Bell RingerCome up with a list of 7 details/events you would use to define and support the idea
of Sectionalism!
Objectives“Prelude to War”
1)Outline the events that lead to southern
secession.
2)Detail the election of 1860.
Background…Slavery dominated politics. Lincoln was running for Senate in 1858. In his campaign, he
made a prediction/statement… “A house divided against itself cannot stand” and “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free”.
Events leading up to the Civil War
1856Dred Scott Case
1857Lecompton Constitution
(Kansas)
1858Lincoln-Douglas
Debates
October 1859Raid on
Harpers Ferry
1860Presidential
Election
December 1859John Brown
Hanged
Lecompton Constitution (Kansas)
This is the constitution put together by the state of Kansas.
It was VERY pro-slavery!It was voted down by the Free-Soil Party members in Kansas
overwhelmingly.
President Buchanan endorsed the constitution anyways, and
sent it to Congress for final approval. Douglas opposed it
strongly and swayed opinions in Congress enough to get it
rejected.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)Lincoln runs for Senate in Illinois. He is not well-known, so he challenges Douglas to a
series of debates in front of the public.
Lincoln believes slavery is immoral.
Douglas believes in
popular sovereignty
to decide the issue.
Steven Douglas Abraham Lincoln
Harpers Ferry (October 1859)John Brown was a radical abolitionist. He concocted a plan to raid the US Federal Arsenal
at Harper’s Ferry, take the weapons, and arm the slaves in an uprising… it didn’t work!
John Brown’s Hanging (December 1859)After Harper’s Ferry, Brown is arrested and tried for high treason. He was hanged on
December 2nd.
Response to John Brown
- Northerners admired him and his cause
- Southerners accused northerners of plotting slave uprisings and called for secession!!
Election of 1860Background
At the Republican Convention, the delegates were trying to decide between William Stewart and
Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was not well known but Stewart had offended some of the delegated in
the past. The delegates picked Lincoln!
Steven Douglas
- Senator from Illinois- Backed by northern
Democrats- Wanted popular
sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery
John Breckinridge
- Current Vice-President- Backed by southern
Democrats- Wanted slavery in
territories & rights of slave holders respected
John Bell
- From Tennessee- Represented the
Constitutional Union Party
- Did not take a stance on slavery
Abraham Lincoln
- Nominated by Republican Party
- Believed slavery was immoral
- Promised not to interfere directly or indirectly with slave holders
Election of 1860Results
Lincoln did not even appear on the ballot in many southern states. Despite this, he won the election by taking 180 electoral votes. He actually took less than half of the popular vote. With the election of
Lincoln, the south decided to act…
ImpactSouth Carolina was first to secede in December 1860. The southern states met in February of 1861 and formed a confederacy. They elected
Jefferson Davis as their President!
The Main CONSTITUTIONAL Principle behind the North vs South Conflict
leading to the Civil War
STATES RIGHTS!!!!