slavery

CHAPTER
10
The Union in Peril
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“Can we as a nation continue together
permanently —forever—half slave and half free?”
Abraham Lincoln, 1855
What do you know?
Read the quote above and answer the following:
• In Lincoln’s view, which is more important,
abolishing slavery or having a unified country?
• Do you think American society today would be
better or worse if the Union had peaceably
broken up into two nations?
CHAPTER
10
Time Line
The United States
1850 Harriet Tubman becomes a conductor on the
Underground Railroad.
Congress passes Compromise of 1850.
California enters the Union.
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes
Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
1854 The Republican Party forms.
Congress approves the KansasNebraska Act.
1857 Chief Justice Roger Taney announces
decision in case involving Dred Scott.
1859 John Brown attacks the arsenal at
Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
1861 The Confederacy forms.
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SECTION
1
The Divisive Politics of Slavery
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Terms and Names
Wilmot Proviso: introduced an amendment proposing that “neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in any territory the
United States might acquire as a result of the war with Mexico.
•Territories of California, Utah, and New Mexico
Secession: the formal withdrawal of a state from the Union.
Compromise of 1850: Proposed by Henry Clay. Chart on page 308.
Popular Sovereignty: the right of residents of a territory to vote for or
against slavery.
*New Mexico & Utah
Stephen A. Douglas: Proposed the idea of popular sovereignty.
Picked up the pro-compromise reins when Henry Clay left Washington.
Reintroduced the terms of the Compromise of 1850 one at a time,
which resulted in the passing of the Compromise of 1850.
Millard Fillmore: successor of President Tyler upon Tyler’s death.
Supported the Compromise of 1850.
SECTION
1
The Divisive Politics of Slavery
HOME
1
What was each region’s position on the following issues
or how was each region affected by the following trends?
TREND OR ISSUE
NORTH
SOUTH
1. INDUSTRY AND RAILROADS
Extensive industry
and railroads.
Little industry and
few railroads.
2. IMMIGRATION
High immigration.
Little immigration.
3. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
Supported internal
improvements.
Opposed internal
improvements.
4. WILMOT PROVISO
Supported Wilmot
Proviso.
Opposed Wilmot
Proviso.
5. SLAVERY IN CALIFORNIA
Opposed slavery in
California.
Supported slavery
in California.
California
1849 Gold Rush-skipped territorial phase and
joined the union as a state in 1850
California’s new constitution forbade slavery
Southerners upset because most of California
lay South of the Missouri Compromise line
instituted in 1820.
Southerners begin to question whether they
should remain in the Union.
The Senate Debates
Topics
California Statehood
Secession
Clay’s Compromise (page 308)
Popular Sovereignty
Calhoun and Webster (page 308)
The Compromise is Adopted
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Stephen A. Douglass
Millard Fillmore
California was entered as a free state.
New Mexico and Utah were each allowed to use popular sovereignty to
decide the issue of slavery.
The Republic of Texas gave up lands that it claimed in present day New
Mexico and received $10 million to pay its debt to Mexico.
The slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia.
The Fugitive Slave Act made any federal official who did not arrest a
runaway slave liable to pay a fine. This was the most controversial part of
the Compromise of 1850 and caused many abolitionists to increase their
efforts against slavery.
SECTION
1
The Divisive Politics of Slavery
Section 1 Assessment
HYPOTHESIZING
After reviewing issues and events in this section that reflect
the growing conflict between the North and the South, do
you think there were any points at which a different action or
leader might have resolved the conflict?
THINK ABOUT
• issues raised by the Wilmot Proviso, California’s statehood,
and the Compromise of 1850
• reasons for Northerners’ anger with the South
• constitutional concerns raised by Southerners
• the political impact of adding new free states
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SECTION
2
Protest, Resistance, and Violence
Learn About
the Fugitive Slave Act and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
To Understand
how the controversy over slavery became increasingly
violent.
