BellworkDescribe two (2) instances in the past two lessons that have deepened the divide between proslavery and antislavery peoples in America.

American History

Section 12, Unit 3Brink of War

Objectives

• Analyze what effect the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision had on the national debate over slavery.

• Describe how the Lincoln-Douglas debates both helped and hurt Stephen Douglas’ career

• Determine the importance of John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry

• Explain why the results of the 1860 presidential election caused a crisis and how the South Justified its position

Issues Brewing

• From 1857 to 1861, slavery continued to push the U.S. towards disunion.

• In 1857, when James Buchanan became president, the Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision, which intensified the issue over slavery.

Dred Scott Decision

• Dred Scott was a slave of John Emerson, who was a army surgeon in Missouri.

• Scott accompanied Emerson to several free territories while Emerson was serving.

• In 1846, Emerson died and Scott sued for his freedom, arguing that his having been a resident of the free state of Illinois granted him freedom.

Dred Scott Decision

• In 1857, the case reached the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who was a southerner.

• The Supreme Court ruled against Scott and Taney declared that Scott was not a U.S. citizen and had no right to sue because the founders viewed blacks as “inferior” and having “no rights the white man [had to] respect”.

Dred Scott Decision

• Taney also declared that if Scott had the right to bring a lawsuit, his claim to freedom had no merit.

• Taney said that the Missouri Compromise (which forbid slaves in much of the Louisiana Territory) violated the Fifth Amendment, which protects property--- including slaves.

Dred Scott Decision• “In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories of the times, and the

language used in the Declaration of Independence, show, that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor intended to be included in the general words used in that memorable instrument...They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit.“ –Chief Justice Taney

Question: What’s the problem with what Taney is saying here?

It willfully ignores the fact that Africans have already had rights in America– and have voted in some instances. With this decision in place, even free blacks were declared to not have rights.

Dred Scott Decision

• In what became known as the Dred Scott decision, abolitionists feared an extension of slavery.

• The Missouri Compromise was effectively void because of this decision and others feared that due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act– which allowed settlers to vote for or against slavery in their territories- that slavery would soon spread.

Question: What did the Supreme Court just do to the Missouri Compromise?

Abraham Lincoln

• In 1858, Illinois became a place of discussion amid the Dred Scott decision and the slavery issue.

• There, Illinois democratic party stood a high chance of nominating Stephen Douglas for the Senate, who was the architect of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Abraham Lincoln

• With this, Illinois Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln to oppose Douglas.

• Abraham Lincoln had quite the reputation among Republicans:– He was a self-made man– Worked for a frontier militia– Was a lawyer who taught himself how to read– Known to be shrewd

Abraham Lincoln

• Abraham Lincoln was originally part of the Whig Party and had actually been in the House of Representatives.

• However, because he opposed the Mexican War, he chose to leave after one term and began to practice law instead.

Abraham Lincoln

• However, the conflict over slavery in light of the Dred Scott case prompted Lincoln to return to public life.

• In his earliest public speeches, Lincoln denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act, saying that the law would raise slavery to a “sacred right”.

Question: What does he mean by a “sacred right”?

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• Over the next few years, Lincoln spoke out against the expansion of slavery.

• He rose within the newly formed Republican party and was selected as the party candidate for the U.S. seat that Douglas held.

• Upon his acceptance, Lincoln said that, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Question: What is he referring to? What does he mean?

Lincoln-Douglas Debates• Seeking state-wide exposure in Illinois, Lincoln

challenged Stephen Douglas to a series of 7 debates between August and October of 1858.

• During the debates, Lincoln attacked the Dred Scott decision, which seemed to grant broad constitutional protections of slavery.

“I do not believe it is a constitutional right to hold slaves in the territory of the United States. I believe the decision was improperly made.” – Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• However, Lincoln was willing to tolerate slavery in the South.

• Rather, he was more concerned about the expansion of slavery into the territories.

Freeport Doctrine

• In a debate in Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln challenged Douglas to explain how popular sovereignty– voting– concerning slavery was still workable in the wake of the Dred Scott decision.

• Essentially, Lincoln forced Douglas to make a decision: a) Either the people have the right to choose whether or not

to have slavery– such as the case with the Kansas-Nebraska Act

b) Or, the country does not have a right to remove slavery because it is a constitutional right, according to the Dred Scott decision.

Freeport Doctrine• Douglas argued that the people of these

territories could prevent slavery simply by voting against it. He said:

• Instead of making a direct decision, Douglas argued that states can support slavery or not, and that if they do, legislation exists to protect them.

“It matters not what way the Supreme court may… decide… The people have the lawful means to introduce [slavery] or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist… unless it is supported by local police regulations.”

Freeport Doctrine

• This argument, which became known as the Freeport Doctrine, was popular.

• The doctrine helped Douglas narrowly defeat Lincoln in a the U.S. Senate race, but hurt Douglas for his later presidential bid because he distanced himself from the Dred Scott case.

