Download Slavery

Slavery
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher
Stowe, ran as a serial in an antislavery newspaper
and then came out in book form in 1852.
Stowe’s writings about an enslaved African
American and his overseer changed Northern
outlooks on African Americans and slavery.
Southerners tried to have the novel banned. They
accused Stowe of writing falsehoods in her
portrayal of slavery.
The book sold millions of copies and had a great
effect on public opinion.
Many historians say it was one of the causes of the
Civil War.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Douglas wanted to create a new territory to be called
Nebraska, west of Missouri and Iowa, to build the
transcontinental railroad through. The eastern terminus, or
ending point, would be located in Chicago.
 Stephen Douglas, a Democratic Senator from Illinois,
knew that any attempt to repeal the Missouri Compromise
would divide the country.
 Douglas first proposed that the Nebraska territory would
be allowed to exercise popular sovereignty on slavery.
Southern leaders didn’t bite.
 Next, Douglas proposed that the region should be divided
into two territories. Nebraska would be on the north, next
to the free state of Iowa, and Kansas would be on the
south, west of the slave state of Missouri.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Douglas’ bill outraged Northern Democrats and Whigs.
Democrats in Congress won enough support to pass the
Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Bleeding Kansas
Kansas became the first battle ground between those
favoring the extension of slavery and those opposing it.
Thousands of “border ruffians” from Missouri crossed into
Kansas and voted illegally for slavery. Later, the ruffians
attacked the town of Lawrence, a stronghold of antislavery
settlers.
By the end of 1856, 200 people had died and two million
dollars worth of property had been destroyed.
Caning in Congress
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Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a
fiery abolitionist, delivered a speech
accusing pro-slavery senators of forcing
Kansas into the ranks of slave states.
 Sumner singled out Andrew Butler of South
Carolina.
 On May 22, 1856 Butler’s second cousin,
Representative Preston Brooks, approached
Sumner at his desk in the Senate chamber
and beat him with a cane.
The Fugitive Slave Act
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The Fugitive Slave Act among Northerners who had
previously been indifferent hurt the Southern cause
because it created hostility toward slavery toward it.
 Under this act, an African American accused of being a
runaway was arrested and brought to a federal
commissioner.
 A sworn statement saying the captive was an escaped
slave, or testimony by a white witness, was all a court
needed to send the person south.
 African Americans accused of being fugitives had no rights
to a trial and were not allowed to testify in court.
 A person who refused to help capture a runaway slave
could be jailed.
Fugitive Slave Act
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Newspaper accounts of the seizure of African
Americans and the law’s injustices made
Northerners increasingly angry.
Frederick Douglas spoke out against the Fugitive
Slave Act. He emphasized the law’s requirement
that ordinary citizens help capture runaway slaves.
Whites and free African Americans helped
runaway slaves through the Underground Railroad.
Members called “conductors” secretly transported
runaways to freedom in the Northern states or
Canada.
They gave the runaways food and shelter along the
way. Harriet Tubman was a famous conductor.
The Transcontinental Railroad
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The admission of new states and the acquisition of
new territory convinced many Americans that a
transcontinental railroad was needed to connect
the West Coast to the rest of the country.
 This would make the travel to the West Coast
quicker and it would increase the growth of the
territories on its routes.
 The fight developed over the route in which the
train would follow. A Northern or Southern route
would have to be determined.
Birth of the Republican Party
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Anger over the Kansas-Nebraska Act
convinced former Whigs, members of the
Free-Soil Party, and a few antislavery
Democrats to work together during the
congressional elections of 1854.
 This new coalition, an alliance of parties,
became known as the Republican Party.
Sectional Division Grows
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Dred Scott was an enslaved man whose Missouri
slaveholder had taken him to live in a free territory
before returning to Missouri.
 Assisted by abolitionist, Scott sued to end his
slavery, arguing that the time he had spent in free
territory meant he was free. The case went all the
way to the Supreme Court.
 Dred Scott v. Sanford was decided on by the
Supreme Court. The court ruled against Scott
because he claimed that African Americans were
not citizens and therefore could not sue in the
courts.
Kansas and Statehood
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The pro-slavery legislature of Kansas held an election for
delegates to a constitutional convention.
 Antislavery Kansans boycotted the election, saying it was
rigged.
 The convention wrote the Lecompton constitution in which
slavery was legalized.
 Each side held its own referendum, or popular vote, on the
constitution. Antislavery forces voted against it; proslavery forces voted for it.
 President Buchanan asked Congress to admit Kansas as a
slave state.
 The Senate accepted the Lecompton constitution, but the
House did not. In 1858 the settlers in Kansas held another
referendum and voted to reject the Lecompton constitution.
Kansas did not become a state until 1861.
Lincoln and Douglas
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In 1858 Lincoln was chosen by the Illinois
Republicans to run for the Senate against the
Democratic incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas.
 Lincoln and Douglas held a series of debates.
Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the
western territories. Douglas favored popular
sovereignty.
 Douglas formulated the Freeport Doctrine. In this
statement, Douglas accepted the Dred Scott ruling.
John Brown’s Raid
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John Brown, an abolitionist, planned to seize the
federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. (West
Virginia today)
 He would then free and arm the enslaved people in
the area and begin an insurrection, or rebellion,
against slaveholders.
 Brown and his followers seized the arsenal on
October, 16, 1859, but within 36 hours were
captured by U.S. Marines.
 Brown was tried, convicted and sentenced to
death.
Election of 1860
John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry was a turning
point for the South. Southerners feared an African
American uprising and were angered that
Northerners would arm them and encourage them
to rebel.
 The Democratic Party could not agree on a
candidate for the 1860 election. Northern
Democrats chose Stephen A. Douglas, who
supported popular sovereignty.
 Southern Democrats chose John C. Breckenridge
of Kentucky. He was the vice president at the
time. He supported the Dred Scott decision.
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Election of 1860
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The Constitutional Union Party was formed by
people who wanted to uphold the Constitution and
the Union.
 Their candidate was former Tennessee senator
John Bell.
 The Republican candidate was Abraham Lincoln.
The Republican platform:
– campaigned against slavery in the western territories,
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against John Brown’s raid
for the right of the Southern states to preserve slavery
within their borders
higher tariffs
a new homestead law for western settler
transcontinental railroad
Lincoln Wins the Election
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Lincoln won the election. The south saw
the election as a victory for the abolitionists.
 South Carolina was the first state to secede.
 By February 1861, six more states in the
Lower South voted to secede.
 Compromise Fails and on February 8,1861,
the Southern states declared themselves to
be the Confederate States of America, or the
Confederacy.
Crittenden’s Compromise
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Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky suggested
several amendments to the Constitution.
This would guarantee slavery where it already
existed.
It would also reinstate the Missouri Compromise
line, extending it to California. Slavery would be
ban north of the line, and protected south of the
line.
This compromise failed.
Jefferson Davis became the president of the
Confederacy.
The Civil War Begins
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Lincoln stated that the Union would hold on to any federal
owned property in the seceding states.
Lincoln announced plans to re-supply Fort Sumter in
Charleston Harbor.
President Davis ordered an attack on the fort.
After hours of fighting, the Union commander surrendered.
This was the beginning of the Civil War.
Lincoln asked for 75,000 volunteers to serve in the Union
army.
The Upper South seceded, beginning with Virginia. The
capitol of the Confederacy was immediately switched to
Richmond, VA.
Lincoln did not want the border states to secede, especially
Maryland. Martial law was imposed in Baltimore to
prevent Maryland’s secession.