Key Concepts in American Slavery Legislation

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to significant legislation and events surrounding slavery in the United States.

Missouri Compromise

An agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, banning slavery north of the 36°30' parallel in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase territory.

Effects of the Missouri Compromise

Preserved the balance between free and slave states in the U.S. Senate for over 30 years, while intensifying conflict over slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing popular sovereignty in the Kansas and Nebraska territories.

Bleeding Kansas

A term describing the violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas, resulting from the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at resolving territorial and slavery issues, including admitting California as a free state and allowing popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law included in the Compromise of 1850 that required citizens to assist in the recovery of escaped slaves.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that African-Americans were not U.S. citizens and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the settlers of a federal territory have the right to decide whether to allow slavery.