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Fugitive Slaves & the
Underground Railroad
Fugitive Slave Act: component of the Compromise of
1850
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Alleged fugitives were not entitled to a trial by jury
Were not allowed to testify on their own behalf
Federal Commissioners charged with enforcing the law were
to receive a $10 fee from the government if they returned an
alleged fugitive and $5 if they freed the slave
Anyone charged with helping a fugitive slave was subject to
a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment for 6 months
Resisting the Law
Northerners sent slaves to Canada
Personal Liberty Laws: forbade the
imprisonment of runaway slaves and
guaranteed that they would have jury trials

9 Northern states passed the Personal Liberty
Laws
Harriet Tubman and the
Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad: free African Americans and white abolitionists
developed a secret network of people who would, at great risk to
themselves, aid fugitive slaves in their escape
“Conductors”: leaders of the Underground Railroad who hid fugitive slaves in
secret tunnels and false cupboards, provided food and shelter, and sent
them to the next station
Harriet Tubman: Famous Conductor
As a young girl she suffered a severe head injury from a plantation overseer who hit
her with a lead weight
The hit damaged her brain causing her to lose consciousness several times a day
To compensate for her disability she increased her strength to the point where she
could do tasks that men could not do
Made 19 trips to the South and helped free 300 slaves
Neither she nor any slaves she helped were ever captured
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe: author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The books message was that slavery was not just a political contest but also a great
moral struggle
In response to the book Northerners increased their protest against the Fugitive
Slave Act
Legend has it that President Lincoln met Stowe during the Civil War and said “So this
is the little lady who made the big war” displaying the significance of the book
Tension in Kansas & Nebraska
Stephen A. Douglass leading
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Thought popular sovereignty would be accepted by the people again,
however Northerners had become very opposed to slavery
Nebraska/Kansas lay North of the Missouri Compromise line so they
should be free states
Douglass still assumed that Nebraska would be admitted as a free state
and Kansas as a slave state to maintain balance in Senate
Douglass decides to support repeal of the Missouri Compromise which
would make slavery legal in North
The Kansas/Nebraska Act
In 1854 Douglass introduced a bill to divide the area into two
territories: Nebraska in the North and Kansas in the South.
If passed the bill would repeal the Missouri Compromise and
establish popular sovereignty for both territories
With the help of President Franklin Pierce the Kansas/Nebraska
Act became law in 1854
This act outraged Northerners and Douglass lost all support in
the North
Violence Erupts in “Bleeding Kansas”
Settlers from the North and South poured into Kansas.
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Some were simply farmers looking for land
Most were sent by emigrant aid societies.
Groups formed to supply rifles, animals, seed, and farm equipment to
antislavery migrants
•March 1855 Kansas had enough settlers to hold an election for a territorial
legislature
•Thousands of “border ruffians” from the slave state of Missouri crossed into
Kansas and voted illegally
•Kansas becomes proslavery by a fraudulent vote
•Elected proslavery candidates set up a government in Lecompton and
issue a series of proslavery acts
•Northerner abolitionists organize a rival government in Topeka
“The Sack of Lawrence” & “Pottawatomie Massacre”
Antislavery settlers had formed a town known as Lawrence
Proslavery grand jury found Lawrence settlers to be traitors and
called for them to be arrested
1856 Proslavery posse burned down headquarters, destroyed
newspapers, and looted houses and stores
 This became known as the “Sack of Lawrence”
“The Pottawatomie Massacre”
 John Brown: abolitionist who believed God had called upon
him to fight slavery
 Mistakenly thought five men had been killed in Lawrence
 John Brown and his followers captured five proslavery men
and cut off their hands and stabbed them with
broadswords…this attack became known as “The
Pottawatomie Massacre”
 This event led to many other incidents throughout Kansas
which gave Kansas the nickname of “Bleeding Kansas”
Violence in the Senate
Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave a two
day speech attacking his colleagues for their support
of slavery
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He was especially abusive toward South Carolina Senator
Andrew Butler
Butler’s nephew, Preston Brooks, walked into the Senate
chamber and continuously hit Sumner over the head with his
cane
Sumner suffered brain damage and did not return to his
Senate seat for three years
SECTION
2
Protest, Resistance, and Violence
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Section 2 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
What were the major events in the growing conflict between
the North and the South?
1849
Harriet Tubman
escapes slavery
and reaches
Philadelphia.
1850
Congress passes
Fugitive Slave Act.
1852
Harriet Beecher
Stowe publishes
Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
1855
Two governments
are established in
Kansas.
1854
Congress passes the
Kansas-Nebraska
Act.
1856
The sack of Lawrence
and the Pottawatomie
massacre occur.
SECTION
3
The Birth of the Republican Party
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Learn About
the impact of slavery, immigration, and sectionalism
on U.S. politics.
To Understand
why new political parties emerged in the mid-19th
century.
SECTION
3
The Birth of the Republican Party
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Many factors—including an increase in immigration and the collapse of the Whig
Party—lead to a political split over the issue of slavery.
