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Chapter 15 NotesThe Nation Breaking Apart 1846-1861
Timeline:
1846- Wilmot Proviso introduced
1848- Zachary Taylor elected president
1850- President Taylor dies/ Fillmore becomes president/ Congress passes the
Compromise of 1850
1852- Harriet Beecher Stowe writes Uncle Tom’s Cabin/ Pierce elected president
1854- Congress passes the Kansas Nebraska Act
1856- James Buchanan elected president
1857 Dred Scott Case
1859- John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry
1860- Abraham Lincoln elected president
1861- The Confederate States of America is formed
I. SECTION 1 Growing Tensions between North and South
Objectives:
1. To explain how the abolitionist movement heightened tension
between North and South
2. To describe the controversies over slavery in the territories
3. To evaluate how the Wilmot Proviso and potential statehood for
California deepened regional divisions
4. To analyze the Compromise of 1850
North and South Take Different Paths
 In the early 1800s the North began to develop more industry
and commerce.
 The Southern economy relied on plantation farming.
 The growth of industry in the North led to the rapid growth of
cities. Much of the population growth came from immigrants.
 Most canals and railroads ran east and west helping to develop
strong ties between the Eastern and Midwestern states.
 In the South planters relied on cotton exports. Planters invested
in slaves instead of industry.
 Most Southern whites were poor farmers who owned no slaves.
Antislavery and Racism
 Abolitionists believed that slavery was unjust and should be
abolished immediately.
 Freed African Americans were not treated equal in the North.
 Racism- the belief that one race is superior to another.
 Slaveholders were determined to defend slavery and their way
of life.
The Wilmot Proviso- 1846
 During the War with Mexico many Northerners believed that
Southerners wanted to take land from Mexico to extend slavery.
 The Wilmot Proviso- Representative David Wilmot of
Pennsylvania proposed a bill to outlaw slavery in any territory
acquired from the war with Mexico.
 Slaveholders believed Congress had no right to keep them from
bringing slaves into the new territories. Slaves were property.
 Southerners claimed the Constitution gave equal protection to
the property rights of all citizens.
 Southerners claimed the Wilmot Proviso was unconstitutional.
 The Wilmot Proviso passed in the House of Representatives
but not in the Senate. The bill never became law.
 The Wilmot Proviso led to the development of the Free Soil
Party, a political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of
slavery. The party made slavery a key issue in national politics.
Controversy over Territories
 The proposed addition of new states threatened the balance in
Congress between North and South
 After the gold rush California had enough people to apply for
statehood.
 Most residents wanted California to be a free state, but this
would throw off the balance between north and south.
The Compromise of 1850
 Henry Clay of Kentucky presents a plan to settle the California
problem. The Compromise of 1850:
1. To please the North, California would be admitted as a free
state, and the slave trade would be abolished in Washington, D.
C.
2. To please the South, Congress would not pass laws regarding
slavery in the rest of the territories won from Mexico, and
Congress would pass a stronger law to help slaveholders
recapture runaway slaves.
II SECTION 2 The Crisis Deepens
Objectives:
1. To explain how the Fugitive Slave Act and Uncle Tom's Cabin
affected Northerners
2. To analyze the concept of popular sovereignty
3. To describe the violence in "Bleeding Kansas"
4. To evaluate the attack on Senator Sumner in the Senate
The Fugitive Slave Act- 1850
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Law that helped slaveholders recapture runaway slaves.
Suspected fugitives could be held without a warrant.
No right to a trial by jury
A federal commissioner ruled on each case.
It required Northerners to help capture runaway slaves.
Those who helped fugitive slaves could be fined or jailed.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin- 1852
 Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel that
portrayed slavery as brutal and immoral.
 Stowe’s book was popular in the North, but white Southerners
believed the book falsely criticized the South.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act - 1854
 In 1854 Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced a bill to divide
the Nebraska Territory into two territories- Nebraska and
Kansas.
 Douglas suggested that the people of the territories be allowed
to vote on the issue of slavery.
 Popular sovereignty- is a system where the residents vote to
decide an issue.
 Allowing the people to decide on slavery would nullify the
Missouri Compromise which had outlawed slavery in these
territories.
