Download Chapter 21 A Divided Nation

Chapter 21 A Divided Nation
21.2 Confronting the Issues of Slavery:
-By 1819 settlers were continuing to move west, and had formed 7 new states west of the
Appalachians.
-To set up these states Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. What
it did was outline the steps for a territory to become a state, and it banned slavery
north of the Ohio River.
-This meant that the new states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were free states and
Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi all allowed slavery.
-In 1819 Alabama and Missouri applied for statehood as slave states. Alabama
was ok, because it was below the Ohio River and admitting it as a slave state
would equal the balance in Congress of free and slave states. Missouri was the
problem. Northerners in Congress questioned whether to admit Missouri as a
slave state because most of it was above the Ohio River and the were afraid that
it would lead to slavery spreading across all of the Louisiana Territory.
****-In Congress the question of States Rights was brought to the table over the issue
of slavery. This theory was favored by the Southerners because they felt that
Congress did not have the power to impose its will on the states and that the
people of the states should be able to decide whether they wanted slavery or not.
-Big question was the power of the state and federal governments under
the Constitution.
-Southerners were afraid that if Congress could end slavery in Missouri, then they
would try to end it everywhere.
-In the House of Reps the Free states had the power, but in the Senate the number
of slave and free states were equal, meaning the Southerners could block any
attempt of the North to end slavery. So if Missouri entered the Union as a free
state the South was afraid that it would eventually destroy the South.
-The Tallmadge Amendment which would make Missouri a free state won in the
House of Reps, but lost in the Senate, so it was a tie.
21.3 The Missouri Compromise:
-When Congress same back into session in 1820 the Missouri question was still the
number one issue, but Maine now wanted to enter the Union as a free state.
-As the debate went on, Southerners started using the words “secession” and “Civil War”.
-Rather than risk the breakup of the Union, Congress agreed to a compromise created by
Henry Clay of Kentucky. It was known as The Missouri Compromise. It made
Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. This way the balance of power in the
Senate stayed the same. Congress also drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana
Territory at 36 30, this became known as The Missouri Compromise Line. North of this
line slavery was banned forever, except in Missouri. South of the line slavery was
permitted.
-The Missouri Compromise saved the Union, but it didn’t make many happy.
Northerners who voted to accept it were called traitors, and in the South slaveholders
resented the ban on slavery in the Louisiana Territory.
21.4 The Missouri Compromise Unravels:
-The Second Great Awakening brought the issue of slavery back into the forefront by
causing many Americans that it was their job to help abolish slavery.
-In 1836 a “gag rule” was installed in Congress on the issue of slavery. So any proposed
legislation on the issue of slavery was not discussed or looked at.
-Abolitionists though continued the fight against slavery, which Southerners took these as
attacks on their way of life.
-Nat Turners slave rebellion turned the Southerners resentment to fear.
-Southern states started passing new strict laws to control the movement of slaves.
-Some states even tried to keep abolitionist writings from reaching slaves.
-Turners revolt was the last big revolt, but individual slaves continued to rebel by
running away to the North. Many people in the North helped these runaways.
Slaveholders looked as these northern helpers as bad as thieves. Slave were their
property, and when they ran away to the north the Southerners were losing
valuable property. They asked Congress for help in recapturing their slaves.
-In 1846, President Polk was dealing with the War with Mexico, and he asked Congress
for money for this War. David Wilmot added an amendment to this bill, known as the
Wilmot Proviso. It said that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in
any part of the territory that might be gained from Mexico.
-Southerners opposed it because they felt that Congress couldn’t decide where
people could take their property. The bill was rejected by the Senate.
-Whether to allow slavery in the new territory gained from Mexico was a debate that
went on for several years. Southerners wanted it all open and Northerners wanted it
closed.
-California applied to be a free state in 1849, northerners welcomed it, southerners
rejected it. If California became a free state the balance of power in the Senate
would be upset and give the power to the North.
-So the year ended in Congress in a deadlock again and the words of
secession, civil war and the denouncing of slavery being said again.
21.5 The Compromise of 1850:
-Henry Clay, the man who came up with the Missouri Compromise had a compromise
plan to end the tie over what to do with California, but he needed Daniel Webster’s
support.
-The Compromise of 1850 was his plan. It had a little something for everyone.
