Drifting Toward Disunion

Chapter 19

Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries

• 1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin– Written after the passage of the

Fugitive Slave Law– Extremely popular book that portrayed

the inhumanity of slavery• 1857: The Impending Crisis of the South

– Hinton Helper– He tried to prove that non-slaveholding

whites suffered the most from slavery.– The book was banned in the South

The North-South Contest for Kansas

• Popular Sovereignty was not working as it was conceived.– Northerners:

•Many ordinary pioneers•Some were sent by abolitionists•They carried weapons

– Southerners:•Originally, few slaveholders moved

to Kansas

The North-South Contest for Kansas

• 1855: 1st election for the territorial legislature:– Pro-slavery Missourians crossed the

border to vote (early and often)– They triumphed and created a pro-

slavery government– Free-Soilers established their own

government in Topeka

The North-South Contest for Kansas

• Major incidents of violence break out - “Bleeding Kansas”– A group (700) of proslavery men

rode into Lawrence looking for several Free-Soilers

– They destroyed much of the town.– John Brown (an abolitionist) sought

revenge, May 1856 – Pottawatmoie Massacre• He and a few followers found a group of

pro-slavery men and killed them

Kansas in Convulsion

• 1857: Kansas applied for statehood– The Lecompton Constitution

•Created by proslavery forces•People could only vote on the provision

“with slavery” or “without slavery”•A remaining provision allowed

slaveholders to keep their slaves, regardless of the outcome of the vote

•Free-soilers boycotted the polls•The Proslavery constitution passed.

Kansas in Convulsion• President Buchanan supported the

Lecompton Constitution and urged its acceptance by Congress.

• Stephen Douglas called it fraudulent and supported tossing it out.

• Compromise: the entire constitution would be put to a vote– Free-soilers flooded the polls and defeated

the constitution– Result; Kansas did not become a state

until 1861

“Bully” Brooks and His Bludgeon

• Senator Charles Sumner (abolitionist) delivered a speech that condemned the proslavery men of Kansas– He also insulted South Carolina many

times and its Senator

• Congressman Preston Brooks took vengeance:– He beat Senator Sumner with a cane until

he was unconscious.– Brooks resigned from the House, but was

re-elected.

The Election of 1856

• The Democrats chose James Buchanan– He had been out of the country

during the Kansas-Nebraska controversy.

• The Republicans nominated John C. Fremont– Western adventurer, but also not

tainted with the Kansas-Nebraska controversy.

The Election of 1856

• The Campaign– Republicans campaigned against

the extension of slavery– Democrats campaigned for

popular sovereignty– Nativism entered the campaign

•Know-Nothing Party nominated Millard Fillmore

The Election of 1856

• Buchanan won with a majority of the Electoral college

• Why did the Republicans lose?– The character of Fremont was in

question.– Southern threats of violence if the

Republicans won.

• Republican Victory?– The party received 1.3 million votes

and showed it was a viable party.

The Dred Scott Bombshell

• Dred Scott (slave) lived with his master in free territory for five years.

• He sued his master for his freedom.

The Dred Scott Bombshell

• Chief Justice Roger B. Taney• The Decision:

– Dred Scott was not a citizen, therefore he could not sue.

– as property, he could be taken anywhere, and legally held as a slave.

– the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional

• The Impact:– Congress had no power to ban

slavery in the territories.– Moderation in the North was gone.

The Panic of 1857• Causes:

– Inflation due to increase in gold– Demands from the Crimean War

had over-stimulated grain production

– Land speculation

• The North was hit hardest.• The South was not hurt hard and

saw it as proof that their system was superior.

The Panic of 1857• Results:

– Huge demand for free land in the West.

– Plan to give 160 acres of free land

– Opposition:•Eastern industrialists•Southern farmers who could

not transport slavery to only 160 acres.

An Illinois Rail-Splitter Emerges

• 1858: Stephen Douglas’s term for the Senate expired and he ran for re-election.

• The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln.– Log-cabin lawyer from Illinois– Very rocky political career– He had bouts of depression and a

temperamental wife.

The Great Debate

• Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates. – Lincoln forced Douglas to state his

point of view of slavery in the territories:

– Freeport Doctrine:• Slavery would not exist in the territories,

if the people did not want it. The legislatures would have to pass laws that were supportive of it, otherwise, it could not flourish.

The Great Debate

• Douglas won the race, but lost the support of the South because of his Freeport Doctrine.

• Lincoln lost the race, but gained much popular support and emerged as a potential nominee for president.

John Brown: Murderer or Martyr?

• Harpers Ferry, Virginia– October 1859– He and about 20

followers , seized the federal arsenal and killed and/or injured several people.

– His aim was to start and lead a slave rebellion.

John Brown: Murderer or Martyr?

• Brown was caught, tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged.

• In the North: he was hailed a hero.• In the South: he was despised as a

criminal.• Result:

– The South believed that the North was dominated by “Brown-loving Republicans.”

The Election of 1860

• There was a great split in the Democratic party:

• Two separate conventions were held to nominate candidates:– N. Democrats: Stephen Douglas– S. Democrats: John C. Breckinridge– Republicans: Abraham Lincoln– Constitutional Unionists: John Bell

The Election of 1860

• The Election:– Lincoln was not on the ballot in ten

southern states.– He won with only 39% of the popular

vote.– Douglas ranked second in popular

vote, but only gained 12 electoral votes.

Why did the South Secede?

• Was the South in a bad position?– It had a 5-to-4 majority on the

Supreme Court.– The election of 1860 did not give

Republicans the House or Senate.– Only a constitutional amendment

could end slavery where it existed, and the votes were not there.

– Conclusion: No, it was in a pretty good position.

Why did the South Secede?

• Why did the South do it?– South Carolina had already

threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected.• December 1860, S.C. legislature voted

unanimously voted to call a secession convention

– Six other states followed South Carolina, four more followed...

• Lincoln was powerless to stop them.

Secession

• Why didn’t President Buchanan stop them?– He was a strict constructionist:

• He did not believe the states had the power to secede, but he could not find constitutional authority to stop them.

– The U.S. army was small and needed to control the natives in the West.

– Northerners were not yet ready to go to war to get the South back.

The Crittenden Compromise

• Proposed by Senator James Henry Crittenden– A series of amendments to the

Constitution.• Slavery would be prohibited North of

36° 30’, but protected South of the line.• Future states could come in as they

chose, within the guidelines

• Lincoln outright rejected the compromise on principle.

Farewell to Union• Why did the South leave the

Union?– Alarming tipping of the balance

against slavery– Emergence and triumph of the

Republican party– Many believed secession would not

be opposed by the North.– Many leaders wanted to break their

dependence on the North.– Nationalistic feelings and self-

determination– An appeal to America’s own history

Farewell to Union• What were the causes of the Civil

War?– Slavery (#1)

• The most dividing issue• However, 4 slave states remained with

the Union

– Economic Differences• Industry vs. Agriculture

– Nature of the Federal Union• Southern states insisted the nation was

a confederation in nature: they had the right to secede.

Farewell to Union• Causes, cont.

– Control of the Central Government• Both North and South wanted control of

new territories• The West became economically tied to

the Union and the South became a minority section

– Differences in Civilization• Southern aristocracy vs. Northern

Democracy

– Fanaticism• Extremist abolitionists and slaveholders

could not reconcile.