Chapter 20:Drifting Toward Disunion

AP US Unit 6

Authors Attack Slavery

You can read either of these for extra credit!

HarrietBeecher

Stowe(1811 – 1896)

So this is the lady who started the Civil War. -- Abraham Lincoln

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852

Sold 300,000 copies inthe first year.

2 million in a decade!

The Impending Crisis of the South (1857)

• Written by Hinton R. Helper• Republished by the anti-slavery movement

in 1859 when it gained a following• Said slavery hurt the economy of the South,

especially the poor, non-slaveholding whites

Bleeding Kansas

John Brown Part 1

Kansas• Both Northern and Southern groups financed the

immigration of pro or anti slavery people to Kansas– The South had assumed that Nebraska would be free

and Kansas slave and was angry when they found out that anti-slavery voters were moving into Kansas

• On election day in 1855, “border ruffians” from Missouri crossed the line to vote in Kansas, swinging the vote pro-slavery

• The abolitionists cried fraud and declared their own government…now Kansas had two

John Brown• Abolitionist and slightly crazy

• Had at least 20 kids• Led the attack on

Pottawatomie Creek in May 1856– In response to the

burning of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces

• Became known for his violence against slavery

John Brown and Bleeding Kansas

The Lecompton Constitution• Pro-slave forces had enough of a majority for a

vote on the constitution– Vote for the constitution with or without slavery– Even if voted for without, there was still a provision to

protect slavery that was already there

• Anti-slave forces boycotted the polls and the constitution passed with slavery

• When the LC Constitution went before Congress, Douglas refused to have this semi-popular sovereignty and championed a resolution to have the ENTIRE constitution put to a vote– It failed and Kansas remained a territory until 1861

“The Crime Against Kansas”

Senator Charles Sumner(R-MA)

Congressman Preston Brooks

(D-SC)

In response to attacks against his cousin,

Senator Andrew Butler (D-SC)

Bleeding Kansas

• Death Runs Riot from Ken Burns The West

1856 Election

1856 Presidential Election1856 Presidential Election

James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Whig / American• Buchanan beat Pierce for the Dem nomination because he was Kansasless• Fremont was a soldier and explorer: Free speech, free press, free soil, free men,

Fremont!• Fillmore got the remnants of the Whigs and the anti-immigrant explosion of

1854-1856

1856Election Results

Birth of the Republican Party Northern Whigs

Northern Democrats

Free-Soilers

Know-Nothings

Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857•Dred Scott lived for

5 years with his master in Illinois and Wisconsin Territory – free territory•He sued for his

freedom with the backing of abolitionists

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857• Chief Justice Taney (from

Maryland) declared– Because a slave was

property, they could be taken anywhere in the US and be kept as a slave• 5th Amendment protected

property rights

– Slaves were also not citizens and therefore could not sue in court

Effects of Dred Scott

• Compromise of 1820 and any bans on slavery had been unconstitutional all along

• Republicans and abolitionists felt that this decision was made solely because the majority of the court was from the South

The South Feels Good About Itself

The Panic of 1857• Causes:– Inflation• Gold• Wheat production

– Overspeculation in Western Land• Again

• Effects:– Panic, closing of businesses, unemployment– North suffered more than the South• South felt that this proved that cotton and the southern

economy was king– Pro-homestead feelings in the North• Homestead Act passed in 1860 – but vetoed by Buchanan,

passed by Lincoln in 1862– Tariff of 1857 and its lower rates was attacked by

Republicans

The Lincoln Douglas Debates

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858

A House divided against itself, cannot stand

Illinois Senate Debates

PopularSovereignty?

