Popular sovereignty = idea that political power belongs to the people

Many people believed states and territories, not the federal government, should decide if they wanted to permit slavery

Document written by Representative David Wilmot Idea was proposed to Congress to prohibit slavery in all

parts of the Mexican Cession Document stated that “neither slavery nor involuntary

servitude shall ever exist in any part of the territory”

The Wilmot Proviso created a debated that showed growing sectionalism in the U.S.

Sectionalism = favoring the interests of one section or region over the interests of the entire country

Party supported the Wilmot Proviso Northerners who supported the abolition of slavery They feared slave labor would take jobs away from white

workers Martin Van Buren was a member

Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed that California enter the Union as a free state

Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina believed slave states should separate peacefully from the Union

Secede = formally withdraw from the Union Compromise of 1850 = California entered as a free state and the Mexican

Cession was divided into two territories – Utah and New Mexico The question of whether to allow slavery would be decided by popular

sovereignty in the new territories A consequence of the Compromise was the balance between free and slave

states ended

Act made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas

Slaveholders took fugitives to U.S. commissioners who decided their fate

Northerners opposed the act because it gave commissioners too much power and should have allowed slaves the right to jury trials

Northerners were horrified that some free African Americans were captured and sent to the South

PRO-SLAVERY ANTI-SLAVERY

Anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe Published in 1852 and within a decade it sold over 2 million copies Spoke out powerfully against slavery Stowe was inspired to write the novel after talking to fugitive slaves

she met in Ohio She was outraged by the cruelties of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act

Franklin Pierce (Democrat from New Hampshire) was elected the 14th President

Southern Democrats supported him because he promised to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act

January 1854 Introduced by Stephen Douglas Divided the Louisiana Territory into two territories – Kansas and

Nebraska It would allow people in each territory to decide on the question of

slavery It led to the return of the slavery issue between the North and South

Anti-slavery government in Kansas was declared illegal by a pro-slavery grand jury

Pro-slavery forces accused antislavery leaders of treason, so they set fires and looted the city of Lawrence, Kansas

One man was killed

Abolitionist John Brown wanted revenge for the Sack of Lawrence May 24th, 1856 – five pro-slavery men were killed in Kansas Result – Kansas collapsed into a civil war and many citizens were killed “Bleeding Kansas” - abolitionists and pro-slavery forces clashed in

Kansas

The Republican Party was formed after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed The party was against the spread of slavery in the West In 1854, the party rallied around the spread of slavery in the West (Do not copy) - Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was responsible for the

Republican Party elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled "The Republican Vote." That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

Democrat Won the election of 1856 Became the 16th President

Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, whether free or slave, were not considered citizens of the United States

The Court also ruled that the Missouri Compromise’s restriction on slavery was unconstitutional

Republicans were angry that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery

Abraham Lincoln (Republican) accused Democrats of wanting to spread slavery in the West

Lincoln said African Americans were entitled to all the natural rights (life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness) listed in the Declaration of Independence

Stephen Douglas (Democrat) stated that Republicans wanted to make every state a free state, and that would eventually lead to war

October 16th, 1859 - John Brown led an armed resistance in Harpers Ferry, Virginia

They attempted to steal weapons from an arsenal and bring them to local slaves

U.S. Marines defeated Brown’s men and he was convicted of treason, murder, and conspiracy and was hanged

It failed because he did not have enough supporters Southerners feared another Northern attack Lincoln said the anti-slavery movement should not be one of violence

Abraham Lincoln won both the electoral and popular votes and became the 16th President

This election showed that the South was losing power in the nation

December 20, 1860 – South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas seceded (separated) from the Union to form the CSA (also called the Confederacy)

They formed a constitution that gave its citizens the right to own slaves Jefferson Davis was elected President of the CSA They were afraid the southern economy and way of life would be

destroyed