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.
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
• By Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Exposed the moral issue
concerning slavery
• Northerners became more
opposed to slavery.
• Southerners pushed the book as
a set of lies.
"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• It repealed the Missouri Compromise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 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repealed because property was protected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
John Brown’s Raid
• 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