Section #1 - Causal Factors
Slavery Expansion
The ban on slavery jeopardizes future Southern wealth from cotton sales and lucrative slave auctions.
| Year | Event | Description | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1549 | Brazil becomes the focal point for the International Slave Trade. | The first Portuguese Governor of Brazil arrives along with enslaved Blacks. This sets off the international trade which finds 10-15 million kidnapped Africans shipped across the Atlantic. | Chapter 2 |
| 1619 | Chattel Slavery comes to America. | The British ship White Lion drops anchor near Hampton, Virginia, trading “20 and odd” Africans for victuals. They become property of the Governor of Virginia. | Chapter 2 |
| 1650 | Slavery expands to all thirteen American colonies. | Commercial profits from the Triangular Trade System supports the spread of slavery. Rhode Island plays a major role via rum distilleries. | Chapter 2 |
| 1787 | The Northwest Ordinance boundary. | Article VI defines a geographical boundary along the Ohio River where slavery shall not exist, though fugitives may still be reclaimed. | Chapter 9 |
| 1794 | Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin. | Enables processing of 55 lbs of clean cotton per day, making short-staple cotton profitable and fueling the “Cotton as King” boom. | Chapter 15 |
| 1798 | Mississippi Territory organized. | The territory is officially organized; it will eventually be divided into Mississippi and Alabama. | Chapter 20 |
| 1803 | Louisiana Purchase. | Adds 827,000 square miles, nearly doubling the nation’s size, but lacks a defined boundary for Slave vs. Free states. | Chapter 24 |
| 1808 | Ban on international trade prompts breeding. | The ban leads to systematic breeding programs. Southern elites’ wealth is measured by cotton sales and auctioning off bred slaves. | Chapter 30 |
| 1819 | Tallmadge Amendments. | House supports prohibiting further introduction of slavery in Missouri, panicking the South. | Chapter 42 |
| 1820 | Missouri Compromise. | Missouri admitted as Slave, Maine as Free, and a 36’30” line is drawn across the Louisiana Purchase land. | Chapter 42 |
| 1846 | The fateful Mexican War. | Congress declares war on Mexico, leading to massive land acquisitions. | Chapter 117 |
| 1854 | Kansas-Nebraska Act. | Stephen Douglas discards the 1820 precedent in favor of “popular sovereignty” elections to determine slave status. | Chapter 179 |
| 1857 | Dred Scott ruling. | Taney rules Blacks are property and that Congress cannot ban slavery in any territory. | Chapter 212 |