Transcript Civil War

What conditions must exist for a group
of people to “throw off” their
government?
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them
under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for
their future security.
Wilmot Proviso
Proposed in 1847 as a result of the
Mexican-American War on the issue of
slavery in the new territories acquired
form Mexico
- Written by Daniel Wilmot (Northerner)
- All new territory was anti-slavery
- Rejected by the Senate(southern majority,
passed by House)
Compromise of 1850
Attempted to diffuse the ongoing slavery
debate.
- California as a free state
- Stricter Fugitive Slave Law
- Mexico & Utah Popular Sovereignty
- Slavery & Slave trade banned in
Washington D.C
The Compromise of 1850

California wanted to be admitted
into the Union in 1849 as a free
state.

The delicate balance of free and slave
states in Congress was in danger.

Compromise of 1850 (Henry Clay)
◦ North got
 California as a Free State
 D.C. no slavery allowed
◦ South got:
 Fugitive Slave Act
 Popular sovereignty in Utah and
New Mexico
 Congress could make no new
laws against slavery
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Proposed by Illinois Senator Stephen
Douglass.
 Kansas and Nebraska would decide
slavery by Popular Sovereignty (voting to
decide)

Bleeding Kansas

Popular Sovereignty (letting the
will of the people decide)
Because of
Thousands of people flooded into Kansas.
◦ Northerners went to stop slavery
◦ Southerners went in support of it
 Violence erupted between them
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Opposition to Slavery led by John Brown
about 200 people were dead.
America Divided Video
TRANSPARENCY
Bleeding Kansas
Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Harpers Ferry
1859, John Brown
 He (and 18 followers; 13 white, 5
black) raided the US Arsenal in
Harpers Ferry,Virginia (now W.
Virginia).
 Brown sent out word for slaves to
join the fight but no slaves showed
up.
 “The crimes of this guilty land will
never be purged away without very
much bloodshed.”

Violence spreads to the Senate


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The violence didn’t stop at
Kansas
It even spread to the U.S.
Congress
Two rival Representatives
fought
Charles Sumner vs. Preston
Brooks (Massachusetts)
Sumner got 200+ letters of
support!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
In 1852, a woman in Cincinnati, Ohio
wrote a novel about slavery titled
Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
 It painted an ugly (and exaggerated)
picture of slavery.
 Many in the south felt this was unfair
and argued (as John C. Calhoun did)
that slavery was a good, not an evil.
 The novel sold 400,000 copies in a
couple months.
 Turned many more northerners
against slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857, the Supreme Court
handed down its decision on
the famous Dred Scott case
◦ 1. Slaves not people- have
no rights cannot sue.
◦ 2. Missouri Compromise
was Unconstitutional
◦ 3. Congress cannot
deprive property without
due process
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln vs. Douglass
- For Illinois Senate seat
- Douglas:
- Support popular
sovereignty
- “The Union was
established on the right
of each State to do as it
pleased on the question
of slavery, and every
other question”
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln vs. Douglas
Lincoln:
-”There is no reason in the
world why a negro is not
entitled to all the natural
rights enumerated in the
Declaration of
Independence… I hold
that he is as much entitled
to these as a white man.”
What can you tell me
about the election of
1860 from this picture?
(on your Bell Ringer)
ELECTION OF 1860
The Election of 1860
The Road to War Video
Abraham Lincoln is nominated as the
Republican candidate.
 Lincoln did not want slavery to spread west.
Was not on the ballot in 11 states, no write
in’s!
 Douglas – Popular Sovereignty
 Bell / Breckinridge – Supporters of Slavery

The Election of 1860
The Election of 1860

This upset the South so the Democrats
split into North & South
◦ Stephen Bell- N. Democrat candidate
◦ John C. Breckinridge- S. Democrat candidate

Lincoln was not on the ballot in 11
southern states
Right now time…………..
In that packet …….
Southern Secession
Benefiting from the fracturing of the
Democratic party, Lincoln won the
election.
 Led by South Carolina 7 states seceded
after Lincoln was elected.
 They formed a new government called the
Confederate States of America
 They named as their President Jefferson
Davis.

Attack on Fort Sumter
Up until now, no shots had
been fired by either side.
 This all changed on April
12th, 1861 at Fort Sumter
 S. Carolina ordered the
Fort to surrender
 Union troops refuse and
the Confederates fire on
the Fort.
 The Civil War begins!

Alexander H. Stephens….
(Confederate Vice President)
“Our new government is founded upon
exactly the opposite idea; its foundations
are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the
great truth that the negro is not equal to
the white man; that slavery subordination
to the superior race is his natural and
normal condition. This, our new
government, is the first, in the history of
the world, based upon this great physical,
philosophical, and moral truth