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America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter
10
The Coming of the Civil War
(1846–1861)
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.
America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter 10: The Coming of the Civil War (1846–1861)
Section 1: Two Nations
Section 2: The Mexican War and
Slavery Extension
Section 3: New Political Parties
Section 4: The System Fails
Section 5: A Nation Divided Against Itself
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.
Two Nations
Chapter 10, Section 1
• Why do some historians think the Civil War was
unavoidable?
• What arguments did abolitionists use against
slavery?
• How did Southerners view slavery?
• What were some important differences between the
North and the South?
Historians and the Civil War
Chapter 10, Section 1
• Many historians have debated whether or not the
United States could have avoided the Civil War, a
conflict whose outcome determined the fate of the
Union, or the unified nation.
• Some historians have suggested that with stronger
leaders, opposing groups of Americans could have
settled their differences and avoided war.
• However, others believe that the differences between
the regions, racial groups, and social classes of the
North and the South outweighed their similarities,
making conflict inevitable.
The Case Against Slavery
Chapter 10, Section 1
Slavery’s White Opponents
• By the 1850s, many white
Northerners had come to
believe that slavery violated
both American and Christian
principles.
• However, these opponents
did not necessarily also
believe in equality. Many felt
prejudice, or an unreasonable
opinion of another group that
is not based on fact, toward
African Americans.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852
novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin
became a powerful statement
about the impact of slavery.
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin presented
a vivid, if exaggerated, picture
of slavery which convinced
many Northerners that
slavery would ruin United
States society.
Southern Views on Slavery
Chapter 10, Section 1
•
•
•
In the thirty years before the Civil War, even as northern criticism
of the “peculiar institution” began to deepen, proslavery thought
came to dominate southern public life.
Fewer and fewer white southerners shared the view, common
among the founding fathers, that slavery was, at best, a
“necessary evil.”
John C. Calhoun proclaimed in 1837, “once believed that [slavery]
was a moral and political evil…That folly and delusion are gone;
we now see it in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and
stable basis for free institutions in the world.” (GML, p.386)
Southern Views on Slavery
Chapter 10, Section 1
• Calhoun and other proslavery southerners attacked the
Declaration of Independence for its “dangerous” ideas of
universal equality and freedom.
• Even those w/no direct stake in slavery shared w/planters a
deep commitment to racism.
• Many white Southerners saw Northerners as arrogant and selfrighteous, and they resented being told how they should live.
• Southerners, like Virginian George Fitzhugh, author of
Cannibals All! defended their views on slavery, arguing that
slave owners treated their slaves better than northern
industrialists treated their workers.
Southern Views on Slavery
Chapter 10, Section 1
• The Virginia writer George Fitzhugh took the
argument to its most radical conclusion, not only
repudiating Jeffersonian ideals but the notion of
America’s special mission in the world. Far from
being the natural condition of mankind, Fitzhugh
wrote, “universal liberty” was the exception.
• Slavery was “the general…normal, natural” basis of
“civilized society.”
• Many Southerners objected to Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s
portrayal of slave owners and pointed out that many
Revolutionary War heroes had also owned slaves.
Differences Between the North and the South
Chapter 10, Section 1
Trains and Trade
• Newly built railroads were
quickly making canals
obsolete, or outdated.
• The 1850s saw a large
increase in the number of
United States railroads. Most
of these new railroads,
though, were in the North.
• Railroads had a heavy impact
on trade as well as the growth
of both northern and
southern cities.
The Telegraph
• Samuel F. B. Morse’s
invention of the telegraph in
1844 improved
communication, nourishing
the booming industries of the
North.
• Because telegraph wires were
strung along railroad tracks,
the North benefited more than
the South from this new
communication technology.
Competing Visions
Chapter 10, Section 1
• The North and the South held competing visions of
what American society should become.
• These differences, as well as economic contrasts and
differences in population levels, would soon lead to
conflict.
Two Nations—Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 1
What was the significance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
(A) It whipped up northern sentiment against slavery.
(B) It pointed out the need for more railroads.
(C) It advocated white southerners’ views.
(D) It showed the economic contrasts between the north and the south.
Which of the following was a southern argument in favor of slavery?
(A) Slavery violated American and Christian principles.
(B) Southern slaves were treated better than northern free workers.
(C) Slavery was essential to southern industry.
(D) Northern prejudice was damaging to African Americans.
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Two Nations—Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 1
What was the significance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
(A) It whipped up northern sentiment against slavery.
(B) It pointed out the need for more railroads.