Key Idea
New Political Parties Emerge
Slavery divides Whigs
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Northern Whigs opposed the Fugitive Slave Act and gave little support to the Compromise
of 1850
Southern Whigs backed the Compromise of 1850 to appear proslavery and pro-Union
Kansas-Nebraska Act brought about the demise of the Whigs
Southern members looked for a proslavery, pro-Union party to join while northern Whigs
sought a political alternative
•The American Party formed in 1854
Nativism: the favoring of native born Americans over immigrants
Used secret handshakes and passwords, members were told to answer questions by
saying “I know nothing”
The American Party soon became known as the Know-Nothing Party
Primarily made up of middle-class Protestants who were anti-immigration and antiCatholic
The Know-Nothing Party later split over the issue of slavery in the territories
Antislavery Parties
Free-Soil Party opposed the extension of slavery into the
territories…they wanted the jobs and land for themselves
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Nominated former Democratic president Martin Van Buren
Many Northerners were Free-Soilers without being abolitionists
Many Free-Soilers supported laws prohibiting black settlement in
communities and denying blacks the right to vote
Republican Party
1854 Republican Party
was formed by Horace
Greeley and others
Party members came
from Northern Whigs,
Anti-Slavery Democrats,
and Free-Soilers
United in opposing
Kansas-Nebraska Act
and in keeping slavery
out of the territories
1856 Election
Republican Party endorsed John C. Fremont
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He mapped the Oregon Trail
The Know-Nothings split their alliance
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Northerners endorsed Fremont
Southerners endorsed former President Millard Fillmore
Democrats nominated James Buchanan
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He was a northerner but most of his friends were southerners
The only truly nation candidate who had not antagonized neither the North nor the South
Chose John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky as his running mate
This was to balance support between the North and South
Buchanan wins the
election with 45% of the
popular vote, he won the
entire South except for
Maryland
Fremont received 33% of
popular vote
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South may have seceded if
he won
SECTION
3
The Birth of the Republican Party
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Section 3 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
Which events led to the growth of the Republican Party in
the 1850s?
Whig Party divides over slavery.
Know-Nothing Party divides over slavery.
Free-Soil Party opposes slavery in the
territories.
Temperance advocates support
Republicans.
Small farmers want land grants in the West.
Commercial farmers and manufacturers want
internal improvements.
Bleeding Kansas angers opponents of slavery.
Caning of Sumner angers Northerners.
Growth of the
Republican Party
SECTION
3
The Birth of the Republican Party
Section 3 Assessment
SYNTHESIZING
Imagine that you are living in a small town in Illinois in
1855. Write a flyer attracting people to a meeting of the new
Republican Party in Illinois.
THINK ABOUT
• issues that concern voters
• reasons that people might want to leave their current
political parties
• signs that the Republican Party will be successful
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SECTION
4
Slavery and Secession
Learn About
the increasingly divisive effects of slavery on national
politics in the late 1850s.
To Understand
why the South seceded.
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SECTION
4
Slavery and Secession
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A series of controversial events heighten the sectional conflict and bring
the nation to the brink of war under President Buchanan’s weak
leadership.
Slavery Dominates Politics
President Buchanan’s administration was plagued by slavery related
controversies
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Dred Scott: slave from Missouri whose owner took him North of the Missouri
compromise line for 4 years … later they returned to Missouri where Scott’s
owner died … Scott claimed he became a free person while living in free territory
Scott had been living in a slave state when he began his lawsuit
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In 1857 Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney ruled slaves did not have the
rights of citizens
Court ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because doing so
would interfere with slaveholders right to own property
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Opponents of slavery returned to Republican Party hoping they were strong
enough to keep slavery in check
Slavery Dominates Politics cont…
Lecompton Constitution: fall of 1857 proslavery government wrote a
constitution and applied for admission to the Union
Free-Soilers (who out numbered proslavery settlers by 10:1) rejected the
proposed constitution
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Lecompton Constitution went to vote and was voted down by the people of
Kansas
President Buchanan endorsed the proslavery Lecompton Constitution, he
felt he owed his presidency to the South … Since Kansas only contained
300 slaves, he felt the Free-Soilers were over reacting
Democrat Steven A. Douglas challenged Buchanan’s endorsement and
called for popular sovereignty to be endorsed
1858 the voters, again, rejected Lecompton Constitution
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A big WIN for Douglas as he won back some Northern support
The Lincoln-Douglas Debate of
1858
1858 Illinois’s US Senate
race between Democrat
Douglas and Republican
Lincoln
Douglas was a heavy
favorite going into race
Lincoln was a relatively
unknown
lawyer/politician
 Served 1 term in
Congress as Whig
before becoming
Republican
Lincoln Challenges Douglas
Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of 7 open air debates on
the issues of slavery in the territories
Douglas believed in popular sovereignty, did not think slavery
was immoral but unsuitable for prairie agriculture
Lincoln believed slavery was immoral and a labor system based
on greed
The Freeport Doctrine
In Second debate Lincoln asked Douglas “Could the settlers of
a territory vote to exclude slavery before the territory became a
state?” (Dred Scott decision said NO)…Popular Sovereignty
was an empty phrase
Douglas’s response becomes known as Freeport Doctrine
“Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is
supported by local police regulations.”
