The Nation Breaking Apart

1846-1861

Chapter 15

Growing Tensions Between North and

SouthSection One

North and South Take Different Paths

• North: • Industry and commerce• Led to rapid growth of cities• Immigrants and Easterners moved west and

built farms• Canals and railroads connected Midwest and

East: developed strong ties

North and South Take Different Paths

• South• Plantation farming was focus of economy• A few wealthy planters controlled Southern

society• Great profits from trade• Great profits from labor of slave• Relied on exports: cotton• Invested in slaves instead of industry• Even poor farmers supported slavery: kept

them off the bottom of society

Antislavery and Racism

• Tensions were rising

• Many Northern workers feared slaves would replace them in the factories

• Abolitionists felt slavery was unjust and should be abolished.

• Most Northerners would not go to school, work with or live near African Americans

In the North:

Antislavery and Racism

• In the South:

• Slaveholders defended slavery• Whites were superior• Helped slaves by introducing them to

Christianity• Gave them food, clothing and shelter

The Wilmot Proviso

• Outlawed slavery in any territory gained in the Mexican War

• Southerners claimed the bill was unconstitutional• Slaves were property• Removed the right to take property (slaves)

anywhere in U.S.

• Congress was divided along regional lines

• Passed the House but was defeated in the Southern controlled Senate

Free-Soil Party

• Born from the Wilmot Proviso

• A political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery

• Won more than 10 seats in Congress in 1848

• Made slavery a key issue in national politics

• Politicians could not ignore slavery anymore

Controversy over Territories

• 1848: debate on how to deal with slavery in new territories gained by Mexican War

• Balance of Congress threatened

• California wanted to be free• Southerners wanted to divide California• President Taylor proposed CA apply for

statehood before a territory, • Did not give time for slaveholders to move in

The Compromise of 1850

• Henry Clay drafted a plan:

• CA admitted as free state

• Slave trade abolished in Washington D.C.

• Congress would not pass laws regarding slavery for the rest of the territories won from Mexico• Popular Sovereignty: People of that area will

decide

• Fugitive Slave Act

The Crisis DeepensSection Two

The Fugitive Slave Act

• Helped slaveholders recapture runaway slaves

• Fugitives held without arrest warrant

• No jury

• Jail terms and fines for those who aided fugitive slaves

• Presence of slave catchers in North reminded people of how they were supporting the slave trade

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852

• Portrayed moral issues of slavery

• Uncle Tom, an older slave and his life with 3 owners

• Popular in North

• South felt it falsely criticized the South and slavery

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

• 1854: Stephen A. Douglass of IL propsed that Nebraska territory be divided into NE and KS

• Proposed Popular Sovereignty in these territories• People could vote for slavery

• Would repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820• Banned slavery in territories north of MO

• Southerners supported and it was passed

Bleeding Kansas

• Proslavery and anti slavery settlers rushed to Kansas territory

• At time there were more proslavery settlers

• Kansas legislature was packed with proslavery representatives

• Antislavery settlers boycotted official government and formed own government

Sack of Lawrence, KS

• In May a proslavery mob attacked the town of Lawrence

• Destroyed offices, house of the governor of the antislavery movement

Pottawatomie Massacre

• John Brown, extreme abolitionist, led

• Took seven men to cabins of proslavery neighbors and murdered five people

• To avenge Sack of Lawrence

• Civil War broke out in KS in response• “Bleeding Kansas” went on for 3 years

Violence in Congress

• May of 1856, at the Capital, Charles Sumner delivered speech toward proslavery forces in KS• Packed with insults• Made fun of A.P. Butler , a senator from SC

• Preston Brooks defended Butler by beating Sumner with his cane 30 times.

• Southerners cheered Brooks defense of the South

• Northerners were shocked at violence in the Senate

Slavery Dominates PoliticsSection Three

The Republican Party Forms

• Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 split the Whig party

• Northern Whigs formed the Republican party

• “Bleeding Kansas” key to Republican rise

• Many people blamed Democrats for violence

• Nominated John C. Fremont for President in 1856• Republican position on slavery so unpopular in

South that his name didn’t appear on the ballot

The Election of 1856

• Democrats nominated James Buchanan• Had been out of the country since 1853• His goal was to maintain the Union• Didn’t speak out against or for slavery

• Know-Nothing Party nominated Millard Fillmore• Party split over slavery

• North: Buchanan vs. Fremont

• South: Buchanan vs. Fillmore

• Buchanan won but Fremont won 11 Northern states

The Case of Dred Scott

• A slave in Missouri

• Owner had taken him into territories where slavery was illegal

• After owner’s death he sued for his Freedom

• Case reached the Supreme Court in 1856

• Ruled against him since he was not a U.S. citizen and was considered property by the 5th Amendment

• Northerners outraged and turned to the Republican party to halt power of Southern slaveholders

Lincoln and Douglas Debate

• 1858 Republicans nominated Lincoln to run against Democrat Douglass for IL seat in Senate

• Lincoln stood against expansion of slavery, “a moral, a social and a political wrong” but didn’t suggest abolishing it.

• Douglas argued that popular sovereignty was the best way to address it, most democratic way

• Lincoln lost but became popular and strengthened the Republican party

John Brown Attacks Harpers Ferry

• Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom

• Wanted to capture weapons at the U.S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA

• October 18, 1859, 13 whites and 5 blacks killed 4 people in the raid

• Sent out the word for slaves to join them but none came

• U.S. Marines attacked and Brown and 6 others were captured

Reaction to Harper’s Ferry

• John Brown was tried and hanged

• Abolitionists tolled bells and fired guns in salute.

• Southerners were enraged by Brown’s actions and horrified by Northern reactions

Lincoln’s Election and Southern

SecessionSection Four

Political Parties Splinter

• Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln for election of 1860

• Democratic party split on slavery and popular sovereignty• Northern Democrats nominate Stephen A.

Douglass• Southern Democrats nominate John

Breckinridge

• Constitutional Union Party nominates John Bell

The Election of 1860

• North race and South race

• Lincoln won North

• Breckinridge carried most of South

• North had more people so Lincoln won Presidency

• South felt Republicans wanted to ban slavery so saw the victory as a threat to the Southern way of life

Southern States Secede

• Southerners had threatened to secede if Lincoln won.

• Felt they voluntarily joined the Union so they had right to leave

• December 20, 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union

• Within 6 weeks: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas

Confederate States of America

• February 1861 became the Confederate States of America

• Jefferson Davis elected President

• Drafted a Constitution modeled after the Union one

• Supported state’s rights

The Union Responds to Secession

• Secession raised issue of majority rule

• Southerners were afraid Northerners would use majority rule to abolish slavery

• Northerners felt Southerners did not want to live by rules of democracy.

Efforts to Compromise Fail

• Crittenden Plan: extend the MO Compromise line to CA, but it failed

• Lincoln tried to assure the South that he would not abolish slavery, he would not invade or press the South. Tried to appeal to friendship….

• BUT, he would not abandon U.S. government forts in South and they would need supplied soon…….

To Be Continued

Take Home Quiz

Answer the questions in the summary part of the last page of your packet. Provide at least one paragraph for each question (total of 3) that includes facts and details to support your answer. Each question is worth 5 points.

1. Why did you think that your #1 most important event was the most influential cause of the Civil War?

2. Do you think that the war would have happened if that event never took place? Why or why not?

3. Which other events did you think were absolutely key causes for war? Why?