(C) It advocated white southerners’ views.
(D) It showed the economic contrasts between the north and the south.
Which of the following was a southern argument in favor of slavery?
(A) Slavery violated American and Christian principles.
(B) Southern slaves were treated better than northern free workers.
(C) Slavery was essential to southern industry.
(D) Northern prejudice was damaging to African Americans.
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The Mexican War and Slavery Extension
Chapter 10, Section 2
• What events led to the annexation of Texas?
• Why did the United States go to war with Mexico?
• Why did the Wilmot Proviso lead to conflict?
A Nation Divided
• Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson had a warning
that Polk and others ignored. He
predicted that if the United States gobbled
up a part of Mexico, “it will be as the man
who swallows arsenic…Mexico will poison
us.”
• What did Emerson mean by “Mexico will
poison us”? Was he right? Why or why
not?
The Mexican War and a Warning
• What did Emerson mean
by “Mexico will poison
us”? Was he right? Why or
why not?
Annexation of Texas
Chapter 10, Section 2
• During the 1830s and 1840s, many Americans
favored expanding United States territory. The term
manifest destiny, meaning obvious or undeniable fate
of the USA to expand and control North America, was
applied to this goal. Central to the idea of manifest
destiny was a sense that [WASP] America was
favored by God to rule over others because of a
superior civilization. Ironically, part of the justification
of [WASP] America to gain new territories was a
sense of duty to spread democratic principles. (Why
was this justification ironic?)
Annexation of Texas
Chapter 10, Section 2
• After winning its independence from Mexico, Texas
voted in 1836 to be annexed, or joined, to the United
States.
• Most Southerners and Democrats approved of
annexing Texas, hoping to create additional slave
states out of the Texas territory. Northerners and
Whigs, though, did not want to shift the balance of
power to the South. Both sides also worried that
annexation would lead to war with Mexico.
• Texas was annexed in early 1845, and became the
twenty-eighth state in the Union later that year.
Polk Embraces Manifest Destiny
• James K. Polk
• President James K. Polk
believed that expansion
would unite all Americans,
North, South, and West. With
so many divisions over
slavery, the tariff, internal
improvements, and money
supply, Polk saw adding new
territory as something all
Americans could agree. Yet,
even before the war ended
there were signs that Polk
miscalculated.
The Mexican War and a Warning
• What did Emerson mean by “Mexico will
poison us”? Was he right? Why or why
not?
• Define manifest destiny and explain it role
in bringing about the election of James K.
Polk, war with Mexico, increasing tension
between the North and South, and
ultimately the Civil War.
The Mexican War
Chapter 10, Section 2
The Mexican War provided
an opportunity to extend
America’s borders across
the continent.
What did the US victory over Mexico mean?
• The USA gained an
enormous amount
of territory in the
Southwest from
Mexico.
• Would slavery
expand into these
new lands?
• David Wilmot, a
northern Democrat
in Congress had an
answer.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Chapter 10, Section 2
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ended the Mexican War with
substantial gains for the United
States.
• In the treaty, Mexico gave up its
claims to Texas, California, and
New Mexico in return for $15
million.
• Five years later, Mexico sold
more land to the United States.
This Gadsden Purchase included
land that became southern New
Mexico and Arizona.
Results of the Mexican War
• The Mexican War, together with the
Gadsden Purchase and the 1846
division of Oregon, established the
borders of the continental United
States as they are today.
• In Mexico, bitterness developed
toward the United States that would
last for decades.
• New American territory in the West
opened the door to an even larger
wave of western migration.
• The acquisition of new territory
once again raised the question of
whether the new lands would be
slave or free.
Be careful what you wish…
• President James K. Polk believed that
expansion would unite all Americans,
North, South, and West. With so many
divisions over slavery, the tariff, internal
improvements, and money supply, Polk
saw adding new territory as something all
Americans could agree. Yet, even before
the war ended there were signs that Polk
miscalculated.
Victory Over Mexico Brings More Problems
• Before the US went to war against Mexico, writer
Ralph Waldo Emerson issued a warning. He said that
if the US gobbled up part of Mexico, “it will be as the
man who swallowed arsenic…Mexico will poison us.”
• What did Emerson mean? Was he right? (All of
Chapter 10 helps provide the answers and evidence
needed to these questions.)
The Impact of Manifest Destiny and the
Mexican-American War
• 1. What was the Wilmot Proviso and why was it
important?
• 2. Why was the North and South unlikely to
compromise on the issue of slavery in the western
territories?
