SOL 6e

Sectionalism in the 1850s

California CrisisCalifornia Crisis

• In 1848 Gold was discovered. People flocked to California

• The territory applied to become a free state

• But there would be NO slave state to join it

SecessionSecession

• Southern politicians threatened secession (leaving the union) unless the future of slavery was guaranteed

• Henry Clay (“the Great Compromiser”) came along AGAIN to save the day

The 1850 CompromiseThe 1850 Compromise• President Taylor believed that California should be able to join the union as it wanted…he threatened to veto the Compromise

• After he died, Fillmore signed the compromise

The 1850 CompromiseThe 1850 Compromise

Fugitive Slave ActFugitive Slave Act• This became the most controversial part of the 1850 Compromise

• Southerners wanted a strong fugitive slave law because more and more slaves were escaping to the North via the Underground Railroad

• What was the Fugitive Slave Act:

– All runaways had to be returned (no matter when they escaped)– It became illegal to aid runaway slaves– Accused runaways were denied a jury trial. Magistrates were paid more to convict…

The Underground The Underground RailroadRailroad

Free blacks and Northern abolitionists organized an escape network called the Underground Railroad.

The map shows the routes “conductors” used to lead enslaved blacks to freedom.

A fugitive slave from Maryland, Harriet Tubman, was called the “Black Moses” because she led so many people to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

The Underground The Underground RailroadRailroad

Fugitive Slave ActFugitive Slave Act• Horror stories of former slaves taken back to the Deep South were told throughout the North

• In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel about slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• This book more than ANY abolitionist caused Northern public opinion to turn against slavery. The book became a runway bestseller

Primary SourcesPrimary Sources

• Fugitive Slave Act Sources

Personal Liberty LawsPersonal Liberty Laws• Laws enacted in many northern states to protect free blacks and fugitive slaves from southern slave catchers. Early laws required a formal hearing before a local court. When these kinds of provisions were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842), new laws prohibited state officials from helping slave catchers. What were the Northern states doing here?

• This is nullification…

Pierce Video ClipPierce Video Clip

Pierce and ExpansionPierce and Expansion• 1. Commodore Perry and Japan – North

• 2. Gadsden Purchase – South

• 3. Expansion into Central America – South

Pierce and ExpansionPierce and Expansion• As president, Pierce followed an expansionist foreign policy. He sponsored private US citizens in their attempts to take over Honduras and Nicaragua

• In 1854 the Secret Ostend Manifesto was made public. This was a secret government plan to take over Cuba

• This convinced many Northerners that a slave-owner’s conspiracy existed

Kansas-Nebraska ActKansas-Nebraska Act• Americans realized that California needed to be joined to the Eastern states. A railroad would do this

• Both the North and the South wanted the railroad…why?

• Remember, the South had pushed for the Gadsden Purchase, so they could build a railroad

Kansas-Nebraska ActKansas-Nebraska Act

• Stephen Douglas a Northern Democrat from Illinois wanted the railroad to go through Illinois…but what could he give the South?

• He decided to sacrifice the Missouri Compromise

Review: The Missouri Review: The Missouri CompromiseCompromise

Kansas-Nebraska ActKansas-Nebraska Act

• The Kansas Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise

• It created two territories in the Northern Louisiana Purchase, Kansas and Nebraska

• The issue of slavery in those territories would be decided by “popular sovereignty”. Many Northerners hated this deal. The act led to the death of the Whig Party. A new party was formed to stop the spread of slavery: The Republican Party

Kansas-Nebraska ActKansas-Nebraska Act

• When Congress passed the K-N Act, they assumed Nebraska would become a free state and Kansas would become a slave state

• Southerners became outraged when New England abolitionists organized a society to colonize Kansas…why?

Bleeding KansasBleeding Kansas• Settlers from the North and South poured into Kansas

• Border Ruffians– Illegal votes– Illegal proslavery government (Lecompton)– Abolitionists set up their own government at Topeka

• Violence broke out in 1856– Lawrence– Pottawatomie Massacre

Bleeding KansasBleeding Kansas• Reporters called the violence “Bleeding Kansas”

• Start of the Civil War?

The 1856 ElectionThe 1856 Election

• Performance of Republican Party• Sectionalism

Violence Reaches Violence Reaches Washington, DCWashington, DC

• Congressmen angrily discussed events in Kansas. Both North and South blamed each other

• Charles Sumner’s speech toward Andrew Butler

• Preston Brooks– Northern reaction– Southern reaction

Violence Reaches Violence Reaches Washington, DCWashington, DC

The President Relies on the The President Relies on the Supreme CourtSupreme Court

• James Buchanan

• Dred Scott v Sandford

• Buchanan’s hopes– Remove sectionalism– Move on

The President Relies on the The President Relies on the Supreme CourtSupreme Court

• YOU ARE THE JUDGE!

The Dred Scott DecisionThe Dred Scott Decision• 1. Dred Scott, as a black man, was NOT a citizen; therefore he could not bring the lawsuit

• 2. Slavery was protected by the 5th amendment because slaves were property

• 3. THEREFORE…slaves could be taken ANYWHERE

– Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional– Congress could NOT pass laws restricting slavery

Reaction to the Dred Reaction to the Dred Scott DecisionScott Decision

• Most Democrats were happy – the decision seemed to say that slavery could go ANYWHERE

• Most Republicans thought that the court had made a mistake and simply ignored the issue.