FROM COMPROMISE TO CRISISIn the late 1800’s compromise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces became almost impossible.

1819 – Alabama and Missouri apply for statehood as slave states. Congress did not question Alabama being a slave state because it was located far south, surrounded by other slave states and it would balance the slave and free states.

BUT…..Most of Missouri lay north of where Ohio River flows into Mississippi. Slavery banned on eastern side of Mississippi River.

CONFRONTING THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY! Issue: Missouri applied for statehood as

a slave state.

Northerners favored / opposed this because

Southerners favored / opposed this because …

It would upset the balance of free and slave states in the Senate.

There would be more slave states than free states in the Senate.

opposed

favored

TALLMADGE AGREEMENT

Bill to make Missouri a state came before Congress, Representative James

Tallmadge of NY proposed an amendment.It said…

Missouri could join the Union but only as a free state!

Guess who was happy?

Northerners – It would stop the spread of slavery into the Louisiana Territory

SOUTHERNERS’ PROTEST “ What right did Congress have to

decide whether a new state should be free or slave?”

According to the theory of state’s rights, favored by many Southerners, Congress had no power to impose its will on a state.

Southerners believed that if Missouri were admitted as a free state, the North would

have the votes in Congress to end slavery!!

CONFRONTING SLAVERY

Issue: The Tallmadge agreement proposed that Missouri be admitted as a free state.Northerners favored /

opposed thisbecause…

Southerners favored / opposed this because …

It would stop the spread of slavery into the Louisiana Territory.

If Missouri were admitted as a free state, the North would have the votes in Congress to end slavery

favoredopposed

MISSOURI COMPROMISE 1820

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE UNRAVELS During the 1830s abolitionists flooded

Congress with anti-slavery petitions. Congress kept saying they had no power to interfere with slavery in the states.

Abolitionists asked for slavery to be banned in the nation’s capital of Washington D.C.

Rather than confront the issue Congress voted to table (set aside indefinitely) all anti-slavery petitions

Abolitionists called this action the “gag rule”

because it silenced all congressional debate over slavery.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

The Missouri Compromise

Missouri entered the Union as a slave state.

Maine entered the Union as a free state. Congress drew a line at 36l 30’ across

the Louisiana Territory. Slavery was permitted south of that line and prohibited above it.

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE UNRAVELS!

Issue: Abolitionists wanted to end slavery in Washington D.C but Congress refused to consider anti-slavery petitionsNorthern abolitionists were pleased/angeredbecause

Southerners were pleased/ angered because… pleasedangered

They wanted slavery to be outlawed in the nation’s capital.

They wanted no limitations placed on slavery.

FUGITIVE SLAVES Individual slaves continued to rebel by

running away to freedom in the North. These fugitives were often helped in their escape by sympathetic people in the North.

To slave owners these Northerners were no better than bank robbers. They saw slaves a a valuable piece of property.

Slaveholders demanded Congress pass a fugitive slave law to help them recapture their property.

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISES UNRAVELS! Issue: Some northerners assisted

fugitive slaves.

Northerners accepted / condemned this practice because

Southerners accepted/ condemned this practice because …

They felt slavery was wrong.

They felt runaway slaves were lost property.

acceptedcondemne

d

THE WILMOT PROVISO President Polk sent a bill to Congress

asking for money to fight the Mexican American War. David Wilmot, a representative from PA. added an amendment to the bill .

The Wilmot Proviso stated that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in any part of the territory that might be acquired from Mexico.

THE WILMOT PROVISO!

Issue: The Wilmot Proviso states slavery would not be allowed in the Mexican Cession.Northerners favored /

opposed this amendment beause

Southerners favored / opposed this amendment because …

They wanted to prevent the expansion of slavery into territories.

They felt Congress had no right to tell slaveholders where they could take their property.

favoredopposed

STATEHOOD FOR CALIFORNIA For the next three years, Congress debated

what to do about slavery in the territory gained from Mexico.

Southerners wanted all the the Mexican Cession open to slavery

Northerners wanted it all closed

California applies for statehood as a free state. However, this would upset the balance

CALIFORNIA STATEHOOD!

Issue :California applied for admission as a free state.

Northerners favored/ opposed admitting California as a free state because

Southerners favored/opposed admitting California as a free state because

It would create more free states than slave states in Congress.

It would make the slave states a minority in Congress.

favored

opposed

California was admitted as a free state. New Mexico and Utah were organized

as territories open to slavery. The slave trade ended in Washington,

D.C. A strong fugitive slave law was passed.

What Actually Happened?

FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT A person arrested as a runaway slave

had no legal rights. Many ran away to Canada instead of risk being caught and sent back to their owners.

Act stated anybody who assisted a slave in escaping could be jailed.

Northerners refused to support the act. Of the tens of thousands of fugitives

living in the North during the 1850’s, only 299 were ever returned to their owners.

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW!

Issue : The Fugitive Slave Law caused bitterness between the North & the SouthNortherners were

satisfied/dissatisfied with the way the Fugitive Slave Law was enforced because …

Southerners were satisfied/dissatisfied with the way the Fugitive Slave Law was enforced because …

dissatisfied

dissatisfied

They were asked to help slave catchers.

