Download Chapter 14 - vocab and notes

Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846-1861)
Vocabulary:
Key Terms:
1. popular sovereignty
term referring to the idea that each territory could
decide for itself whether or not to allow slavery
2. secede
to withdraw from membership in a group
3. fugitive
runaway
4. propaganda
false or misleading information that is spread to
further a cause; information used to sway public
opinion
5. civil war
war between people of the same country
6. lawsuit
legal case brought to settle a dispute between a
person or a group
7. guerilla warfare
hit-and-run attacks
8. arsenal
place where guns are stored
9. treason
actions against one’s country
10. martyr
person who dies for their beliefs
11. unamendable
unable to change
Key People/Places/Events:
12. Henry Clay
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13. John C. Calhoun
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14. Daniel Webster
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15. Harriet Beecher Stowe
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16. Stephen Douglas
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17. John Brown
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18. Dred Scott
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19. Roger B. Taney
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20. Abraham Lincoln
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21. Missouri Compromise
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congressman from Kentucky (West supporters),
the “Great Compromiser” worked out
MissouriCompromise
congressman from South Carolina (South
supporters) against Missouri Compromise
congressman from Massachusetts (Northeast
supporters) supported Missouri Compromise
daughter of an abolitionist minister who wrote
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
senator from Illinois who passed through the
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
antislavery settler from Connecticut, let massacre
of five proslavery men and boys in Pottawatomie
Creek.
slave who lived in a free state by his owner, and
sued for his freedom once the doctor has died.
Chief Justice who did not recognize the Missouri
Compromise and who did not free Dred Scott
16th US President, lawyer from Illinois at the time
of the Dred Scott case, central figure in fight
against slavery
1819 agreement proposed by Henry Clay, keeping
the number of free and slave states equal
22. Wilmot Proviso
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23. Free-Soil Party
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24. Compromise of 1860
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25. Fugitive Slave Act
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26. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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27. Kansas-Nebraska Act
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28. Border Ruffians
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29. Dred Scott v. Sandford
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30. Republican Party
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1846 law passed, banning slavery in any territory
won by the US from Mexico
1848 bipartisan antislavery party founded to keep
slavery out of the western territories
agreement over slavery by which California joined
the Union as a free state and a strict fugitive law
was passed
1850 law passed requiring all citizens to aid in the
capture of runaway slaves
1852 novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe to
show the evils of slavery and the injustice of the
Fugitive Slave Act
1854 law establishing the territories of Nebraska
and Kansas, giving settlers the right of popular
sovereignty to decide on the issue of slavery
proslavery bands from Missouri who often battles
anti-slavery forces in Kansas
1857 Supreme Court case that brought into
question the federal power over slavery in the
territories
established in 1854, with the goal of keeping
slavery out of the western territories
Chapter 14 – The Nation Divided (1846 – 1861)
Section 1 – Growing Tensions Over Slavery
Obj: to describe the purpose of the Missouri Compromise; to explain why conflict arose over
the issue of slaver in the western territories; and, to explain why the Free-Soil Party was
founded.
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1819 – 11 free states and 11 slave states
Missouri applied to join Union as a slave state
Would give South majority in the Senate
Henry Clay proposed that Maine, who had applied for statehood, be admitted as a free
state.
Balance the same – 12 free states and 12 slave states –
Clay’s plan was called the Missouri Compromise.
Exception – Missouri
o Only Louisiana Purchase
1848 – Mexican War
o Once again the question of slavery in territories arose.
o Between 1820 and 1848, foru new slave states and four new free states were
admitted to the Union.
o Balance maintained with 13 of each.
o Territory gained by the Mexican-American War threatened to destroy the
balance again
Wilmot Proviso –
o David Wilmot – called for a law to ban slavery in any territories won from
Mexico.
o Southerners opposed, House passed the Proviso in 1846, but Senate defeated it.
Americans took sides in the issue of slavery
o Abolitionists insisted it morally wrong
o Southern slaveholders and white southerners believed it should be allowed in
any territory and any slave who escaped be returned
o Moderates – argued that the Missouri Compromise line should be extended
across the Mexican Cession to the Pacific.
 Any new state north of the line would be a free state
 Any new state south of the line would be a slave state
o Other moderates supported the idea of popular sovereignty
The debate over slavery led to the birth of a new political party – Free-Soil Party
o Founded by antislavery supporters
1848 Presidential Campaign –
o Free-Soilers wanted Martin Van Buren
o Democrats chose Lewis Cass
o The Whigs selected Zachary Taylor
 Slavery a popular issue in the election
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Van Buren – called for a ban on slavery in the Mexican Cession
Cass supported popular sovereignty
Taylor did not speak on the issue
Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846 – 1861)
Section 2 – Compromises Fail
Obj: to explain why the slavery debate erupted again in 1850; to describe the impact of the
Compromise of 1850; and, how “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” affected attitudes toward slavery; to
identify the goal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; to explain why violence erupted in Kansas and
the Senate; and, the impact of the Dred Scott case on the nation
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There was peace for a time after the Missouri Compromise
1849 – 15 free states and 15 slave states
California wanted to join the Union as a free state and Oregon, Utah and New Mexico
might also join as free states.
Many southerners feared that the South would be hopelessly outvoted in the Senate.
Crisis
Senator Henry Clay “The Great Compromiser” was looked upon for a solution.
o It had been 30 years since the Missouri Compromise
o Clay, 73-years old, frail and ill, still pleaded for the North and South to reach an
agreement.
o Warning, if they failed to do so, it would break the nation apart.
1850 – President Taylor died, the new President was Millard Fillmore, unlike Taylor, he
supported Clay’s compromise plan
Stephen Douglas, of Illinois, took up Clay’s fight and guided the Compromise of 1850
through Congress.
