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Read the following quote by Abraham Lincoln and based on your knowledge of history thus far, explain

what you think he means.

‘A house divided against itself can not stand.’

Poisonous SlaveryPoisonous Slavery

Infects Kansas, Congress and all Infects Kansas, Congress and all the Political Partiesthe Political Parties

Stephen A. Douglas’ InfluenceStephen A. Douglas’ Influence• Pushes to organize remaining piece of the

Louisiana Purchase territory in 1854.Best for nation & growth of the Union – EconomicBest for Democrat party to ‘git ‘er done’ – PoliticalBest for himself (Railroad Interests)

• Supports ‘Popular Sovereignty’ concept in place in Utah & New Mexico.

• Supports dividing remaining Louisiana Purchase territory into 2 - Kansas & Nebraska

Kansas - Nebraska Act - 1854Kansas - Nebraska Act - 1854

• Repeals Missouri Compromise in favor of Popular Sovereignty – people decide on slavery

• Douglas hoped Nebraska - Free; Kansas - Slave to help keep balance in Congress.

• “Free Soilers” and Slaveholders race to occupy Kansas (ABOVE the Mason-Dixon line).

• North feels betrayed – South feels excited

Slaveowners & Free-Soilers Slaveowners & Free-Soilers Face Off in KansasFace Off in Kansas

• Both groups send settlers into Kansas to outnumber the other, & ‘claim’ the state as free or slave under Popular Sovereignty.

• Open and bloody competition for control of the legislature

• Missouri sends in bogus residents to vote for pro-slavery & wins the election. Sets up a government in Lecompton, KS

• Enact Pro-Slavery laws immediately

• Free-Soilers refuse to accept the crooked verdict & set up second state capital in Topeka – 1855, along with a HQ in Lawrence.

Northern Free-State men with their cannon in Kansas - 1854

Countrywide ViolenceCountrywide Violence‘Sacking of Lawrence’

• Pro-Slavery Kansans go to Lawrence – a Free-Soiler settlement and wreck the town, burning down the Free-Soiler HQ, trash printing presses.

• Becomes known as “Bleeding Kansas”

‘Caning of Sumner’• Preston Brooks, US Rep. SC, attacks Charles Sumner, Sen., MA in the

Senate Chamber, over a speech…The Crime in Kansas,

• Congressmen begin bringing weapons to the Capitol Building

“Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas”

Preston Brooks ‘Caning’ of Charles Sumner – May 1856

Newspaper CommentsNewspaper Comments

Indianapolis, Indiana Locomotive [Democratic], (23 May 1856) Freedom of speech should be guarantied to all public men in debate on public questions.

Boston, Massachusetts Atlas [Republican], (23 May 1856) • the mouths of the representatives of the North are to be closed by the use of

bowie-knives, bludgeons, and revolvers.

Cincinnati, Ohio Daily Enquirer [Democratic], (23 May 1856) Superficial and malevolent writers are attempting to magnify Sumner into

a martyr for freedom and a victim of slavery.

Charleston, South Carolina Mercury [Democratic], (28 May 1856) • Sumner was well and elegantly whipped, and he richly deserved it.

John Brown Fanatical Abolitionist

• Believed he was divinely instructed to fight slavery.

Mistakenly believed 5 men were killed in Lawrence and planned direct revenge…

…and slaughtered 5 pro-slavery settlers in Potawatamie Creek, KS.

Slavery Divides the WhigsSlavery Divides the Whigs

• Whigs were a National party united in the North and South by a common belief in preserving the Union.

• Slavery caused party members to pick sides and became weak over the issue.

• The Kansas –Nebraska Act so divided loyalties that they never recovered and members sought new parties to join.

• Elections were now all about slavery

Where Whig Refugees WentWhere Whig Refugees Went• Liberty Party (Abolitionists)

As early as 1844 this small party formed to oppose slavery

• Free-Soil Party (Conspiracy Theorists)No extension of Slavery in TerritoriesNot as extreme as above, concerned over labor competition

• Republicans (Combination)All of above, plus some temperance, farmers seeking land, and manufacturers seeking internal improvements

American PartyAmerican Party• Nativists (Know-Nothings)

- Concerned about large influx of immigrants

- Alarmed about Catholics loyal to the Pope who

could undermine democracy.

- Secret handshakes and meetings

- Denied knowledge of party activities… “I Know Nothing.”

Republicans ConsolidateRepublicans Consolidate

• Took advantage of the events……‘Bleeding Kansas’ and ‘Bleeding Sumner’…in 1856

• Other parties saw Republicans as a “catch all” party and began to move toward them.

• Abe Lincoln was a Free-Soiler turned Republican, after the series of debates vs. Stephen Douglas.

• Republican nominated him for Presidency – 1858 – 2 yrs before the election

““House Divided” SpeechHouse Divided” Speech

On June 16, 1858, in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln accepted the Republican party’s nomination with a speech that dissected the great issues confronting the nation.

“We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the…

confident promise of putting an end to slavery…agitation has not only

not ceased, but has constantly augmented...it will not cease until a crisis

shall have been reached and passed. ‘A house divided against itself can

not stand.’ I believe this Government can not endure permanently half

slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not

expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will

become all one thing, or all the other.”