Chapter 11Sectional Conflict Increases

1845-1861

NORTH SOUTH

Slavery Divides the Nation

• By 1800, there were 50,000 enslaved people in the North, compared to 1 million in the

South

Missouri Compromise of 1820

• Every time there was going to be a new state, there was much debate whether it would be a slave OR free state.

• Missouri became a slave state but slavery would not be allowed anywhere else north of Missouri’s southern border.

Election of 1848

Democrats Whigs Free Soil Party

Lewis Cass Zachary Taylor (he wins) Martin Van Buren

Favored popular sovereignty and opposed Wilmot Proviso

Political views were unknown but he was a war hero during the US-Mexican War

Since neither party really addressed the slavery issue, anti-slavery Democrats and Whigs formed this party.

Prohibited expansion of slavery in newly acquired western territory

Discussion

“All society is formed upon the principle of mutual concession” – Henry Clay

Agree or Disagree?

Fire-Eaters

• Southerners who were very pro-slavery and wanted the South to secede

• Threatened the Congress to choose between abolition and secession

Compromise of 1850

Congress passed Clay’s measures:1. California was admitted as a free state2. New Mexico and Utah territories

would decide by popular sovereignty3. Texas was unrestricted to slavery4. Slave trade was abolished in the

District of Columbia

President of U.S

• President Zachary Taylor– Died- he had opposed Clay’s compromise

• Vice President Millard Fillmore replaced Taylor– favored Clay’s compromise– Congress passed Clay’s measures and it was

known as the Compromise of 1850

Popular Sovereignty and the Wilmot Proviso

• Popular Sovereignty:– leaving the issue up to territorial governments

• Wilmot Proviso:– banned slavery in all lands that would be acquired

from Mexico • (failed)

Debate Question

Federal vs.

State Right’s

Election of 1852

• Democrat candidate, Franklin Pierce won the election– Persuaded both north and south on the issue of

slavery– Called, “a northern man with southern principles”– He proved to be a weak leader

List of Presidents1. George Washington2. John Adams3. Thomas Jefferson4. James Madison5. James Monroe6. John Quincy Adams7. Andrew Jackson8. Martin Van Buren (1829-1837)9. William Henry Harrison (1841-1841) (first person to die in office – 32 days in office)10. John Tyler (1841-1845)11. James Polk (1845-1849)12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) (died after 16 months in office)13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)14. Franklin Pierce15. James Buchanan16. Abraham Lincoln

Fugitive Slave Act

• Under the law, no black person was safe

• Many blacks in the north, were now transported back to the south

• The Compromise of 1850 started to fall apart mainly due to this act– Authorized the arrest of escaped slaves even in

states where slavery was illegal

Anti-Slavery Issue

• Abolitionists from the North and Midwest used their pens to win people to their cause

• Goal was to change public opinion

Uncle Tom’s Cabin• Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author

– Helped convince many Americans of the moral wrongs of slavery

– African Americans depicted as husbands and wives, parents and children

– For the first time, readers began to think of slaves as people, rather than as possessions.

– In 1862, Lincoln met with Harriet Beecher Stowe and reportedly said, “So you’re the little woman that wrote the book that made this great war”• Compared to Common Sense

Frederick Douglass

• Taught to read and write

• A life devoted to the cause of freedom, for women as well as blacks

Discussion

Compare Compromise of 1850

toKansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854

• Congress divided the Nebraska territory into Kansas and Nebraska– Residents of each territory would vote to allow or

outlaw slavery• Congress assumed Kansas would be slave and Nebraska

free– Northerners and Southerners tried to influence the vote

Things Turn Violent

• Pro slavery residents from Missouri attacked the antislavery town of Lawrence, Kansas.

• Northern abolitionist John Brown responded by killing five proslavery settlers.

Bleeding Kansas

Violence in the Senate

• Violence over the slavery issue broke out on the floor of the U.S. Senate. – Southern Representative Preston Brooks badly

beat Northern Senator Charles Sumner with a cane.

Republican Party

• Party based on anti-slavery

• Ended up losing to Democrat candidate– James Buchanan (1856 President)

• With the Whig and American Party (Know-Nothings) finished, a lot of people joined the Republican ticket

Individual Reading Activity

Read Page 358: Dred Scott and the Supreme Court

1. What do you find disturbing after reading this?

2. What did the Supreme Court rule?

Dred Scott Case

• Case was heard by the US Supreme Court

• Roger B. Taney (TAW-nee) was one of five southerners on the Court– Wrote the majority opinion– Declared Scott was not a citizen and therefore could not

bring suit in the U.S– Slaves were considered property

• Rejected the Missouri Compromise based on the Fifth Amendment

Effects of Dred Scott Case

• After Kansas-Nebraska Act, and now the Dred Scott Decision, there was no way to keep slavery from spreading into the territories.

Lincoln and Douglas

• Republican Abraham Lincoln ran for Senator of Illinois- spoke out against the expansion of slavery.

• Faced off against Stephen Douglas (Democrat)– known as the Little Giant

• Douglas narrowly defeated Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

• “A house divided against itself cannot stand”

• What does this mean? • What is Abraham Lincoln talking about?

• The nation, he argued, could not remain forever divided into slave and free states

Discussion

• What issues divide the U.S today?

1.Environment2.Immigration3.War4.Abortion5.Stem Cell Research

John Brown’s Raid

• Brown, armed with a band of some 20 men, including five African Americans were back on the attack

• Harper’s Ferry– 1859- seized the federal arsenal in Virginia • (now in WV)

Harper’s Ferry

• Planned to give the arsenal’s guns to slaves living nearby

• However, no slaves came to aid the group• Federal troops under the command of Colonel Robert

E. Lee assaulted Brown’s positions– Brown and his men were killed

• (Think of Boondock Saints or Dexter)

Discussion

• What do you think about John Brown’s actions?

• If you were a southerner, how do you feel about what Brown did?

• If you were a northerner, how do you feel about what Brown did?

Response to Raid

North South

Saw Brown as a Hero Saw Brown as bloodthirsty fanatic

Made North look like they supported theft, murder, and treason

Election of 1860Republican Northern Democrat Southern Democrat Constitutional

Union

Lincoln (winner!) Douglas Breckinridge Bell

Attracted Northern industrialists, wage earners, and mid-western farmers

Won only Missouri and part of NJ

Southern radicals Southern moderates

59% electoral vote 24% electoral vote 13% electoral vote 4% electoral vote

40% popular vote 30% popular vote 18% popular vote 12% popular vote

Group Activity

Page 362

Look at the Map of the Election of 1860

Based on what you see on the map, how is it that Lincoln won the presidency?

http://elections.harpweek.com/1860/cartoon-1860-large.asp?UniqueID=40&Year=1860

Questions

• Read Pages 362-363

1. What event caused secession?

2. What state was the first to secede?

3. What did the seceding states call themselves?

4. How was their Constitution different than the U.S Constitution?

Secession!

• Lincoln had a moderate stance on slavery– Once elected, South Carolina unanimously voted

to leave the Union

• Confederate States of America was created.– Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy

Views of Secession

North South

Supported Constitution Defended secession on the grounds of states’ rights

Supported concept of majority rule

Determined to protect slavery

Chapter 11 Quiz