Chapter 11 Sectional Conflict Increases

1. Section 3 – On the Brink of War Chapter 11Sectional Conflict Increases

2. A. Dred Scott Decision • Who was Dred Scott? Slave of army doctor John Emerson lived in Missouri, wanted to be free after Emerson passed away • What was his argument? He should be free because he had previously lived with Emerson in Wisconsin Territory and Illinois, both free • Missouri courts had already given slaves freedom in similar cases

4. A. Dred Scott Decision • Chief Justice Roger B. Taney – one of five southerners on the Supreme Court who wrote the majority opinion • What was his decision? • That since Scott was property and not a U.S. citizen, he had no right to sue • Congress did not have the right to outlaw slavery because you couldn’t deny right to property without due process • Missouri Compromise line was illegal

5. A. Dred Scott Decision • Reaction • Abolitionists were outraged but some saw it as an opportunity to take action • Combined with Kansas-Nebraska Act, slavery looked like it was going to expand into territories

6. B. Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Abraham Lincoln – lawyer and former House member who was against slavery, ran for U.S. Senate from Illinois as a Republican • Stephen Douglas – called the “Little Giant”, was running for a third term • Douglas was popular with people in Illinois

8. B. Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Lincoln-Douglas Debates (seven total between August and October) • “A house divided against itself cannot stand” – Lincoln at Republican State Convention 6/16/1858 • Lincoln – willing to tolerate slavery in the South but strongly opposed to it in territories • Freeport Doctrine – Douglas said that people of a territory could still keep slavery out by refusing to pass local laws necessary to make slave system work • Result – Freeport Doctrine helped Douglas beat Lincoln in a close race

10. First Debate Ottawa – August 21, 1858 Second Debate Freeport – August 27, 1858 Third Debate Jonesboro – September 15, 1858 Fourth Debate Charleston – September 18, 1858 Fifth Debate Galesburg – October 7, 1858 Sixth Debate Quincy – October 13, 1858 Seventh Debate Alton – October 15, 1858

12. C. John Brown’s Raid • Attack on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (October 16, 1859) • Who? Abolitionist John Brown and a group of 20 that included five African Americans. Group was funded by abolitionists from New England. • What happened? Brown’s group seizes the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry

13. C. John Brown’s Raid • Why? Brown hoped to revolt against slaveholders and start a new government in the Appalachian Mountains • Result – No slaves came to help and the army eventually attacked, killing half of the group and capturing the rest • Fate of those captured? Brown and six of his followers were convicted and executed

15. C. John Brown’s Raid • Reaction • Northerners – questioned Brown’s sanity but many also saw him as a hero • Southerners – • Some saw him as a fanatic who got what he deserved • Secessionists thought it would lead yeoman farmers and poor whites to support their cause

16. D. Election of 1860 • Democrats – nominated Stephen Douglas • Southern Democrats broke away and chose Vice President John Breckinridge • Republicans – nominated Abraham Lincoln, who seemed more moderate • Stronger abolitionists wanted William Seward • Platform – designed to attract northern industrialists and wage earners along with midwestern farmers, totally ignored the South • Constitutional Union Party – formed by Southern moderates, nominated John Bell

17. D. Election of 1860 • Results • Same as sectional divisions – Lincoln wins convincingly in Electoral College but only wins 40% of popular vote • Lincoln – carried almost all northern and Midwest states (180 electoral votes) • Douglas – claimed almost 30 percent popular vote but only 12 electoral votes (Missouri and 3 of 7 electoral votes from NJ) • Breckinridge – carried every state of Lower South (18.1% popular vote, 72 electoral votes) • Bell – Won three states in Upper South (KY, VA, TN), finished last in popular vote (12.6%) but third in electoral votes with 39

19. E. Secession • Lincoln’s victory was seen in the South as a win for abolitionists • States secede – South Carolina first on Dec. 20, 1860, six others follow by Feb. 1, 1861 • Confederate States of America – formed by delegates from six of the seven seceding states in a convention at Montgomery, Alabama • Jefferson Davis – Mississippi planter and former U.S. senator named Confederate president

20. E. Secession • Buchanan backs down – Before leaving office, he says that states have no power to secede but that the government can’t make them stay against its will • Southern justification – used states’ rights as basis for withdrawal but also feared that restricting slavery in territories would keep them as the minority in Congress • Northern reaction – states accepted the Constitution as supreme law of the land when they ratified it, can’t just withdraw if they didn’t like what was happening

21. Civil War Causes • Cotton Gin • Sectionalism • Missouri Compromise • Nullification Crisis • Manifest Destiny • Annexation of Texas • Mexican War/Cession • Wilmot Proviso • Compromise of 1850 • Fire-eaters • Fugitive Slave Act • Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Kansas-Nebraska Act • Bleeding Kansas • Attack on the Senate Floor (Sumner/Brooks) • Republican Party Forms • Dred Scott decision • John Brown’s Raid • Election of 1860 • Secession/Formation of the Confederacy