“How to Rip a Country Apart”

1. “How to Rip a Country Apart” From Steve Sheinkin’sTwo Miserable Presidents

2. Step 1: Plant Cotton • Eli Whitney, 1791 Cotton gin • Cotton production rises—huge profits • “Cotton is King” • Good for Southern plantation owners and Northern factory owners • Bad for slaves • Slaves jumped from 1 million to 4 million from 1820 to 1860

3. Step 2: Grow Apart • Slavery rising in the South, dying in the North • Early 1800s, Market Revolution led to huge changes in North while South unchanged • Moving to cities • Working in factories • Tariffs=North loved, South hated

4. Step 3: Keep Your Balance • 1819: 22 states total; 11 slave, 11 free • What to do with land west of Mississippi? Slave states or free states? • Missouri Compromise: 1820 • Missouri joined as slave state • Maine as free state • Line from southern Missouri border west • North=Free, South=Slave

5. Step 4: Fight Slavery • Frederick Douglass • Runaway slave • Stole “free papers”: ID proving African American was not a slave • Escaped to Maryland • Became active abolitionist: a movement to end slavery in the United States

6. Step 5: Build a Railroad • Underground Railroad: secret system of routes out of the South to help people escape slavery • Houses where slaves could hide called “stations” • “Conductors” helped people to Canada where slavery illegal • Harriet Tubman • Most famous conductor • Escaped slavery—wanted to go back for her family • Carried out at least 13 rescue missions • Led about 300 people to freedom • Angered South: slaves are property being stolen by Northerners

7. Step 6: Get More Land • Manifest Destiny/Waves of Expansion 1845-1853 • Now15 free states; 15 slave states • 1848—Gold discovered in California; wanted to make it a state quick! • California wanted to be a free state—would upset balance permanently • Talk of Disunion began

8. Step 7: Try to Compromise • John C. Calhoun • Union saved only if North • Stopped helping escaped slaves • Stopped the abolitionist movement • Promise to keep balance between free and slave • William Seward • Slavery will end whether Calhoun likes it or not • Compromise of 1850 • Henry Clay’s idea • California admitted as free state • Congress pass the Fugitive Slave Act • Make it easier for slave-owners to capture runaway slaves • Proposed by Daniel Webster, passed Congress

9. Step 8: Chase Fugitives • Fugitive Slave Act • Any African American suspected of being a fugitive slave could be captured and brought before a judge • Accused had no right to testify; no right to trial by jury • Judge simply decided if he or she was a runaway • Got $5 for freeing the person; $10 for sending to slavery • Angered Northerners as a cruel and unjust law

10. Step 9: Write Books • Uncle Tom’s Cabinby Harriet Beecher Stowe • Tried to show horrors of slavery • Forced parents to imagine the torment of losing their child to a slave trader. • Inspired new hatred of slavery in the North • Southern writers fired back • Slaves were well treated and happy • Much better off than factory workers in the North

11. Step 10: Divide Nebraska • Stephen Douglas wanted to divide Nebraska Territory into smaller states • Problem: all land was north of Missouri Compromise line • Proposal: Replace Missouri Compromise with Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) • Divide in two: Nebraska in North; Kansas in South • Popular sovereignty: let the people in the territories decide if slave or free state • Passed Congress • Abraham Lincoln (Douglas’ rival) • Does a white man have the right to vote on whether he can own a black man? Is that self-government?

12. Step 11: Race to Kansas • Supporters and opponents of slavery flood into Kansas • Beginning of 1856—two governments • Initial vote on slavery won, but due to thousands of Missouri residents voting illegally • “Free-Soilers” held their own election and chose their own government • By May, fighting broke out in Lawrence • 800 pro-slavery men chased out Free-Soilers • Northern papers talked of slaughter, though no one was killed • Infuriated Northerners

13. Step 12: Insult Senators • Senator Charles Sumner • Gave “Crime Against Kansas” speech • Slammed the pro-slavery army, senators who supported Kansas-Nebraska Act, and personally attacked Andrew Butler • Accused Butler of loving slavery and making fun of the fact that he spit and stammered when he talked • Low blow: Butler had actually suffered from a stroke that left him partially paralyzed

14. Step 13: Hit Him Again! • Preston Brooks, cousin of Senator Butler • Beat Sumner over the head with a cane for “libel” against Butler and South Carolina • Became a hero to Southerners • Sent him canes with sayings like, “Hit Him Again!” • Southern reaction stunned Northerners • Mirrored the growing conflict between the North and the South • Like the attack on Sumner, “the conflict between the North and the South was bitter, personal, and a little bit bloody.”

15. Other items of note: • “Bleeding Kansas” May 24, 1856 • John Brown led the attack • Began as a retaliation against attack on Free-Soilers • Led to fighting between both sides that killed 200 men • Dred Scott Decision • Dred Scott was a slave whose master lived with him on free soil for several years • Sued for his freedom • Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that Scott was still a slave • Did not have rights of citizen so could not bring case before court • Ruled that slavery allowed in the territories because Congress cannot ban it—Southerners can take their property (slaves) anywhere