Transcript The Union in Peril

The Union in Peril
Chapter 10 (red) Ch.4 (blue)
Section 1
The Divisive Politics of Slavery
Top Senators of 1850s
John C. Calhoun – SC,
slaveholder, wanted slavery to
expand
 Henry Clay – KY, “Great
Compromiser”
 Daniel Webster – MA, opposed
expansion of slavery in territories
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Differences Between North and South
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The North was became more reliant
upon industry
Railroads and communication systems
linked regions
Immigrants provided needed labor
Large cities emerged along
transportation crossroads
Differences Between North and SOUTH
The South relied on
cotton as their primary
cash crop
 They used slave labor,
not wage labor
 Felt slavery was best for
both owner and slave

Pres. Zachary Taylor
Taylor pushed for the immediate
admission of CA and NM as free
slaves, enraging the South
 The South spoke of seceding
 The Wilmot Proviso will be
presented to Congress, further
angering the South
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Slavery in the Territories
The Missouri Compromise, 1820,
outlawed slavery in any new states
north of 36° 30’
 Most of the new territory was
north of the line, assuring the
north of few new slave states
 New land from Mexico meant that
additional land was open to slavery
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Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot, PA, opposed the
expansion of slavery on the new
land
 His proposed bill would forbid
slavery in all new territory
 The bill failed, but showed the
regional differences in Congress
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Sectional Differences
Congress already divided
over South’s refusal to vote for
additional internal improvements in
the North
 Additional slave or free states
would tip the balance of power
 It was inevitable that the South
would lose power in the Senate
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California
California applied for statehood
immediately after the Gold Rush
 Their constitution forbade slavery
 Pres. Zachary Taylor supported
the new free state.
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Popular Sovereignty
Leaders began talking about
allowing the states to decide
about the issue of slavery
 Southerners saw this as a way to
limit slavery
 They began to talk about seceding
from the Union.
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Senate Debates
The issue of slavery and slave
territory escalates when CA asks
to enter the Union and TX takes
some of NM as slave territory
 Henry Clay, the “Great
Compromiser” worked out
another plan (he also
wrote the Missouri Compromise)
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Compromise of 1850
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Clay’s plan included:
 CA enters Union as a free state
 TX got $10 million to settle
border
 NM and UT got popular
sovereignty
 DC ended the slave trade
 The South got a stronger
Fugitive Slave Law
Compromise of 1850
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This was the last senatorial debate
between the 3 giants
 Henry Clay, KY - author
 Daniel Webster, MA – argued for the
Compromise to save the Union
 John Calhoun, SC – argued against
the Compromise and insisted on
Southern equal rights in the new
territories
Compromise of 1850
Opponents seemed to have the
edge until President Taylor
suddenly died, who opposed
Clay’s plan
Millard Fillmore supported the
Compromise
The Compromise passed after they
were voted on separately
Compromise of 1850 – the final solution
Stephen Douglas
Douglas, from Chicago, IL, wants to
build the transcontinental railroad
with a northern route, naturally
through Chicago
 His idea of popular sovereignty was
recommended to encourage
settlement in Kansas and Nebraska
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The Union in Peril
Chapter 10 (red) Ch.4 (blue)
Section 2
Protest, Resistance and Violence
Anthony Burns Affair
One of the first ‘victims’ of the
Fugitive Slave Act was runaway
slave, Anthony Burns
 He was captured in Boston and sent
back south in shackles
 “We went to bed one nigh oldfashioned, conservative, compromise
Union Whigs and waked up stark
mad Abolitionists”
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Fugitive Slave Act
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Burns and other
runaways were
captured, had a
hearing and
returned, at
government
expense, to
slavery
Fugitive Slave Act
Slaves could not defend
themselves or have their case
heard by a jury
 Judges were paid $10 to find a
man a slave but only $5 if he
determined that
the man was free
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Underground Railroad
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Not this one
This one
Underground Railroad
Although faced with fines and
jail, some northerners helped the
runaways escape to Canada
 States passed personal liberty
laws to guarantee runaways a
trial by jury to slow down the
return to slavery
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Underground Railroad
Using terms from the new
railroads, some people, like
Harriet Tubman, entered the
South repeatedly to sneak slaves
to safety.
 Depots along the way left clues
to help runaways
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Underground Railroad
Most slaves who made it north
were from the upper South
 Most slaves who were caught
escaping were sold to the deep
South where escape was nearly
impossible.
