Download CHAPTER FIFTEEN THE COMING CRISIS, 1850s

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE COMING CRISIS, 1850s
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter covers the split between North and South that had been slowly developing since
the Missouri Compromise. Thomas Jefferson had called the question of slavery extension “a
firebell in the night” and after the Mexican-American War, Ralph Waldo Emerson feared that
“Mexico will poison us.” Their fears were realized as people in the North and South took
more rigid and determined positions. More Americans felt the issue of slavery had to be
permanently settled in the 1850s and expected their political parties to reflect that. A compromise over territorial gains in 1850 failed to hold and a civil war broke out in Kansas. When
Lincoln was elected in 1860, many Southerners saw him as a sectional president and some
states took action by seceding from the union.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading the chapter and applying the study methods recommended, students should be
able to:
1. Explain how the two communities of North and South developed two different perspectives that may have had common ground but led to different conclusions.
2. Illustrate how social issues were reflected by writers of the American Renaissance.
3. List the elements of the Compromise of 1850 and explain how some of those solutions
such as the Fugitive Slave Act actually caused more problems.
4. Discuss the efforts and failure of the national party system to find a solution to the deepening crisis.
5. Trace how a series of events from Bleeding Kansas to John Brown’s raid made the differences between North and South even greater.
6. Explain the significance of the election of 1860 in sectional terms.
7. Outline the actions of southern states in seceding from the Union and forming the Confederacy.
8. Making Connections: (Chapters Ten and Fifteen). Trace the development of the states
rights doctrine from the Nullification Crisis to Calhoun’s reply to the Wilmot Proviso.
CRITICAL THINKING/READING SKILLS
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES: Illinois Communities Debate Slavery: What was the nature of
the debates? How were they community events? What sides were there and what agreement
was there? What were the backgrounds of Douglas and Lincoln? What were their beliefs?
What were the various results of the campaign?
AMERICA IN 1850: What were the various changes in America from 1800 to 1850? What
issues were important?
Expansion and Growth: What were the statistics of expansion and growth? What two
regions became more interdependent? How was the South affected?
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Cultural Life and Social Issues: What social issues were reflected in the culture of the
time? Why was it called the “American Renaissance?” What were the social issues
discussed in Walden, The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
and Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
Political Parties and Slavery: What splits had occurred over slavery in the political
parties? How did the national party system erode into a sectional one? What did the 1848
election illustrate about sectional interests? What social splits predated the political ones?
What was Theodore Weld’s prediction and what parties reflected the simple, uncompromising choice?
States’ Rights and Slavery: What was the philosophical basis of states’ rights as expressed
by John C. Calhoun? How did he extend this argument to slavery in the territories? What
was the connection Calhoun made between political and personal equality? What was
Robert Toomb’s presentation of the case?
Northern Fears of “The Slave Power”: What was Birney’s warning?
Two Communities, Two Perspectives: What were the two communities that were created
and why were they irreconcilable? How did each view the other?
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850: What issues and events brought about the 1850 compromise
attempt? What was the essence of the compromise and how did it actually create more division?
Debate and Compromise: What senior and junior leaders debated and arranged the
Compromise of 1850? What happened to President Taylor and how did this complicate the
debate? What were the three major compromises in the Compromise of 1850? Why was
Utah’s request for statehood rejected? What position were the political parties in? How did
the country respond?
The Fugitive Slave Act: What was the essence of the act and why did it cause more trouble
instead of less as expected by the compromisers? What was the overall effect of the Fugitive
Slave Act? What was the significance of the following books: Solomon Northup’s Twelve
Years a Slave, Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
Uncle Tom’s Cabin? What were the problems with the Fugitive Slave Law as exemplified by
the Shadrach and Anthony Burn’s cases? Why was the latter particularly significant?
The Election of 1852: Who were the candidates and what were their programs? What was
the outcome of the election? How good was voter turnout?
“Young America”: The Politics of expansion: How did the Pierce administration begin and
how was this changed by the “Young America” movement? What connection was there
between Pierce and this group? How did this threaten the Compromise of 1850?
