The Antebellum Era (1781-1860) Slavery Divides the Nation ...ushistoryteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/...movement in the antebellum period, its achievements, failures, and

The Antebellum Era (1781-1860)

Slavery Divides the Nation Part 2

2. Antebellum America

B. Identify and evaluate the major events and issues that promoted sectional conflicts and strained national cohesiveness in the antebellum period.

D. Identify the major characteristics of the abolition movement in the antebellum period, its achievements, failures, and Southern opposition to it.

E. Analyze the women’s rights and the suffrage movements and the impact of women on other reform movements in the antebellum period.

F. Compare and contrast the economic, social, and cultural differences of the North and South during the antebellum period.

Slavery and the Western Territories

-Many in the North wanted the new western regions to abolish slavery and many the South wanted slavery to exist in the new areas of the USA.

-When California pursued statehood, they tried to ban slavery. This alarmed the South. Areas south of 36’ 30’ were supposed to be allowed to have slaves due to the agreement of the Missouri Compromise.

-Southern States threatened secession (leaving the Union) in response to limiting slavery in the West.

Map of the Missouri Compromise

California wanted to be a state, but had land above and

below the Missouri Compromise.

The Compromise of 1850

-Henry Clay developed a compromise.

-California could be entered as a free state and the North would enforce the fugitive state law more strictly, a law in which slaves would be returned to masters if they ran away.

-Also, New Mexico and Utah could use popular sovereignty (letting the people vote on the issue) to determine if they wanted slavery.

Henry Clay helped

developed the

Missouri

Compromise of

1820, a

compromise

addressing the

Nullification Crisis

of 1833, and the

Compromise of

1850.

Only a Temporary Fix

-The Compromise of 1850 calmed the tension between the North and the South for the time being.

-However, it was clear that the issue of slavery was causing massive hostility between the North and South.

-Abolitionism was gaining momentum in the industrial North. However, the South’s agrarian economy depended on forced human labor.

Violence Erupts: Bleeding Kansas

-Kansas and Nebraska were north of the Missouri Compromise. It was decided that popular sovereignty would determine slavery if this area became a state.

-People flocked to the area to sway the vote. Some wanted slavery, others did not.

-Rival governments were set up in Lecompton (Pro-slavery) and Topeka (Anti-slavery) that led to violence in Kansas between the two groups.

Kansas wanted to use popular sovereignty (letting people vote) on

whether or not to have slavery. This caused massive groups of anti-

slavery and pro-slavery factions to flood the area to swing the vote.

This also led to violence in Kansas on the issue.

Violence in Congress

-A proslavery representative named Preston Brooks of South Carolina radically opposed the abolitionist movement.

-On May 22, 1956, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was delivering an anti-slavery speech in Washington D.C.

-Preston Brooks attacked Sumner with a cane for speaking against the South and slavery in the Senate chambers.

Preston Brooks of South Carolina attacks Charles Sumner of

Massachusetts as tensions grew over the issue of slavery.

Political Parties and Slavery

-The Republicans were mostly anti-slavery and controlled the North

-The Democrats were mostly pro-slavery controlled the South.

-The Whigs, which earlier had broken away from the Democrats, became divided over slavery.

More on Political Parties and Slavery

-The Know Nothing Party claimed “I know nothing,” when asked of their activities. This party supported nativism (valuing American citizens over immigrants) and were split over the issue of slavery.

-The Free Soil Party wanted new states to ban slavery.

-The Liberty Party wanted to end slavery in all states.

THE

END

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