Historic Replicas

Throughout early American history, slavery weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of the infant nation’s people.  Slavery was a complex issue, and few were indifferent to its implications.  In the South, slaves were crucial to the agricultural economy.  The Northern states were focused on industry and had been settled in some cases by more progressive people and organizations.  Presidents and senators had staved off the conflict many times. 

Territories often became states two at a time, to maintain the balance between free and slave states in the Senate, and a series of slave law compromises were made.  With every loss and gain, some people were inevitably outraged over what they considered unfair treatment.  All the while, the abolitionist cause was growing. John Brown, a white man, tried to stage a massive slave revolt in Virginia and was killed using civil war guns, shocking the nation.  And in 1854 a slave named Dred Scott made a legal bid for freedom, and was denied. 

In the process, slavery became legal in all U.S. territories.  Abolitionists were furious, and in the election of 1860, they finally made their voices heard by sending Abraham Lincoln to the White House.