The 1850s: A Decade of CrisisCauses of the Civil War

The Compromise of 1850

• California was admitted as a free state.• Utah and New Mexico would decide the slavery

issue based on popular sovereignty.• Slave trade (not slavery) would be prohibited

in Washington, D.C.• A new law would be passed to help slave

owners regain their runaway slaves.

The Compromise of 1850

Fugitive Slave Act

• Fugitives were not entitled to witness on their behalf or have a trial by a jury of peers.

• Federal commissioners got $10 for returned slaves.

• Aiding/abetting fugitives led to possible fines and/or 6 months in prison.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• By Harriet Beecher Stowe• Exposed the moral issue

concerning slavery• Northerners became more

opposed to slavery.• Southerners pushed the book as a

set of lies.

"Eliza comes to tell Uncle Tom that he is sold and that she is running awayto save her child." from Uncle Tom's Cabin

Kansas Nebraska Act

• It repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery to the north of the 36th parallel.

• This led to many skirmishes such as the Sack of Lawrence and the Pottawatomie Massacre which further led to the nickname “Bleeding Kansas.”

Realignment of Parties

• The Republicans emerged in 1854. It was formed mostly by Northern Whigs and Democrats who called for the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Fugitive Slave law and for the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C.

The Dred Scott Decision

• Roger B. Taney wrote the Dred Scott decision. • It said that slaves were not citizens, and

therefore did not have the right to seek redress through the court system.

• Slaves were considered property and thus not free, even if they lived in free territory.

• The Missouri Compromise should be repealed because property was protected under the Constitution, and states could not prevent a person from having property.

The LeCompton Crisis

• It revolved around whether or not slave owners already living in Kansas at the time it became a state would be able to keep their slaves.

• The Free-Soilers (90% of the population) and slave owners argued the issue.

• President Buchanan’s endorsement in the favor of the slave owners decided the issue and led to friction between him and Douglas in the Democratic Party.

Lecompton Crisis

John Brown’s Raid

• In 1859 he and 18 others attacked and seized the government arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.

• He hoped to gain weapons for future slave revolts, but was captured by federal troops after most of his men had been killed or wounded.

• He was tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged.• He became a martyr for the abolitionist cause.

Southerners became more convinced that the “Black Republicans” of the North were plotting to destroy the Southern way of life.

The Election of 1860

• The Republican Party: • nominated Lincoln, • opposed the extension of slavery, • supported internal improvements, • Supported a protective tariff, • Supported a railroad to the Far West, • Supported a liberal immigration policy,

and • Supported free land for Western settlers

The Election of 1860

• The Southern Democrats:• nominated John C. Breckinridge of

Kentucky, and• received 72 electoral votes from

southern states.

The Election of 1860

• The Northern Democrats:• nominated Stephen Douglas,• supported popular sovereignty,

and• received 12 electoral votes from

New Jersey and Missouri.

The Election of 1860

• The Constitutional Union Party:• nominated John Bell, • combined the Know-Nothings, Whigs,

and moderate Northerners, • ignored the slavery issue altogether,

and • received 39 electoral votes from the

border states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Abe Lincoln

John C. Breckenridge

Stephen Douglas

John Bell

The Secession Crisis

• On December 20, 1860, South Carolina was the first to fulfill a promise that the South would secede from the Union if a Republican became president.

• By February, 1861, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas had withdrawn from the Union.

• They met in Montgomery, Alabama and formed the Confederate States of America. They drew up a constitution, elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as their president, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, Vice President.

Jefferson Davis

Alexander Stephens