Transcript Nash_chp_14

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
CREATING A NATION AND A SOCIETY
NASH  JEFFREY
HOWE  FREDERICK DAVIS  WINKLER  MIRES  PESTANA
7th Edition
Chapter 14: The Union in Peril
Pearson Education, Inc, publishing as Longman © 2006
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES

Westward movement turned out to be not only
dangerous for the people Americans
encountered but for the safety of the
American union itself
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–
North and South had mainly contained their
differences over slavery through compromise that
raised the level of emotional conflict
Party loyalties served as an antidote to sectional
allegiance until the late 1840s
FREE SOIL OR CONSTITUTIONAL
PROTECTION?

Wilmot Proviso: declared neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude was to exist in any territory gained from Mexico in the
Mexican-American War
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“Free Soil” wanted to prevent the spread of slavery based on the
precedents of the Northwest Ordinance and the Missouri
Compromise
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Resulted in purely sectional debate
Some supporters had moral reasons; many were concerned about
competition with cheap slave labor; and others worried about the
growing political power of the South
Opponents, led by John C. Calhoun, argued that Congress had
no right to exclude slavery from the territories and, in fact, had a
duty to protect it
–
This position saw the Wilmot Proviso, Missouri Compromise and
other acts restricting slavery as unconstitutional
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY AND
THE ELECTION OF 1848
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Many Americans looked for a way to keep slavery out of politics
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In 1848, the Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, who mainly
avoided the issue of slavery, while the Whigs nominated General
Zachary Taylor, who was billed as a “no party” man
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James Buchanan recommended simply extending the Missouri
Compromise line to the Pacific
Lewis Cass suggested “popular sovereignty” which would allow
territorial legislatures to make the final decision
Calhoun tried to create a unified southern party without much luck.
Some northern Democrats left the party and supported Martin Van
Buren
New England Conscience Whigs also explored a third party
alternative
Taylor won handily
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

Four issues confronted Taylor at his inauguration:
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Rush of gold miners gave California enough people to apply for
statehood but their entry as a free state would upset the balance.
Unresolved status of Mexican cession in the Southwest and dispute
over Texas-New Mexico boundary
Existence of slavery and slave market in Washington, D.C.
Southern resentment of lax federal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1793
Issues were resolved in the Compromise of 1850, which was
passed not as the omnibus bill originally proposed by Henry Clay,
but as a series of resolutions
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California entered the Union as a free state
Territorial governments were organized in New Mexico and Utah to
apply the principle of popular sovereignty
The slave trade, but not slavery, was abolished in the District of
Columbia
A new Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
CONSEQUENCES OF
COMPROMISE

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Political alignment along sectional lines grew stronger
Previously unheard, Americans were now discussing ideals of
higher law than the Constitution, secession and disunion
Many Northerners were angered by the fugitive slave law
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Abolitionists stepped up work on the Underground Railroad and
several states passed “personal liberty laws” that prohibited elected
officials and organizations from participation in slave hunting
Abolitionists escalated their rhetoric, fueling emotions over slavery
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe thrilled northerners
and angered southerners
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–
Became one of the all-time bestsellers in American history, selling
more than 300,000 copies in the first year
Was eventually published in 20 languages
POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION

Political developments were already
weakening the ability of political parties to
withstand the passions slavery aroused
WEAKENED PARTY POLITICS IN
THE EARLY 1850S

Between 1850 and 1854 the moral and economic
differences between the parties were blurred, thereby
undermining party loyalty
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Rewriting of state constitutions undercut patronage and
undermined the importance of parties in citizens’ lives
Increasingly political battles were fought over social rather
than economic issues and locally rather than at the national
level
1852 election the Whigs nominated General Winfield
Scott and the Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce
who won easily
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT

The Whig party disintegrated after southern Whigs chose to
support Stephen Douglas’ Nebraska bill organizing the Nebraska
Territory (which included Kansas)
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Douglas was interested in the continuing development of the West
and needed the territory organized for a transcontinental railroad
that began in Chicago
Also wanted to recapture the party leadership and possibly the
presidency and he needed southern support for that
Southerners opposed the organization of the territory unless
slavery was permitted
Douglas suggested the application of popular sovereignty to the
issue as the entire territory fell north of the Missouri Compromise
line but such a proposal cancelled the Missouri Compromise
Northern Democrats, Whigs and abolitionists attacked Douglas,
who defended his bill and ended up destroying the Whig party,
planting divisions within the Democrats and creating the KnowNothings and the Republicans
EXPANSIONIST “YOUNG AMERICA”
IN THE LARGER WORLD


