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The Crises of the 1850s Lead up to Civil War 1830-1860 The Uneasy Truce ► For a few years after the Compromise of 1850, sectional conflict seemed briefly forgotten – time of prosperity and growth. ► Divisions between Whigs helped bring a victory in the election of 1852 for the Democrats. ► Northern opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act increased. ► Many Whigs voted for John P. Hale of the Free Soil Party. “Young America” ► Adherents saw the expansion of American democracy as a way to divert attention away from slavery issues. Revolutions in Europe in 1848 led them to dream of a republican Europe. They wanted to extend America’s influence throughout the Western Hemisphere. ► President Franklin Pierce attempted to buy Cuba from Spain. In 1854 his envoys sent him a letter making the case for seizing Cuba by force – The Ostend Manifesto. Anti-slavery supporters outraged saying it was a way to expand slavery – reignites sectional crisis. Slavery, Railroads and the West ► As the expanded westward communication between east and west became critical. Increased calls for a transcontinental railroad. North wanted terminus in Chicago, South favored St. Louis or New Orleans. Railroad became part of North/South divide. Jefferson Davis (Sec. of War), sent James Gadsden to buy a strip of land from Mexico – Gadsden Purchase – so Southern terminus could be built. Accentuated sectional rivalry. The Kansas – Nebraska Controversy ► Kansas-Nebraska Act Stephan A. Douglas from Illinois wanted railroad terminus in Chicago. Railroad would pass through an area that was substantially Native-American. Douglas introduced a bill to organize the region into a new territory – Nebraska. Kansas –Nebraska Controversy Nebraska north of the Missouri Compromise Line – thus closed to slavery. Douglas put a provision in the bill said that the territorial legislature would determine status. Southern Democrats demanded more so, Nebraska split into two – Nebraska and Kansas. Agreed to repeal the Missouri Compromise. Kansas –Nebraska Controversy Kansas was more likely to become a slave state. May 1854 the Act was passed. Divided and destroyed the Whig party. Divided the Northern Democrats. “Anti-Nebraska Democrats” and “AntiNebraska Whigs” created the Republican Party. “Bleeding Kansas” ► Violence followed the passage of the KansasNebraska Act. White settlers began to move into Kansas. Spring of 1855 1,500 legal voters and 6,000 heavily armed Missourians elected a pro-slavery legislature. “Free-staters” elected their own legislature. Pres. Franklin Pierce supported the pro-slavery legislature. Pro-slavery Federal Marshall assembled large pose of mostly Missourians to arrest the Free-State legislature. Sacked Lawrence, Kansas and burned the “Free-State Governor’s” house. Retribution followed. “Bleeding Kansas” ► John Brown led the Pottawatomie Massacre which killed five pro-slavery settlers. ► Led to more civil strife – each side blamed the other. ► May 1856, Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech against Sen. Butler of South Carolina, a few days later Rep. Preston Brooks the nephew of Butler beat Sumner with a cane. ► Both became heroes to their respective regions. Free-Soil Ideology ► “Slave-Power Conspiracy.” Free-Soil and Free labor – an economic argument not a moral one. Only opportunity for advancement was through work. If whites were denied that then that was undemocratic. South anti-thesis to democracy – a closed society with an entrenched aristocracy. The South were engaged in a conspiracy to extend slave system and shut down northern capitalism and turn it into the aristocratic system of the south. Free-soil had to be maintained – became the heart of the Republican Party ideology. Pro-Slavery Argument ► Slavery good because it served as basis of Southern way of life – better then other ways. Slaves enjoyed better conditions than workers in industrial north. The only way the two races could live in peace. Southern economy key to the prosperity of the nation. Ideal social order that led to stable, orderly existence free of conflict between Capital and Labor. Blacks inherently unfit to look after themselves. Election of 1856 ► ► ► ► ► Democrats chose James Buchanan who had been in England during “Bleeding Kansas” crisis. Republicans nominated John C. Frémont, an explorer of the West. The Native American, or Know-Nothing Party (outgrowth of the strong anti-immigrant and especially anti-Roman