States rights, Nullification, Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Georgia Platform, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and Dred Scott Case

During the Antebellum period there were a lot of disputes about new laws made and state's rights. The first law made to have fair representation was the Missouri Compromise of 1820. It guaranteed that there had to be a balanced number of slave states and free states. The South was mostly made of slave states, while the North was made of mostly free states. Additionally, Maine became a free state as part of the compromise and it prohibited slavery North of the parallel 36, 30 north. Then in 1828 a tariff during John Quincy Adam's presidency was placed on imported goods, which affected the South greatly because they relied on trade with England. This lead to the nullification crisis, lead by John C. Calhoun who stated South Carolina would not abide to the tax. The nation had been suffering from an economic downturn since the war of 1812 and South Carolina was especially not doing well. Moreover, these tensions lead states to considering their state rights. Then came the Compromise of 1850 made of five points which threatened the balance of free and slave states. The first part was that Texas joined the union and it's land becomes four new states. Slavery is "abolished" in D.C and California is declared a free state. Lastly the most controversial topic, the Fugitive Slave Act that states all citizens have to help slave catchers find slaves. The Georgia Platform had introduced and pushed for the fugitive slave act and this law angered the North and scared many slaves. They also tried making the new states: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada slave states. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act made those new states slave states. This act repealed and ignored the Missouri Compromise because it unbalanced the slave and free states. It also deeply upset the North. Finally, the Dred Scott case made it clear that slaves had no rights. The ruling of this case made the Missouri Compromise void, angered the North, and declared slaves were property. Some slaves in fear of being caught moved to Canada for safety.

Pictures:
1.http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DredScott.html
2.http://www.therightpoints.com/nullification-these-next-few-years-will-be-very-interesting/
3.http://www.ushistory.org/us/30d.asp
4.http://www.ushistory.org/us/30d.asp