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Drifting Toward Disunion
1854-1861
Chapter 19
A.P. US History
I.
The Sectional Balance Undone
B. ‘Bleeding Kansas’
• Following passage of the ‘Kansas-Nebraska Act’, northern
and southern settlers poured into Kansas – fomenting such
violence between them that it earned the nickname
‘Bleeding Kansas’
• In 1856, ‘Bleeding Kansas’ spilled over into a fight on the
floor of the U.S. Senate – it began when Sen. Charles
Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech entitled, ‘The
Crime Against Kansas’
• In it, Sumner condemned slaveholders as, “…hirelings
picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy
civilization” – he went on to insult South Carolina Senator
Andrew Butler
I.
The Sectional Balance Undone
B. ‘Bleeding Kansas’ (cont.)
• Then, on May 22, 1856, Rep. Preston S. Brooks, Butler’s
cousin, approached Sen. Sumner from behind – beating him
unconscious with an eleven-ounce cane until it broke
• Sumner suffered serious head and nervous system injuries
that forced him to leave his seat for 3 ½ years – the episode
convinced Northerners the South was determined to force
minority rule and tyranny on the country
I.
The Sectional Balance Undone
B. ‘Bleeding Kansas’ (cont.)
• Following passage of the ‘Kansas-Nebraska Act’, Northerners
formed ‘emigrant aid societies’ to promote settlement of Kansas
by free state settlers – the most prominent of these was the
‘New England Emigrant Aid Company’
• Between 1854 and 1855, the ‘New England Emigrant Aid
Company’ sponsored approximately 1,224 settlers to Kansas –
many were supplied with ‘Beecher’s Bibles’ [a.k.a. Sharp’s Rifles]
as God hath intended
• Similarly, southerners from Virginia to Texas sponsored
proslavery settlers to Kansas – equally well armed
• In November 1854, the day set for elections to the territorial
legislature, both free-soil and proslavery settlers sought to
control the vote at the ballot box
I.
The Sectional Balance Undone
B. ‘Bleeding Kansas’ (cont.)
• Claiming victory,
proslaveryites set up a
territorial government at
Shawnee Mission –
enacting proslavery laws
which barred antislavery
men from holding office or
serving on juries
• Free -soilers set up a rival
territorial government in
Topeka – a government
that President Pierce did
not recognize as legitimate
The Kansas-Nebraska Territories
I.
The Sectional Balance Undone
B. ‘Bleeding Kansas’ (cont.)
 ‘Bleeding Kansas’ and the ‘Brooks-Sumner’ incident only
hardened opinions in the antislavery North and West –
boosting the fledgling ‘Republican’ Party’s political strength
 By 1857, Kansas had met the population threshold necessary
to apply for statehood and the territorial government,
dominated by proslavery forces, promptly set about drafting a
proposed state constitution
 The resulting ‘Lecompton Constitution’ limited the territory’s
voters to approving the document either ‘with slavery’ or ‘with
no slavery’ – the option of voting for or against the entire
constitution was not allowed
I.
The Sectional Balance Undone
B. ‘Bleeding Kansas’ (cont.)
• This limitation on the territory’s voters was viewed by freesoilers as an underhanded political ploy – the ‘Lecompton
Constitution’ included a clause which protected the owners of
slaves already in Kansas even if a majority of voters cast ballots
against slavery
• Consequently, no matter what voters decided on the ‘Lecompton
Constitution’, slavery would still exist and be protected in Kansas
once it became a state
• In late 1857, proslaverites approved the constitution ‘with
slavery’ – a result made possible by a boycott of the territory’s
voting majority of free-soilers who stayed away from the polls
out of anger
II.
The Realignment of the Party System
A. The ‘Election of 1856’
• The Democrats nominated
James Buchanan which
adopted an ambiguous
strategy calling for ‘popular
sovereignty’ in the
territories and an effort to
portray the ‘Republicans’
as extremists
II.