Stephen Douglas and the Freeport Doctrine• Made during the debates• Douglas said that if a

community in a territory didn’t want slavery, they should elect sheriffs who wouldn’t allow it

• His solution to Dred Scott• Fractured the Democratic

Party into North and South

John Brown is Back! Harper’s Ferry

Also known as why you should tell other people if you want them to

join your revolution…

John Brown and Harper’s Ferry

• John Brown, with 20 followers, decided to stage a slave rebellion in Virginia in October, 1859– Would seize an arsenal to

arm the slaves– Didn’t advertise very well

• Was trapped inside the arsenal and captured by the US Marines under Lt. Colonel Robert E. Lee

• Was tried and convicted of treason

John Brown and Harpers Ferry• John Brown was hanged on

December 2, 1859• Instead of fading into oblivion:– He became a martyr for

abolitionists with violent leanings

– He became the stereotype of Northerners that southerners feared

• Brown caused the southern militia system to be reinvigorated – further assisting in making the South comfortable for secession

Political Changes

Democratic Party in 1860

• Southern democrats broke off and nominated John C. Breckinridge (KY) with a platform of slavery in the territories and the annexation of Cuba

• Northern democrats nominated Stephen Douglas (IL) with a platform of popular sovereignty and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act

The Constitutional Union Party in 1860

• The Constitutional Union Party (Do Nothing or Old Gentleman’s Party) nominated John Bell (TN) with a platform of “The Union, The Constitution, and the Enforcement of Laws”

The Republican Party in 1860• The Republican Party nominated Abraham

Lincoln (IL). Seward was best known but had made too many inflammatory speeches. Platform appealed to all non-slavery groups:

Group Appealing Part of Platform

Free Soilers No Slavery in Territories

Northern Manufacturers Protective Tariff

Immigrants No abridgement of rights

Northwest Transcontinental Railroad

West Internal improvements from the feds

Farmers Free Homesteads

1860 Election Results

The Election of 1860• Lincoln won with a majority of electoral votes

but only 40% of the popular votes. • He wasn’t even on the ballot in 10 southern

states.• Even though this angered the South they still

controlled 4/5 of the Supreme Court and the Republicans did not control Congress.

• Also the slave states had the numbers to override any amendment and an amendment was necessary to outlaw slavery

Secession

South Carolina finally snapped

Secession• South Carolina, true to its word, seceded within 4

days of Lincoln’s election. • Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,

and Texas joined within 6 weeks. • 4 more states would join after Sumter.• The first 7 would meet in Montgomery, Alabama

in February 1861 to establish the Confederate States of America– Jefferson Davis became the president of the

Confederacy

Secession!: SC left on Dec. 20,1860

Southern Reasoning for Secession

• Tired of being attacked– Underground Railroad, John Brown– Abolitionists and Free Soilers

• Felt unrepresented politically when Lincoln got elected

• Thought North wouldn’t attack– Especially because the South thought that the

North was too dependent on cotton to attack

• Felt that they were the second American Revolution

Secessionitis

Last Minute Ideas to Prevent a War

Buchanan’s Plan…or Not• President Buchanan (until March 4, 1861)

maintained a “wait and see” policy. • Neither Constitution nor precedent helped him

decide what to do and he thought the small army was more needed in the West.

• Also, he thought that not going to blows meant the possibility of reconciliation.

• It worked out better for the North when the South attacked first, because prior to that many Northerners didn’t want a war

The Crittenden Amendments (another of those things that didn’t pass but is still important)

• James Henry Crittenden (KY) came up with a plan: The Crittenden Amendments. – Under these, slavery in the territories would be

prohibited north of 36°30’ and allowed south of it. When they became states they could choose.

• Lincoln turned this down since he had been elected to keep slavery out of the territories and he thought it would force America’s expansionism to take over southern regions to make more territories.

That Last Page You Didn’t Read…

Historiography

Historiography• Nationalist School: late 19th C James Rhodes: all about slavery and

preserving the union• Progressives: early 20th C Charles and Mary Beard: inherent economic

differences – 2nd American Revolution moved power to the businesses and away from planters

• Post WWI: James Randall and Avery Craven unnecessary war (like WWI)• Neo-nationalist: Post WWII Allan Nevins and David Potter: irreconcilable

differences in morality, politics, culture, social values, and economy eroded the ties between the sections and set them on the path to war

• Paranoia: Foner and Genovese: each side saw their way of life being threatened

• Party Politics: Destruction of Whigs and breakdown of Jacksonian party system tore apart the last thing that was holding the country together

• Ethnocultural School: Michael Holt, Late 20th century: Breakdown of parties because before parties had agreed NOT to talk about slavery and had ended up agreeing on most other things. After that slavery was the only issues left