The Significance of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Professor James Horton of George Washington University recounts stories of victims of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and recounts the impact of that law.

The Underground Railroad

Re-enactment of a Lincoln-Douglas debate

About the Compromise of 1850….. This is fun! I don’t think this dude is tall enough, though.

Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech

Lincoln delivered this famous speech, noted for the phrase “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” when accepting the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Illinois in June of 1858. In July of that year he challenged his Democrat opponent, Stephen Douglas to a series of debates over admitting Kansas into the union as a slave state, and, to a large extent, over the future of slavery and of the union itself. Lincoln, of course, represented the anti-slavery position. The skill with which Lincoln debated Douglas helped catapult him to the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1860, a race which he won.

As you read, consider the following questions:
1. What will eventually happen to a “house divided,” according to Lincoln?
2. What does Lincoln mean by “the Nebraska doctrine?”
3. What is Lincoln talking about when he described “timbers?” Hint: think metaphorically.

“A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand”
Abraham Lincoln, June 1858

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We

South Carolina calls other Southern states to join her in secession

As you read, consider the following questions:
1. What is the first reason that South Carolina gives for the problems between North and South? Why is this interesting?
2. Why does this document speak of the US Constitution in the past tense? What other indications are there in word choice, tone, or statement which indicate a sense of separation from the rest of the United States?
3. How does the author compare the situation of the South at this time with the situation of the American colonies in the 1770s?
4. Who is the “one who has openly declared that all the States of the United States must be made Free States or Slave States” spoken of near the end of the document?

The Address of the people of South Carolina, assembled in Convention, to the people of the Slaveholding States of the United States

Robert Barnwell Rhett, 1861

It is now seventy-three years since the union between the United States was made by the Constitution of the United States. During this period their advance in wealth, prosperity,

A Short History of the Mason-Dixon Line

As you read, consider the following questions:
1. Where exactly is the Mason-Dixon Line?
2. Why is it important?

THE MASON-DIXON LINE: A Short History
By Robert B. Van Atta
GREENSBURG, PA. TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, November 12, 2000

Some 237 years ago this week, two English astronomers arrived in Philadelphia with their

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

As you read, consider the following questions:
1. What was the reason why John Brown and his co-conspirators chose Harper’s Ferry?
2. What was Brown hoping to accomplish?
3. Who captured Brown?
4. Check the source of this article at the bottom. Is there any evidence of bias throughout this article? Be specific.
5. How many people later famous for deeds during the Civil War were involved in the capture and/or prosecution of Brown?
6. For what crimes was John Brown tried?

John Brown’s Raid

In the winter of 1857-58, John Brown, who had been a leader in and a promoter of