Chronological account of laws concerning slavery in the United States.

Text of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

Text and analysis of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Compete text of the Supreme Court decision, and all concurring and dissenting opinions.

Henry Clay, U.S. Senator from Kentucky, was determined to find a solution. In 1820 he had resolved a fiery debate over the spread of slavery with his Missouri Compromise. Now, thirty years later, the matter surfaced again within the walls of the Capitol.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

History and text of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

This is among John C. Calhoun's most famous speeches. He was too ill to deliver his condemnation of the Compromise of 1850 himself, so it was read by another senator with Calhoun present in the Senate Chamber. Calhoun, so ill he had to be helped out of the Chamber after the speech by two of his friends, died on March 31, 1850.

Background and history of the Emancipation Proclamation. Includes link to the text.

Text of the Wilmot Proviso.