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Chapter 14
Sectional Conflict Intensifies
Aftermath of Mexican-American
War
 The War had increased tensions
 question of whether or not slavery should
expand westward
 Also, could slave holders retrieve escaped
slaves?
Wilmot Proviso
 August 1846
 David Wilmot (D, PA) proposed an amendment
 “Neither slavery no involuntary servitude shall
exist in any new territory gained from Mexico.”
 House passed it, but the Senate would not even
vote on it.
 *Upset the Southerners
 They say it as a threat to slavery everywhere
The Debate Goes On…
 Calhoun, weak from TB
 “States own the
territories”
 “Congress has no right to
ban slavery”
 Warned that a “civil war”
would break out
 If the North didn’t deal
with Southern concerns
Popular Sovereignty
 Senator Lewis Cass (MI) proposed the idea of
“popular sovereignty.”
 Citizens of the new territories should decided the
issue
 Many supported this idea. It was democratic and
kept the controversy at bay.
 *Abolitionists still argued that the right of AfricanAmericans not to be enslaved did exist.
Election of 1848
 Whigs: Zachary
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Taylor
But..
Whigs split:
Northern
Whigs=“Conscience
Whigs”
Opposed slavery
Opposed Taylor
Slavery and Gold in California
 January 1848: James
Marshall discovered
gold in California
 By end of 1849: over
80,000 people in CA
looking for gold
 Nicknamed “fortyniners.”
 Chaos and violence
California Applies for Statehood
 To gain control, CA applies for statehood
 But this raises the question…..
 Would CA be a slave state or a free state
 Dec. 1849: CA applies for statehood as a
free state
 Now, you’d think that would be the end of
it……..
But, There’s a Problem!
 If CA is a free state,
then slave states
would be in the
minority in the Senate
 Southern politicians
began talking about
secession.
Compromise
 Henry Clay “The Compromiser”
 Comes up with compromises in pairs
 1st: CA = free state, and the rest of Mexican land would
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have no restrictions on slavery
2nd: Border between NM and TX would favor NM
And, Federal Government would take on debts of TX
3rd: Outlawed slave trade in DC, but not slavery
4th: Congress would not interfere with domestic slave
trade
But, they did pass the Fugitive Slave Act to help recover
escaped slaves
Debate over the Compromises
 Calhoun: “North’s opposition to slavery
would destroy the South.”
 Daniel Webster: supported Clay’s plans,
and warned against secession.
Clay Gets His Way…Eventually
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Clays plans did not pass
Largely because, Taylor opposed them
But…..Taylor died in the Summer of 1850
New President, Millard Fillmore supported the plans.
By the end of the summer…
John C. Calhoun…
DEAD!
Webster….
SECRETARY OF STATE!
Clay…
WORN OUT!
Compromise of 1850
 Stephen Douglas (IL) split Clay’s plans
into smaller bills
 By Fall 1850: all parts were passed,
Fillmore signed into law
 Compromise of 1850 eased tensions over
slavery…..
 TEMPORARILY!!!!!!
Section 2
Mounting Violence
Fugitive Slave Act
 A person points out someone and accuses him/her
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of being an escaped slave
Accused person would go before a federal
commission
Testimony of white people was all that was needed
to convict
No trial and no chance to testify
Federal Commissioner would be paid $10 if he
sided with the slave owner, and $5 if he sided with
the accused.
Northern citizens were required to help capture
people or face jail time
Literature
 Harriet Beecher Stowe
 “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in
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1852
Sold 300,000 copies its
1st year
Henry David Thoreau
“Civil Disobedience”
(1849)
O.K. to disobey immoral
laws
Northerners were
inspired
Transcontinental Railroad
 Early 1850s
 Force NE and IA to develop
territory and organize
 Travel to CA and OR in 4 days
 Big Question: “Where would it
start?”
Where Would It Start???
 South
 North
 New Orleans
 Chicago
 But, you would have to go  Senator Stephen Douglas
through Northern Mexico
 Must organize territory
 Secretary of War
 1853 bill to create
Jefferson Davis sent
James Gadsden
 Santa Anna sold 300,000
square miles for $10
million.
territory of Nebraska
 MO Compromise called
into question
 Southerners wanted the
MO Compromise
repealed
Stephen Douglas tries to
Compromise
 1st bill: claimed “popular
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sovereignty”
Would not repeal the
MO compromise
Southerners saw
through this
2nd bill: undo MO
Compromise
Create 2 territories
Kansas and Nebraska
Known as the Kansas
and Nebraska Act
Mad Rush to Kansas
 Southerners rushed there
 Northerners rushed there, and established a
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majority
MO Senator David Atchison called upon
Missourians to go to Kansas
May 1855
Thousands of armed Missourians rushed into
Kansas
They voted illegally and established a proslavery government
Northerners Retaliate
 They held a convention and created an anti
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slavery government
By the end of 1855: 2 governments in Kansas
1856: Armed Missourians attacked Northern
settlers
“Bleeding Kansas”
Over 200 died
Over $2 million in damages
In the Senate
 May 1856
 Senator Charles Sumner (MA) insulted
Sen. Andrew Butler (SC)
 Said that he “had a mistress…the harlot of
slavery!!!”
 May 22, 1856: Representative Preston
Brooks (SC) entered the Senate chamber
 And beat Sumner with a metal and gold
cane
New Political Parties
 Kansas-Nebraska upset many in the North
 Whig Party split…again
 Northern Whigs + Free Soil + Anti-Slavery Democrats
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joined together in 1854
Also…
Anti-Nebraska Party, Fusion Party, People’s Party, and
Independent Party
Held a convention and became the “Republican Party” in
July 1854
All agree that slavery should not exist in the new
territories.