Northerners refused to obey it.

UNCLE TOM’S CABIN A novel By Harriet Beecher Stowe that

brought the horrors of slavery to the public.

Parts of the book were published in an abolitionist newspaper

Plays based on the book toured the country

COMPROMISE FAILS!

Issue: The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin told the story of a slave and his master.

The book was popular / unpopular I the north because …

The book was popular/ unpopular in the South because …

unpopular

popular

It aroused powerful emotions against slavery.

It turned people against slavery

KANSAS – NEBRASKA ACT Act passed in 1854 and created two new

territories, Kansas and Nebraska. It also abolished the Missouri Compromise by leaving it up to the settlers themselves to vote on whether to permit slavery in the two territories. This policy is called popular sovereignty.

BLOODSHED IN KANSAS After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was

passed settlers poured into Kansas. Most were farmers,but some settlers moved to Kansas to either support or oppose slavery. This struggle over slavery soon turned violent. he conflict in Kansas destroyed millions of dollars worth of property, froze agriculture, and cost many lives.

THE COMPROMISE SATISFIES NO ONE! Issue 3: The Kansas-Nebraska Act states that

the issue of slavery in those territories would be decided by popular sovereignty. Both pro-slavery & anti-slavery forces rushed to the territories to vote.

Northerners were pleased/unhappy about the act because …

Southerners were pleased/unhappy about the act because …

pleasedunhappy

It overturned the Missouri Compromise & allowed slavery north of the 36°30’ in the Louisiana Territory.

They could take slaves into the Louisiana Territory.

DRED SCOTT In 1857 the slavery controversy shifter

from Congress to the Supreme Court. Years earlier a slave named Dred Scott

had traveled with his owner to Wisconsin, where slavery was banned.

When he returned to Missouri, Scott went to court to win his freedom, arguing his stay in Wisconsin had made him a free man.

QUESTIONS OF THE CASE? 1. As a slave, was Dred Scott a citizen

who had the right to bring a case before a federal court?

2. Did his time in Wisconsin make him a free man?

Chief Justice Taney hoped this case would settle the slavery controversy once and for all so….

MORE QUESTIONS?? He asked the court to consider 2 more

questions…

1. Did Congress have the power to make any laws concerning slavery in the territories?

2. And, if so, was the Missouri Compromise a constitutional use of power?

TWO JUDICIAL BOMBSHELLS March 6, 1857 By a vote of 5-4, the court had decided

that Scott could not sue for his freedom in a federal court because he was not a citizen. Nor, could he become a citizen

Second, Rejected the argument that his stay in Wisconsin had made him a free man. Slaves are property. The fifth amendment says property cannot be taken without due process and that banning slavery is the same as taking property.

COMPROMISE FAILS! Issue: The Dred Scott Case. Scott was a slave

who believed his trip to Wisconsin made him a free man.

Northerners probably believed he was free/because…

Southerners probably believed he was

because…

still a slave

free

He had lived in a free territory

They felt slave owners should have the right to take their slaves anywhere.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

Congress cannot ban slavery in the territories.

Scott could not sue for his freedom in a federal court because he was not a citizen, nor could any African American ever become an American citizen.

Scott’s stay in Wisconsin did not make him a free man because the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas in the

Senate race. Douglas believed the country could

survive being half free and half slave. Lincoln disagreed stating that slavery

was a moral issue not a legal issue. Lincoln lost the Senate race but the

debates made him a national figure and brought the moral issue of slavery to the public stronger than ever.

COMPROMISE TO CRISIS Issue: During the Lincoln Douglas Debates,

positions regarding slavery were made clear.

Lincoln, representing the opinion of the North, felt slavery was a moral issue because…

Douglas, representing the opinion of the South, felt slavery as a legal issue because…

legal

moral

He felt slavery was wrong

He felt slavery was settled through the Dred Scott Decision

COMPROMISE TO CRISIS Issue: John Brown attacked the arsenal at

Harper’s Ferry to get weapons for a slave rebellion

Some northerners were

after Brown’s raid because

Southerners were fearful about Brown’s raid because

upset

They considered Brown a hero

Slave rebellions might spread throughout the South

fearful

COMPROMISE TO CRISIS Election of 1860 and secession The election showed just how divided the

country had become The Republicans were united behind

Lincoln Democrats were divided: Northern Democrats supported Stephen

Douglas Southern Democrats supported John

Breckinridge The Constitutional Union party elected John

Bell

LINCOLN ELECTED PRESIDENT With his opposition divided three ways –

Lincoln won election – but it was odd Lincoln won with 40% of the votes – all

from the North In 10 southern states – he was not even

on the ballot The South was now in the minority!!! Southerners feared Congress would try to

abolish slavery. Newspaper” the loss of liberty, property

home, country – everything that makes life living.

COMPROMISE TO CRISIS Issue: Abraham Lincoln elected President

Northerners were happy about the election because

Southerners were unhappy about the election because

happy

Lincoln was opposed to the spread of slavery

They has lost most of their political power

unhappy