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This was a loophole around the Dred Scott decision
Douglas won Senate seat but Lincoln’s views on slavery drew
national attention, which allowed the Republican party to
nominate him for president in1860
Passions Ignite
Harper Ferry: in 1859 John Brown led a
band of twenty-one men into Harpers
Ferry, Virginia with the intent to seize the
federal arsenal there and give the arms to
slaves in the area  starting a general
slave uprising
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Brown and his men are captured by Colonel
Robert E. Lee
Brown’s mistake was that he did not tell the
slaves his plan ahead of time
Brown given to Virginia and tried for treason
1859 Brown is hanged for treason
Both North/South responded passionately
to Brown’s hanging
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North denounced slavery and the South
more than ever
Southerners were terrified at the events of
Harpers Ferry, fearful that the North would
plot slave uprisings everywhere
Lincoln is Elected President
Republican Convention: was
believed Republican parties
candidate would be Senator
William H. Seward of New York
Lincoln upsets well-known
Seward and wins the
Republican nomination
Election of 1860
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Four Candidates
Northern Democrats – Steven
Douglas …popular sovereignty
Southern Democrats – VP John
Breckenridge
Constitutional Union Party – John
Bell … ignored slavery
Republican Party – Abraham
Lincoln
Lincoln emerged as winner,
carrying every free state;
however received less than ½
popular vote (chart on p.330)
Southern
Secession
December 20, 1860 South Carolina secedes from the Union
Mississippi follows in January 1861
Florida follows and within weeks Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana
also leave
February 4, 1861 the Confederacy or Confederate States of America was
formed
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Jefferson Davis of Mississippi is elected President
Jefferson’s stance was clear, that the time for compromised had passed
The Calm before the Storm
7 slaves states had formed a new nation, 8 slave states remained within the Union
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President Buchanan shows weakness again and announces secession illegal but also says
there is nothing he can do about it
One key question remained … Would the North allow the South to leave the Union without a
fight?
President Lincoln enters office having to answer that question
SECTION
4
Slavery and Secession
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Section 4 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
How did the following six events sharpen the North-South
conflict?
Event
Result
1. Dred Scott decision
Northerners feared that slavery would
expand everywhere.
2. Lecompton constitution
Divided the Democrats over
slavery.
3. Lincoln-Douglas debates
Highlighted the debate over
slavery.
4. Harpers Ferry raid
Southerners feared efforts to
promote slavery rebellions.
5. John Brown’s hanging
Northerners found a martyr for the
antislavery cause.
6. Election of 1860
Led to Southern secession.
SECTION
4
Slavery and Secession
Section 4 Assessment
ANALYZING ISSUES
Do you think Lincoln made the right decision in choosing
not to free the slaves immediately once the Confederacy had
been formed?
THINK ABOUT
• the number of states that had already seceded
• the importance of the border states
• possible reactions if he had freed the slaves
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Chapter
10
Assessment
1. Describe the economic differences between the North
and the South in the 1850s.
2. Explain why the Wilmot Proviso failed to pass in
the Senate.
3. What were the major terms of the Compromise
of 1850?
4. Compare the impact of Harriet Tubman and Harriet
Beecher Stowe on antislavery attitudes in the North.
5. What were the basic provisions and results of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act?
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Chapter
10
Assessment
6. Why did the Republican Party grow as the Whig and
Know-Nothing parties declined in the 1850s?
7. Summarize the results of the election of 1856.
8. How did the Dred Scott decision affect slavery in
the territories?
9. Compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln’s and
Stephen A. Douglas’s view about slavery in
the territories.
10. Why was the South so upset by Lincoln’s election?
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