 The Craft family was an exception
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
The daughter of the avid
abolitionist, Lyman Beecher, Stowe
witnessed numerous escapes from
slavery
 She wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, an
historical fiction novel that
highlighted the struggle for
freedom
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
In her book, the evil overseer,
Simon Legree, was going to sell
Eliza’s son.
 Legree whipped Tom so badly that
he died.
 “So you’re the little lady who
started this great war” A. Lincoln
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Kansas and Nebraska
Sen. Stephen Douglas and his
wealthy backers wanted the
planned railroad to run through
their city of Chicago
 He needed to populate the
northern tier of states since the
south was settled west to TX
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Stephen Douglas
To encourage farmers to settle
there he pushed the idea of
allowing the settler decide if they
want slavery before being admitted
into the Union
 He wanted to appeal to the North
and the South because he planned
to run for president
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Stephen Douglas
It was unlikely that either
state would want slaves
since plantation crops did
not grow there
 This nullified the Missouri
Compromise
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
Douglass introduced the act to
establish popular sovereignty and
promote settlement
 The North saw it as a way to
expand slavery and the South
voted against it.
 The bill passed with Pierce’s help
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Settlers, mostly non-slave
holders, moved to Kansas
 In 1855 they held an election to
determine if the majority were in
favor or slavery or not
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Border Ruffians
Border ruffians from Missouri
came over the border an voted
like a Miami-native (early & often)
 The Lecompton Constitution made
Kansas a slave state even though
most actual
residents did not
want slaves
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Sack of Lawrence
Anti-slavery settlers founded
Lawrence
 A pro-slavery jury found them to
be traitors and called for their
arrest
 About 800 militia
razed the town
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Pottawatomie Massacre
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Looking for
revenge, John
Brown believed that
God wanted him to
kill proslavery
settlers.
Pottawatomie Massacre
Brown and his
followers savagely
killed 5 men
 The massacre led to
so much other
violence in Kansas,
people called it
“Bleeding Kansas”
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Crimes Against Kansas
Violence did not stop in Kansas
 Sen. Charles Sumner, MA gave is
Crimes against Kansas speech
where he made derogatory
remarks Sen. Andrew Butler, SC
 Butler’s nephew beat Sumner so
badly with a cane he was unable
to return to DC for 3 years
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Failed Policies
The Missouri Compromise, the
Compromise of 1851 and the
Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the
country rather than ease its
tensions.
 It 5 years, it will be at war.
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The Union in Peril
Chapter 10 (red) Ch.4 (blue)
Section 3
The Birth of the Republican Party
Horace Greeley
Editor for the NY Times,
Greeley frequently wrote
editorials against slavery
 His strong feelings put him at
odds with his party, the Whigs,
causing him to form the Republican
Party
 His feelings reflecting America’s
changing attitudes
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Election of 1852
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The Whig Party split
over the issue of
slavery
The northern Whigs
opposed the Fugitive
Slave Act
The southern Whigs
opposed any restrictions
in slavery
Election of 1852
The Whigs nominated Gen.
Winfield Scott
 The Democrats nominated
Franklin Pierce
 The split party did not stand a
chance and Pierce was elected
the 14th president.
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1852 Election
Pierce
Scott
Nativism
The expanding country, industrial
changes and increasing numbers
of immigrants caused some people
to fear changes
 Their fear took the form of
secret organizations opposed to
non-Americans
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Nativism
The Star Spangled Banner party
was one of those groups whose
platform as anti-immigrant
 Another group, when asked about
themselves, would respond, “I
know nothing.” They were called
the Know Nothing Party
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Nativism
Like the Whig Party, the nativist
parties split over the issue of
slavery, allowing Democrats to win
 Some nativists and anti-slavery
Whigs formed the Republican
Party in 1854
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Third Parties
The Liberty Party and the FreeSoil Party ran with the antislavery platform.
 The Liberty Party never won an
election but pulled so many votes
from New York, it caused Henry
Clay to lose in 1844
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Third Parties
the Free Soil Party took 10% of
the vote in 1848
 Not enough to win an election but
enough backing to have their
anti-slavery issue get noticed
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Republican Party
Like the Whig Party, the nativist
parties split over the issue of
slavery, allowing Democrats to
win
 Some nativists and anti-slavery
Whigs formed the
Republican Party
in 1854
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Republican Party
The Republicans opposed the
Kansas-Nebraska Act and tried
to bring back the Missouri Comp.
