Transcript Manifest Destiny

Prelude the Civil War
-gold was found in Calif. in 1848
-thousands went to Calif. & it wanted to become
a state
 States were equally balanced 15 slave & 15
free; Calif. would tip the scales = free
-slavery was abolished in the DC
-south upset over the UR & loss of slaves
-wanted a stricter Fugitive Slave Law
- South threatened to leave the Union
-Pres. Taylor was against any compromise but
died suddenly & Millard Fillmore took over
-approved the Compromise of 1850 (Clay’s
version)
(1) admits Calif as a free state
(2) sets no conditions on slavery for the rest
of the territory from Mexico
(3) enacts a nat’l Fugitive Slave Law (which
few in the N actually obeyed)
**Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
-a bill to create 2 terr out of the Nebraska
Terr. (Kansas & Nebraska)
-slavery to be settled by popular sovereignty
-believed that Kan. = slave & Neb.= free
-Problem? Missouri Compromise of 1820
forbade slavery in Neb Terr. (above 36 30)
-only way to do this was to repeal the MC
-Kansas would remain a terr until 1861
**Brooks & Sumner
-1856 — Sen. Charles Sumner
(abolitionist) talked much about the
“crime against Kansas”, insulted SC &
her senators
-SC Sen. Preston Brooks took it upon
himself to do something (his code of
honor called for a duel, but they only
fought ones with “equals”)
-Brooks chose to punish Sumner himself:
May 22, 1856 beat him until unconscious
(requiring 3-Y2 yr. treatment)
**Dred Scott Case
-1857, he had lived with his master in free
terr of Ill. & Wis. for 5 yr
-sued in court to get his freedom
-Supreme Court ruled that Scott was not a
US citizen ;
-slaves were property & could be taken
anywhere (5th Amend)
-said Compromise of 1820 unconst.
because Congress could not ban slavery
**John Brown (started in 1856)
-upset over recent problems in Kansas
-he & others butchered 5 pro-slavery men
-planned to invade the South & help the
slaves to rise up
-attacked Harper’s Ferry (1 0/1 859) killing 7
innocents to take ammunitions
-Brown was caught & later hung; became a
martyr
**Election of 1860
-Dem. couldn’t agree on cand. & southern
Dem. walked out of convention
-N. Dem. finally selected Stephen Douglas
-S. Dem. chose John C. Breckinridge
(favored slavery & annexation of Cuba)
-Union Party — party that feared the
possibility of losing the Union; chose
John Bell of Tenn.

-Rep. = Abe. Lincoln (not really an
abolitionist)
>nonextension of slavery,
-Southerners said that if Lincoln elected
the union would be lost
-Lincoln won and south had a decision to
make
-The election was hurt by all of the 3
parties
*South Carolina kept its word
-Dec. 1860 it unanimously decided to
secede
-next 6 weeks l0 other states did so to
(11 in all)
-met in Montgomery, Ala.; created the
Confederate States of America &
selected Jefferson Davis as President
-Pres. Buchanan did nothing to stop
them (no authority to do so)
Attempt at compromise:
-Sen. Crittenden of Ky suggested
amendments to Const.
>slavery in terr. Prohibited north of
36°30’
>south of that to be protected
>future states could choose free or
slave
-Lincoln vetoed it dividing the Union
