The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, which included present-day states like Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. This early legislation set a precedent for restricting slavery in new territories, although enforcement varied and some slaves were held in the region despite the ban.
The issue of slavery in the territory ceded by Mexico was decided by the Compromise of 1850, which allowed residents to determine whether to allow slavery through popular sovereignty. This meant that the territories of New Mexico and California could decide on the slavery issue for themselves when applying for statehood.
Popular sovereignty allowed each territory to decide on the issue of slavery through a popular vote. This led to intense and violent conflicts like Bleeding Kansas because pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers flooded the territory to sway the vote in their favor, resulting in armed confrontations and confusion. The inability to peacefully settle the issue in Kansas-Nebraska demonstrated the limitations and flaws of popular sovereignty as a solution to the slavery debate.
"Bleeding Kansas" is the nickname given to the territory where pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed in violent confrontations over the issue of slavery in the mid-1850s.
Kansas became a battleground for the issue of slavery due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 which allowed residents of the territories to decide whether they would allow slavery or not (popular sovereignty). This led to clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers, known as "Bleeding Kansas," as both groups sought to influence the outcome of the territory's status as a free or slave state.
Stephen Douglas believed in popular sovereignty, allowing residents of each territory to decide the issue of slavery for themselves through voting. He proposed this as a solution to the slavery issue in the territories, particularly during the debates surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
The Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery northwest of the Ohio River.
The Northwest Ordinance outlawed slavery in the territory. However the ordinance did allow for indentured servants to be held in the territory. The US Constitution did not prohibit slavery at that time.
The Missouri Compromise primarily involved the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri.
The Missouri Compromise primarily involved the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri.
In the course of passing the Northwest Ordinance, the states gave up claims to land in what was then the West. This land was administered by the United States government, instead of the states', and so established federal administration of territories. The ordinance dealt with the question of the admission of new states. It also dealt, though without complete success, with the issue of the extension of slavery. There is a link below to an article on the Northwest Ordinance.
Breckinridge's stance on the issue of slavery differed from Lincoln's because Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories and Breckinridge insisted that the government be required to protect slavery in any territory.
The expansion of slavery into the territory west of Missouri
the vote over whether to allow slavery
Though Roger Sherman was opposed to slavery, he did not feel that it was a large enough issue to be dealt with in 1787, and he did not support Parker's resolution in 1789.
Bleeding Kansas
The issue of slavery in the territory ceded by Mexico was decided by the Compromise of 1850, which allowed residents to determine whether to allow slavery through popular sovereignty. This meant that the territories of New Mexico and California could decide on the slavery issue for themselves when applying for statehood.
The Missouri compromises reserved the balance over the issue of slavery between the North and the South. This ended with the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, which gave citizens in a territory the right to vote on the slavery issue.