“Bleeding Kansas”
 Pro slavery and antislavery settlers rushed into Kansas.
 Civil war broke out in Kansas, and continued for 3 years.
 The territory became known as “Bleeding Kansas”
Violence in Congress
 Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivers a speech
attacking proslavery forces in Kansas.
 Preston Brooks attacked Charles Sumner on the senate floor,
hitting him 30 times with his cane until he broke it.
 This violence in the Senate further separated the North and
South
III. Section 3 Slavery Dominates Politics
Objectives:
1. To explain why the Republican Party was formed
2. To summarize the effects of the Dred Scott case
3. To analyze the Lincoln-Douglas debates
4. To evaluate the impact of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
The Republican Party Forms
 The Whig party split over the Kansas - Nebraska Act
 Northern Whigs joined other opponents of slavery and formed
the Republican Party.
The Election of 1856
 The Democrats nominated James Buchanan to run for
president in 1856.
 John C. Fremont was the Republican nominee.
 Buchanan won the election.
 Although Fremont lost the election he won 11 states in the
North
 The results proved the Republican Party was a major force in
the North, and the nation was sharply split over slavery.
The Case of Dred Scott- 1857
 Dred Scott had been a slave in Missouri. His owner took him to
live in territories where slavery was illegal. Then they returned
to Missouri.
 After his owner’s death, Scott sued for his freedom.
 Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that Dred Scott was not a
citizen, and could not sue in a U. S. Court.
 Taney also ruled that Congress could not ban slavery in the
territories. Slaves were considered property and the
Constitution allowed slaveholders to take property to all states.
 This would make slavery legal in all territories.
Lincoln and Douglas Debate- 1858
 In 1858 Republican Abraham Lincoln runs against Stephen A.
Douglas for the Senate in Illinois.
 Quote from Lincoln’s campaign speech: “A house divided
against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot
endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect
the Union to be dissolved--- I do not expect the house to fall--but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one
thing, or all the other.” --- Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois,
June 16, 1858
 Lincoln and Douglas held debates across Illinois.
 Lincoln believed slavery was “a moral, a social, and a political
wrong.” He did not suggest abolishing slavery where it already
existed; he argued that slavery should not be expanded.
 Douglas believed in popular sovereignty, that the people of the
territories should be allowed to vote on the issue of slavery.
 Douglas believed the peoples vote could overrule the Supreme
Court.
John Brown Attacks Harpers Ferry- 1859
 John Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom.
 John Brown planned to capture the U. S. arsenal at Harpers
Ferry and start an armed slave revolt.
 Brown’s raid failed and he and his followers were captured.
 John Brown was tried and hung for murder and treason.
 Brown was considered a hero in the North, Southerners were
outraged by his actions.
IV. SECTION 4 Lincoln's Election and Southern Secession
Objectives:
1. To analyze why the Democratic Party split in the election of
1860
2. To identify the issues in the election of 1860
3. To describe the secession of the Southern states from the
Union
4. To explain the Union's response to secession
Political Parties Splinter
 Northern and Southern Democrats disagreed over the issue of
slavery
 The Southern Democrats defended slavery
 The Northern Democrats supported popular sovereignty
 Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas as their
candidate for the presidential election
 Southern democrats nominated John Breckinridge
 Abraham Lincoln was the Republican candidate
The Election of 1860
 The election of 1860 was a race between the North and the
south.
 Lincoln defeated Douglas in the North.
 Because the North had more people in it than the South,
Lincoln won the election.
Southern States Secede
 Southerners warned that if Lincoln was elected president the
Southern states would secede, or withdraw from the Union.
 On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state
to secede.
 In the next 6 weeks, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas joined South Carolina.
 These states formed the Confederate States of America.
 Jefferson Davis was named president of the Confederacy.
The Union Responds to Secession
 Northerners believed secession was unconstitutional, and
Southern states did not have the right to secede.
Lincoln’s 1st Inaugural Address
 March 4th 1861 Lincoln gives his inaugural address.
 He assured the South he had no intention of abolishing slavery
there.
 He spoke forcefully against secession.
 He ended his speech with an appeal to friendship:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.
Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds
of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from
every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and
hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of
the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.