Americans hailed republican revolutions in 1848 in AustriaHungary, France, and Germany as evidence of the expansion of
republicanism
“Young America” was the label assumed by patriots who wanted
to spread Americanism abroad
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
Southerners were especially interested in adding new cotton lands
in Latin America
The Gadsden Purchase acquired a swath of northern Mexico to
permit a railroad
When land could not be acquired legally, then some Americans
pursued illegal means
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William Walker in Nicaragua
Efforts to buy or take Cuba leading to the Ostend Manifesto which
argued that Cuba belonged “naturally” to the U.S. and if Spain
refused to sell it, U.S. should consider taking it
NATIVISM, KNOW-NOTHINGS,
AND REPUBLICANS
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Increasing immigration worried Americans who saw
the newcomers as unfamiliar and threatening and
who worried about the spread of Catholicism,
especially after several notable conversions
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Many Protestants charged the Catholics (who were
predominantly Democrats) with corrupting American politics
Mostly former Whigs founded the American Party in
1854 to oppose the new immigrants
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Wanted a longer period of naturalization and pledged never
to vote for Irish Catholics
If asked about their affiliation with the group, members were
told to respond, “I Know Nothing”
Appealed to middle and lower classes
NATIVISM, KNOW-NOTHINGS,
AND REPUBLICANS

While the Know-Nothing Party was concerned with the threat to
democracy posed by Catholicism, others were concerned over
the threat posed by the “slave power”
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Conscience Whigs and disaffected Democrats formed the
Republican Party
Consisted of four elements: moral fervor; opposition to the extension
of slavery but no desire to interfere with it where it was; desire to
cleanse America of intemperance, impiety, parochial schooling and
other forms of immorality; and desire for federal government to
promote economic development and the dignity of free labor
1856 the Know-Nothings nominated Millard Fillmore, the
Republicans chose John C. Frémont, and the Democrats
nominated James Buchanan who won with only 45 percent of the
popular vote
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After the election the Know-Nothings died out
KANSAS AND THE TWO CULTURES

In 1854 the conflict over the extension of
slavery came to a head with the passage of
Stephen Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act
COMPETING FOR KANSAS
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After the bill passed, the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society
was founded to recruit free-soil settlers for Kansas
Southerners countered by encouraging Missourians to form
societies and foster immigration themselves in order to affect the
vote on permitting slavery in the territory, skewing the results
Most permanent residents of Kansas wanted no blacks (free or
slaves) in the state
In March 1855, a second election was held to select a territorial
legislature and the previous pattern of border crossings,
intimidation and illegal voting was repeated resulting in a proslavery legislature based in Lecompton
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Free-Soilers created a free-soil government in Topeka that banned
blacks from the state
Pierce did nothing while Congress sent an investigating committee.
Kansas came to be seen by both sides as a holy battleground
“BLEEDING KANSAS”

After an attack by proslavery forces on
Lawrence, Kansas, John Brown and his sons
attacked Pottawatomie Creek and hacked five
proslavery men to death
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Preston Brooks caned Senator Charles Sumner
after Sumner’s tirade insulted Brooks’ uncle a
proslavery senator
Series of civil disturbances rocked Kansas
throughout the summer and widened the gap
between North and South
NORTHERN VIEWS AND VISIONS

North saw itself as a prosperous land of bustling
commerce and expanding, independent agriculture
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“Free labor system” offered equality of opportunity and
upward mobility
Northern values included respect for the rights of the people,
tempered by the rule of law; individual enterprise, balanced
by a concern for one’s neighbors; and a fierce morality rooted
in Protestantism
Supported government action to promote free labor,
industrial growth, immigration, foreign trade and the
extension of railroads and free farm homesteads
Worst sin was the loss of freedom
THE SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE

Southerners admired the English gentry and saw
themselves as courteous, refined, hospitable and
chivalrous
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Racial distinctions and paternalistic relationships were crucial
to maintaining order and white supremacy
Southerners educated the few for character
Southerners believed that self-government was best
preserved in local political units such as the states
Saw Northerners as either stingy, hypocritical,
moralizing Puritans or grubby, slum-dwelling Catholic
immigrants
POLARIZATION AND THE ROAD
TO WAR
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Struggle over Kansas solidified the image of
the Republicans as a northern party and
seriously weakened the Democrats
Further events split the Democrats into
northern and southern parties
THE DRED SCOTT CASE


Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom in
1846 claiming their master had taken them into free
territory
In 1857 the Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision
with three parts:
1.
2.
3.

