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UNION IN PERIL
American History I - Unit 8A
Ms. Brown
Review
• Which political party believed in nativism and disliked immigrants and
Catholics?
• The Know-Nothing Party (American Party)
• To which political party did Franklin Pierce belong? Did he support the
Kansas-Nebraska Act?
• Democrat – states’ rights and popular sovereignty
• Pro-Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Which party formed in response to the passage of the Kansas-
Nebraska Act?
• The Republican Party
• By 1856, where are most Democrats and where are most
Republicans?
• North – Republicans
• South - Democrats
8A.4 – SLAVERY AND
SECESSION
Scott v. Sandford (1857)
• Dred Scott – slave from Missouri
• 1834 – owner took him into Illinois and Michigan Territory
(free areas), upon return to Missouri  Scott claimed
freedom because he lived in free areas for several years.
Scott v. Sandford (1857)
• Scott sued his owner (Emerson) in a Missouri court  lost
• Emerson died, Scott used his next owner, Sandford in a
federal court  lost but appealed to the federal circuit
court  chosen for consideration by the Supreme Court
Scott v. Sandford (1857)
• Was Dred Scott a free man or a
slave?
• Chief Justice Roger B. Taney
issued a 3 piece decision.
• Scott filed suit in Missouri, a state in
which he was considered a slave.
• Slaves are not citizens, therefore
cannot sue in court.
• The Missouri Compromise was
unconstitutional. Slaves are
property and thus Congress is not
allowed to ban slavery because that
would mean taking away private
property.
Effects of Scott v. Sandford (1857)
• South – cheered the decision
• By officially banning Congress from banning slavery outright, the
expansion of slavery across the nation seemed easier.
• North – stunned!
• Many joined the Republican Party (anti-slavery expansion) in
hopes of keeping slavery in check.
Lecompton Constitution
• 1857 – proslavery government in Lecompton, Kansas
wrote a constitution and applied for statehood as a slave
state.
• Kansas’ residents had to approve the constitution in a
vote  more anti-slavery than proslavery settlers 
constitution was rejected.
Lecompton Constitution
• POTUS Buchanan publically supported the Lecompton
Constitution  angered Stephen Douglas because he
believed in true popular sovereignty (rule by the people)
• Douglas persuaded Congress to allow Kansas residents
to vote on the Constitution again  failed again
• Northern Democrats – Douglas is a hero!
• Southern Democrats – Douglas is a traitor!
• Split in Democratic party grew.
• Kansas’ fate concerning slavery up in the air.
Douglas-Lincoln Debates
• 1858 – Illinois seat in US Senate up for election
• Douglas and Lincoln had a series of public debates.
Douglas
Lincoln
• Current seat holder
• Democrat – States’ rights,
popular sovereignty
• Well-known, charismatic
• Argued slavery would die on its
own over time; popular
sovereignty should be used for
now
• Challenger
• Republican – anti-slavery
expansion
• Not well-known, spoke solemnly
and directly
• Argued slavery was immoral;
slavery would not end until the
government intervenes
Douglas-Lincoln Debates
• During the debates, Lincoln questioned how Douglas
could say he supported…
• popular sovereignty in the Kansas-Nebraska Act AND ALSO
• the Scott v. Sandford decision which claimed that slavery could not
be banned officially by a government.
• Douglas responded with the Freeport Doctrine
• States could exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws that
supported slavery.
• Due to Scott v. Sandford, states could not ban slavery BUT
Douglas said they could just not pass laws that supported it, thus
finding a loophole in the SCOTUS decision.
Douglas-Lincoln Debates
• Douglas won the IL Senate seat,
but his actions split the
Democratic party further.
• Lincoln lost, but gained national
attention from Republicans 
possible presidential candidate
for 1860?
John Brown at Harpers Ferry
• 1859 – John Brown and 21 men (white and black)
attacked Harpers Ferry, VA (federal arsenal)
• Brown wanted to steal the weapons in the arsenal, give them to
slaves in the area, and start a rebellion
• Brown held 60 slave owners hostage, but no slaves came
forward to take weapons.
John Brown at Harpers Ferry
• US Marines captured Brown and he was tried and hanged
for treason.
• Northerners – saw Brown as a martyr (person who sacrifices
themselves) for ending slavery
• Southerners – scared the North was plotting more slave rebellions,
discussed secession again
Rise of Lincoln
• May 1860 – Republican Convention to choose
presidential candidate for later that year
William Seward
• NY Senator
• Anti-slavery expansion
• Financial support of wealthy
NYers
• Loved being the center of
attention
• Very confident he would get the
nomination
Lincoln
•
•
•
•
No current office
Anti-slavery expansion
Relatively unknown nationally
Seemed more moderate (no
reputation to offend anyone)
• Tried to reassure Southerners
that he would not interfere with
their existing slaves
• Lincoln won the nomination for the Republican Presidential
Candidate for 1860
• Southerners – Lincoln’s election would be “the greatest evil
that has ever befallen this country.”
Election of 1860
LINCOLN
DOUGLAS
BRECKINRIDGE
BELL
Republican
Northern Democrats
Southern Democrats
Constitutional Union
(Know-Nothings , Whigs)
NO slavery
Popular sovereignty
Lincoln =
16th POTUS!
YES slavery
Ignored slavery
Southern Secession
• Lincoln’s victory  increased discussion of Southern
secession from the Union
• Lack of a political voice in Congress
• Slavery in danger
• Threatened the Southern way of life that they had known for almost
200 years
• December 20, 1860 – SC seceded from the Union
• In the next few weeks, MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, and TX had also
seceded.
What is this picture
conveying about the
nature of the Election
of 1860 and the
political views of
Americans?
The Confederacy
• Aka the Confederate States of America
– formed in 1861, loose union of
Southern states that seceded from the
Union
• Drafted a constitution that resembled
the US Constitution, but…
• “protected and recognized” slavery in
states and new territories
• Said that each state was “sovereign and
independent” of other states
• Elected Jefferson Davis as president
of the Confederacy
• “The time for compromise has now
passed.”
Calm Before the Storm
• POTUS Buchanan tried to declare secession illegal, but
there wasn’t much he could do.
• Lincoln was not POTUS until his inauguration in March 1861
• Southern Congressmen and federal officials resigned,
leaving half of DC empty… seemed as if the federal
government would disappear.
• Would the North let the South leave without a fight?
Fort Sumter
• Early 1861 – Southern Confederate troops took control of
military forts in the states that had seceded, only 2 left
• Fort Sumter (the more important fort left) faced an attack
by Confederate troops
• Lincoln had 2 choices…
• Order Union troops to fire shots and protect Fort Sumter, but then
he would be responsible for possibly starting a war
• Let Fort Sumter fall into Confederate hands, but then he would
essentially be legitimizing the Confederacy as a real and separate
nation (which would make him look weak)
Fort Sumter
• Lincoln decided not to shoot AND not to surrender 
chose to send in “food for hungry men”
• Left the hard decision up to Jefferson Davis
• Davis had 2 choices…
• Attack Fort Sumter and face starting a war
• Do nothing and make the Confederacy look weak and not like a
real nation
First Shots at Fort Sumter
• Davis chose WAR!
• April 12, 1861 –
Confederate troops
attacked Fort Sumter
and the Union troops
inside surrendered.
• By May 1861, VA, AR, TN,
and NC had joined the
Confederacy
• The US was officially
split in two halves… and
in a Civil War.