Download Nation Tears Apart

Nation Tears Apart
Northerners opinion of slavery
 Abolitionists
believe slavery is unjust and
should end immediately
 Many northerners saw slavery as an
economic threat because slaves were not
paid
 Northerners did not believe in slavery but
many were still racist
 Most northerners were not abolitionists
The Wilmot Proviso





Proposed bill that said slavery should be
outlawed in any territory the United States
gets from the War with Mexico
House of Representatives passed it
Senate did not pass it
Bill never became a law
Southerners begin to worry
that slavery will be ended
someday.
Compromise of 1850
 Replaced
Missouri Compromise
 Would California be free or slave?
 California would be a free state and slave
trade would end in Washington, D.C.
 Congress would not pass laws about
slavery for the rest of the land gained from
Mexico
 Congress passed a stronger law to help
slaveholders capture runaway slaves
Fugitive Slave Act
 Law
to help slaveholders capture runaway
slaves
 Northerners had to help owners capture
runaway slaves or they would be fined
 Northerners who helped runaway slaves
faced jail time
Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854
 Law that established the territories of Kansas
and Nebraska
 Allowed residents to decide whether their
territory was free or slave- popular sovereignty
Bleeding Kansas
•
•
•
•
Illustration of a Gunfight on Horseback by G.H. Hayes
Pre-Civil War illustration depicting a gun fight from
"Bleeding Kansas," a war fought in the 1850's between
abolitionists and slavery advocates for control of the
territory of Kansas. Image: © Bettmann/CORBIS
Location Information: Kansas, USA
8

•
Both sides send
people to Kansas to
vote
Slavery forces win
vote, antislavery
forces set up their
own government
Fighting!
John Brown –
Hacked 5 men to
death (never
punished)
Effect
Leads to informal
civil war
Slavery in Politics
 Republican
party
forms because the
Whig party was
split over slavery.
Republicans
formed in the north
and were
opponents of
slavery
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
•
•
•
Bestseller written by
Harriet Beecher
Stowe
Made evils of
slavery
understandable to
regular people
Won hearts and
minds of
Northerners and
people in England
and France
Lincoln and Douglas Debate
 Abraham
Lincoln (Republican) challenged
Stephen Douglas (Democrat) to a debate
for the U.S. Senate
 Lincoln said slavery was “a moral, a social,
and a political wrong” but he did not call
for slavery to be abolished. He said it
should not spread.
 Lincoln lost election but became a national
figure
Harper’s Ferry





John Brown- an extreme abolitionist, planned to
capture weapons and give them to slaves.
He wanted to inspire slaves to fight for freedom
Brown and 18 followers capture the arsenal and
kill 4 people in the raid. He sent word for slaves
to rally. None did.
He was captured by Federal troops, tried found
guilty and hanged
Brown became a hero to abolitionists.
John Brown
Extreme Abolitionist who
led an attempt to get
guns to slaves. Was
captured by Federal
troops, tried and hanged.
Dred Scott Decision
•
Newspaper About Dred Scott Decision
A copy of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper has a front page
story on the Supreme Court anti-abolitionist Dred Scott Decision
of 1857. The story includes illustrations of Dred Scott and his
family. Image: © CORBIS
Date Created: ca. 1857
14
Dred Scott, a slave,
is brought to MN
where slavery isn't
allowed
• He sues, saying he
should be free
• Supreme Court
rules
1) slaves are not
citizens so cannot
sue
2) slaves are
property so can be
brought to any state
• Northerners turn
more to abolitionism
Election of 1860
 Southern
states threaten to secede, or
leave, the Union if Lincoln wins presidency
 Lincoln wins
 December 20, 1860- South Carolina is first
state to secede from the Union
 Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas all secede
 They form the Confederate States of
America