Blacks were inferior and therefore were not citizens and
could not sue in federal court
Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because
Congress had no power to ban slavery in the territories
Taking the Scotts into a free state did not affect their status
The implications of this decision concerned many
people and increased sectional hostilities
CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN
KANSAS

Summer 1857 yet another election in Kansas resulted
in further irregularities that elected a proslavery slate
of delegates to prepare a constitution—the proslavery
Lecompton constitution
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Although clearly unrepresentative of the wishes of a majority
of Kansans, the constitution was sent to Congress for
approval
Douglas opposed it and Congress sent it back to Kansas for
another referendum
Voters defeated it which left Kansas in an uncertain status
Conflict irreparably split the Democratic Party
LINCOLN AND THE ILLINOIS
DEBATES


By 1858, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois was challenging
William Seward for leadership of the Republican party
The Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois provided
people with a preview of the 1860 presidential
election
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Lincoln’s persuasive debates regarding slavery drew away a
substantial chunk of the Democratic party
While Lincoln’s vision of the extinction of slavery was ahead
of his time, his views of blacks as inferior were very much of
the time
Lincoln clearly hated slavery while Douglas seemed
indifferent
JOHN BROWN’S RAID

October 16, 1859: John Brown and 22 men
attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry,
Virginia, hoping to provoke a general slave
uprising or at least provide arms to slaves
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Federal troops overwhelmed him, killing half his
men including two of his sons, and capturing
Brown
After a trial, Brown was hanged for treason
Brown’s trial and death ignited powerful
passions and widened the sectional gap
THE ELECTION OF 1860

Democratic convention met in Charleston, South Carolina, where
it failed to pick a candidate after 10 days
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At separate conventions Northern Democrats chose Stephen Douglas
and Southern Democrats chose John C. Breckenridge
The Constitutional Unionist Party, made up of former southern
Whigs and border-state nativists, nominated John Bell
The Republicans nominated “moderate” Abraham Lincoln and
created a middle of the road platform that opposed only slavery’s
extension and supported tariff protection, subsidized internal
improvements, free labor and a homestead bill
Lincoln was elected by sweeping the entire Northeast and
Midwest although he had less than 40% of the popular vote
overall
THE DIVIDED HOUSE FALLS
SECESSION AND UNCERTAINTY

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded form the
Union
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A week later a delegation met in Montgomery, Alabama, to
create the Confederate States of America
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Jefferson Davis was elected President
The federal government had three choices:
1.
2.
3.
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By February 1, six other Deep South states had followed her lead
Compromise: impossible due to the emotions of the time
Let the southern states go in peace: which had a number of
important opponents
Compel the southern states to return which probably meant war
Buchanan did nothing and the border states remained, for the
moment, in the union
LINCOLN AND FORT SUMTER


Lincoln opposed secession and compromise but did not want to
force the states to return but he did intend to enforce the laws of
the land
Fort Sumter, a federal fort in the harbor at Charleston, South
Carolina, was running low on supplies and had requested
additional provisions
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April 6, after a conciliatory inauguration speech on March 4, Lincoln
informed the South Carolina governor that he intended to resupply
Fort Sumter
On April 10, Jefferson Davis informed the governor to demand the
surrender of Fort Sumter
When Robert Anderson refused to surrender, Southerner shelled
Sumter on April 12 resulting in its capture on April 14 and the start of
the Civil War
DISCOVERING U.S. HISTORY
ONLINE
Compromise of 1850
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm043.html
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/sitemap.html
 Bleeding Kansas
http://www.kancoll.org/galbks.htm
 Africans in America, Judgment Day, 18311865
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/title.html

DISCOVERING U.S. HISTORY
ONLINE
Secession Era Editorials Project
http://history.furman.edu/~benson/docs/index.h
tm
 The Dred Scott Case
http://www.library.wustl.edu/vlib/dredscott/
 John Brown’s Holy War
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/
 Crisis at Fort Sumter
http://www.tulane.edu/~sumter/