The Realignment of the Party System
A. The ‘Election of 1856’
 In the November 1856
election, Buchanan and the
Democrats prevailed
[Buchanan won 174
electoral votes, Frémont
114, and Fillmore 8]
 The strong performance of
the new ‘Republican’ Party
forebode the dramatic
events to come between
1856 and 1860 which tore
the ‘Union’ in two
The Election of 1856
II.
The Realignment of the Party System
A. The ‘Election of 1856’
• The ‘Election of 1856’ demonstrated that the ‘Republican’
Party was purely ‘sectional’ – since southerners did not
support it, the ‘Republican Party’ did not need to
compromise to please the slaveholding South
III.
Freedom Under Siege
A. The ‘Dred Scott Decision’ (cont.)
• In March 1857, the
Supreme Court issued its
decision in the case of
‘Dred Scott v. Sanford’ – just
two days after James
Buchanan took the
presidential oath of office
• Scott, a slave, was owned
by John Emerson, an army
doctor who took Scott into
Illinois and Wisconsin
(both free states), before
returning to Missouri
III.
Freedom Under Siege
B. Prairie Republican: Abraham Lincoln
• The renewal of ‘sectional’ debate over slavery energized the
‘Republican’ Party and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois –
Lincoln had become a successful railroad lawyer in
Springfield, Illinois by the time ‘Dred Scott’ was decided
• Prior to practicing law, Lincoln had entered public service –
first as an Illinois state legislator from 1847 to 1849, and
then as a one-term Whig Congressman during the period
of the ‘Mexican-American War’
• In 1854, Lincoln openly condemned Douglas’s ‘KansasNebraska Act’ for reinvigorating the slavery debate
III.
Freedom Under Siege
B. Prairie Republican: Abraham Lincoln (cont.)
• Lincoln believed that social stability and black progress
mandated an end to slavery as well as removal of
emancipated blacks from the United States to the
Caribbean or Africa
• Both he and the ‘Republican’ Party believed that Congress
was obligated to stop the spread of slavery and eventually
end it – by 1858, ‘Republicans’ recognized Lincoln as their
best candidate to challenge Sen. Stephen Douglas for the
Illinois Senate seat
III.
Freedom Under Siege
C. The ‘Lincoln-Douglas Debates’ (cont.)
• To improve his chances for reelection, Douglas broke with
the ‘Democratic’ Party and openly spoke against the
proslavery ‘Lecompton Constitution’
• Having distanced himself from his own party, Douglas
gambled that Illinois voters would find him more
acceptable and reelect him
• Lincoln challenged Douglas for the Illinois Senate seat and
the two candidates met in 7 historic face-to-face debates
centering on the central issue – slavery versus freedom
III.
Freedom Under Siege
C. The ‘Lincoln-Douglas Debates’ (cont.)
• Lincoln badgered Douglas
with questions related to
the spread of slavery and
Douglas’s support for
‘popular sovereignty’
• In the debates, Lincoln
also tried to maneuver
Douglas into admitting
that the ‘Court’ had
repudiated Douglas’s
territorial solution
[‘popular sovereignty’] in
the ‘Dred Scott’ decision
III.
Freedom Under Siege
C. The ‘Lincoln-Douglas Debates’ (cont.)
• Douglas won the hard-fought election, but Lincoln’s stature
in the ‘Republican’ Party and national spotlight increased
dramatically
IV.
The Union Collapses
A. The Aftermath of ‘John Brown’s Raid’
• The ‘Kansas-Nebraska Act’, ‘Brooks-Sumner’ incident,
‘Dred Scott’ decision, and the ‘Lecompton Constitution’
served as irrefutable evidence to most northerners of a
southern ‘slaveocracy’ conspiracy to make slavery a national
institution
• In October 1859, John Brown, with a band of about 20
men, tried to seize a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in
western Virginia
• ‘John Brown’s Raid’ killed seven innocent people and
wounded approximately ten more before federal troops
arrived to stop him
IV.
