Causes of the Civil War-The Crisis of the Union 1848-1860
Dec 16, 2015
Problems of Sectional Balance in 1850
Problems of Sectional Balance in 1850
ß California statehood.
ß Southern “fire-eaters” threateningsecession.
ß Underground RR & fugitive slave issues: Personal liberty laws
Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)
ß California statehood.
ß Southern “fire-eaters” threateningsecession.
ß Underground RR & fugitive slave issues: Personal liberty laws
Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)
Compromise of 1850
• Problems of sectional balance in 1849– California – Gold Rush– Fugitive slaves
• Attempts at compromise – Henry Clay– Zachary Taylor/Millard A. Fillmore– Stephen A. Douglas
• Compromise of 18501) California2) Remainder of Mexican Cession3) Fugitive slaves4) Slave trade in D.C.
Henry Clay Presenting his compromise of 1850 in the Senate
Stephen A. Douglas
RESPONSES TO THE COMPROMISE OF 1850
Old national leadership:(Clay, Webster, Calhoun)
Northern opposition to Fugitive Slave ActGrowth of Free-Soil Party (founded 1848)
Whig Party?
Personal Liberty Laws• Ableman v. Booth (1857)
“Young America” Ostend Manifesto (1854)
Gadsden Purchase (1853)
HarrietBeecherStowe(1811 – 1896)
HarrietBeecherStowe(1811 – 1896)
So this is the lady who started the Civil War.
-- Abraham Lincoln
So this is the lady who started the Civil War.
-- Abraham Lincoln
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1852
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1852 Sold 300,000
copies inthe first year.
2 million in a decade!
Sold 300,000 copies inthe first year.
2 million in a decade!
“The Crime Against Kansas”
“The Crime Against Kansas”
Sen. Charles Sumner
(R-MA)
Sen. Charles Sumner
(R-MA)
Congr. Preston Brooks(D-SC)
Congr. Preston Brooks(D-SC)
Douglas (who was present in the chamber) was a "noise-some, squat, and nameless animal...not a proper model for an American senator." Butler was a pimp who took "a mistress who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight—I mean, the harlot, Slavery."
“Bleeding Kansas”“Bleeding Kansas”
Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)
“Bleeding Kansas” (1854-58)
John Brown Pottawatomie Massacre
(1856)
Lecompton Constitution (1857)
The “Know-Nothings” [The American Party]
The “Know-Nothings” [The American Party]
ß Nativists.
ß Anti-Catholics.
ß Anti-immigrants.
ß Nativists.
ß Anti-Catholics.
ß Anti-immigrants.1849 Secret Order of the Star-
Spangled Banner created in NYC.
1849 Secret Order of the Star-Spangled Banner created in NYC.
Birth of the Republican Party, 1854Birth of the Republican Party, 1854ß Northern Whigs.
ß Northern Democrats.
ß Free-Soilers.
ß Know-Nothings.
ß Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
ß Northern Whigs.
ß Northern Democrats.
ß Free-Soilers.
ß Know-Nothings.
ß Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Republican Party Platform in 1860
Republican Party Platform in 1860ß Non-extension of slavery [for the
Free-Soilers.
ß Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists].
ß No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”].
ß Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest].
ß Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense.
ß Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].
ß Non-extension of slavery [for the Free-Soilers.
ß Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists].
ß No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”].
ß Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest].
ß Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense.
ß Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].
PRO- AND ANTISLAVERY CONFLICTS
Slavery & the Territories
“gag rule” Wilmot Proviso (1846-
47)
Provided, territory from that, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.
Provided, territory from that, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.Rep. David Wilmot
(D-PA)Rep. David Wilmot
(D-PA)
PRO- & ANTISLAVERY ARGUMENTS
Sectional Controversy Hardened Attitudes:
South - “positive good” thesis• Good for slaves, southern society, the U.S.
North – Free Labor ideology• Slavery is bad for white Americans• American democracy=property, opportunity for
advancement• “free soil”• “slave power conspiracy”
Dred Scott Decision (1857) Dred Scott v.
Sandford Slaves were
property, not citizens, even if taken to free states
Result: U.S. govern-ment prohibited from limiting the spread of slavery in territories
John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, Oct.
16, 1859John Brown and 21 men attacked the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, VA to ob-tain guns for a slave rebellion
Reactions to John Brown’s RaidNorthern
abolitionists made Brown into a martyr- but most didn’t like him, including Lincoln
Southerners were terrified that other abolitionists would incite slave rebellions
John Brown: Martyr or Madman?
John Brown ca. 1850
“The Tragic Prelude (John Brown)”
1860Presidenti
alElection
1860Presidenti
alElection
√ Abraham LincolnRepublican
√ Abraham LincolnRepublican
John BellConstitutional Union
John BellConstitutional Union
Stephen A. DouglasNorthern DemocratStephen A. DouglasNorthern Democrat
John C. BreckinridgeSouthern Democrat
John C. BreckinridgeSouthern Democrat
For the South Lincoln’s electionwas the final straw – they were convinced he intended to abolish slavery.That was not his intent, ratherhe saw slavery as a moral issueand that it should not be allowed to spread. ( Southern states would not have had to give up slavery.)
Sources Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture, Institute for Advanced
Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia - http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/utc/index2f.html
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center - http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/life/
PBS “Africans in America” - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html
Lincoln/Net, Northern Illinois University - http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/ Brinkley 10th ed Susan M. Pojer, Horace Greeley H.S., Chappaqua, NY American Pageant, 13th ed. Faragher, Out of Many, 3rd ed.