Slavery Events

Slavery is one of the most controversial topics in history, due to the moral ethics that surround the topic. Some of the most famous anti-slavery events that happened in the 1800s were the Underground Railroad, the Wilmot Proviso, the Nat Turner Rebellion, and Harpers Ferry. The Underground Railroad first started in the early 1830s and lasted for about 30 years. It included different travel routes that led to the Northern states where slavery was not allowed, and to parts of Canada. Many of the routes were in the states west of where slavery was legal, so it was somewhat easier for the slaves to escape without getting caught. Harriet Tubman "represents" this escape route, since she helped over 300 slaves escape to freedom. The Underground Railroad in itself allowed over 100,000 slaves to escape, which was a major accomplishment in this time. The Wilmot Proviso was a bill passed to prohibit slavery in any land acquired in the Mexican War. Since the US gained more land after this war, the bill was put in place to stop the spread of slavery, and leave it up to each state to decide if they would participate in slavery or not. The Nat Turner Rebellion was led by a slave in Georgia in 1831. This was one of the most deadly slave revolts, and even the slaves that survived were executed shortly after it was over. This rebellion also had the support of some white abolitionists, but in the end it wasn't a "successful" rebellion because it was very violently and the message got lost in the fight. Harpers Ferry, or John Brown's Raid, happened in October 1859, where high ranking citizens were captured. The US Marines had to stop this raid, and John Brown was sent back to the South to be put on trial, and was eventually put to death due to his raid.

While there were many anti-slavery movements happening, there were also a few major events that supported the idea of keeping slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was put in place which repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed slavery to be spread to the northern states. When the cotton gin was created by Eli Whitney, it rapidly increased the production of cotton, which also created a higher demand for slaves. Since cotton could be processed and used faster, more slaves were needed to plant the cotton. By 1810 there were about 1.3 million slaves, so the states could keep up with the cotton market. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 helped slave owners who had runaway slaves recapture their slaves. Anyone who was caught hiding a fugitive slave was fine, imprisoned, or put to death. These are just a few of the most well known events that happened in the 1800s that either supported the idea of slavery, or fought against slavery to help free the slaves.