Persistence of the Slavery Controversy Compromise of 1850 angered extremists on both

sidesAdmission of California as a free stateRemaining western territories organized with no restriction

on slaveryEnd of all slave trade in the District of ColumbiaStrict federal fugitive slave lawAssumption of Texas' debt by the national government

Southerners expressed interest in new potential slave regions Cuba. U.S. sought to purchase Cuba from Spain. Ostend

Manifesto stated U.S. "right" to seize Cuba if Spain refused to sell it.

Nicaragua. William Walker led a group of Tennessee volunteers who seized the nation and ruled it for two years (1854-1856)

Mexico. Gadsden Purchase in SW Arizona territory in 1853 for $10 million for possible railroad route.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)Stephen Douglas proposed that

○ Kansas and Nebraska territories be divided into two sections

○ Missouri Compromise be repealed, with settlers in each territory choosing whether or not they wanted slavery (popular sovereignty)

Effects of the Kansas-Nebraska ActParty realignments

○ Whig Party collapsed○ Know-Nothing Party (anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic)

emerged○ Republican Party, organized in support of keeping

slavery out of the territories, gained strength in northwestern states

Bleeding Kansas violence as pro- and anti-slavery forces rushed in to Kansas territory. Henry Ward Beecher, from his pulpit helped to raise funds to

supply weapons to those willing to oppose slavery in these territories. These rifles became known as Beecher's Bibles

Sacking of Lawrence Kansas By Pro-slavery supportersJohn Brown led a group of men on an attack at Pottawatomie

Creek. The group, which included four of Brown's sons, dragged

five proslavery men from their homes and hacked them to death

The artist lays on the Democrats the major blame for violence perpetrated against antislavery settlers in Kansas in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Here a bearded "freesoiler" has been bound to the "Democratic Platform" and is restrained by two Lilliputian figures, presidential nominee James Buchanan and Democratic senator Lewis Cass. Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas and president Franklin Pierce, also shown as tiny figures, force a black man into the giant's gaping mouth. The freesoiler's head rests on a platform marked "Kansas," "Cuba," and "Central America," probably referring to Democratic ambitions for the extension of slavery. In the background left is a scene of burning and pillage; on the right a dead man hangs from a tree.

Dred Scott Case (1857) Chief Justice Taney ruled that Scott (Dred Scott v. Sanford)

could not sue for his freedom○ Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional

(Congress had no right to restrict slavery from territories)

○ Constitution and citizenship did not apply to blacks Northerners feared that slave power might extend further,

perhaps including German and Irish immigrants

Illinois Senate Election of 1858Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln debated throughout

the state, focusing on slavery and its expansion ○ Freeport Doctrine (Douglas): people could keep slavery

out by refusing to enact black codes and other laws necessary for its survival

○ Lincoln: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Slavery should not be extended into territories

Lincoln loses election, but gains national prominence for his arguments

John Brown's Raid--1859Brown and his followers planned a slave insurrection to

begin in western Virginia.Seized federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, but was quickly

captured, tried, and hanged.Impact of Brown

○ Northern abolitionists (Emerson and Thoreau) viewed him as a martyr, taking action against the evil of slavery

○ Southerners generally viewed Brown as a madman, symbolizing the fanatical hatred of the North

○ Moderates (Lincoln) condemned Brown's action, while admiring his commitment to countering slavery

Election of 1860Democrats split into northern and southern factions and

nominated two candidates (Douglas and Breckenridge)Former Whigs nominated Bell in an attempt to preserve

Union with Constitutional Union Party. Strong only in Virginia and upper South

Republicans nominated Lincoln as a moderate compromise candidate.

Results: Bell wins three states (Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee)Breckenridge carried the SouthLincoln carried the Northern states and won the

electoral vote, though earning less than 40% of all votes cast

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union