Essential QuestionEssential Question: Why did the sectional dispute between the North & South intensify beyond the ability to repair ?

As Americans expanded West in the 1840s, conflicts intensified between the North & the South regarding the issue of slavery

But…the existence of two strong political parties (Democrats & Whigs) that were both popular in the North, South, & West helped keep America from splitting apart

The Constitution gave no definite authority to abolish slavery other than voluntary state action Abolitionists knew it would be impossible

to get enough votes to pass an amendment outlawing slavery

But, northerners in Congress could forbid slavery in new states as they were added to the Union

The slavery issue in the West had been settled by the Missouri Compromise in 1820…

But the new states added in the 1840s & 1850s led to problems: Texas (slave state) balanced by Oregon

(free territory) What about California & New Mexico?

Both were south of the Missouri Compromise line

The Wilmot ProvisoWilmot Proviso was presented by Northerners in 1846 to: Ban all blacks (free & slave) from the Mexican Cession in order to preserve land for white farmers

Attempt to limit the perceived “pro-Southern” Polk presidency

The Wilmot Proviso did not pass in Congress but its debate revealed sectional (not party) divisions

Slavery in the West was a key issue in the Election of 1848: Democrat Lewis Cass proposed popular popular

sovereigntysovereignty to allow territorial settlers (not Congress) to decide slavery in the West

Whig candidate Zachary Taylor evaded the slavery issue

The Free Soil PartyFree Soil Party was created by Northern abolitionists who nominated Martin Van Buren

Taylor won the election, but Free Soilers did well in the

North

Southerners were mad when Taylor proposed admitting New Mexico & California as states Popular sovereignty would make

California a free state New Mexico had no slaves or a climate

adequate for slavery John C Calhoun led the Nashville

Convention to discuss Southern secession

Calhoun: The South must protect slavery &

will “peacefully” secede

Webster: The North will never accept secession

Clay: We must compromiseThe Compromise of 1850

was the last debate of the “Great Triumvirate”

California was admitted as a free state

Popular sovereignty would decide slavery in

Utah & New Mexico

A stronger Fugitive Slave Law was

created to appease the South

Ended the slave trade in Washington DC (but not slavery)

Taylor threatened to veto the compromise but his death in 1850 allowed VP Millard Fillmore to sign the Compromise of 1850

With slavery (temporarily) under wraps, the parties needed new issues for the election of 1852: Whigs nominated Mexican War general

Winfield Scott; Whigs had difficulty finding an issue

Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce, claimed credit for national prosperity, & promised to defend the Compromise of 1850

The collapse of the Whigs allowed for the rise of the “Know-Nothings” (the American Party) Fueled by nativism & a desire to reduce

immigrant influence Hoped to strengthen the naturalization

process to decrease immigrant voting Appealed to ex-Democrats, ex-Whigs,

& industrial workers

In 1854, the American Party took control of state legislatures in New England, Maryland, Kentucky, & Texas; seemed on the verge of challenging the Democratic Party

But, by 1856 the Know-Nothings collapsed due to a lack of experienced leadership & had no response to slavery (which was the REALREAL issue in America)

In 1854, Democrat Stephen Douglas hoped to organize the Kansas & Nebraska territories with the Kansas-Kansas-Nebraska ActNebraska Act: The Missouri Compromise line was

repealed & popular sovereignty was applied to slavery in Kansas & Nebraska

Many Northerners were now convinced that compromise with the South was impossible

Northern abolitionists were outraged because it allowed slavery in an area

where slavery was already prohibited

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Southern Whigs defected to the Democratic Party which became an

exclusively Southern party

Coalition of Whigs, Northern Democrats, & Free-Soilers formed the Republican Party; became an exclusively Northern by 1856

The Kansas-Nebraska Act changed American politics & increased sectionalism

The Republican Party appealed to Northerners: Believed in “free soil” & fought against a

“slave power” scheme Vowed to protect free white workers &

boost the economy Made up of seasoned politicians who

effectively built up the power of the party by 1856

Manifest Destiny intensified sectional differences between the North & the South regarding slavery in the 1840s & early 1850s

But…the sectional quarrel between the North & the South became “irreconcilable” in the mid-1850s, especially under James Buchanan (1857-1860)

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s account of slavery became the best selling book of the 19th century: Uncle Tom’ Cabin depicted the harsh

reality of slavery The book became a vital antislavery

tool among abolitionists

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) proposed popular sovereignty The vote to determine slavery in Kansas

turned into a bloody small-scale civil war Republicans benefited from the fighting

by using “Bleeding Kansas” propaganda to support their anti-slave cause

“Bleeding Sumner”

SC Senator Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner because of a speech Sumner

had made criticizing President Pierce & Southerners who supported the the pro-

slavery violence in Kansas

1856 was the first clearly sectional presidential election in U.S. history Republican John C. Frémont campaigned

only in free states Know-Nothing Fillmore called for

sectional compromise Democrat James Buchanan endorsed

popular sovereignty & the Compromise of 1850

Buchanan beat Frémont in the North & beat Fillmore in the South

When Buchanan was elected, he wanted the Supreme Court to resolve the slavery question

In Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Taney & the Supreme Court ruled: Dred Scott had no right to sue because

blacks are not citizens Congress had no authority to prohibit

slavery in western territories so the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional

In 1857, Kansas held an election for delegates to write a constitution & apply for statehood A rigged election led to a pro-slavery

Lecompton ConstitutionLecompton Constitution Buchanan tried to push Kansas’

admission through despite the fraud but Congress refused

Kansas was made a free territory, not a slave state

Democrat Stephen Douglas ran against Republican Abraham Lincoln for the 1858 Illinois Senate

In these Lincoln-Douglas debates:Lincoln-Douglas debates:

John Brown’s raidJohn Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA; he & 18 men planned to end slavery in the South by leading slave insurrections:

Brown was caught & executed, but he was perceived by many in the North to be a martyr

Witch-hunts, vigilante groups, & talk of succession grew in South

John Brown: Northern Martyr or Southern Villain?

Hinton Helper’s Impending Crisis of the South in 1859: Helper was a white southerner who

argued that slavery hurt the South & small farmers

Southerners saw the book as a plot to rally yeoman against the elite & end slavery

The election of 1860 was the final straw for the South

Republicans nominated Lincoln: Illinois was a crucial swing-state Lincoln was seen as a self-made man

who represented equality His platform of high tariffs for industry,

free homesteads in the West, transcontinental railroad widened the party’s appeal

Democrats were fatally split: Northern Democrats nominated Stephen

Douglas who ran on a platform of popular sovereignty

Southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge who swore to protect slavery in the West

Ex-Whigs & Know-Nothings formed the Constitutional Union Party & ran John Bell & on a compromise platform

During election, 4 nominees ran: Republicans Douglas Democrats “Southern Rights” Democrats Constitutional Unionists

Competed in South

Competed in North

North: Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglass

South: Breckenridge vs. Bell

The 1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart

Lincoln won & the South immediately launched a campaign for succession from the Union