John Brown’s Raid

• A year after the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown, who was the leader of the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856, grabbed national attention.

• He set out to free slaves in Virginia and, with money from New England abolitionists, left on October 16, 1859 with a band of 20 men.

John Brown’s Raid

• That night, his small force seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in present-day West Virginia.

• He had hoped to give the weapons to slaves and help them escape to form a new territory in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

• His end goal was to attract both slaves and free blacks to his cause.

John Brown’s Raid

• Brown and his followers easily took the weapons from the armory.

• However, no slaves came to their aid.

• On October 18, federal troops under Colonel Robert E. Lee assaulted Brown’s position, killing half of his men and capturing the rest.

John Brown’s Raid

• Brown was convicted of “murder, criminal conspiracy, and treason” and was hanged on December 2, 1859.

• Six of his followers were later executed.

The Last Moments of John Brown

John Brown’s Raid

• While many questioned Brown’s sanity, he was still seen as a hero by abolitionists.

• However, many southern whites viewed Brown as a bloodthirsty fanatic who got what he deserved.

• Southern secessionist actually supported the hysteria, believing it helped their cause towards secession.

Election of 1860

• While divided, the nation approached the presidential election of 1860.

• Southern moderates, many who were part of the Know-Nothing Party, formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee. They ignored sectional differences and argued that Americans rally around the Constitution.

Election of 1860

• The Democratic Convention broke up without choosing an candidate, splitting into the north and south.

• Northern Democrats supported Stephen Douglas, while Southern Democrats supported John Breckinridge, a man who supported the Dred Scott decision.

Election of 1860

• The Republicans, however, were the most united.

• They successfully pulled together moderates from the Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Democrats.

• People were convinced that only a moderate candidate could win and so they chose Abraham Lincoln.

Election of 1860

• The Republican party designed it’s platform to get support from northern industrialists and wage earners, but also attract Midwestern farmers.

• It opposed slavery in the territories and supported federal support for the construction of public works, such as a railroad, canals, and more.

Election of 1860

What does this election results map show about the sectional differences in the nation?

Election of 1860

• The election results mirrored the nations divisions.

• Breckenridge carried the South while the Upper South supported Douglas and Bell.

• However, the North and western states supported Lincoln.

Question: A president just won without a electoral vote from the Southern states. How will they react?

Secession

• With the outcome of the election, the Deep South finally was mobilized.

• A president had been won without a single southern state’s support and confirmed the South’s deepening sense of political powerlessness.

Secession• Within days of the election,

the South Carolina legislature called a convention to consider secession.

• As onlookers cheered, South Carolina voted to leave the Union.

• Soon afterwards, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas soon passed similar acts of secession.

Secession

• Early in 1861, delegates from six of the seven seceding states met in Montgomery, Alabama and drafted a constitution for the Confederate States of America.

• While it mirrored the constitution in every way, it was different in two ways:1. It guaranteed slavery2. Stressed that each state was sovereign

Secession

• In late 1861, the Confederacy voted Jefferson Davis as the president of the Confederacy.

• While not all southerners supported secession– for various reasons– those who opposed it were eventually drowned out by those who supported leaving the union.

Constitutional Issues

• In the months before he left office, President Buchanan tried to sit on the political fence.

• He did not support the states leaving, but argued that the federal government couldn’t stop them.

• Instead, he chose to let the incoming president deal with this problem.

Constitutional Issues

• Southern secessionists referenced Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John C. Calhoun to justify their position.

• They argued under the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and the issue of state rights during the Nullification Crisis, that the states had the right to come together on their own to form a union.

Constitutional Issues• Northerners

opposed this by saying that, because states signed the Constitution, they agreed to recognize the supremacy of the document.

• There could be no nation if a state could leave at any time and the Constitution made no provision for states to secede.

Constitutional Issues

• However, this went beyond state rights. • What was truly at stake was the existence of

slavery.• The South feared further restrictions of

slavery, not just in the territories, but in the South itself.

War

• While having won the Election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln– along with the rest of the nation– would soon have to face a war that, in many ways, was an unavoidable consequence of conflicting values and interests throughout the nation.

Video

• We are going to watch a short video about the breakup of the Union.

• While watching, please keep in mind what we have discussed in this lesson.

Questions

• If you have any questions, please ask.

Next lesson

• In the next lesson, we will discuss the dissolving of the union

Review1. What was the Supreme Court’s ruling the Dred Scott

case? How did it affect the relationship between the North and South?

2. Explain how the South justified seceding from the union.3. Concerning #2, how did the North argue against the

South?4. Why did the Election of 1860 push the South to secede? 5. What was the Freeport Doctrine and why do you think it

gained support?6. Why didn’t James Buchanan do anything about the

South’s move towards secession? 7. In your opinion, why might have secession been

unavoidable at this time? Consider the various factors that lead up to secession.