Drifting Toward Disunion

Chapter 19

Essential Question?

• To what extent did differing opinions on slavery as well as the institution’s expansion become a deciding factor in instituting a Civil War?

“So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that made this great war.”

• 1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Told of cruelties of slavery.

• Popular in North and Europe

• South banned- protested that Stowe lied and didn’t really know slavery

• 1857: Hinton Helper publishes The Impending Crisis of the South

• Southerner who hated slavery and AA

• “Poor whites are the ones hurt by slavery”

• Both books increased the division between North and South

Bleeding Kansas

• After the Kansas-Nebraska Act abolitionists from the north and pro-slavery southerners began to flood into Kansas.

• Vote on popular sovereignty would decide future of slavery in Kansas

• Vote was won by pro-slavery forces who outnumbered free soilers’

• Both sides established competing governments and claimed to be legitimate.

• 1856: pro-slavery forces attacked and burned free soil Lawrence; tensions rise

Sack of Lawrence

Meet John Brown

• Hardcore abolitionist• Little –bit crazy• Upset over Sack of

Lawrence• Led a sneak attack on

pro-slavery forces at Pottawatomie Creek to seek revenge.

• Murdered 5

Bleeding Kansas

• Civil war (1856!) in Kansas pro-slavery v. abolition

• 1857: Kansas applies for statehood

• Lecompton Constitution- proposed state constitution that would have allowed slavery.

• Don’t forget popular sovereignty!!!

• Abolitionists boycott vote on Lecompton Constitution, with only pro-slavery people voting it was approved.

Division of Democrats

• Struggle over Kansas divides Democrats.

• Party really splits into to separate parties– Northern Democrats– Southern Democrats

• No other powerful national party exists at this time!

Brooks v. Sumner

• Sen. Sumner( North, abolitionist) insults a Senator from SC.

• Rep. Brooks (South, pro-slavery) takes offense, decides to seek revenge.

• 1856: Brooks beats Sumner senseless with cane.

• Brooks a hero in the South.

• Sumner would take 3 years to recover, but also became a hero for the abolitionist cause.

Sumner-Brooks Incident

1856 Election

• Bleeding Kansas shaped the 1856 election.

• Stephan Douglas expected the nomination, but his support of K-N Act made him controversial.

• Democrats chose James Buchanan, Ambassador to the UK, who had nothing to do with K-N.

Emergence of the Republicans

• Platform – anti extension of slavery

• Chose John C. Fremont (hero from Mexican War) as 1st presidential candidate.

• Drew support from former Whigs and Free-Soiliers.

3rd Party

• Remember the Know-Nothings (American)?

• Anti-immigrant party • Selected former

president Millard Fillmore as candidate

1856 ElectionImportance: Republicans make an impressive showing.

Buchanan Timeline

• 1857: Dred Scott v. Sanford– Panic of 1857

• 1858– Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• 1859– Harpers Ferry

• 1860– Election of Abraham

Lincoln– SC secedes from union– Crittenden Compromise

• 1861– Formation of

Confederate States of America

Dred Scott v. Sanford

• 1857: A slave (Scott) was taken by his owner (Sanford) into a free state.

• Scott sued claiming that he was free because he stepped foot on free ground.

• Supreme Court is controlled by southerners, what will be the outcome?

Scott v. Sanford

• Chief Justice Taney– Slaves are not citizens, can’t sue, so the case was

thrown out.– Based on 5th Amendment, property can’t be taken

away from citizens.– No state, or the federal government can make

laws that prohibit slavery.

Importance

• Dred Scott was a major setback for abolitionists and free-soilers.

• Overruled Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and Kansas-Nebraska Act.

• Stated that popular sovereignty does not have a constitutional basis.

• South cheered, north jeered.

Panic of 1857

• High levels of California gold cause inflation.• North hit hard, severe recession.• South supported by high demand for cotton.– South believes that nothing could stop King

Cotton!• Tariff of 1857 was the lowest in 50 years.– South likes, north hates.

Honest Abe

• Born in Kentucky, lived in Indiana and Illinois.

• Poor, self-educated.• Hardworking, suffered

from depression.• Became a lawyer and

great speaker.• 1 term congressman

(Spot-Resolution)

Lincoln- Douglas Debates

• Lincoln challenged incumbent Stephan Douglas in 1858.

• Meet for a series of debates. • Douglas championed the “Freeport Doctrine”

– despite Dred Scott, he believed that pop. Sovereignty was the true way to solve slavery issue.

• Douglas wins, but debates make Lincoln a national name and prime candidate in 1860!

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Turn to page 421

Remember Me?

• Still upset, and crazy, John Brown has a new plan – Invade the south, arm the slaves and lead a history changing rebellion.

• 1859: Brown and his followers attack and seize a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA.

• Buchanan sends the marines, led by Robert E. Lee , to capture Brown.

• Brown was convicted of treason, executed.

John Brown

“I’ll be John Brown”

• Importance– Brown becomes a martyr for abolitionists.– South fears other attacks by northerners trying to

free slaves.

Democrats Divide 1860

Northern Democrats

• Stephan Douglas• Popular

sovereignty• Continuation of

Fugitive Slave Law

Southern Democrats

• John Breckinridge• Slavery in

territories• Annexation of

Cuba

Constitution Party

• Platform – “Do nothing, Constitution is fine as it is”

• No mention of slavery• Select John Bell as

candidate

Republicans Pick Lincoln

• Platform– Free-soil for western

settlers– Nonextension of slavery– Pro-tariff– Full rights for immigrants– Northern

transcontinental RR– Internal improvements

1860 Election

Southern Reaction

• If Democrats had run together, they would have easily won.

• Lincoln had the White House, but Democrats still controlled Supreme Court, Congress, and the Constitution protected slavery!

• But for many southerners it was time for a change.– SC celebrated, had an excuse to secede!

Southern Exodus

• December 1860: SC legislature votes unanimously to secede.

• Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas follow in early 1861.

• These states met in Alabama to create a new constitution, and select Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederate States of America.

Buchanan Does Nothing

• Remember- Lincoln isn’t president yet!• Buchanan in power until March, 1861.• Did not believe South had the power to

secede, but did nothing to prevent it.• Did not increase the size of the army (South

was already building theirs).

1 Last Shot

• Sen. James Crittenden proposes a compromise– New Amendment to the Constitution– 36 30’ would be written into the Constitution as

the official dividing line of slavery.– Crittenden was no Henry Clay, and the attempt

failed.

South Waves Farewell

• President Davis “ all we ask is to be let alone’”• Most southerners felt that Yankees wouldn’t be

willing to fight.• Also felt that northern manufactures were

dependent on cotton, would not risk upsetting south.

• World History- Late 1800s = rise in nationalism, countries like Germany and Italy were forming, South felt no different.

Essential Question?

• To what extent did differing opinions on slavery as well as the institution’s expansion become a deciding factor in instituting a Civil War?