Chapter 18.3 and 18.4Political Divisions lead to Secession

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed slavery to expand into new territories that will soon become states in the United States…

• Then things get even worse…

The Dred Scott Case (1856)

• Dred Scott was a slave…– Taken by owner to

Wisconsin Territory• That is free land!!!

– Is he a slave in free land?

– Scott sues to become free when he is taken back to Missouri• Does he have a case?

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney

• The Supreme Court rules that Dred Scott has no case…– Why?

• “slaves have no rights because they are property”– 5th Amendment

» Property can not be taken away from an owner without due process

• What’s the big deal??– S. Ct. just ruled all

blacks are property!!

Lincoln-Douglas Debates• 1856-1858

– Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas tour Illinois• They agree to publicly debate

the role of popular sovereignty

• Lincoln– Slavery must end

• Douglas – Popular Sovereignty is the

right of the people!

– Who wins? » Douglas wins Senate seat

for Illinois

» Lincoln becomes the voice of the North.

Tension so thick, you could cut it with a knife…

• Abolitionists in North feel the time is right to fight to end slavery.– But who will do it?

• A poor businessmen who once lived in Akron, Ohio

• John Brown– Abolitionist who felt it

was his duty to start a slave rebellion…but how? » Get weapons!

What can Brown do for you? Start a revolution…

• What was his plan? – Attack arsenal at Harper’s

Ferry, VA• Get weapons and give to

slaves to start a revolution.

– How does it end? • The U.S. Army surrounds

the warehouse and kill or capture Brown and each one of his men.– U.S. Army led by Robert

E. Lee

– How did Brown lose?» No slaves ever came

to help…

Harper’s Ferry, VA

John Brown’s Trial

• Brown and the survivors are found guilty of treason and murder.

– Question:• Do you kill him? • Or• Do you let him rot in jail?

• Brown wanted to be killed– “I should forfeit my life

for the end of this injustice, for it will surely come”

John Brown is put to death…

Election of 1860• Democrat Party:– Stephen Douglas (Senator from Illinois)

• Runs on popular sovereignty

– John Breckenridge (VPOTUS)• Runs on popular sovereignty

• Republican Party:– Abe Lincoln (lawyer from Illinois)

• Promised to fight slavery from spreading.

• Constitutional Union Party:– John Bell (from Tennessee)

• Slave owner who was against Popular Sovereignty

Election of 1860Lincoln wins Electoral College Even with only 40% of the vote

Abraham Lincoln = 16th POTUS

• The South is outraged!– There is no way they are

going to let Lincoln be their POTUS• Sen. John C. Calhoun

demands the South to leave the North.

• Dec. 17, 1860– SC and other Southern

states meet to discuss secession» Act of formally

withdrawing from the Union.

Lincoln at Civil War’s End (1865)

America Splits Into Two…• February 8, 1861

– Confederate States of America is formed• Led by Jefferson Davis

– Elected president

• Confederate States– North Carolina– South Carolina– Mississippi– Florida– Georgia– Louisiana– Texas– Virginia– Arkansas– Tennessee

– What did CSA want? • To be acknowledged by USA• To be left alone

Small Problem…Pres. Lincoln refuses to let the United States split under his

watch!

• Lincoln does not recognize the South as a country!– “they are states in

rebellion, and as the Parent does with a child who rebels, I will show them the way back with a firm grip, but open arms”

– Let the fight begin…

Review Questions• What is the Dred Scott Case?

• Who is Roger Taney?

• How does the election of Abe Lincoln lead to the South seceding from the USA?

• Who is the President of the Confederacy?