“Know-Nothings” made gains in 1854
Republican Party absorbed the “Know-Nothings.”
Election of 1856
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Republican: John C. Fremont
Known as the “pathfinder”
Believed that KS should be a free state
Democrats: James Buchanan
In Congress for 20 years
Ambassador to Russia and Great Britain
No real stand on KS
But, he did believe that the only way to save the
U.S. was to give the South what they wanted.
 He won
Lecompton Constitution
 Violence in KS
 Buchanan’s solution is to
make KS a state
 1857: The Anti-Slavery
government banned
slavery
 The Pro-Slavery
government legalized
slavery
 Referendum was put out
“yes” or “no” on the
“Lecompton Constitution”
(pro-slavery).
Kansas Becomes a State
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Buchanan accepted the pro-slavery vote
Asked Congress to admit KS as a slave state
Senate: accepted
House: blocked
Fights broke out
Buchanan and Southern leaders agreed to have another
referendum
But there’s a catch…..
If KS voted against the Lecompton Constitution, they
would delay statehood for 2 years.
1858: KS voted against the Lecompton Constitution
1861: KS admitted to the U.S. as a free state
Lincoln v. Douglas
 1858: Illinois Republicans nominated
Lincoln to challenge Douglas for the
Senate
Background on Lincoln
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Born in Kentucky
Store owner
Practiced law
Little formal education
Was NOT an
abolitionist
 But did think it was
immoral and should
not exist out West
Stephen Douglas on Slavery
 Douglas believed in
“popular sovereignty”
 Supported the Dred Scott
decision (slaves are and
never were meant to be
included in the
constitution)
 But people could refuse
to enforce it
 Known as the “Freeport
Doctrine”
John Brown
 Radical abolitionist
 Believed that God
wanted him to end
slavery
 Killed 5 pro slavery
settlers and was
never punished
Harper’s Ferry and John Brown’s
Raid
 October 16, 1859
 Brown led 18 people to a federal arsenal in
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modern West Virginia (Harper’s Ferry)
U.S. Marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee
stopped Brown
Took 36 hours
Tried, and convicted of treason
December 2, 1859 he was executed
North saw him as a martyr
South saw this as evidence that the North was
going to attack the South
The Union Dissolves
 South believed that
John Brown
represented the North
 1860: The Democrats
finally split over
slavery
Election of 1860
 Northern Democrats: popular sovereignty
 Nominate Stephen Douglas
 Southern Democrats: wanted to keep slave
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codes
Nominate John C. Breckenridge
Republicans: denounced John Brown,
acknowledges the South has a right to slavery
Nominate Abe Lincoln
Constitutional Union Party: John Bell
Lincoln wins, and this ultimately causes
secession
Dates of Secession
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SC: 12/20/1860
MS: 1/9/1861
FL: 1/10/1861
AL: 1/11/1861
GA: 1/19/1861
LA: 1/26/1861
TX: 2/1/1861
VA: 4/17/1861
AR: 5/6/1861
NC: 5/20/1861
TN: 6/8/1861
Secession
 Secessionists would seize federal property
 Including forts and arsenals
 2 exceptions
 Ft. Sumter (for a little bit) and Ft. Pickens
stayed in Union hands
 U.S. still wants to compromise
Crittenden’s Compromise
 KY Senator John
Crittenden
 Guarantee slavery
 Extend MO
compromise line to
CA
 Did not pass
Confederacy
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Feb. 1861
Confederate leaders met in Montgomery, AL
Formed the “Confederate States of America.”
Drafted a constitution
Each state was independent
Guaranteed slavery
Banned protective tariffs
Limited Presidency to one 6 year term
Elected Jefferson Davis
March 4, 1861: Lincoln is inaugurated President of the
United States
The Civil War Begins
 Lincoln takes office
March 4, 1861
 Inaugural address,
“the Union of these
states is perpetual.”
 Tried to reassure the
southern states that
the North was not the
aggressor
Fort Sumter Falls
 April 1861
 Lincoln announces that
he will re-supply Ft.
Sumter
 Confederacy has a
dilemma
 Can’t let the U.S. come
into their territory
 But, can’t really fire on
them cause it will lead to
war
Ft. Sumter
 Davis decides to take Ft.
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Sumter before the U.S.
troops get there.
Major Robert Anderson
(Union) was told to
surrender the fort by April
12, 1861
Anderson refused to leave
Confederate troops
bombarded the fort for 33
hours
No one died, but Anderson
finally surrendered
Civil War has now begun
Upper South Secedes
 Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers
 They would serve in the military for 90
days
 This created panic in the Upper South
 They didn’t necessarily want to secede,
but felt they had no choice
 Virginia was first
Trying to Keep the Border States
 Lincoln knew it was important to keep the
slave-holding border states
 KY, MO, and MD were particular concerns
 If MD seceded, then the nation’s capital
would be surrounded by Confederate
states
Maryland
 Lincoln imposed
martial law in
Baltimore
 Soldiers would arrest
anyone suspected of
supporting secession
Kentucky
 KY was important because
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it controlled the Ohio River
KY declared itself neutral
Lincoln promised to leave it
alone if the Confederacy did
too.
Sept. 1861
Confederate troops moved
into southwest corner
Union troops moved in too
KY legislature voted to go to
war with Confederacy
While pro-confederacy
Kentuckians seceded and
formed own government
Missouri
 Many sympathized with
the Confederacy
 But voted to stay in the
Union
 Federal forces helped
keep Missouri in the
Union