 The events in Kansas gave them
the issues needed to unite into a
formidable party by 1856
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Election of 1856
The Democrats – James Buchanan
 Republican – John C. Fremont
 American – Millard Fillmore
 No one received a majority vote but
Buchanan won the election
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Election of 1856
Buchanan
Fremont
Fillmore
The Union in Peril
Chapter 10 (red) Ch.4 (blue)
Section 4
Slavery and Secession
Election of 1858
In his home state of Illinois,
Abraham Lincoln ran for
senator against Stephen Douglass.
 Lincoln lost.
 It would be the last time he lost to
Douglas
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Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave who
belonged to John Emerson
 Emerson was an Army surgeon who
brought Scott while he traveled
from the slave territory of Missouri
to the free state of Illinois and
Wisconsin.
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Dred Scott
After they returned to Missouri,
Emerson died
 Scott sued for his freedom since he
lived in a free state and territory
 The case went to the Supreme
Court and Chief Justice Roger B.
Taney wrote the majority opinion
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Dred Scott Decision
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The Court decided that:
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Scott was still a slave
Taney could have ended, but added:
Slaves are not citizens and have no
right to sue
 Congress could not forbid slavery in
any territory
 Owners could bring their property into
any state.
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Dred Scott Reaction
Southerners were jubilant
 Northerners were disgusted.
 The decision
meant that
no state
could outlaw
slavery.
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And Back in Kansas
Kansas voted to decide if their
constitution would allow slavery
 Missouri ruffians came over the
border and voted several times
 When the vote was tallied, more
people voted (though illegally) to
make Kansas a slave state.
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And Back in Kansas
The proslavery government wrote
the Lecompton Constitution
 The antislavery forces wrote the
Topeka Constitution
 Buchanan sided with the proslavery
forces
 Stephen Douglas convinced Congress
to back antislavery settlers
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In the 1858 Illinois Senate race a
little-known, backwoods farmer
ran against a two-term, well
funded professional politician
 The “Little Giant”,
Stephen Douglas met
Abe Lincoln in a series
of debates.
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
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Lincoln
Slavery immoral
Accused D. of
defending Dred
Scott decision
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Douglas
Popular
sovereignty
Accused L. of
wanting equality
In reality, neither candidate
promoted slavery
Freeport Doctrine
Lincoln asked how a settler could
know a territory would be nonslave before applying for
statehood.
 Douglas replied that slavery could
not exist if there were no laws
protecting slaveholder property
 His presidential bid was over and
the Democratic party split further
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John Brown is Back
Brown thought that God had told
him to start a slave uprising
 His plan was to arm the slaves and
let them kill their masters
 Harpers Ferry (WV) was the
arsenal he hoped would provide the
arms
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John Brown is Back
Brown captured the
town and many of
its residents but
no slaves came
 Col. Robert E. Lee
captured Brown
 He was put on trial,
found guilty and hung
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5 possible reasons for the causes of
Civil War
Compromise of 1850
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Dred Scott Decision
Harpers Ferry
Lincoln’s Elected
John Brown is Dead
The North did not condone
Brown’s actions but treated
him as a martyr
 The South grew fearful of
other planned insurrections.
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Election of 1860
The 6 year old Republican Party
held their 2nd presidential
convention in Chicago
 William Seward was the favorite
but had acquired enemies within
the party over handling the slave
states
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Election of 1860
Lincoln’s name was nominated on
the 3rd ballot
 Southerners felt that Lincoln was
a “black republican” who wanted
immediate emancipation
 Lincoln was satisfied for slavery
to stay where it existed and
never wanted equality
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Election of 1860
Lincoln won the northern states.
 The middle and southern states
split their votes among 3 other
candidates: Breckinridge,
Douglas, and Bell
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Secession
Between election day in
November and when Lincoln took
the oath of office the following
March, Pres. Buchanan watched
as the South prepared to secede
from the Union
 This is one of many reasons why
Buchanan is rated as our worse
president in history
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Secession
South Carolina was the first to
secede.
 Its population celebrated with
fireworks and parties
 Mississippi seceded 3 weeks later
followed by Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana and Texas

Secession
Delegates from the seceded
states met to form the
Confederate States of America
(CSA)
 They wrote a new constitution
acknowledging states’ rights and
slavery
 Jefferson Davis – President
 Alexander Stephens – V.
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Secession
The more educated of the day
knew that this was not a problem
that would be solved peacefully
 Gen. Tecumseh Sherman (future
Union soldier who takes GA)
wrote that the division would
result in bloodshed.
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