Chapter 14
The Nation Divided
Section 2: Compromises Fail
Section 1: Growing Tensions Over Slavery
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
Section 4: The Coming of the Civil War
CHAPTER 14 – THE NATION DIVIDED
Section 1: Growing Tensions Over Slavery
Slavery and the Mexican – American War Maintaining the balance
Between 1820 and 1848 – 8 new states were admitted 4 slave and 4 free Totals of 15 slave and 15 free states
Remember the Missouri Compromise? It did not apply to the lands claimed after the Mexican-
American War
Wilmot Proviso David Wilmot of PA proposed this law Congress ban slavery in all territory that might become
part of the U.S. as a result of the M-A War. It passed in the house (population) and failed in the senate
(equal)
Wilmot Proviso never became law, but it was viewed as an attack on slavery by southerners
Section 1: Growing Tensions Over Slavery
An Anti-Slavery Party Free Soil Party
Formed on the basis of the Wilmot Proviso – they wanted to stop the spread of slavery – especially in the newly acquired territory from Mexico
3 candidates run in the election of 1848 Democrats – Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan Whigs – General Zachary Taylor (hero of the M-A War) Free Soil – former president Martin Van Buren
Democrat votes are split between Van Buren and Cass This allows Taylor to win
Section 1: Growing Tensions Over Slavery
A Bitter Debate California’s Gold Rush With the inflow if gold seekers – California had enough people to
become a state Both sides realized that the admission of California would upset
the balance between free and slave states Northerners
Argued that CA become a free state because most of the land there was north of the Missouri Compromise line
Southerners Knew that another free state would upset the balance in the senate
They would be unable to block laws like the Wilmot Proviso
Began threatening to secede from the union
Section 1: Growing Tensions Over Slavery
Other issues dividing the North and South Northerners
Wanted the slave trade abolished in Washington D.C.
Southerners Wanted fugitive slave laws
Would force the return of runaway slaves to their owners
Henry Clay Presents a series of proposals to deal with the issue This sparks one of the greatest debates in American history John C. Calhoun
Argues against the compromise The admission of CA as a free state leaves only 2 solutions for the
South 1 – an amendment protecting states rights must be passed OR… 2 – The South would leave the Union
Section 1: Growing Tensions Over Slavery
Daniel Webster Argues in support of the compromise He calls for an end to the sectionalism that divides the country
Argues for Clay’s proposal in order to preserve the union
Section 2: Compromises Fail
The Compromise of 1850 In September 1850 Congress passes 5 bills based on Clay’s
Proposals Zachary Taylor had opposed the compromise, but he died in 1850 Millard Fillmore took over the presidency and signed the bills into law
To Please the North CA would be admitted as a free state Slave trade would be banned in Washington D.C.
To Please the South Popular sovereignty would decide slave issues in other new states
from the Mexican Cession Southerners got a tough new Fugitive Slave Law
Section 2: Compromises Fail Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Allowed government officials to arrest ANYONE accused of being a runaway slave
The accused had no right to a trial – no way to defend themselves
All that was required was a witness to swear that the individual “was a slave”
Law also required northern citizens to help capture accused runaways if authorities requested assistance
Outrage in the North Northerners were upset to see
people accused of being fugitives lose their freedom Many African Americans fled
to Canada to escape being accused
Many Northerners resisted the laws
Section 2: Compromises Fail
Calhoun had hoped that the law would force northerners to admit that slave owners had rights to their property Calhoun was wrong – it convinced more northerners that slavery
was evil
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Daughter of an abolitionist minister
Book was written to show the nation what a horrible thing slavery was Focused on a fictional tale of Uncle Tom – a kind slave who
suffers cruelty from his owner Simon Legree
Book was a best-seller in the North Southerners called it Propaganda
False or misleading information to spread or further a cause
They claimed it did not give an accurate portrayal of the lives of slaves
Section 2: Compromises Fail
The Kansas-Nebraska Act Nation moved closer to war after Congress passes the
KS-NE Act in 1854 Proposed by Stephen Douglas
Wanted to form two new territories – Kansas and Nebraska
Southerners objected The two new territories were in areas closed to slavery When they became states they would be free
To win southern support, Douglas proposed popular sovereignty in the territories
Because of this proposal, the act passed in Congress It was signed into law by Franklin Pierce, (D – 1852)
According to Pierce ‘the question of slavery would be forever banished from the halls of Congress’
Section 2: Compromises Fail
Bleeding Kansas Both pro and anti slavery settlers flooded into the new territory of
Kansas Each side was determined to hold a majority when it was time to
vote Thousands of MO residents entered Kansas on election day KS only had 3,000 residents but 8,000 votes were cast to elect a
legislature In that legislature, 36 of the 39 elected were pro-slavery
Anti-Slavery settlers refused to accept the results They held a second election KS now had 2 governments each claiming a right to impose their
government on the territory
Section 2: Compromises Fail
Growing Violence In April 1855 a pro-slavery sheriff was shot when he tried to arrest
some anti-slavery settlers in Lawrence A month later he returned with 800 men and attacked the town
Three days after the attack on Lawrence more violence occurred John Brown led 7 men to a pro-slavery settlement near Pottawatomie
Creek and murdered 5 men and children
These incidents set off widespread violence throughout the territory
Section 2: Compromises Fail
Bloodshed in the Senate Charles Sumner – Abolitionist senator from MA
Denounced the proslavery legislature in Kansas Then went on to attack southerners singling out Andrew Butler from SC
Butler’s nephew – a congressman, Preston Brooks marched into the senate chamber and beat Sumner with a cane – Sumner never fully recovered Many southerners felt he got what he deserved and sent canes to Brooks to
show their support
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
A New Anti-Slavery Party In 1854 the Whig party split apart
Many northern Whigs joined the Republican Party Main goal was to stop the spread of slavery in the western territories
Republican Victories In the 1854 elections, republicans won 105 of the available 245 seats in
congress They also gained control of most free state legislatures
First Republican presidential candidate John C. Fremont (leader of revolution in California)
He won 11 of the nations 16 free states
Defeated by James Buchanan
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
Dred Scott Decision Decision was made by the U.S. Supreme Court
Facts of the Case Dred Scott was a slave owned by a U.S. Army Doctor. The doctor and
Scott lived in Illinois and later in Wisconsin, both were places where slavery was illegal. Later the Doctor and Scott settled in Missouri.