The Compromise of 1850 consisted of five parts
o First – it allowed California to enter the Union as a free state
o Second – it divided the rest of the Mexican Cession into the territories of New
Mexico and Utah and voters in each would decide the slavery question according
to popular sovereignty.
o Third – it ended the slave trade in Washington DC, the nation’s capital.
Congress, however, declared that it had no power to ban the slave trade
between slave states.
o Fourth – it included a strict fugitive slave law.
o Fifth – it settled a border dispute between Texas and New Mexico
1850 – Fugitive Slave Act – required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves
o Enraged antislavery northerners
o In several northern cities, crowds tried to rescue fugitive slaves from their
captors.
o 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe – “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
The Compromise of 1850 dealt mainly with lands that were part of the Mexican Cession.
It did not resolve the issue of slavery in lands that had been part of the Louisiana
Purchase.
January 1854 – Stephen Douglas introduced a bill to set up a government for the
Nebraska Territory.
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He proposed the Nebraska Territory be divided into two territories, Kansas and
Nebraska, and popular sovereignty would rule in each.
1852 – President Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, supported the Act.
With Pierce’s help, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed through Congress.
o This would light a fire under a powder keg.
o Many northerners unhappy with new law
o Kansas-Nebraska Act would, in fact, repeal the Missouri Compromise
o Open Protests
o Slavery could now spread to areas that had been free for more than 30 years.
o Proslavery and antislavery forces sent settlers to Kansas to fight for control of
the territory.
o Border Ruffians battled the antislavery forces in Kansas
o 1855 – Kansas held elections – hundreds of Border Ruffians crossed into Kansas
and voted illegally.
o This helped elect a proslavery legislature
o Laws refused to be accepted by antislavery settlers.
o Kansas in chaos
o 1856 – abolitionist John Brown, took matters into his own hands in retaliation of
attacks from proslavery supporters.
o By late 1856 – more than 200 people had been killed.
o Newspapers called the territory “Bleeding Kansas”
Dred Scott case – caused an uproar and further divided the North and South
Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846 – 1861)
Section 3 – The Crisis Deepens
Obj: to explain why the Republican Party came into being in the mid 1850s; to identify the
events that lay behind the repaid emergence of Abraham Lincoln as a Republican leader; and,
to describe how Americans reacted to John Brown’s raid of Harper’s Ferry
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In the Mid-1850s, people who opposed slavery in the territories sought a new political
voice.
Neither Whigs nor Democrats
Free-Soilers, northern Democrats and antislavery Whigs gathered in Michigan in 1854.
There they formed the Republican Party
o Its main goal – keep slavery out of the western territories
o The party grew quickly
o It was ready to challenge the older parties for power.
1856 election –
o Republicans selected John. C. Fremont
o Democrats chose James Buchanan
o President Millard Fillmore ran as the candidate of the American, or “KnowNothing” Party.
o Buchanan won the election with support from a large majority of southerners
and many northerners.
1858 – the next test for Republicans
o Republican Abraham Lincoln challenged Democrat Stephen Douglas for a seat in
the Senate.
o Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates.
o They debated seven times.
o Slavery an important issue.
 Douglas – popular sovereignty – he personally disliked slavery, but stated
that he did not care whether people in territories voted up or down for it.
 Lincoln – did not believe in “perfect equality” between blacks and whites,
however, he did believe that slavery was wrong.
o Douglas won the Senate seat, but two years later the two would meet again, this
time for the office of the presidency.
In the meantime, John Brown carried his antislavery campaign from Kansas to the East,
to Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. He planned an uprising, but instead was met by General
Robert E. Lee’s troops, was captured, brought to trial, found guilty of murder and
treason, showed no emotion as he was sentenced to death.
He became a hero to many northerners and even considered a martyr. He was hanged.
The nation was poised for a violent clash
Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846– 1861)
Section 4 – The Coming of the Civil War
Obj: to explain how the 1860 election reflected sectional divisions; to describe how the South
reacted to the election results; and, how the Civil War began in 1861
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The election of 1860 –
o Northern Democrats chose Stephen Douglas
o Southern Democrats chose John Brekinridge
o Constitutional Union chose John Bell
o Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln
o Lincoln won the election of 1860.
Lincoln’s election brought a strong reaction in the South.
o To southerners it meant no longer a voice in national government.
o They believed that the President and Congress were now set against their
interests especially slavery.
o South Carolina’s governor written to other governors before the election
 Stating “If Lincoln won, it would be their duty to leave the Union”.
Slavery in the West no longer an issue –
o Many believed that the North put an abolitionist in the White House
o They felt secession was their only choice
 December 20, 1861 – South Carolina the first state to secede
 February 1861 – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Texas also seceded.
o At the convention in Montgomery, Alabama – the seven states formed a new
nation – the Confederate States of America.
o Jefferson Davis elected the first president of the Confederacy
o Lincoln stated in his inaugural address “no state…can lawfully get out of the
Union”. Still he pledged that there would be no war unless the South started it.
o Jefferson Davis had already ordered Confederate forces to begin seizing federal
forts in the South, President Lincoln faced a difficult decision.
o April – he was forced to make up his mind – Confederate troops controlled
nearly all forts, post offices, and other federal buildings in the South.
o Union only held three off Florida coast and Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
o April 11, 1861 – Confederacy demanded Fort Sumter surrender.
 Major Robert Anderson, of the Union, refused. Confederates open fired,
Union troops quickly ran out of ammunition
 April 13, Anderson surrendered the fort.
o This marked the start of a civil war that would last for four terrible years.