Confronting the Issue of Slavery
CA SS: 8.9.3, 8.9.4, 8.9.5
8th Grade U.S. HistoryMrs. Chen
The Issue: Man or Property?
THE NORTH
Abolitionists African Americans are
MEN who deserve all the rights promised to men in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution
THE SOUTH
Supports slavery Slaves are PROPERTY
and not men therefore they have no rights
The government’s job is to protect the rights of it’s citizens and slaveholders have rights to “life, liberty, and property” (John Lock’s idea of Natural Rights)
Road to Abolition
ABOLITIONISTS Benjamin Franklin -
outspoken abolitionist Theodore Weld – sent
antislavery petitions to Congress
John Quincy Adams – introduced amendments to abolish slavery
Harriet Tubman – Underground Railroad
Frederick Douglass – Escaped slave; author; speaker
William Lloyd Garrison – Published The Liberator
LEGISLATION & POLICIES
Northwest Ordinance (1787) – described how the Northwest Territory was to be governed and outlawed slavery in those territories
Wilmot Proviso – bill to outlaw slavery in any territory the U.S. might acquire from the Mexican American War, it didn’t pass
Free-Soil Party – political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery
Compromises (Both created by Henry Clay)MISSOURI COMPROMISE (1820)
There were 11 free states and 11 slave states, adding Missouri as a slave state would disturb the balance of power in congress
Missouri was admitted to the union as a slave state and Maine as a free state
Banned slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36’30’
COMPROMISE OF 1850
California would be admitted as a free state & slavery would be abolished in Washington D.C.
Congress agreed not to pass laws regarding slavery for the rest of the territories won from Mexico, AND Congress would pass a Fugitive Slave Act to help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves
Comparing Compromises
Complete the CTQs comparing the compromises of 1820 and 1850 by referring to the different maps of the U.S.
Set Backs to the Abolitionist Movement in the mid 1800sFUGITIVE SLAVE ACT (1850)
Required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves
Anyone who aided a fugitive slave could be fined or imprisoned
Northerners refused to enforce the law
Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass continued to aid slaves in escaping to the North
DRED SCOTT DECISION (1857)
Prior to 1857 some slaves who lived in free states were successful in suing for their freedom
The Dred Scott case went all the way to the Supreme Court
Chief Justice Taney ruled that Dred Scott was still a slave, not a citizen, therefore had no right to sue, living in a free state does not make a slave free, and the government had no right to take property
“A Dredful Decision” DO NOW Complete the reading and questions about
the Dred Scott Decision then answer the following prompt…
Imagine you are Dred Scott’s lawyer, write your closing arguments for his case. (Make sure to write an effective argument by stating a thesis and supporting it with evidence and sound reasoning, use your TEES writing strategy)
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In 1854, Stephen Douglas wanted to build a transcontinental railroad so he proposed a plan to organize the region west of Missouri into Kansas and Nebraska
Both lay above the Missouri Compromise line, if both were admitted as free states, the South be upset and not pass the law.
Douglas proposed to abandon the Missouri Compromise altogether and let the settlers in the new territories vote on the slavery issue (popular sovereignty)
“Bleeding Kansas” After the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, pro and
antislavery groups rushed into Kansas in hopes of establishing a legislature on their side.
In May of 1856, about 800 slavery supporters attacked the antislavery capital of Lawrence.
In response, John Brown (an abolitionist who believed God had chosen him to end slavery) led six men along Pottawatomie Creek where they found and killed five proslavery men
Three years later in 1859, John Brown led a raid on Harpers Ferry to obtain weapons for a slave rebellion. It was unsuccessful, Brown was captured and hanged.
The Tragic Preludeby John Steuart Curry
What do you think Curry’s views were on John Brown’s role in the Civil War?
Violence in Congress
Some suspected Senator Stephen Douglas had plotted with Southerners to make Kansas a slave state.
In 1856, Senator Charles Sumner (abolitionist) spoke out against Douglas and Southerners in a speech: “The Crime Against Kansas”
Two days later, South Carolina’s representative, Preston Brooks, attacked Sumner in the Senate, beating him with his cane until it broke in half. Brooks got off with a $300 fine from a Washington judge.
Reactions to the attack showed how divided the nation had become: Southerners applauded Brooks; Northerners said it was another example of Southern brutality
Is war inevitable?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eATEZcgY4yQ Imagine it is 1857, and you live in California
(the state that is furthest away from the rest of the country), our country seems bound for a Civil War between the North and the South.
Think of a non-violent solution that could possibly reconcile the North and the South over the slavery issue. Describe it in detail. Remember, both sides would have to agree to your solution. (at least one full paragraph)
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)Race for Illinois Senator
ABRAHAM LINCOLN (REPUBLICAN)
“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free”
Slavery was a moral, not a legal issue; slavery is wrong.
STEPHEN DOUGLAS(DEMOCRAT)
Supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act: each state can vote on slavery via popular sovereignty
Wanted to continue the nation with slave and free states.
Lincoln lost the election, but the debates helped make him a national figure.
A Nation Divided:The Election of 1860 and Secession
DEMOCRATS
Split between Northern and Southern factions
Stephen Douglas in the North vs. John C. Beckinridge in the South
REPUBLICANS
Abraham Lincoln won the election easily.
During the campaign, Lincoln said he is not interested in abolishing slavery where it already existed, he just didn’t want it to spread
For white Southerners, this meant the South was now a minority in Congress. It no longer had the power and the South feared, sooner or later, Congress would abolish slavery completely
Secession: A States’ Rights Issue
Before the 1860 presidential election, many Southern states warned that if Lincoln won, they would secede: withdraw and separate from the Union.
They argued the States’ Rights Doctrine: states should have the right of “nullification” and decide which federal laws they enforce within their state. Also, they argued that states voluntarily joined the Union therefore they also had the right to leave.
The Confederate States of America
On December 20th, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede.
Within 6 weeks, 6 more states joined in secession.
In February 1861, the seceded states met in Montgomery, Alabama, and formed the Confederate States of America. They named Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederacy.
Is SECESSION constitutional? “A house divided against itself can not stand.” -
Abraham Lincoln
Many Northerners considered the secession of the Southerners to be unconstitutional and if secession were permitted, the Union would become weak. Northerners also argued that Southerners simply did not want to live by the rule of democracy, majority rule
What do you think? Let them go or make them stay? Which would be better or worse?