THE CRISIS OF THE NATIONAL PARTY SYSTEM: How did Stephen Douglas create a crisis
in the system? What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act and why did this cause a problem?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act: Why did Douglas propose the Kansas-Nebraska bill? What
was the essence of the bill and the price Douglas had to pay to get it passed? What effect
did passage of the bill have on political parties and on the country? What effect did it have
on the Indians?
“Bleeding Kansas”: What was “Bleeding Kansas”? What series of events led to Kansas
bloodshed?
The Politics of Nativism: How did sectional pressures connect to nativism and the KnowNothings? At whom was much of the violence aimed? Why were many Whigs nativist?
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Why were they called Know-Nothings and what political victories did the American Party
gain? What happened to the party and what party superseded them?
The Organization of the Republican Party and the Election of 1856: What qualities
united the Republican Party? What constituencies found room in the party? What was the
meaning of “freedom, temperance, and Protestantism against slavery, rum, and Romanism?” What effect did sectionalism and the Kansas-Nebraska Act have on the choice of
candidates? Why was the election actually two separate contests and what candidates ran
in them? What were the results of the election and why did the Republicans claim “victorious defeat”? What was the turnout and what did the combined popular vote illustrate?
THE DIFFERENCES DEEPEN: Beginning with one horrible week in 1856, what events deepened the difference between the parties and the North and South? Identify: Charles Sumner
and Preston Brooks.
The Dred Scott Decision: What was the decision of the Supreme Court as articulated by
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney? Why was it a sectional decision? Why was Buchanan unable
to take action that was viewed as impartial in Kansas? Why did he support the Dred Scott
decision? How did the public, North and South, and the political parties respond? What
was Buchanan’s role in the decision?
The Lecompton Constitution: What was the Lecompton Constitution and how did it lead
to civil strife and two opposing territorial governments? Why did Buchanan endorse the
document and Douglas oppose it? How was Kansas finally admitted? What types of
violence and conflict came with Lecompton’s defeat?
John Brown’s Raid: What was the intention of John Brown’s raid of the federal arsenal at
Harpers Ferry? What were the results, immediate and long range, of the raid? How did
most people respond, North and South?
THE SOUTH SECEDES: What was the progression of events that prompted the South to
secede from the Union?
The Election of 1860: What happened to the Democratic Party in the convention process?
Who did they nominate? What was the Republican strategy and who did they nominate?
What clear choice did voters have? What was the turnout in the election and what areas
did Lincoln carry? Who was the true winner?
The South Leaves the Union: What action did the South take? Why did they not believe
Lincoln’s moderation? What states seceded from the Union? What was the vote in the various secession conventions? What did both Republicans and secessionists miscalculate?
The North’s Political Options: What was the northern response framed by Lincoln? What
did he hope would happen? What was Horace Greeley’s suggestion and why was that not
a likely option? What was the third possibility and where was that issue likely to come
up?
Establishment of the Confederacy: How did the Confederate States compare with the U.S.
in organization? What dilemma did it pose? Who were Jefferson Davis and Alexander H.
Stephens and why were they chosen as president and vice-president? What was the
essence of Davis’s inaugural address?
Lincoln’s Inauguration: What was the message of Lincoln’s inaugural address?
CONCLUSION: What was the end result of the differences over the slavery issue for forty
years and the failure of the 1850s?