• 3. Why did California’s request for admission as a free
state set off great controversy?
• 4. What concessions did the South receive as part of
the Compromise of 1850?
• 5. Explain whether or not the Compromise of 1850
ended the controversy between the North and South
over slavery.
The Wilmot Proviso
Chapter 10, Section 2
• Another important effect of the Mexican War was its role in
bringing the question of slavery to the forefront of
American politics. When Ralph Waldo Emerson warned:
“Mexico will poison us” he meant that the gaining of
all of this new territory would reopen wounds between
North and South over whether or not to allow the
spread of slavery. Both sections disagreed on this and
this disagreement seemed impossible to compromise.
• Congress faced a decision about whether or not to allow
slavery in the newly acquired territories. Its decision could
tip the balance of political power toward either the North or
the South.
The Wilmot Proviso
Chapter 10, Section 2
• Northerners were determined to keep slavery out of
the territories. Increasingly, northerners came to see
the spread of slavery as a threat to northern
economic and political interests. Southerners were
equally determined to spread slavery, which they also
viewed as vital to their political and economic
interests. For southerners, slavery was more than
just an economic necessity, the right to hold slaves
was viewed as a property rights issue.
• Ultimately, the sections could not settle their
differences in the 1850s and by 1861 the nation split
and fell into civil war.
The Wilmot Proviso
Chapter 10, Section 2
• The Wilmot Proviso, first attached to an 1846 bill, by
Pennsylvania Representative David Wilmot stated
that slavery would be forbidden in new territories
acquired from Mexico. This proposal was made by a
member of Polk’s own Democratic Party. Although
the proviso was not passed, it continued to be added
to bills concerning the new territories.
• The Wilmot Proviso never became law. However, it
revealed the growing gap between the North and the
South over slavery. It also indicated that Emerson’s
warning might very well come true.
Why was the expansion of slavery essential to its
survival?
Chapter 10, Section 2
• Southern planters saw control of the West as
essential to the survival of slavery. As
overworked tobacco and cotton lands the
older southern states became infertile from
overuse, the West, particularly the Southwest
became increasingly attractive. These new
lands promised new opportunities both for
new arrivals and for those who need to sell
excess slaves.
Why was the expansion of slavery essential to its
survival?
Chapter 10, Section 2
• Planters also saw the West as a “safety valve” for
the growing discontent of southern whites who
did not own slaves. By 1850, only about 1 in 3
southern whites owned slaves. Ten years later
that number was down to 1 out of 4. By opening
up the West to southern settlement, the planter
class could defuse the unhappiness of lowerclass whites in the South.
Why was the expansion of slavery essential to its
survival?
Chapter 10, Section 2
• Additionally, southerners feared northern control
of the government. If new free states were added
this could enable the industrial, free-labor North
to control policy. Their greatest fear was that a
northern majority could one day abolish slavery.
To prevent the free states in the North from using
the federal government against the interests of
slaveholders, planters needed to retain equal
representation in the U.S. Senate.
Why did northerners increasingly oppose the
spread of slavery?
• Northerners were determined to keep slavery out of the
territories. Increasingly, northerners came to see the
spread of slavery as a threat to northern economic
interests. (Northern industrialists saw investment
opportunities. “For ordinary white northerners, the West
became the place where they could fulfill the ‘American
dream’ of individual progress and freedom represented
by land ownership.”)
• So as we see, northerners and southerners had opposing
views on the status of western territories. It would be very
difficult, if not impossible to find compromise.
The Main Effect of the Mexican War
• The most important effect of the Mexican War was its role in
bringing the question of slavery to the forefront of American
politics.
• The massive extension of U.S. territory undercut thirty years of
compromises that had kept the scales of power balanced
between free and slave states in the U.S. Senate. The
precedent set by the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was
unraveling.
• Congress faced a decision about whether or not to allow slavery
in the newly acquired territories. Its decision could tip the
balance of political power toward either the North or the South.
(Many in the North were unwilling to allow any spread of slavery.
The time to compromise over slavery was quickly passing.)
The Mexican War and Slavery Extension—
Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 2
What was manifest destiny?
(A) The balance of power between northern and southern states
(B) The fate of the United States to expand across the continent
(C) The conquest of Mexico City by American forces
(D) The decision that all new territories would become free states
Which of these lists the territories acquired by the United States as a result of
the Mexican War?
(A) Florida, Louisiana, and California
(B) Texas, California, and New Mexico
(C) New Mexico, Oregon, and California
(D) Texas, New Mexico, and Florida
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The Mexican War and Slavery Extension—
Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 2
What was manifest destiny?