California would be a free state, and New Mexico and Utah would become organized
territories that would be open to slavery. It would also end slave trade in Washington
D.C. They could still own slaves in D.C., just not buy or sell them. The last part of the
plan was a strong fugitive slave law.
-The Compromise was debated in Congress for 9 months and the words of
Secession and Civil War were talked about again. Most Americans did not
want to go to war over slavery.
-In September of 1850 the Compromise was passed. Southerners were still
wary of the deal, wondering what might happen to slavery.
21.6 The Compromise Satisfies No One:
-Webster and Clay thought that the Compromise of 1850 would quiet the debate over
slavery for a few yeas, in actuality, it made things more intense and the debate heated up.
Reasons Why
-Both the North and the South were unhappy with the Fugitive Slave Law.
-Northerners didn’t want to enforce the law and Southerners didn’t feel like the
law was doing enough to help return their property.
-Runaway slaves under the law had almost no legal rights, so many ran all the
way to Canada, not to risk be caught and sent back to their masters.
-If you refused to help aid slave catchers or helped a slave escape you could be
thrown in jail. This led to widespread opposition to the law in the North. This
law was making them play a part in slavery.
-The northerners reaction to the law made the southerners very upset and it made
it difficult to enforce the law.
-Only 299 of the 1,000’s of fugitives in the North were captured and
returned in the 1850’s.
-Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This book brought the
horrors of slavery home to most northerners. It was about a slave named Uncle Tom and
his cruel master. He was beaten to death by his master, and this image led to her writing
the story.
-The novel depicted the evils of slavery and appealed to northerners and
abolitionists. The book was very popular and plays based on the book toured
the country.
-In the North it turned millions against slavery, in the South they were upset with
the book, seeing it as a threat to their way of life, and not true.
-Two events took place in 1854 that worked most Northerners up to a fury over the issue
of slavery. They were the Onstead Manifesto and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
-The Onstead Manifesto was a secret letter being sent to the President from 3
American diplomats in Belgium telling him to take Cuba by force if Spain
refused to offer it. Many Northerners thought this was because the President
wanted to turn Cuba into another slave state.
-Also this year Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill that would build a
railroad to California. Part of the bill was to organize the Great Plans into
Nebraska Territory and open it to settlers. This territory was North of the
Missouri Compromise, so the bill did not mention slavery.
-Southerners said they would support the bill he Douglass made a few
changes, but these changes had a major impact on things.
-The final version created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. It
scrapped the Missouri Compromise by letting settlers in the territories
vote on whether they wanted to permit slavery or not. This was called
popular sovereignty, or rule by the people.
-Northerners were outraged, worried that slavery would spread across the
Great Plains.
-After the Act was passed settlers poured into Kansas. Most of these
settlers were just peaceful farmers, but some moved there just to support
or oppose slavery. As time went on and more and more people of
opposing views moved to Kansas, two competing governments were set
up. One pro and one anti slavery.
-It eventually turned violent and on May 21 1856 pro-slavery settlers
invaded Lawrence Kansas, the home of the anti-slavery government.
They burned a hotel, robbed homes and burned to abolitionist newspaper
presses. This prompted John Brown, a fiery abolitionist to plot his own
revenge. A few days later, Brown and several others invaded the
pro-slavery town of Pottawatomie, where they hacked to death 5 men
who were suspected of supporting slavery. All of this was known as
Bleeding Kansas.
-Congress turned violent as well. Charles Sumner gave a speech in
Congress talking about how he felt Stephen Douglas’s plan all along
was to turn Kansas into a slave state, and how what he did was a crime.
He also verbally abused other Southern leaders like Andrew Butler.
-After news of this spread, Preston Brooks, Butler’s nephew, became
angry at what Sumner said. In the Senate, Brooks attacked Sumner,
beating him with his cane until it broke. When it was over, Sumner was
bloody, unconscious and laying on the ground.
-Many southerners applauded Brooks actions and sent him new
canes as a good gesture.
-Most northerners viewed Brooks actions as another example of
southern brutality.
-In 1857 the Supreme Court was deciding a case over the issue of a Missouri
slave named Dred Scott. He was a slave who was taken to Wisconsin by his
owner, where slavery was illegal. When he returned to Missouri, he went to
court for his freedom. He felt that his time in Wisconsin made him a free man.
