there would be no slavery in the north of the 36.20 degree latitude line this included any lands west of the southern boundary of Missouri. In 1850, the issue of slavery came again. There were fifteen slave states and fifteen Free states. California had been settled heavily from the Gold Rush and wanted to be admitted to the union as a free state. This would throw off the balance between slave and Free states. This debate became known as the Great Debate. Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed a

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