Dis--Union

1. ROAD TO CIVIL WAR: 1848-1861

2. ROAD TO CIVIL WAR: 1848-1861
Review
In the wake of the Mexican War,
sectional tensions over the Mexican
Cession were temporarily eased by
the Compromise of 1850.

3. IX. Antislavery literature
A. Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle
Tom’s Cabin (1852)
B. Hinton Helper: The
Impending Crisis of the
South (1857)

4. X. Election of 1856
A. James Buchanan – Democrat
-- Platform: popular sovereignty
B. John C. Fremont – Republican
-- Platform: non-extension of
slavery
C. Millard Fillmore -- American
(―Know-Nothing‖) Party
-- Platform: anti-immigration
D. Results: Buchanan victorious

5. Theme #3
The passage of the KansasNebraska Act destroyed the
Compromises of 1820 and 1850
and spurred the creation of the
Republican party, placing North
and South on a direct course
toward Civil War.
Kansas-Nebraska Act

6. VII. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854):
most important short-term cause
of the Civil War
A. Stephen Douglas proposed
splitting the Nebraska
Territory into two: Kansas and
Nebraska
1. Response to Gadsden
Purchase
2. Wanted Illinois to be the
eastern terminus for a new
transcontinental railroad
Stephen Douglas
“The Little Giant”

7. B. Bill passed in 1854
1. Northerners were shocked:
saw the Compromise of 1820 as
―sacred‖
a. Many northerners now were
unwilling to obey the
Fugitive Slave Law
b. Anti-extension of slavery
movement grew significantly
2. Wrecked the two previous
compromises (1820 & 1850)

8. The Kansas-Nebraska Act

9. An 1856 Cartoon
An 1856 cartoon depicts a giant freesoiler being held down by James Buchanan and Lewis Cass
standing on the Democratic platform marked "Kansas", "Cuba" and "Central America". Franklin
Pierce also holds down the giant's beard as Douglas shoves a black man down his throat.

10. C. Birth of the Republican party
1. Formed in response to the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
a. Included Whigs, northern
Democrats, Free-Soilers, and
some Know Nothings
b. Lincoln came out of political
retirement and ran for
Illinois senate seat
2. Impact: emerged as the
nation’s second major party
overnight
3. Largely banned in the South

12. Election of 1856

13. VIII. “Bleeding Kansas”
A. New England Emigrant Aid
Company
-- ―Beecher’s Bibles‖
B. Southerners were furious the spirit
of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
was
being violated
C. 1855 election in Kansas for the
first territorial legislature
1. Missouri ―border ruffians‖
-- ―Vote early and vote often‖
2. Southerners won the election
3. Northerners boycotted it

14. D. Attack on free-soil Lawrence,
Kansas

15. E. Preston Brooks canes Charles
Sumner
1. Charles Sumner’s speech
2. Preston Brooks’ attack
3. Significance

16. F. John Brown: Pottawatomie
Massacre, May 1856
1. Revenge for sack of
Lawrence and
caning of Sumner
2. A mini-civil war in Kansas
broke out that later merged
with the Civil War

17. G. Lecompton Constitution (1857)
1. Kansas applied for statehood
based on popular sovereignty
2. Southerners drafted a proslavery constitution
3. Free-soilers once again
boycotted the election
4. President Buchanan supported
the Lecompton Constitution
5. Douglas opposed it
6. Congress sent it back to Kansas
7. Kansas was denied statehood

18. H. Kansas issue split the
Democratic party
1. Buchanan’s support for Kansas
split the party along sectional
lines
2. Douglas’ opposition to Kansas
alienated him among
southerners
3. Republicans would win the
election of 1860
4. Lack of unified national parties
meant the Union could not hold

19. President James Buchanan
1857-1861
Democrat

21. Theme #4
Major North-South crises in the
late 1850s culminated in the
election of Republican Abraham
Lincoln to the presidency in 1860.
His election caused seven
southern states to secede from the
Union and form the Confederate
States of America.

22. XI. Dred Scott Decision (March, 1857)
A. Scott lived with his master for 5
years in Illinois and Wisconsin
territories
-- He sued for his freedom arguing
that he had lived on free soil

23. B. Three main questions before
Supreme Court
1. As a black man, was Scott a
citizen with a right to sue in
federal courts?
2. Had prolonged residence in a
free state and territory make
Scott free?
3. Did Congress have the right to
impose the 36˚30’ line to
restrict slavery in certain
areas of Louisiana Territory?