Scott, with the help of abolitionist lawyers sued for his freedom claiming that since he lived where slavery was banned, that he should be free.
The Court Decides Opinion written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney
Scott was not a free man for 2 reasons First, he had no right to sue in federal court because he was not a citizen Second, merely living in a free territory did not make a slave free, slaves
were property, and property rights were protected by the Constitution.
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
Taney’s decision went further…. Taney said that Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in
any territory This meant that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional
Reaction Supporters of slavery rejoiced.
Decision meant that slavery was legal everywhere
Northerners were stunned The decision brought out many abolitionists because of outrage One key player was an attorney from Illinois Abraham Lincoln
Said that the idea that African Americans could not be citizens was based on a false view of American History
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
The Lincoln Douglas Debates Lincoln had a brief beginning in politics
Served one term as a representative for IL Then returned to his law practice
Lincoln was a long time rival of Stephen Douglas Both politically and personally
Both men had courted Mary Todd, who married Lincoln
A House Divided In 1858 the Republican party chose Lincoln to run against Douglas
for the Senate In his nomination acceptance speech, Lincoln claimed that a nation
divided by issues such as slavery cannot continue to stand
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
Debating Slavery Douglas held firm to his position on Popular Sovereignty
States had a right to decide what was and was not legal within their borders
Lincoln claimed that ‘if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong’
Douglas won the election, but the 2 would face off again Both ran for the presidency later
John Brown’s Raid Brown had a plan
Lead abolitionists on a raid at Harpers Ferry Goal was to acquire guns the military had stored there Blacks would join in his uprising, and he would form an army
to lead the enslaved to freedom
Brown’s plan fell short While he took over Harpers Ferry, he and his men were soon
surrounded by Col. Robert E. Lee
Section 3: The Crisis Deepens
John Brown’s Trial Brown sat quietly as he was convicted of treason at his trial He received a death sentence and was hung in Virginia
December 2, 1859
That day, church bells across the North rang out Many considered him a hero
Southerners were stunned How could the north support a man convicted of treason
Section 4: The Coming of the Civil War
The Nation Divides Election of 1860
Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln The Democratic party splits
Southern Democrats nominate Vice President John Breckenridge Northern Democrats nominate Stephen Douglas A third party was formed by Southerners hoping to heal the split
between North and South, they form the Constitutional Union and nominate John Bell
Douglas felt that Lincoln would win and pleaded with southern voters to stay with the Union no matter what happened He was pelted with eggs and garbage as a result of his efforts
The election showed the division of the country Look at the map on page 500
Section 4: The Coming of the Civil War
Southern States Secede Lincoln’s election shocked the south They felt that a government would
move to take away their ‘rights’ On December 20, 1860
South Carolina passed a declaration In that document was stated “The union now subsisting between
South Carolina and the other states, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved”
Section 4: The Coming of the Civil War
The Confederate States of America Six more states followed SC out of the union
Some moderates in Tennessee and Texas opposed Sam Houston and Andrew Johnson
The 7 seceding states met in Montgomery Alabama to form a new nation
By the time Lincoln took office, they had written a constitution and appointed a president – Jefferson Davis of Mississippi
Section 4: The Coming of the Civil War
The Civil War Begins On March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln became President
He had to face the greatest crisis in the short history of the U.S.
Lincoln tried to give assurance to the seceded states He said that:
I have no intention of interfering with slavery where it exists Warned the southern states about continuing on their present course
Read the quote on page 501
The south rejected Lincoln’s proposal They took over forts, post offices, and other federal lands
Lincoln now had to decide how to respond
Section 4: The Coming of the Civil War
Fort Sumter The commander of Fort Sumter refused to surrender and turn his
post over to the southern states The southern states had cut the fort off from supplies since December They knew that the men inside would starve and be forced to give up
Lincoln did not want to give up the fort either He announced that the north was sending unarmed supply ships to the
fort
The southern states did not give them a chance to arrive On April 12, 1861 Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter
This was the beginning of a Civil War War between opposing groups of citizens of the same country