Transcript Chapter 20
Chapter 19 “Drifting Toward Disunion” Literary Incendiaries The Impending Crisis of the South • Written by Hinton Helper • Tried to prove that the non-slave-holding Southern whites were really the ones most hurt by slavery Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe • Huge political force • Wrote in reaction to fugitive slave laws The North-South Contest for Kansas After the KansasNebraska Act both North and South began to send people into Kansas in an attempt to influence the vote on the slave issue Pro-Slavery vs Free-Soiler Kansas Corn field Kansas Wheat field Nebraska Football Nebraska Cornfield John Brown Fanatical figure obsessively dedicated to the abolitionist cause Led a group to Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas and literally hacked to pieces five proslaveryites Lecompton Constitution By 1857, Kansas had enough people to apply for statehood Those for slavery devised the Lecompton Constitution, which provided that the people were only allowed to vote for the constitution “with slavery” or “without slavery.” If the constitution was passed “without slavery,” then those slaveholders already in the state would still be protected Angry free soilers boycotted the polls and Kansas approved the constitution with slavery Senator Stephen Douglas, fought for a fair election, and the result was the Lecompton Constitution did not pass in the House. Brooks Attack on Sumner On May 22 1856, Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner with his walking cane in the Senate chamber because of a speech Sumner had made three days previous. In particular, Sumner lambasted Brooks' kinsman, Senator Andrew Butler Congressman Brooks decided that since he couldn’t challenge Sumner to a duel, he’d beat the senator with a cane. Brooks hit Sumner repeatedly; Sumner was trapped by his desk, and was unable to get up or avoid the blows. Brooks continued to beat Sumner even as he lay unconscious on the floor of the Senate until his cane broke. Election of 1856 Republican – John C. Fremont • 1st ever election for the Republican Party • Goal=stop the spread of slavery • “Pathfinder of the West” Democrats – James Buchanan • Untainted by the Kansas-Nebraska Act Know-Nothing Party – Millard Fillmore • Nativists against immigration and Catholics John C. Fremont “The Pathfinder of the West” Buchanan Victory Buchanan won the election because 1. Republicans were a new Party 2. No political experience for Fremont 3. Fear of start of Civil War if Fremont was elected. Many Northerners resisted voting for Fremont • • Good thing for country that Fremont was not elected. War would have started and Fremont was no Lincoln! 1856-1860 MANY things happened to help inflame and stir passion in Northerners. Dred Scott Case Dred Scott, a slave in Illinois territory sued for his freedom after his owner died. The case reached the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Taney ruled: • Slave cannot bring suit in federal court • Even if he could, a slave is the property of owner and the owner can take property anywhere. **Essentially overturned Missouri Compromise, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Northwest Ordinance, and state constitutions **Opened up slavery EVERYWHERE! Dred Scott Case Roger B. Taney Dred Scott Lincoln/Douglas Debates Lincoln was challenging incumbent Stephen Douglas for the vacant Illinois Senate seat The most famous debate came at Freeport, Illinois, where Lincoln brought this scenario: if the people had a territory voted slavery down, would they be right, despite the Supreme Court saying that they could not do so? Douglas replied with his “Freeport Doctrine,” which said that no matter how the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people voted it down; the people had the power. Douglas won the election but Lincoln set himself up for a run at the presidency in 1860 Lincoln/Douglas Debate Raid on Harper’s Ferry 1859 John Brown led a rebellion at Harper’s Ferry West Virginia. Plan was to free all slaves in the South. Captured by Robert E. Lee and the U.S. military. Put to death in 1859 and became a martyr for the slave issue. Much more important to anti-slavery people dead than alive Doomed Democrats in 1860 Democrats (Northern) – Stephen Douglas • Democrats chose Douglas but the Southern wing of the Democrats were unhappy so they walked out of the convention • Southerners upset because of his stance on Dred Scott Democrats (Southern) – John C. Breckinridge • Temporary Southern Democrat Party • Promoted extension of slavery into the territories and annexation of Cuba Election of 1860 Northern Democrats – Stephen Douglas Southern Democrats – John C. Breckinridge Republicans – Abraham Lincoln • Stop the spread of slavery • Protective Tariff • Free homesteads Constitutional Unionist – John Bell • Compromise to save the Union Bell, Breckinridge and Douglas. Too many cooks Election of 1860 When at first you don’t succeed…….. When he was 22, his business failed. When he was 23, he lost a bid for U.S. Congress. When he was 24, he failed in business again. The following year, he was elected to the state legislature. When he was 26, his sweetheart died. At age 27, he had a nervous breakdown. When he was 29, he was defeated for the post of Speaker of the House in the state legislature. When he was 31, he was defeated as Elector. When he was 34, he ran for Congress again and lost. At the age of 37, he ran for Congress yet again and finally won, but two years later he lost his re-election campaign. At the age of 46, he ran for a U.S. Senate seat and lost. The following year he ran for Vice President and lost. Finally, at the age of 51, he was elected President of the United States. End Result of 1860 Election Abe Lincoln won despite not even being on the ballot in the South Lincoln won with only 40% of the popular vote, and had the Democratic Party been more organized and energetic, they might have won. SECESSION South Carolina always said that if a Republican was ever elected President they would secede. True to their word they became the first state to secede in 1861 Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed in the next six weeks The seven seceders met in Montgomery, Alabama in February of 1861 and created the Confederate States of America, and they chose Jefferson Davis as president. Crittenden Compromise failed Confederate States of America The eleven Confederate States. Note that Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware did not secede, though they were slave states. West Virginia formed early in the war when it was occupied by Union forces, but did not join the Union as a state until 1863.