(A) The balance of power between northern and southern states
(B) The fate of the United States to expand across the continent
(C) The conquest of Mexico City by American forces
(D) The decision that all new territories would become free states
Which of these lists the territories acquired by the United States as a result of
the Mexican War?
(A) Florida, Louisiana, and California
(B) Texas, California, and New Mexico
(C) New Mexico, Oregon, and California
(D) Texas, New Mexico, and Florida
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New Political Parties
Chapter 10, Section 3
•
•
•
•
What were the effects of the Missouri Compromise?
What did the Compromise of 1850 accomplish?
How did political parties change in the 1850s?
Why did Stephen Douglas propose the KansasNebraska Act?
Compromises over Slavery
Effects of the Missouri Compromise
Chapter 10, Section 3
•
•
•
•
Territories acquired after the Mexican War forced an old question back
into politics about whether or not slavery would be permitted in new
territories.
Each new state that was admitted to the Union could tip the balance for
or against slavery. Both sides wanted to establish their practices in the
new territories before these territories became states.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had stated that any new states
created north of 36° 30' N latitude had to be free states. Much of
the new territory, however, was south of this line.
Some members of both parties who opposed slavery in the territories
formed the Free Soil Party. The Free Soil Party did not win any states
in the presidential election of 1848, but it did tip the balance in favor of
Whig candidate Zachary Taylor.
In the election of 1848, the
two political parties, the
Democrats and the Whigs,
split over the issue of
slavery and a third party
was formed, the Free-Soil
Party.
The Free Soil Party did
not favor abolition, but it
did favor banning slavery
in the western
territories.
The Free-Soil party lost the election but had a large
influence on politics before the Civil War.
Platform
Impact
“Free soil, free speech,
free labor, and free men.”
It won 10 percent
of the vote
Keep slavery out of the
western territories.
It raised the question as to who
would decide the slavery issue.
A national platform
of “freedom.”
Tensions increased when
California sought to join the
Union as a free state.
The Democrats and Whigs were forced to
address the slavery issue.
•Both parties supported popular sovereignty,
having voters in a territory decide whether their
territory would be free or slave.
•Having voters decide had wide appeal since it
seemed to keep with the tradition of American
democracy. It would also remove Congress from
the controversy.
Crisis Over California
• In 1849, thanks to the gold rush, California’s population
had grown sufficiently for it to qualify for statehood. The
territory wrote a constitution banning slavery and asked
for admittance to the Union as a free state.
• California’s admittance would not only upset the balance
in the Senate, it dealt a devastating blow to southern
hopes of spreading slavery into the southwest. If slavery
couldn’t expand into southern California, perhaps it
couldn’t spread anywhere.
• An aging John C. Calhoun spoke against admittance of a
free California. Once again a crisis had emerged over the
issue of slavery. (Isn’t that what Emerson warned of?)
Once again, the slavery issue was debated
in the Senate by three political leaders.
•Henry Clay
from the West
•Daniel
Webster
from the
North
•John Calhoun
from the South
• Once again, Henry Clay stepped up
and offered a compromise to
maintain the Union. This time, the
compromise was much harder to
reach than the Missouri Compromise
and the bitter feelings left behind
would never truly heal.
The Compromise of 1850
Chapter 10, Section 3
The Compromise of 1850
Clay Proposes a Compromise
In 1849, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed what would become known as the
Compromise of 1850 as a middle ground on the slavery debate.
Terms of the Compromise
As part of the Compromise, California would become a free state, New Mexico and Utah would
decide their own slavery status, and a Fugitive Slave Act would order United States citizens to
help return enslaved people who had escaped.
Calhoun’s Opposition
Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina represented much of the South’s view when he
opposed the Compromise. Calhoun believed that southern states had the right to leave the Union
if their rights were no longer being respected.
Webster’s Support
Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts supported the Compromise, believing that it would help
keep the Union together. Northern abolitionists, however, felt that Webster was putting financial
matters ahead of humanitarian issues.
Congress Approves the Compromise
The Compromise of 1850 was passed, but it did little besides establish California as a free state.
The Fugitive Slave Act infuriated northern abolitionists, including author Harriet Beecher Stowe.
The Compromise of 1850—Map
Chapter 10, Section 3
The Compromise of 1850
helped define which states
and territories would
become free states and
which would become slave
states.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• The publication of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin in 1852 helped undermine the
delicate Compromise of 1850.