The Union Collapses
A. The Aftermath of ‘John Brown’s Raid’ (cont.)
• Col. Robert E. Lee, leading
U.S. Marines, captured
Brown and the remnants
of his band – after which
he was tried, convicted,
and executed
• Had Brown been killed in
the Harper’s Ferry raid, his
death would have had a
minimal effect on U.S.
history – but his hanging
earned him martyrdom
and world fame
IV.
The Union Collapses
A. The Aftermath of ‘John Brown’s Raid’ (cont.)
• Most northerners
denounced Brown’s actions
as the work of a dangerous
and fanatical madman – 13
of his near relations were
insane, including his
mother and grandmother,
which gave credence to his
insanity defense at trial
• Brown’s stature in
northern public opinion
rose after he conducted
himself in an exemplary
manner to the gallows
IV.
The Union Collapses
B. Republican Victory in 1860 (cont.)
• In the November election,
an unprecedented number
of voters cast their ballots
– Lincoln won all 18 free
states except New Jersey
• After the electoral votes
were counted, Lincoln won
the election [Lincoln 180
votes, Douglas 12,
Breckenridge 72, and Bell
39]
IV.
The Union Collapses
B. Republican Victory in 1860 (cont.)
• Essentially, the ‘Election
of 1860’ amounted to two
elections – one in the
North (where the
Republican Party
dominated) and one in the
South
• Lincoln’s victory marked
him as a ‘sectional’
president with little
support in the South – his
name was not even allowed
on southern state ballots
Presidential Election of 1860
(Electoral Vote by State)
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus
• In December 1860, South
Carolina called a special
convention in Charleston,
passing an ‘Ordinance of
Secession’ by unanimous
vote - despite the calls of
some influential
southerners that secession
was not necessary
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
• Former Georgia Congressman Alexander Stephens, a
‘Unionist’, argued Lincoln
had done nothing to justify
secession - an act he said
would lead to war or
insurrections by slaves or
non-slaveholding whites
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
 Secessionists countered that
Lincoln’s election required
urgent action, reiterated the
‘Compact Theory’ of
Union, and stated that
Lincoln would not coerce
patriotism through war
 A majority of Southern
whites united to defend of
slavery and their right to
expand it into western
territories
Southern Opposition to Slavery, 1860-1861
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
• By February 1861, six
other ‘Deep South’ states
had passed ‘Ordinances of
Secession’ [Georgia, Texas
Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida, and Louisiana]
• Early that month,
representatives of the 7
seceding states met in
Montgomery, Alabama and
formed the ‘Confederate
States of America’ [‘CSA’]
Seceding States in Order of Secession
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
• In Montgomery, ‘CSA’
representatives appointed
Jefferson Davis of
Mississippi president and
Alexander Stephens of
Georgia as vice president
• Sen. James Henry
Crittenden of Kentucky
forwarded a final, frantic
attempt at compromise to
avoid secession – a
measure that required a
constitutional amendment
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
• Crittenden called for (1) a
constitutional amendment
prohibiting slavery above
36˚30΄North, (2) extending
that line west to the Pacific
coast, giving federal
protection to slavery in all
territories south of that
line (and territories south
of that line to be acquired
in the future) and (3)
future states to come in by
‘popular sovereignty’
Proposed Crittenden Compromise, 1860
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
• Lincoln flatly rejected the
‘Crittenden Compromise’ –
ending all hope of
compromise
• On March 4, 1861,
Abraham Lincoln was
sworn in as president –
after slipping into
Washington, D.C. at night,
in disguise, to avoid
assassination
IV.
The Union Collapses
C. The Secessionist Exodus (cont.)
• His inaugural address attempted to reassure the South, stating he
(1) would not interfere with slavery where it existed (2) would
not invade or use of force against the South, and (3) would not
force ‘obnoxious’ federal appointees on the South
• Lincoln declared the ‘Union’ was perpetual and the Constitution
required him to execute the law “in all the States” – meaning he
would hold federal property, collect federal taxes, and deliver
mails in the South
• He warned that the decision for peace or civil war rested in the
South’s hands – a warning to which the South replied on April
12, 1861