Curated OER
An Early Threat of Secession: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Nullification Crisis
Students examine the controversies over slavery's expansion and how the federal tariffs further entrenched the dividing line between northern and southern interests.
US National Archives
Our Documents: Missouri Compromise (1820)
Read an original transcript, and view an image of a report on the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This legislation admitted Missouri and Maine as states into the Union.
US National Archives
Our Documents: The Kansas Nebraska Act
An outstanding, interactive copy of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise. Historical context included, as well as links to larger images, a typed transcript, and a downloadable PDF file.
PBS
Africans in America: Missouri Compromise
This PBS site offers information about the compromise that settled the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the vast area acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Other
American Anthropological Association: 1800 1850s: Expansion of Slavery in the Us
Outlines the political events prior to the Civil War as the United States expanded its territories to include new states and conflicts arose over the issue of slavery.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854
An exploration of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 impacted the debate between free and slave states, and the precarious political equilibrium. It looks at how Stephen Douglas tried to avoid a national conflict in the debate over...
iCivics
I Civics: Civil Rights
Use this library of mini-lessons to teach students about the early days of the expansion of slavery in the United States through the momentous 1950s and 60s and into the modern Civil Rights Movement.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: A Divided Nation
This page from the American Revolution Project of the University of Groningen discusses how the 1850s were a time of conflicting ideas between North and South regarding the expansion of slavery. Scroll down to the third paragraph and...
Civil War Home
Home of the American Civil War: The Kansas Nebraska Act
Provides information on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the consequences of its passing. From "The Civil War and Reconstruction" by Randall and McDonald.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Teaching History: Ask a Historian: Senatorial Division
A discussion of how the political balance kept shifting as free and slave states were admitted to the Union prior to the Civil War.
![Tom richey.net: The Missouri Compromise: America's First Slavery Debate [Ppt] PPT](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Tom richey.net: The Missouri Compromise: America's First Slavery Debate [Ppt] PPT")
Tom Richey
Tom richey.net: The Missouri Compromise: America's First Slavery Debate [Ppt]
Presents key ideas for examining the events surrounding the Missouri Compromise.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Moving Toward Equality Under Law
As new free and slave states were admitted to the Union prior to the Civil War, political divisions kept growing, despite attempts to balance the numbers of each. The South pushed for slavery to expand westward, while anti-slavery...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Fort Scott National Historic Site: Bleeding Kansas
Discusses the effects of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In particular, the site details incidents from the period known as "Bleeding Kansas."
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: History of Us: Fatal Contradiction: Missouri Compromise [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the goal of the Missouri Compromise. A good lesson for comparing and contrasting life in the North and South in the run-up to the...
Curated OER
National Park Service: The Significance of the Dred Scott Trial
In this article from "The Old Courthouse" by Donald Dosch the facts of the Dred Scott decision are laid out. Read why the outcome of the case fanned the embers of the coming Civil War.
Digital History
Digital History: The Crisis of 1850
A preview of will prompt the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Read about California's bid for statehood as a free state.
The History Place
The History Place: The Kansas Nebraska Act
This site from The History Place talks about the Kansas Nebraska Act and the effects caused by its creation. The information is brief but very helpful for the subject.
Siteseen
Siteseen: Land of the Brave: Northwest Ordinance
Explains the significance of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and provides additional background information about the Land Ordinances that preceded it. (Note: There is a history video placed on this page, but it is unrelated to the...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Underground Railroad Map
Detailed Underground Railway map provides information on the free states and slave states and shows routes to freedom.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: The Compromise of 1850
Comprehensive summary features detailed facts and information on The Compromise of 1850 that was trying to smooth out differences between the slave states and the free states.