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KEY WORDS/VOCABULARY
Identify the following terms:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
Stephen Douglas
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln-Douglas debates
Carl Schurz
American Renaissance
Henry Thoreau
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Frederick Douglass
Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson
Herman Melville
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
religious organization
states’ rights
“Slave power”
James Birney
Free Soil Party
Henry Clay
John C. Calhoun
Daniel Webster
President Zachary Taylor
President Millard
Fillmore
24. Compromise of 1850
25. Harriet Tubman
26. Solomon Northrup
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
mob rule
Thomas Higginson
Anthony Burns
Fugitive Slave Law
Harriet Jacobs
William Seward
Election of 1852
Whigs
Democrats
Franklin Pierce
Young America
filibusters
William Walker
Pierre Soule
Ostend Manifesto
Kansas-Nebraska Act
popular sovereignty
border ruffians
cotton whigs
Amos Lawrence
Indian Treaties
New England Emigrant
Aid Society, Bleeding
Kansas
49. John Brown
50. nativism
51. Lydia Sigourney
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
Know Nothings
Republican Party
Romanism
Election of 1856
James Buchanan
victorious defeat
Charles Sumner
Preston Brooks
Andrew Butler
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Chief Justice Taney
Lecompton Constitution
Kansas Admission
Panic of 1857
John Brown’s Raid
Secret Six
Election of 1860
Douglasites
Democrats
Republicans Honest
Abe
secession
lame-duck president
Montgomery
Jefferson Davis
Alexander Stephens
Pinkerton Detectives
STUDY SKILLS ACTIVITIES
1. Making Connections: To aid in reinforcing the events that led to sectional conflict and war,
have students complete the chart on pp. 211–212 as they read the textbook. Have student
use the OVERVIEW to begin and then add other significant events. Students must list the
reactions of the North and South to each event. The teacher may wish to condense or
expand the timeline of events. Consider students making a timeline that begins with the
Declaration of Independence and ends with General Lee’s surrender in 1865. MAKING
CONNECTIONS could also be used as writing prompt: Trace the development of the
conflict between the states.
2. Compare and Contrast: Have students compare and contrast the Missouri Compromise
and the Compromise of 1850. The textbook provides an OVERVIEW information box to
help students make the comparisons. Include the role of the Dred Scott Case in the
comparison (see p. 213).
3. Cooperative Learning: Divide the class into six groups. Each will be one of the political
parties of this era: the Whig Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberty Party, Free Soil Party,
American Party, and the Republican Party. Have each group design a campaign flyer that
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will be sent to every voter. Ask students: Who are the voters in the 1850s? What are the
issues? The flyer should attract the voter’s attention, give the voter information about the
political party, and reasons the voter should support the political party. Give students no
more than fifteen minutes to develop the flyer. Then display flyers and discuss each political party.
4. Writing Skills: Use the prompt at the end of Chapter Fifteen. NOTE TO TEACHERS: This
is a fairly straightforward question. Each of the issues is directly involved in both the
disintegration of the two political parties and the division of the nation. Make certain that
students continue their focus upon developing strong thesis statements that directly
address the main issues of the question, use facts both from outside sources (the chapter)
and from the documents, and keep essays at the analysis level.
5. Alternative Writing Prompts:
a. Although John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry freed no slaves and implicated only a
few people, how and why do the views of the event show changing North-South relations between 1859 and 1861?
b. Discuss the validity of the following statement for the period 1800–1860: “Throughout
our history, the Supreme Court has acted as a partisan political body rather than a
neutral arbiter of constitutional principles.” Considering the Election of 2000, have
students write an essay concerning contemporary constitutional principles and the
Court.
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MAJOR EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WAR
Event
Year
Northern Reaction
Declaration of
Independence
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Southern Reaction
MAJOR EVENTS LEADING TO SECESSION
Event
Year
Northern Reaction
Wilmot Proviso
Secession
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Southern Reaction
Supreme Court Case
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
(Documents Set, Chapter 15 contains an excerpt of Chief Justice Taney’s decision)
The Case: Dred Scott was born into slavery in 1795. In the 1830s, Scott had been purchased by
Army surgeon John Emerson and accompanied him to military posts in the free state of Illinois and Wisconsin Territory where slavery was barred under the Missouri Compromise of
1820. After Emerson’s death in 1844, his widow inherited Scott. Mrs. Emerson opposed slavery, but instead of giving Scott his freedom, she agreed to allow several antislavery men to
seek a court decision on the rights of a slave who had lived in free territory. Scott’s lawyers
sued Mrs. Emerson, and a lower court in St. Louis declared Scott free, but the Missouri
Supreme Court in 1852 returned him to servitude. By this time, Mrs. Emerson had married Dr.