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin presented a vivid,
if exaggerated, picture of slavery
which convinced many Northerners
that slavery would ruin United States
society. Stowe portrayed slavery as
un-Christian and un-American.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel
turned many northerners against
slavery. While it did not turn most
northerners into abolitionists, it did
increase anti-slavery and antisouthern feelings.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
•
•
•
•
•
•
The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 helped undermine the
delicate Compromise of 1850.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin presented a vivid, if exaggerated, picture of slavery
which convinced many Northerners that slavery would ruin United States
society. Stowe portrayed slavery as un-Christian and un-American.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel turned many northerners against slavery.
While it did not turn most northerners into abolitionists, it did increase
anti-slavery and anti-southern feelings.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written in response to the Fugitive Slave Act.
Southerners saw this book as nothing more than northern propaganda
and lies. They saw it as further proof that the North was out to destroy
their way of life.
Defenders of slavery attacked the book and offered rebuttals. Among the
southern responses was George Fitzhugh’s Cannibals All. Fitzhugh
argued that slaves were treated far better than northern factory workers.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
•
•
•
•
•
The new law (part of the Compromise of 1850) allowed special federal
commissioners to determine the fate of alleged fugitives without benefit of
a jury trail or even testimony by the accused individual.
The law also prohibited local authorities from interfering with the capture
of fugitives and required individual citizens to assist in such capture
when called upon by federal agents.
Thus, southern leaders, usually strong defenders of states’ rights and
local autonomy, supported a measure that brought federal agents into
communities armed with the power to override local enforcement and
judicial procedures to secure the return of runaway slaves.
Stowe’s book inspired northern citizens to resist this law and northern
states to pass personal liberty laws defying the federal law.
Southerners saw northern actions as growing proof that they could not
trust the North to protect southern rights.
Changes in Political Parties
Chapter 10, Section 3
Decline of the Whigs
• The slavery issue divided the
Whigs, as northern Whigs
became disgusted with Whig
leaders’ willingness to
compromise on slavery.
• Issues such as banks, which
had once been central to the
Whig Party, had been
resolved, and many Whig
leaders were dead or dying.
• By the end of the 1850s, the
Whig Party had largely
disappeared.
Rise of the Know-Nothings
• Nativism, a movement to
ensure that native-born
Americans received better
treatment than immigrants,
helped a new political party
arise.
• The American Party, also
called the Know-Nothings
after its association with a
secret society, opposed
immigration, believing that it
would lead to crime, vice, and
unemployment.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Chapter 10, Section 3
•
•
•
•
Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas had two goals: to make Chicago
benefit from trade with the West and to run for President. To
accomplish these goals, Douglas needed Kansas and Nebraska to
become states, but without angering Southerners by becoming free
states.
To accomplish these goals, Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska
Act in January 1854. This act would essentially repeal the Missouri
Compromise by letting the people of a territory decide for
themselves whether to become a free or slave state according to
the principles of popular sovereignty.
Douglas envisioned that Kansas and Nebraska would peacefully vote
to become free states.
The act passed, but Northerners were enraged by what they saw as a
sellout to the South.
Kansas-Nebraska Act Repeals the Missouri
Compromise Ban on Slavery
Reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Creation of the Republican Party
Chapter 10, Section 3
• During the summer of 1854, Northerners disgusted
with the major parties refusal to take a strong stand
against the spread of slavery launched a new political
party that they named the Republican Party. The
Republicans argued against slavery and fought for
the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the
Fugitive Slave Act. Their official position was
opposition to the expansion of slavery into the
western territories.
The Creation of the Republican Party
Chapter 10, Section 3
• The Republican Party soon became a strong
party that competed with the Know-Nothings
for political power in opposition to the
Democrats. The Republicans adopted the
very successful slogan of “Free soil, free
labor, free men.” Following the election of
1856 the Republicans became the dominant
party in the North.
New Political Parties — Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 3
Which of the following people opposed the Compromise of 1850?
(A) Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts
(B) Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina
(C) Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky
(D) Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois
What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act propose?
(A) New states north of 36° 30' N latitude had to be free states.
(B) New states could decide whether to be free or slave states.
(C) New states from Mexican territory had to be slave states.
(D) California would become a free state, and Utah and Nebraska would
decide for themselves whether to be free or slave states.
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New Political Parties — Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 3
Which of the following people opposed the Compromise of 1850?
(A) Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts
(B) Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina
(C) Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky
(D) Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois
What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act propose?
(A) New states north of 36° 30' N latitude had to be free states.
