Download The Union in Crisis

The Union in Crisis
1846-1861
Slavery and States’ Rights
Lincoln, Secession, and War
Slavery and States’ Rights
Slavery and States’ Rights
 North- manufacturing South- remain agrarian cotton (King
Cotton)slavery
 Slave issue arises again, even after Missouri Compromise (TX,CA,NM)
 Wilmot Proviso- no slavery in Mexican Cession territory- S. mad
 1848 Election- Free Soil Party- Martin Van Buren loses to Whig Zachary
Taylor
The Compromise of 1850
 Henry Clay (KY) proposes 5 part plan to solve slave issue:
 California admitted as free state
 NM territory would have no slave restrictions
 NM/Texas border dispute would be settled in favor of NM
 Slave trade (not slavery) banned in Washington DC
 Stronger fugitive slave laws
Slavery and States’ Rights
The Fugitive Slave Act
 Req. all citizens to help catch slaves- N. refused
 Underground Railroad- Harriet Tubman
 “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”- Harriet Beecher Stowe (white abolitionist)
Kansas-Nebraska Act
 Sen. Stephen Douglas (Ill.) suggests creating 2 new states: Kansas &
Nebraska
 Re-opened slave debate and repealed Missouri Compromise allowed
citizens to decide whether to be free or slave Popular Sovereignty
 Kansas- pro slavery; but anti slave groups emerge too (2 factions; pro vs.
anti)
 Violence erupts Bleeding Kansas
New Political Party
 Normally PP extend across sectional linesslavery divides ppl &PP
 Whig party falls apart; leftovers + Free Soil Party campaign against
slavery
 Know- Nothing Party nativist organization against immigration
 Republican party is born and oppose slavery
 Election of 1856- Dem. James Buchanan wins- Rep. party still too weak
Lincoln, Secession, and War
Dred Scott Decision
 Scott was a slave living in MissouriMaster moved to Illinois, a free state,
them moved back to Missouri
 Scott sued, claiming he should be free since he lived on free soil
 Roger B. Taney (SC Justice) ruled Scott is still a slave b/c he is property,
not a citizen, therefore, he had no rights
 Decision means the constitution protected slavery- splits country
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
 Senate election in 1858 in Ill.- Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas
 Series of debates over slavery
 Lincoln-oppose Douglas- feels slavery is necessary, but he dislikes it
 Douglas gives the Freeport Doctrine Speech- Ppl can get around
slavery issue by electing politicians who would not enforce slave laws
Raid on Harpers Ferry
 Southerners feel threatened by growing Republican power
 Abolitionist John Brown led a raid in Harper’s Ferry, VA
 Raided an arsenal gov’t storage for weapons and ammo
 Distribute them to slaves in regionfails, Brown sentenced to death
Dred Scott
Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Douglas
Lincoln, Secession, and War
Secession and War
 Election of 1860- Democrats are split- half are pro; half are anti
 Republican A. Lincoln wins easily since Dems are split
 Rep. promise not to extend slavery, they would not take it away either
 Southerners threaten to secede (leave) union if Lincoln wins
The South Secedes
 South Carolina leaves first-1860 Confederate States of America
 Jefferson Davis elected president- says the nat’l government had
violated southern state rights
 Most S. did not own slaves and were very concerned
 Lincoln felt it was his duty to preserve the Union at all times- would fight a
war to keep country together
Fort Sumter
 1861- Confederate troops threaten to seize Union forts located in South
 Fort Sumter (SC) is most important Union fortsupplies running low
 Lincoln says he will send supplies via unarmed troops
 President Davis ordered his troops to attack Sumter anyway
 April 12, 1861- Civil War begins