As slavery becomes the dominant issue in U.S. politics, the face of the country itself will change…

The Union in Peril

The Divisive Politics of SlaverySection 1

• North is industrialized• Railroads carry manufactured goods and

settlers west, raw materials east• Immigrants fear expansion of slavery

• Slaves might compete with non-slave labor• Could reduce status of white workers

Differences Between North and South

• Southern economy relied on cash crops• Enslaved African Americans meet most labor

needs• Whites fear restriction of slavery will change

society & economy• In 3 states, blacks are majority; in 2, they make

up ½ of population

Differences Between North and South

Wilmot Proviso declared that there would be no slavery in territory acquired from Mexico

North: slave territory adds slave states; no jobs for free workers

South: slaves are property under Constitution, individuals moving West should be able to bring; fear more free states

Slavery in the Territories

• Some Southerners threaten secession if the Wilmot Proviso isn’t overturned

• Henry Clay offers Compromise of 1850 to settle disputes over slavery

The Debate Moves to the Senate

1. California would be a free state2. Popular sovereignty: New Mexico and Utah would

decide whether slavery would be legal 3. Abolish slave trade in Washington D.C.4. Owning slaves legal in Washington, D.C.5. Pay Texas $10 million to give up claims to eastern

New Mexico6. Fugitive Slave Act ordered all citizens to assist in

the return of enslaved people who had escaped from their owners

The Compromise of 1850

Clay gives a speech begging the North and South to compromise and save the Union

“I have, Senators, believed from the first that.. The subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion [of

the United States]… It has reached a point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the

Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and gravest question that can

ever come under your consideration: How can the Union be preserved.”

• Clay’s speech starts one of greatest debates in U.S. history

• Senate rejects the Compromise and Clay leaves Washington!

• Stephen A. Douglas eventually reintroduces the resolutions individually • Compromise of 1859

Debates over the Compromise

Protest, Resistance, and ViolenceSection 2

The Fugitive Slave ActAlleged fugitives denied jury trial; right to testify on own

behalfFederal commissioners paid more for returning than

freeing accusedPeople helping a fugitive are fined, imprisoned, or both

Northern ResponseMany still send fugitives to CanadaPersonal Liberty Laws forbid prison for fugitives, grant

jury trials

Fugitive Slaves

Underground Railroad – secret network of to help slaves escape

Fugitives go on foot at night, often no food, avoiding armed patrols

Some stayed in North; others go to Canada

The Underground Railroad

Harriet Tubman

escapes from slavery and becomes a

conductor on 19 trips

1852: Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin stirs protest

Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows slavery as moral problem, not just political

Despised by Southerners

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Except – Questions

1. Within the group about the be auctioned off, what different categories or classes does Stowe describe?

2. Stowe depicts St. Clare as being a wonderful Master to his slaves – what differences are there between St. Clare and the men who are at the auction in the excerpt? What type of life will St. Clare’s former slaves be facing?

3. Stowe writes her book to elicit an emotional reaction from her readers to the practice of slavery – do you think she is successful? Why or why not?

• Created by Stephen A. Douglas• Would override the Missouri Compromise

• Popular sovereignty is best way to organize new states

• Doesn’t think slavery is feasible in Midwest, but wants Southern support (he wants to run for President)

• 1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act allows popular sovereignty in regards to slavery

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Race for Kansas• Northerners and Southern settlers pour into Kansas

Territory• 1855: Kansas holds elections for territorial legislature• Proslavery “border ruffians” vote illegally, win

fraudulent majority• Proslavery government in Lecompton• Antislavery government in Topeka

• Territory called Bleeding Kansas for incidents that kill some 200

“Bleeding Kansas”

• Senator Charles Sumner verbally attacks colleagues over the issue of slavery (he is against)

• Congressman Preston S. Brooks beats Sumner for insults to uncle

• Southerners applaud Brooks; Northerners condemn him

Violence in the Senate

The Birth of the Republican PartySection 3

Slavery Divides the Whigs• 1852: Northern, Southern Whigs split over slavery• Democrat Franklin Pierce is elected president • Whig Party splinters after Kansas-Nebraska Act

NativismNativism is the belief in favoring native-born Americans

over immigrants1854: Nativists form Know-Nothing Party

Middle-class Protestants afraid of Catholicism; split over slavery

New Political Parties Emerge

Forerunner of the Republican Party• Liberty Party pursues abolition through laws

The Free-SoilersOppose slavery in territoriesSupport restrictions on blacksObject to slavery’s impact on white wage-based labor

forceConvinced of conspiracy to spread slavery throughout

U.S.

New Political Parties Emerge

Republican Party• 1854: unhappy Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers

form Republican Party • Oppose slavery in territories; other opinions varied• Main competition is Know-Nothing Party

The 1856 Election• Democrat James Buchanan is elected and

secession is averted

New Political Parties Emerge

Make sure you have a pen and paper …

Politics are about to get complicated!!

Anti-Federalists Federalists

FederalistsJeffersonian-Republicans(Democratic-Republicans)

Democrats(Andrew Jackson)

National Republicans(John Quincy Adams)

Democrats Whigs

Know-Nothing Party (1854)

Free-Soil Party(1848)

Liberty Party(1844)

Republican Party

(eventually)

New Third Party Groups

Slavery and SecessionSection 4

1857: Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in free areas after his master moved, sues for freedom

Decision:1. slaves do not have rights of

citizens2. no claim to freedom, suit

begun in slave state3. Congress cannot forbid

slavery in territories

The Dred Scott Decision

The Lecompton Constitution• Proslavery Kansas government writes a constitution,

seeking statehood• Vote put before the people of Kansas, but they vote down

constitution• Stephen Douglas gets second vote put before the

people; voters reject it again

Why do you think the voters in Kansas shoot down their own constitution??

Kansas Seeks Statehood

• 1858: Republican Abraham Lincoln runs for Douglas’s Senate seat• Challenges Douglas to seven debates

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Issue Lincoln Douglas

Slavery Slavery is immoralSlavery is

backwards, not immoral

Spread of Slavery

Legislation needs to be created to stop the spread of slavery

Popular sovereignty will

undo slavery

ElectionsLincoln questions how to form free states if

territories must at least allow slavery

Douglas suggests the Freeport

Doctrine – simply elect leaders who

do not enforce slavery

Both men distort the other’s views to make them seem extreme• Douglas wins the seat but his ideas worsen the split between

Democrats• Lincoln’s attacks on the “vast moral evil” of slavery draws national

attention

Harpers Ferry• 1859: John Brown plans slave uprising, needs

weapons • Leads men to federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry • U.S. Marines put down rebellion, capture Brown

John Brown’s Hanging• Dec 1859: Brown hanged for high treason • Many Northerners admire Brown; Southerners fear

future uprisings

Passions Ignite

Overflowing crowds attend the Republican Presidential Convention in Chicago

• Lincoln wins nomination - seen as more moderate than others• Tells South he will not meddle with slaves, but the South still feels

threatened

The Election of 1860• Democrats split over slavery• Lincoln wins with less than half of popular vote

• gets no Southern electoral votes

Lincoln Elected President

The Election of 1860

• South Carolina first state to secede, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas• want complete independence from federal control• fear end to their way of life• want to preserve slave labor system

• Feb. 1861: Confederate States of America established

• Permits slavery, recognizes state sovereignty• Mass resignations from the federal government• Former senator Jefferson Davis unanimously

elected president

Southern Secession