(B) New states could decide whether to be free or slave states.
(C) New states from Mexican territory had to be slave states.
(D) California would become a free state, and Utah and Nebraska would
decide for themselves whether to be free or slave states.
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The System Fails
Chapter 10, Section 4
• Why did violence erupt in Kansas in the mid-1850s?
• How did slavery affect national politics in this period?
• What problems did the Lecompton Constitution
cause?
• What important issues were discussed in the LincolnDouglas Debates?
• How did John Brown’s raid increase tensions
between the North and the South?
Violence Erupts
Chapter 10, Section 4
•
•
•
•
According to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, voters in the Kansas
Territory would decide for themselves whether to become a free or
slave state. Both proslavery and antislavery forces moved into
Kansas to influence the territory’s decision.
New England settlers known as free soilers, after the Free Soil
party, worked to end slavery in the territory. Meanwhile,
proslavery settlers organized secret societies to oppose the free
soilers.
Violence erupted in 1856 as murders, raids, and counterraids took
place throughout Kansas, earning it the name “Bleeding Kansas.”
“Bleeding Sumner”The violence spread to Washington, D.C.,
where proslavery Representative Preston Brooks attacked
antislavery Senator Charles Sumner by beating him with a cane.
Sumner never fully recovered, and his empty Senate seat served
as reminder of brutal North-South tensions.
Bleeding Sumner
Slavery and National Politics
Chapter 10, Section 4
The Election of 1856
• All three major parties were
eager to choose candidates
with no ties to “Bleeding
Kansas.”
• Democratic nominee James
Buchanan won the election,
promising to stop “the
agitation of the slavery
issue.”
• President Buchanan hoped
that the Supreme Court
would resolve the slavery
issue.
Northern Democrat and Southern
Sympathizer, James Buchanan
Election of 1856
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
• The Supreme Court’s March 1857
Dred Scott v. Sandford decision
angered antislavery forces.
• In the decision, the Court reasoned
that slaves were the property of
their owners, and that the
Constitution protected the right to
own property. It ruled that slaves
were not citizens, had no right to
sue in court, and could not be
considered free even if living in a
free state or territory.
• The decision meant that Congress
had no power to ban slavery
anywhere.
The Dred Scott Decision
• The Supreme Court’s March 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford
decision angered antislavery forces.
• In the decision, the Court reasoned that slaves were the
property of their owners, and that the Constitution protected the
right to own property. It ruled that slaves were not citizens, had
no right to sue in court, and could not be considered free even if
living in a free state or territory.
• The decision meant that Congress had no power to ban slavery
anywhere. (The Missouri Compromise had been
unconstitutional.)
The Dred Scott Decision
• The decision also strongly suggested that slavery
could spread everywhere, even in the northern
states.
• Lincoln spoke for an increasing number of
northerners who feared the implications of Dred Scott
when he said: We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming
that the people of Missouri are on the verge of
making their state free and we shall awake to the
reality instead, that the Supreme Court has made
Illinois a slave state.
The Dred Scott Case Further Divides Nation
• What were the different reactions
from northerners and
southerners over the Dred Scott
decision?
The Dred Scott Decision: Reactions Differ
• The South felt vindicated by the Court’s decision.
Proslavery forces in the South became even bolder in
their demands.
• The decision outraged the North. The Court had now
stated that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery
in the West. More northerners joined the Republican
Party.
• Some Republicans now accused the South of trying
to nationalize slavery. Even poor white men could be
slaves next.
The Lecompton Constitution
Chapter 10, Section 4
The Lecompton Constitution
• In the fall of 1857, a small
proslavery group wrote a
constitution for Kansas, a
necessary step toward statehood.
• The document they produced
was called the Lecompton
Constitution, after the proslavery
capital of Kansas.
Reactions to the Lecompton Constitution
• Most Kansans were opposed to
slavery and to the Lecompton
Constitution. President Buchanan,
hoping to end the slavery problem in
Kansas, endorsed it.
• The people of Kansas rejected the
Lecompton Constitution in 1858.
• Slavery remained legal in the territory
of Kansas, although the antislavery
majority prohibited it in practice.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
• In the Illinois Senate
campaign of 1858,
Democratic Senator Stephen
Douglas ran for reelection
against Republican Abraham
Lincoln.
