sectionalism. slavery the main sectional conflict between the north and the south was not only the...
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Sectionalism
Slavery
• The main sectional conflict between the North and the South was not only the existence of slavery, but its expansion into western territories.
• To decide the issue of slavery in the West the idea of Popular Sovereignty was adopted.
• Popular Sovereignty: the citizens of each territory were allowed to decide, for themselves, if they wanted slavery or not.
Compromise of 1850
• To ease tensions between North and South over slavery, the Compromise of 1850 was created.
• For the North, California was added as a free state.
• For the South, many states were talking about secession. To avoid secession the Federal Government passed the Fugitive Slave Act.
Transcontinental Railroad
• Transcontinental Railroad is a railroad that connects the east and west coasts.
• The idea of a Transcontinental Railroad became a conflict between the North and the South because both sections wanted the railroad to travel through its territory.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin explored the cruelties of chattel slavery and the ironies within the moral, legal and religious arguments for slavery.
• In the North, the book was compelling and sympathetic.
• In the South, the book was considered sectionalist propaganda.
• The book had an enormous impact upon the country. Even Abraham Lincoln famously apportioned Stowe with some responsibility for starting the Civil War.
Underground Railroad
• Underground Railroad was a term used to describe the network of persons who helped escaped slaves on their way to freedom in the North or Canda.
• It was neither underground nor a railroad. It was carried out in secret and railway terms were used to describe how it worked.
• Harriet Tubman was the most famous conductor for the Underground Railroad. She made 19, reported trips, saving some 300 slaves.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise. It allowed both Kansas and Nebraska to, ultimately, have popular sovereignty over the issue of slavery.
Bleeding Kansas
• Settlers, both supporters for and against the spread of slavery, rushed to these territories to establish majority and cast their vote in the slavery question.
• Corrupt governments sprang up of both sides of the argument.
• In Kansas, both sides fought violently over the issue of slavery.
• 200 people died with damage to over 2 million dollars worth of property.
Congress
• The violence in Kansas spread to Congress.
• Anti-slavery Senator Charles Sumner was beaten with a cane by a pro-slavery Senator named Preston Brooks on the Senate floor.
• Brooks was angry that Sumner “dissed” his cousin and his home state over the issue of slavery.
Dred Scott
• Dred Scott was a slave taken to free territory by his slave owner.
• Scott sued for his freedom because he had been living as a free person.
• The Supreme Court decided that slaves were not citizens, couldn’t sue in court and had no rights. Slaves were considered property.
• This decision was supported by Southerners and condemned by Northerners.
John Brown
• John Brown was an abolitionist. • He attempted to seize the federal arsenal
at Harper’s Ferry, VA in order to spark a slave rebellion.
• Brown was captured, sentenced and put to death for his actions.
• Northerners hailed Brown as a martyr and Southerners took his actions as threatening.
Election of 1860
• Southerners were completely against Republicans. It was the party of John Brown and the party that was against slavery.
• In the election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln was the Republican candidate.
• Lincoln won the election without southern support.
• For southerners Lincoln’s election was a victory for the abolitionists and southern culture and society was at stake.
Secession
• To preserve southern ideals many states seceded from the union.
• South Carolina was the first to leave after the election of Lincoln.
• The states of secession join to form the Confederate States of America, a new nation.
• The Confederate Constitution guaranteed the existence of slavery in Confederate territory.
• The capital of the new nation was placed in Montgomery, Alabama.
• Jefferson Davis was chosen as the first president of the Confederacy.
Fort Sumter
• The Confederacy seized all arsenals and forts on its territory.
• Lincoln announced he intended to “hold and possess all federal property in the seceded territory”.
• When Lincoln attempted to resupply Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC Confederate forces saw this as a threat to their new nation. Confederate forces fired upon and took Fort Sumter which was the start of the American Civil War.
Confederacy
• Confederate States of America included: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas first.
• Later the upper south joined: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.
• The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia.
Border States
• Lincoln was determined to hold on to the slave holding border states: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri.
• If Maryland seceded, Washington DC would be surrounded by Confederate territory since Virginia was a Confederate state.
• Lincoln imposed martial law in Maryland: the military takes control of an area and replaces civilian authorities and suspends certain civilian rights.
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