Georgia Studies Flashcards

For Georgia Studies

Missouri Compromise (1820)

• Effort to balance power between free and slave states as Missouri applied for statehood.

• Missouri admitted as a slave state, Maine as a free state.

• Slavery prohibited in Louisiana Territory north of the 36°30′ latitude line (except Missouri).

Nullification Crisis (1832-1833)

• Conflict between South Carolina and the federal government over tariffs perceived as favoring the North.

• South Carolina declared federal tariffs null and void within the state.

• President Andrew Jackson threatened force; a compromise tariff was reached.

Compromise of 1850

• Attempt to address slavery's expansion after the Mexican-American War.

• California admitted as a free state.

• Strengthened Fugitive Slave Act.

• Popular sovereignty to decide slavery in Utah and New Mexico territories.

• Slave trade abolished in Washington, D.C.

Georgia Platform (1850)

• Georgia's response to the Compromise of 1850.

• Supported the Compromise of 1850 as a way to preserve the Union.

• Warned that Georgia would secede if the North violated Southern rights.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• Proposed to organize territories west of Missouri.

• Repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty to decide slavery in Kansas and Nebraska.

• Led to violent conflict known as "Bleeding Kansas."

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

• Supreme Court case involving Dred Scott, an enslaved man who sued for his freedom.

• Ruled that African Americans were not citizens and could not sue in federal court.

• Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, stating Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

Election of Abraham Lincoln (1860)

• Lincoln won the presidency as a Republican opposed to the expansion of slavery.

• Lincoln’s victory was seen by the South as a threat to slavery and their way of life.

• Triggered the secession of Southern states.

Debate Over Secession in Georgia (1860-1861)

• Georgia divided over whether to secede following Lincoln’s election.

• Secessionists argued Lincoln’s policies would harm the South.

• Unionists warned of the dangers of leaving the Union.

• Georgia ultimately voted to secede in January 1861.