• The campaign drew
nationwide attention for the
Lincoln-Douglas debates, a
series of seven debates on
the issue of slavery in the
territories.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate Slavery
• Neither Lincoln nor
Douglas believed in racial
equality. However,
Lincoln thought slavery
was morally wrong and
wanted to confine it to the
states where it already
existed. Douglas,
however, tolerated
slavery, believing that
white Americans should
choose the kind of society
that they wanted.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Chapter 10, Section 4
• Douglas made blatantly racist appeals for
votes. He accused Lincoln and his “Black
Republicans” of being dangerous radicals out
to degrade white Americans.
• Lincoln also publicly stated that the promises
of the Declaration of Independence applied to
African-Americans, but when repeatedly
accused by Douglas of favoring complete
political and social equality between blacks
and whites, Lincoln equivocated.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Chapter 10, Section 4
• “Lincoln shared many of the racial prejudices of his
day. He opposed giving Illinois blacks the right to
vote or serve on juries and spoke frequently of
colonizing blacks overseas as the best solution to the
problem of slavery and race. Yet, unlike Douglas,
Lincoln did not use appeals to racism to garner
votes. And he refused to exclude blacks from the
human family. No less than whites, they were
entitled to the inalienable rights of the Declaration
of Independence, which applied to ‘all men, in all
lands, everywhere,’ not merely to Europeans and
their descendants.” (GML, p.470)
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Chapter 10, Section 4
• Lincoln developed a critique of slavery and its
expansion that gave voice to the central
values of the emerging Republican Party and
the millions of northerners whose loyalty it
commanded. (GML, p.467)
• If slavery were allowed to expand, he warned,
the “love of liberty” would be extinguished
and with it America’s special mission to be
symbol of democracy for the entire world.
(GML, p.467)
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Chapter 10, Section 4
• Douglas claimed to represent the freedom of
local governments to decide what was best
for themselves. (This is why he viewed
popular sovereignty as true democracy.)
• Lincoln argued that national majorities, not
local majorities counted more. Moreover,
some issues went beyond majority rule.
Freedom did not include the right to take
another persons’ freedom.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Chapter 10, Section 4
•
In a now-famous speech, Lincoln stated that, “A
house divided against itself cannot stand,” referring to
the division between free and slave states. Lincoln’s
point was not that civil war was imminent, but that
Americans must choose between favoring and
opposing slavery. There could be no middle ground.
• Douglas won the election, but Lincoln earned a
reputation for eloquence and moral commitment.
John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry
• On October 16, 1859,
abolitionist John Brown
and a group of followers
attacked the federal
arsenal, a place where
weapons are made or
stored, at Harper’s Ferry,
Virginia.
• Brown hoped to give the
weapons from the arsenal
to enslaved people so that
they could rebel.
John Brown’s Raid
Chapter 10, Section 4
• United States troops, under Colonel Robert E. Lee,
surrounded the arsenal, killed half of Brown’s men,
and forced the rest to surrender. Brown was
convicted of treason and sentenced to death.
• Even though most northern political leaders,
including Lincoln condemned Brown’s violence,
many Northerners hailed Brown as a martyr.
Southerners saw him as a criminal. Southerners
equated the entire Republican Party with Brown.
The reactions caused by Brown’s raid deepened
the anger between the North and the South.
The System Fails—Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 4
Which of the following groups were probably pleased with the Dred Scott
decision?
(A) Proslavery forces
(B) Antislavery forces
(C) Former slaves living in free territories
(D) Supporters of John Brown
Which of the following best describes Lincoln’s early attitude toward slavery?
(A) He believed in equality between whites and African Americans.
(B) He believed that Kansas should become a slave state.
(C) He wanted to confine slavery to states where it already existed.
(D) He wanted to help enslaved people rebel against their owners.
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The System Fails—Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 4
Which of the following groups were probably pleased with the Dred Scott
decision?
(A) Proslavery forces
(B) Antislavery forces
(C) Former slaves living in free territories
(D) Supporters of John Brown
Which of the following best describes Lincoln’s early attitude toward slavery?
(A) He believed in equality between whites and African Americans.
(B) He believed that Kansas should become a slave state.
(C) He wanted to confine slavery to states where it already existed.
(D) He wanted to help enslaved people rebel against their owners.
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A Nation Divided Against Itself
Chapter 10, Section 5
• How did the election of 1860 demonstrate the split
between the North and the South?
• What concerns led the Lower South to secede from
the Union?
• What event started the Civil War?
The Election of 1860
Chapter 10, Section 5
•
•
•
•
The presidential election of 1860 further demonstrated the division
between the North and the South.