24. C. Roger B. Taney’s Decision
1. Scott was a slave & not a citizen
-- Result: All blacks, North &
South, were no longer citizens!
2. Slaves could not be taken away
from owners without due process
of law (5th Amendment)
-- Slaves could be taken
into any territory and
held there

25. 3. Missouri Compromise was
ruled unconstitutional
-- Congress couldn’t forbid
slavery in the territories
even if the territories wished
it

26. D. Impact
1. Contributed to the split in the
Democratic party
a. Northern Democrats who
favored popular sovereignty
were horrified (e.g.
Stephen Douglas)
b. Southern proslavers were
overjoyed and saw the
possibility for the creation of
several new slave states in
the territories

27. 2. Republicans were infuriated
a. Many claimed that the
decision was merely an
―opinion‖ and that it was
non-binding
b. Southern proslavers saw the
Republican view as further
evidence that the North
would not obey the
Constitution

28. XII. Financial Crash of 1857
A. Causes
1. Overspeculation on railroads
and land
2. Inflation due to California
―Gold Rush‖
3. Overproduction of grain
(Crimean War)

29. B. Results
1. Industrial North was hardest hit
-- Southerners boasted that
―King Cotton‖ was superior
to the flawed northern
economy
2. Renewed demand for free
farms in the West
3. Demand for higher tariffs

30. XIII. Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A. Republican Abraham Lincoln vs.
Stephen Douglas for Illinois’
national senate seat
1. Douglas was one of the most
powerful politicians in the
country
2. Lincoln’s ―House Divided‖
Speech: given during his
acceptance of his nomination
*See next slide for excerpt

31. ―A house divided against itself cannot stand. I
believe this government cannot endure,
permanently, half slave and half free. I do not
expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not
expect the house to fall — but I do expect it
will cease to be divided. It will become all one
thing or all the other. Either the opponents of
slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and
place it where the public mind shall rest in the
belief that it is in the
course of
ultimate extinction; or
its advocates
will push it forward,
till it shall
become alike lawful in
all the
States, old as well as new
— North
as well as South.‖
Abraham Lincoln, 1858

32. B. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a
series of seven debates
1. Douglas advocated for popular
sovereignty
2. Lincoln advocated nonextension of slavery
3. Debates received national
attention

33. C. Freeport Doctrine
1. Lincoln insisted Douglas
address the Dred Scott case
2. Douglas declared a territory
could pass laws to undermine
slavery
3. Douglas’ position further split
the Democratic party and
damaged his run for president
in 1860

34. D. Results
1. Douglas’ popular sovereignty
position prevailed
2. Steppingstone for Lincoln’s
presidential ambitions
3. Cost Douglas the presidency in
1860

35. XIV. John Brown attacks Harper’s
Ferry, 1859
A. Brown’s scheme: invade
Virginia and start a massive
slave rebellion
B. Attack failed; several were killed
and Brown was captured and
executed
U.S. forces,
led by Capt.
Robert E.
Lee, attack
Brown’s
position.

36. C. Northern abolitionists
viewed Brown as a
martyr
D. Viewed as ominous
in southern eyes
1. Brown seen as an agent of
northern abolitionism and antislavery conspiracy
2. Southern states began to arm
3. Perhaps the most important
cause of disunion (except for
Lincoln’s election)

37. XV. Election of 1860
A. Nominating conventions of 1860
1. Democratic party split in two
a. Northern Democrats
nominated Stephen Douglas
b. Southern Democrats
nominated John C.
Breckenridge
2. Constitutional-Union Party:
John Bell

38. 3. Republicans nominated
Lincoln
a. Republican platform
 Non extension of slavery
 Protective tariffs
 Transcontinental railroad
 Internal improvements
 Free homesteads
 No loss of rights for
immigrants
b. Southerners threatened
secession if Lincoln was
elected

39. An 1860
Republican
campaign
flag

41. Lincoln and Stephen Douglas struggle to control the northern and
western states while John C. Breckinridge claims the south and John
Bell attempts to glue the map back together.

42. Bell: “Bless my
soul I give up”
Breckenridge: “ That
long legged abolitionist
is getting ahead of us all
Douglas: “I
never run so in
my life”

43. B. Election Results
1. Lincoln elected with only 40% of the
vote
-- Most sectional election in U.S. history

44. 2. The Democrats still had control of
both houses of Congress which
was dominated by the South
-- A majority of Supreme Court
justices were southerners

45. President Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
Republican

46. XVI. Southern states secede from the
Union
A. December 1860, South Carolina
unanimously voted to secede from
the Union
B. 6 other states seceded during
Buchanan’s ―lame duck‖ period:
MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX
C. Confederate States of
America
-- Jefferson Davis
D. Buchanan’s response

48. E. Reasons for southern secession
1. Political balance seemed to favor
the North
2. Hated victory of the Republican
party that seemed anti-South
3. Angry over free-soil criticism &
abolitionism, northern
interference (Underground RR),
and John Brown’s raid
4. Many southerners thought
secession would be unopposed
5. Desired end to dependence on
the North
6. South had the moral high ground

49. XVII. Crittenden Compromise
1. Motive: appease the South
2. Provisions
3. Lincoln’s response

50. XVII. Crittenden Compromise
1. Motive: appease the South
2. Provisions
3. Lincoln’s response