Download The 1850s: A Decade of Crisis

The 1850s: A Decade of Crisis
Causes of the Civil War
The Compromise of 1850
• California was admitted as a free state.
• Utah and New Mexico would decide the
slavery issue based on popular sovereignty.
• Slave trade (not slavery) would be
prohibited in Washington, D.C.
• A new law would be passed to help slave
owners regain their runaway slaves.
Henry Clay presented the Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act
• Fugitives were not entitled to
witness on their behalf or have a
trial by a jury of peers.
• Federal commissioners got $10
for returned slaves.
• Aiding/abetting fugitives led to
possible fines and/or 6 months
in prison.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• It exposed the moral issue
concerning slavery.
• Northerners became more
opposed to slavery.
• Southerners pushed the book as
a set of lies.
• It was written by Harriet Beecher
Stowe.
"Eliza comes to tell Uncle Tom that he is
sold and that she is running away
to save her child." from Uncle Tom's
Cabin
Kansas Nebraska Act
• It repealed the Missouri Compromise
by allowing popular sovereignty to
decide the issue of slavery to the
north of the 36th parallel.
• This led to many skirmishes such as
the Sack of Lawrence and the
Pottawatomie Massacre which
further led to the nickname
“Bleeding Kansas.”
Realignment of Parties
• The Whig party dissolved due to
disagreement between Northern and
Southern factions over the issue of slavery.
They ceased to be a factor in national
politics after the election of 1856.
• The Republicans emerged in 1854. It was
formed mostly by Northern Whigs and
Democrats who called for the repeal of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Fugitive Slave
law and for the abolition of slavery in
Washington, D.C.
The Dred Scott Decision
• Roger B. Taney wrote the Dred Scott
decision.
• It said that slaves were not citizens, and
therefore did not have the right to seek
redress through the court system.
• Slaves were considered property and thus
not free, even if they lived in free territory.
• The Missouri Compromise should be
repealed because property was protected
under the Constitution, and states could
not prevent a person from having property.
The LeCompton Crisis
• It revolved around whether or not slave
owners already living in Kansas at the time
it became a state would be able to keep
their slaves.
• The Free-Soilers (90% of the population) and
slave owners argued the issue.
• President Buchanan’s endorsement in the
favor of the slave owners decided the issue
and led to friction between him and
Douglas in the Democratic Party.
Lecompton Crisis
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
• They were held as part of the Illinois senatorial
campaign of 1858.
• Lincoln, a Republican, felt the nation needed to be
unified as a nation on the issue of slavery.
• Douglas, a democrat, felt popular sovereignty could
decide the issue even if the Dred Scott decision had
repealed the Missouri Compromise and the
outlawing of slavery in the new states/territories.
• Douglas won the election, but the debates helped
Lincoln gain the Republican nomination for
president in 1860.
John Brown
• In 1859 he and 18 others attacked and seized the
government arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
• He hoped to gain weapons for future slave revolts,
but was captured by federal troops after most of his
men had been killed or wounded.
• He was tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged.
• He became a martyr for the abolitionist cause.
Southerners became more convinced that the
“Black Republicans” of the North were plotting to
destroy the Southern way of life.
The Election of 1860
• The Republican Party:
• nominated Lincoln,
• opposed the extension of slavery,
• supported internal improvements,
• Supported a protective tariff,
• Supported a railroad to the Far West,
• Supported a liberal immigration
policy, and
• Supported free land for Western
settlers
The Election of 1860
• The Southern Democrats:
• nominated John C. Breckinridge
of Kentucky, and
• received 72 electoral votes from
southern states.
The Election of 1860
• The Northern Democrats:
• nominated Stephen Douglas,
• supported popular sovereignty,
and
• received 12 electoral votes from
New Jersey and Missouri.
The Election of 1860
• The Constitutional Union Party:
• nominated John Bell,
• combined the Know-Nothings, Whigs,
and moderate Northerners,
• ignored the slavery issue altogether,
and
• received 39 electoral votes from the
border states of Kentucky, Virginia,
and Tennessee.
John C. Breckenridge
Abe Lincoln
Stephen Douglas
John Bell
The Secession Crisis
• On December 20, 1860, South Carolina was
the first to fulfill a promise that the South
would secede from the Union if a
Republican became president.
• By February, 1861, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas
had withdrawn from the Union.
• They met in Montgomery, Alabama and
formed the Confederate States of America.
They drew up a constitution, elected
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as their
president, and Alexander H. Stephens of
Georgia, Vice President.
Alexander Stephens
Jefferson Davis