C.C. Chaffee, an abolitionist congressman from Massachusetts who decided to use Scott to
begin another legal attack on slavery. Chaffee “sold” Scott to his brother-in-law, J.F.A. Sanford
of New York (the clerk misspelled his name) and the case became Dred Scott v. Sandford in the
Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Taney announced the Court’s seven-to-two decision. The Court denied Scott his
freedom on the grounds that he remained a slave in Missouri and therefore had no right to
sue. Second, that even if Scott was given the right to sue, he would lose his case since the
mere fact of having lived in free territory did not make him a free man. Finally, Taney stated
that because the Fifth Amendment states no person may be deprived of his property without
due process of the law, the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in the Wisconsin
Territory, was unconstitutional because it denied a slave-owner the right to take his property
into that territory without the risk of loss.
Significance: This was an opportunity for the Court to make a statement concerning slavery.
The Court’s ruling that Dred Scott was property and not a citizen without the right to sue only
expanded the sectional dispute. Scott’s owner freed him a few days after the court decision
and he died in 1858.
CRITICAL THINKING:
1. After reading the excerpt from Chief Justice Taney’s decision, the textbook, and the case
information, how was the Supreme Court’s decision a “sectional” decision rather than a
“Constitutional” decision?
2. Which part(s) of the Constitution could be used to argue for Scott’s freedom?
3. Could the Supreme Court, with a different ruling, have prevented the civil war?
MAP SKILLS/CRITICAL VIEWING ACTIVITIES
1. U.S. Population and Settlement, 1850
a. What was the population of the U.S. in 1850 compared to 1800?
b. What was the number of states in 1850 compared to 1800?
c. Where were the major populations west of the Mississippi?
2. The Compromise of 1850
a. What were the terms of the Compromise?
b. Which states were free and which were slave in 1854?
c. In what areas was the decision to remain with the voters?
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3. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
a. What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do?
b. What were its two major faults?
c. What areas were opened to slavery by principle of popular sovereignty of the KansasNebraska Act?
4. The Election of 1856
a. How was this election really two elections?
b. Which states supported Buchanan?
c. Why did the Republicans call this a “victorious defeat?”
5. The Election of 1860
a. In what areas did Lincoln and Breckinridge not gain votes?
b. What was the popular vote for Douglas compared to Lincoln?
6. The South Secedes
a. Which states of the South seceded first, before the fall of Ft. Sumter?
b. Which ones seceded after the fall?
c. Which slave states remained in the Union?
d. Which divisions were there in the South over secession?
e. How was West Virginia the result of that division?
7. Map Skills: Use the outline map to reinforce Chapter Fifteen material
8. In Chapter Fifteen locate the poster “Slave Power.” Use the Poster Analysis Worksheet or
have students answer the following as a group. The assignment will continue to aid in
document analysis.
a. Who? What? Where? When? Why? Answer each of these questions the best you can
from the poster.
b. Notice the different size print used in the poster. Why was it used this way?
c. What was the audience addressed by the poster?
d. What is the purpose of the poster?
READING QUIZ
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Douglas accused Lincoln of being a “Black Republican” which implied that Lincoln
favored
a. prohibiting slavery.
b. social equality with blacks.
c. invasion of the South.
d. voting for free African Americans.
2. Which one of the following authors is NOT correctly matched to their writing?
a. Dickinson/Leaves of Grass
b. Hawthorne/The House of Seven Gables
c. Melville/Moby Dick
d. Douglass/Narrative
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3. By the 1848 election, the national parties
a. remained staunchly national.
b. managed to keep social divisions from occurring.
c. had defeated sectional problems.
d. were already eroded by sectionalism.