Catholic sentiment that started to manifest itself during the 1840s), nominated former president Millard Fillmore. Buchanan won – a timid and indecisive president at a critical time in history. Depression hit and Northerners blamed the Southern Democratic administration. Moved support toward the Republicans. The Dred Scott Decision ► 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court got involved in the sectional dispute with its ruling in the case Dred Scott v. Sandford [sp] Dred Scott a Missouri slave owned by army surgeon who took him into Illinois and Wisconsin, were slavery was outlawed. ► Scott sued his owners widow for his freedom on the grounds that his residence in free territory had liberated him from bondage. ► There was a precedent in Missouri law and in 1850 the Circuit Court gave Scott his freedom. ► Sanford (widows brother) appealed the ruling saying that Scott had no grounds to sue because he was not a citizen. ► The Dred Scott Decision ► Supreme ► CJ Roger Court too divided to issue a single ruling. Taney wrote one of the majority opinions, which rendered the federal government powerless to act on the issue: Blacks had no claim to citizenship. Slaves were property and Fifth Amendment prohibit Congress from taking property without “due process of law.” Consequently, Congress had no authority to pass a law depriving people of their slave property in the territories, the Missouri Compromise, therefore, had always been unconstitutional. Dred Scott Deadlock over Kansas timidly endorsed Dred Scott decision and supported Kansas to be admitted to the Union as a slave state. ► Pro-slavery territorial legislature called a election for delegates to a constitutional convention – freestate supporters refused to participate. ► The “Lecompton constitution” legalized slavery – did not give voters an opportunity to reject it. ► Election for a new territorial legislature threw out pro-slavery delegates. Lecompton constitution went to the voters who rejected it (twice). ► Buchanan The Emergence of Lincoln ► Elections of 1858 important. Lincoln ran against Stephan A. Douglas in Illinois. ► Lincoln, a Congressman, was not a national figure like Douglas. ► Decided to engage Douglas in debates to increase visibility. Lincoln Douglas Lincoln-Douglas Debates ► Basic differences on issue of slavery. Douglas had no moral position on slavery. Lincoln argued that if the nation could accept that blacks were not entitled to basic human rights, then it could accept that other groups could be deprived of rights too. If slavery were extended to western territories opportunities for poor white laborers would be lost. Lincoln believed slavery was morally wrong, but he was not an abolitionist. Would stop slavery from spreading, but would not stop it where it already was. John Brown’s Raid ► On October 16th 1859, John Brown, funded by prominent Northern abolitionists, led a raid on the U.S. arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. ► He hoped to inspire a slave uprising, but it didn’t happen. ► He was surrounded in the arsenal by local militia before the U.S. army showed up commanded by Robert E. Lee. ► He was tried and hanged for treason. ► The event convinced Southerners that they could not live safely in the Union – many erroneously believed that the raid had been supported by the Republicans. The Election of Lincoln ► Election of 1860 Democrats torn apart by southerners who demanded a strong endorsement of slavery, and westerners who supported popular sovereignty. Party convention endorsed popular sovereignty and delegates from eight southern states walked out. Northern and western delegates endorsed Douglas for president and southern Democrats endorsed John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. Lincoln was nominated by the Republican party – advocated internal improvements, a homestead bill, no slavery in territories. The Election of Lincoln ► In November Lincoln won the election with the majority of electoral votes, but only 2/5ths of the popular vote. ► Republicans failed to win a majority in Congress. ► The election of Lincoln started the process of disunion. ► On December 20th, 1860 South Carolina succeeded from the Union. Questions ► Explain the Kansas-Nebraska controversy. ► What was “Free-Soil” ideology? How did Lincoln’s argument in the Lincoln/Douglas debates reflect this ideology. ► How did the Dred Scott decision affect the sectional crisis? ► Was John Brown a “hero” or a “terrorist” defend your answer.