The Nation Divides

The Nation Divides

The Road to the Civil War

The Debate Continues• Wilmot Proviso – 1846 David Wilmot

proposed that slavery be banned from the Mexican Cession.– Reignited the debate over slavery

Compromise of 1850

• 1849 – CA applied for statehood. They wanted to be admitted as a free state.– South says…. NO WAY!

• Henry Clay proposed another Compromise. – It contained 5 parts.

Compromise of 1850

1. CA would be admitted as a FREE state.

2. Rest of Mexican Cession would decide issue of slavery with popular sovereignty

1. doctrine which the status of slavery in territories was determined by the settlers themselves.

3. Texas would give up its land claims against New Mexico

Compromise of 1850

4. The slave trade (not slavery itself) would end in Washington D.C.

5. New, stronger fugitive slave law would be passed.

Before the Compromise of 1850

After the Compromise of 1850

President Millard Fillmore,

replaced Taylor, supported the Compromise of

1850, and signed the bills into law.

The Fugitive Slave Act

• Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, replaced the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, angered Northerners and made matters worse.– Declared all runaway slaves must be brought back

to their masters.

The Fugitive Slave Act made it legal for slave catchers to capture runaway slaves in free states.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Best selling novel of 1800’s

• Helped fuel anti-slavery sentiment

Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Abolitionist

• “So this is the lady that started the Civil War.”–Abraham Lincoln

Kansas-Nebraska Act• In an attempt to organize the Louisiana

Territory so a new railroad could be built, Congress passed this Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• New law divided the remainder of the Louisiana Territory into the territories of Kansas and Nebraska

Kansas-Nebraska Act• Slavery would be decided by popular

sovereignty • This repealed (removal or reversal of law) the

Missouri Compromise of 1820

Maps show the compromises over the extension of slavery into the territories. The area affected by the Missouri Compromise (top), the Compromise of 1850 (center

Kansas-Nebraska Act

GOAL: organize land for new railroad to Pacific. BUT…

all was lost in the arguing.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• People rushed to new territory of Kansas and it wasn’t long until violence broke out against pro and anti-slavery groups.

• There was even violence in CONGRESS!• It was a sign of things to come…..

“Bleeding Kansas” 1856

Popular Sovereignty decides slavery in Kansas (Henry Clay)

– FAILED - Lawrence burned by pro-slavery radicals– State collapsed into civil war - 200 people killed –

“…a territory of mobs and gangs, of lynchings, shootings at night, rigged elections, and literally murderous rivalries.”

• Debate spills over into violence in the nation’s capital

Daguerreotype of Senator Charles Sumner in 1855

Congressman Preston Brooks

Congressman Laurence M. Keitt

Dred Scott Decision - FACTS:

• Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri. (MO)

Dred Scott

Dred Scott Decision - FACTS:

• Scott and his owner moved to Wisconsin for four years.

Dred Scott

Dred Scott Decision (1857) - FACTS:

• Scott’s owner died after returning to Missouri.

Dred Scott

Dred Scott Decision (1857) - FACTS:* Scott sued for his freedom. He claimed that he should be a free man since he lived in a free territory (WI) for four years.

Dred Scott

A: NO

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS:

Q: Was Scott a U.S. citizen with the right to sue?A: NO

Q: Did living in a free territory make Scott a free man?A: NO

Q: Did Congress have the right to outlaw slavery in any territory?

• The Missouri Compromise was found to be unconstitutional.

RESULTS:• Dred Scott was not given his freedom.

Open to slavery through popular sovereignty (Compromise of 1850)

Open to slavery through popular sovereignty (KS-NE Act)

Missouri Compromise line is declared unconstitutional (Dred Scott Decision)

“The Final Straw” (1859-1860)• John Brown’s Raid

(1859)– Brown attacked

federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry - hoped to use weapons to free all slaves

– Failed- captured, hanged

Election of 1860• During all of this, it

was time to elect a new president.

• Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas.

• Southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge

Election of 1860

• Meanwhile, a new party formed, the Constitutional Union Party, whose members strictly supported the Constitution.

• They nominated a slave-holder named John Bell.

Election of 1860• Finally, the

Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln.

• Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery, but did not want to abolish it where it already existed.

Election of 1860

• Add pics

Election of 1860

Election of 1860

Because of the 4 way split, Lincoln won the election with less than 40% of the popular vote.

Abraham Lincoln’s Election

• Lincoln’s election in 1860 angers South – slaveholders call him “The Black Republican” - S. Carolina secedes on Dec. 20, 1860

Secession

• December 1860, South Carolina voted to leave the Union.

• In February 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas followed South Carolina and left the Union.

Secession!: South Carolina Dec.1860

The Confederate States• These Southern states

formed the Confederate States of America.– They drafted a

Constitution– Elected Jefferson Davis

as president

President Lincoln knew the Union had to be saved.