Newspaper Articles about Slavery: Precursor to the Civil War

March 2, 1807: After Heated Debate, U.S. Bans Importation of Slaves
Feb. 6, 1820: Free Blacks Leave U.S. to Form New African Colony
March 1, 1820: Bitter Words before Maine’s Admission into the Union
March 3, 1820: Missouri Compromise: 1820 Attempt to Settle Slavery Issue
March 15, 1820: Maine Statehood: Part of Slavery Compromise
Nov. 5, 1831: Nat Turner, Leader of Slave Revolt, Sentenced to Death
Nov. 11, 1831: Execution of Nat Turner, Leader of 1831 Slave Rebellion
March 9, 1841: Supreme Court Decision Frees ‘Amistad’ Slaves
1850s: Slavery, Bleeding Kansas and Dred Scott: Prelude to Civil War
March 7, 1850: Daniel Webster, Abolitionist, Defends Capturing Fugitive Slaves?
March 7, 1850: Daniel Webster: Masterful Orator
March 11, 1850: Seward Denies Constitution Protects Slavery
March 11, 1850: Seward Answers Webster with His Own Fine Oration
March 11, 1850: Daniel Webster’s Famed Oratory Does Not Move Everyone
May 23, 1850: Ridicule Heaped on Daniel Webster for Supporting Slave Catchers
Sept. 1850: The Compromise of 1850: Back from the Brink of Civil War
Sept. 30, 1850: First Runaway Slave Arrested after 1850 Fugitive Slave Act Enacted
Oct. 25, 1850: Northern Condemnation of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act
Oct. 26, 1850: Southern Editorial Praises Fugitive Slave Act, Condemns Abolitionists
Nov. 12, 1850: Case of (White?) Mother, Daughter, and Grandchild Seized
Dec. 5, 1850: Fugitive Slaves by the Numbers: Statistics Printed in 1850 Newspaper
March 20, 1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe: 'Uncle Tom’s Cabin'
May 30, 1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 Leads to Bloodshed
March 28, 1856: ‘Bibles and Rifles’— to Sweep Slavery from Kansas Territory
March 31, 1856: Anti-Slavery Kansas Pioneers Thank Preacher for Bibles—and Guns
May 24, 1856: Abolitionist John Brown Leads Pottawatomie Massacre
June 16, 1858: Lincoln: ‘A House Divided against Itself Cannot Stand’
Feb. 14, 1859: Slavery Clouds Oregon’s Admission into the Union
Oct. 16, 1859: Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Oct. 17, 1859: Newspaper Reports from Second Day of John Brown’s Raid
Oct. 18, 1859: John Brown’s Capture: Abolitionist Raid on Harper’s Ferry Fails
Oct. 18, 1859: An Abolitionist View of John Brown’s Raid
Oct. 18, 1859: Paper’s Warning: John Brown’s Raid ‘Pregnant Sign of the Times’
Dec. 2, 1859: John Brown, Fierce Abolitionist, Executed for Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Jan. 29, 1861: Kansas Statehood Marked by Violence
Feb. 11, 1861: U.S. House Promises: No Interference with Slavery
April 12, 1861: Abolitionist Newspaper Slams South on Eve of Civil War
May 20, 1862: The Homestead Act of 1862: Land Freely Given, Much Abused
Aug. 22, 1862: Abraham Lincoln’s Firm Answer to Greeley’s 1st Scolding Letter
Aug. 24, 1862: Horace Greeley Challenges Lincoln to Free the South’s Slaves
Sept. 20, 1862: Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to Jefferson Davis, President to President
Sept. 22, 1862: President Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation
Jan. 1, 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln Frees the Confederacy’s Slaves
Jan. 4, 1864: Civil War Drama: ‘Colored’ Troops Freeing Southern Slaves
Jan. 13, 1865: Tennessee Convention Bans Slavery after ‘Spicy Debate’
Jan. 31, 1865: U.S. Congress Passes 13th Amendment to Abolish Slavery
Dec. 6, 1865: Slavery Abolished with Ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment
June 16, 1866: Southern Resistance to the 14th Amendment Granting Citizenship to Former Slaves
Sept. 15, 1866: Northern Editorial Supports 14th Amendment Granting Citizenship to Former Slaves
July 9, 1868: The Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights

Click here for newspaper articles about the American Civil War.

Click here for newspaper articles about African American history.