4. If you were a northerner who argued that “slave power” really existed, you would NOT
use this argument in your favor:
a. keeping power in the Senate with equal numbers of slave and free states
b. provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law
c. circumstances of the Dred Scott decision
d. discovery of the “secret six” funds
5. Which one of the following was NOT part of the Compromise of 1850?
a. California would be a free state
b. New Mexico would be a slave state
c. Texas would cede land to New Mexico Territory
d. A stronger fugitive slave law
6. Both the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision invalidated this agreement.
a. Missouri Compromise
c. three-fifths compromise
b. Compromise of 1850
d. Wilmot Proviso
7. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of the election of 1856?
a. The Kansas-Nebraska Act had divided the Democratic Party
b. James Buchanan was the compromise Democratic candidate
c. The Republicans could claim “victorious defeat”
d. A sectional candidate had triumphed for the first time
8. Violence reached the U.S. Senate when Congressman Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles
Sumner for insulting his uncle, Senator Andrew Butler, in an abusive anti-slave speech
entitled “The Crime against
a. the Missouri Compromise.”
c. Kansas.”
b. Slavery.”
d. the South.”
9. In opposing the Lecompton constitution, Douglas was consistent with his principle of
a. free soil.
c. the Freeport Doctrine.
b. popular sovereignty.
d. filibuster.
10. Which one of the following would NOT have been regarded as a northern “insult” by
Southerners in 1859?
a. armed protests against the Fugitive Slave Law
b. rejection of the Lecompton constitution
c. acceptance of the Dred Scott decision
d. support of John Brown’s raid
11. Which candidate for the 1860 presidential election is NOT correctly paired with his position on slavery?
a. Breckinridge-extension to the territories
b. Lincoln-exclusion from the territories
c. Douglas-popular sovereignty to decide
d. Bell-extend the Missouri Compromise line
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12. The first state to secede from the Union was
a. South Carolina.
b. Alabama.
c. Mississippi.
d. Georgia.
13. By early 1861, seven states had seceded from the Union. Which one was NOT among
them?
a. Mississippi
c. Virginia
b. Alabama
d. Texas
14. Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens were selected as president and vice-president
of the Confederacy because they both:
a. had military experience.
b. were outspoken fire-eaters.
c. expressed moderate or cooperationist views.
d. advocated popular sovereignty and states rights.
CHRONOLOGY AND MAP QUESTIONS:
15. Which one of the following describes the correct chronological order of these events?
(1) Dred Scott decision
(3) Kansas-Nebraska Act
(2) Lincoln-Douglas Debates
(4) John Brown’s Harpers Ferry Raid
a. 3,1,2,4
b. 3,1,4,2
c. 1,2,4,3
d. 2,3,1,4
16. Which one of the following did NOT happen in 1854?
a. Ostend Manifesto
c. Republican Party formed
b. Kansas-Nebraska Act
d. Lincoln-Douglas Debates
17. The population of the U.S. went from 5.3 million in 1800 to this in 1850:
a. 10 million
c. 23 million
b. 13 million
d. 31 million
18. This state was admitted as a free state in the Compromise of 1850:
a. California
c. Maine
b. Missouri
d. Texas
19. What effect did the Kansas-Nebraska Act have on the Kansas-Nebraska Territories?
a. More of it was granted to Indian reservation areas.
b. They were open to slavery via popular sovereignty.
c. Much of their southern territory was added to Texas.
d. The Missouri Compromise line was extended through them.
20. Besides the northern states, Lincoln carried these two in the 1860 election:
a. Kentucky and Tennessee
c. Kansas and Nebraska
b. Missouri and Arkansas
d. California and Oregon
SHORT ESSAY:
21. To what did the term slave power refer?
22. How did technology worsen the panic of 1857?
23. What was the goal of John Brown’s raid?
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EXTENDED ESSAY:
24. Why did Lincoln remain silent about sectional issues during the time between his election
and his inauguration?
25. Referring to the Constitution, evaluate the constitutional soundness of Justice Taney’s decision in the Dred Scott case. What assumption is crucial to justify the constitutionality of
this decision?
26. Compare and contrast the South’s reasons for secession with the colonists’ reasons for
declaring independence from England nearly a century earlier.
27. Why were moderates chosen to lead the Confederacy?
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