National political parties no longer existed. Voters in the North
chose between Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas and
Republican Abraham Lincoln, while Southerners voted for
Southern Democrat J.C. Breckinridge or John Bell of the newly
formed Constitutional Union Party.
While votes in the Border States (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky,
and Missouri) were mixed, many in the Lower South (Texas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South
Carolina) supported Breckinridge.
Abraham Lincoln won the election without winning a single
electoral from a southern state.
The election of 1860 had four candidates.
The Lower South Secedes
Chapter 10, Section 5
•
•
•
•
Southerners were outraged that a President had been elected
without any southern electoral votes. They were also worried that
the Republican Party would ruin the southern way of life.
Secessionists, or those who wanted the South to secede, argued
that since the states had voluntarily joined the Union, they could
also voluntarily leave it.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina officially seceded. Six
other states of the Lower South followed.
In early February 1861, these states proclaimed themselves a new
nation, the Confederate States of America, or Confederacy.
Jefferson Davis, a former senator from Mississippi, became
president of the Confederacy.
With no
national
candidate
dominating the
campaign,
Lincoln won
with just over
half of the
electoral votes
needed and 40
percent of the
popular vote.
•The vote for
Abraham Lincoln
was mostly a vote
for moderation
toward the issue
of slavery and a
vote for the Union.
•However, the
South felt it no
longer had a
voice in the
national
government and
did not see how
it could remain
in the Union.
•X
South Carolina was
the first southern
state to leave the
Union.
At a state
convention held six
weeks after Election
Day, legislators
voted
to secede. It was a
unanimous vote.
•The states with the largest enslaved populations
seceded.
•The constitution of the
Confederate States of America:
•
closely resembled the U.S.
Constitution.
•
stressed the independence of each
state.
•
implied that states had the right to
secede.
•
forbid importing new slaves from other
countries.
Jefferson Davis, former
senator from Mississippi,
became president of the
Confederate States of
America.
•When Lincoln took office:
• he urged peace between the
Confederacy and the Union.
• he decided to try to hold on
to the Union forts the
Confederacy claimed, such
as Fort Sumter.
•However, Confederate forces attacked and
•captured the fort in defiance of Lincoln.
The War Starts
Chapter 10, Section 5
Views on Secession
•
•
•
•
•
•
Some Americans felt that the South
should be allowed to secede
peacefully.
Southerners argued that the States
were sovereign and could leave the
Union if they wished.
Southerners also claimed the North
had taken control of the government in
an effort to tyrannize the South.
Others objected, citing the loss of
business with the South as well as a
desire to keep the Union together.
President-elect Lincoln believed that
secession was wrong, but told the
South that he would not attack them
unless they struck first.
Lincoln viewed secession as a threat
to American democracy.
Conflict at Fort Sumter
• When Fort Sumter in South
Carolina requested supplies from
the federal government, Lincoln
faced a dilemma.
• Lincoln had to decide between
appearing to be an aggressor
against the South and
maintaining federal property. He
chose to send food but not
soldiers or arms.
• When Major Robert Anderson,
the leader at Fort Sumter, refused
to surrender the fort,
Confederates attacked it, winning
Anderson’s surrender.
The Upper South Secedes
Chapter 10, Section 5
• By firing on federal property, the southern states had
committed an act of open rebellion. Lincoln reacted
by calling for 75,000 volunteers to fight the seceding
states.
• Southerners saw Lincoln’s action as an act of war.
The Upper South states of Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded and joined the
Confederacy, while the Border States remained
uncommitted to either side.
The Union and Confederacy
Chapter 10, Section 5
After the surrender of
Fort Sumter, more states
joined the Confederacy,
making it one of the
largest republics in the
world.
A Nation Divided Against Itself—Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 5
Which of the following states were part of the Lower South?
(A) Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia
(B) Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland
(C) Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina
(D) North Carolina, South Carolina, and Missouri
Why did Lincoln start calling for volunteers to fight the seceding states?
(A) He had been elected without their electoral votes.
(B) The Confederates had attacked federal property.
(C) The states of the Upper South had seceded.
(D) The seceding states had elected their own president.
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A Nation Divided Against Itself—Assessment
Chapter 10, Section 5
Which of the following states were part of the Lower South?
(A) Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia
(B) Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland
(C) Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina
(D) North Carolina, South Carolina, and Missouri
Why did Lincoln start calling for volunteers to fight the seceding states?
(A) He had been elected without their electoral votes.
(B) The Confederates had attacked federal property.
(C) The states of the Upper South had seceded.
(D) The seceding states had elected their own president.
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