-2 issues for the Supreme Court: As a slave was Scott a citizen who had
the right to bring a case before the federal court. Also did his time in WI
make him a free man.
-The Chief Justice, Roger Taney, wanted to use this case to settle the issue
over slavery forever. He had two more questions: Did Congress have the
power to make laws concerning slavery in the territories. If so, was the
Missouri Compromise a constitutional use of that power.
21.7 The Dred Scott Decision:
-5 justices from the South, 4 from the North.
-By a 5 to 4 vote the Supreme Court decided that Scott could not sue for his freedom in a
federal court because he was not a citizen. They added that he couldn’t become a citizen.
They said that no African American, slave or free, could ever become a citizen.
-They also rejected Scott’s argument that his stay in Wisconsin made him a free man.
They declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
-Taney said slaves were property, and the 5th amendment says that property
can’t be taken away from people without due process of law. Banning slavery
slavery in a territory is like taking their property away. It is unconstitutional.
Congress has the constitutional responsibility to protect peoples property.
-This decision made slaveholders excited and stunned and enraged the
northerners.
21.8 From Compromise to Crisis:
-The Republican Party was formed during the time of the Kansas-Nebraska Act by a
group of anti-slavery activists. They believed that no man could own another man, that
slavery had to be prohibited in the territories, that all new states must be free, and that the
rights of African American citizens must be protected.
-The Republicans in Illinois nominated Abe Lincoln as their Senate candidate in 1858. In
his acceptance speech he discussed how no compromise on slavery could be reached and
how the country would either be one or fall, it would not survive divided.
-Stephen Douglas was his opponent in the Senate race. Douglass thought that the
country could go on fine divided on the issue. So they debated the issue.
-Lincoln/Douglass Debate. Douglass said that the Dred Scott case put the issue
of slavery to rest. Lincoln disagreed and said slavery was a moral issue, not a
legal issue. One group thinks it is wrong, and one doesn’t, he said.
-Lincoln lost the election, but he became a national figure because of the
debates. The moral issue of slavery was also now a major concern.
-John Brown continued his aggressive anti-slavery tactics. He planned to attack
the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia and then give the weapons to slaves
so that they could rebel and destroy slavery forever.
-During the raid all of Brown’s men were killed. Brown was convicted of
treason and sentenced to death.
-The rebellion filled whit southerners with fear, they felt that if a slave
rebellion took place, they would be the ones being killed. Many
northerners looked at Brown as a hero.
-The Election of 1860 showed how divided the nation was on the issue of slavery.
-Republicans backed Lincoln, but Democrats were split between north and south.
Northern Democrats wanted Douglas, Southern Democrats wanted John C.
Breckinridge. John Bell was nominated by a new party, the Constitutional Union
Party.
-Lincoln won easily, with 40% of the votes, all from the North. He wasn’t
even on the ballot in 10 southern states.
-The big message that came out of this election was that the South was a
minority section. It did not have the power to shape national politics.
-Southerners were now afraid that Congress would try to abolish slavery.
After the election the word secession filled the air. Some senators tried to
come up with a compromise to fix the problem, and hold the Union
together. It would not be easy.
21.9 Secession:
-Before the senators could come up with a compromise to save the country, two events
took place that crushed their hopes.
-President Lincoln told a reporter that he would not interfere with slavery in the
south. He would support enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, but he drew
the line at letting slavery expand into territories. He said there was no
compromise on this.
-On this same day delegates at a state convention in South Carolina voted to
leave the Union. People in Charleston, South Carolina filled the streets with
excitement and bells rang. The Union is dissolved is what newspapers were
saying. After that 6 more states followed and left the Union.
-In his inaugural address, Lincoln said that secession was wrong and unconstitutional.
He wanted them to return to the Union peacefully. Instead of through a Civil War.
-A month after his speech, April 12, hotheads in Charleston, South Carolina opened fire
on Fort Sumter. This fort was a Federal fort in the Charleston harbor. After 33 hours of
firing the fort surrendered.
-Northerners were outraged that the rebels had fired on the U.S. flag. They
realized that saving the Union by compromise was over and the issue of
slavery that divided the country, would be decided by war.