Murderer or Martyr

1. Murderer or Martyr “I am quite cheerful in view of my approaching end, being fully persuaded that I am worth inconceivably more to hang than for any other purpose.” What do you think Brown meant by this statement? Considering all that you know about John Brown, do you consider him to be a murderer or a martyr? Explain.

2. Chapter 19 Drifting Toward Disunion 1854 – 1861 “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” (1858)

3. Lincoln said to Beecher Stowe in 1861, “So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!” Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries • Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) • Harriet Beecher Stowe’s vivid account of the slave system became the best selling book of the 19th century: • Depicted the harsh reality of slavery • The book became a vital antislavery tool among abolitionists • Hinton Helper’s Impending Crisis of the South (1859) • Helper was a white southerner who argued that slavery hurt the South & small farmers • Southerners saw the book as a plot to rally yeoman against the elite & end slavery

4. Kansans had to chose between two governments: one illegal and the other fraudulent The North-South Contest for Kansas • Northerners began to pour into Kansas • Southerners were outraged, since they had supported the Compromise of 1850 under the impression that Kansas would become slave. • Election day in 1855: Southerners from Missouri flooded the polls and elected Kansas to be a slave state • Free soilers set up their own government in Topeka in retaliation • 1856: group of proslavery raiders shot up and burned part of Lawrence • Republicans benefited from the fighting by using “Bleeding Kansas” propaganda to support their anti-slave cause

5. The vote revealed a pro-slavery victory which led to a violent civil war in Kansas Thousands of pro-slavery Missouri residents crossed the border & voted for slavery Free-soilers from Kansas voted against slavery

6. Kansas in Convulsion • 1856: John Brown, a crazy man (literally), led a band of followers to Pottawatomie Creek and hacked to 5 men to death • 1857: Kansas had enough people to apply for statehood • Those for slavery devised the Lecompton Constitution • People were only allowed to vote for the constitution “with slavery” or “without slavery.” • If the constitution was passed “without slavery,” then those slaveholders already in the state would still be protected • Angry free soilers boycotted the polls and Kansas approved the constitution with slavery • Buchanan tried to push Kansas’ admission through despite the fraud, but Stephen Douglas fought for a fair election • Lecompton Constitution was then voted on as a whole • Kansas was made a free territory, not a slave state

7. “Bully” Brooks and His Bludgeon • Senator Charles Sumner was a vocal antislaveryite, and his speeches condemned all slavery supporters • Congressman Preston S. Brooks decided that since he couldn’t challenge Sumner to a duel, he’d beat the senator with a cane like a dog • The clash signifies how passions were inflamed to a dangerous and violent level

8. SC Senator Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner because of a speech Sumner had made criticizing President Pierce & Southerners who supported the the pro-slavery violence in Kansas

9. “Old Buck” versus “The Pathfinder” • Election of 1856 (first clearly sectional presidentialelectioninU.S.history) • Democrats: James Buchanan, untainted by the Kansas-Nebraska Act; lots of political experience • Republican: John C. Fremont, fighter in the Mexican-American War • American Party/“Know-Nothing Party”: Millard Fillmore • organized by nativists

10. Southerners were relieved by the victory but were threatened by the existence of a party devoted to ending slavery Northerners realized that the free-states had a large majority in the Electoral College so a Republican could become president by only campaigning in the North

11. The Dred Scot Bombshell • Dred Scot had been a slave whose master had taken him north into free territory, where he had lived for many years. • After his master’s death, he sued for his freedom from his new master, claiming that he had been in free territory. • The Missouri Supreme Court agreed, freeing him, but the decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overruled the decision

12. The Dred Scot Bombshell • In Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Taney & the Supreme Court ruled: • Dred Scott had no right to sue because blacks are not citizens • Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in western territories so the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional • Northerners complained; Southerners were inflamed by northern defiance, and more tension built

13. The Financial Crash of 1857 • Panic of 1857: Psychologically the worst panic of the 19th century • The panic was caused by inflation and overgrowth of grain and nowhere to export it. • The North was especially hard hit, but the South rode it out with flying colors, seemingly proving that cotton was king and raising their egos • Also brought calls for a higher tariff rate

14. The Great Debate: Lincoln versus Douglas • Democrat Stephen Douglas ran against Republican Abraham Lincoln for the 1858 Illinois Senate • Lincoln challenged Douglas (great debater) to a series of seven debates • Most famous debate came at Freeport, IL • “Freeport Doctrine”: Douglas said that no matter how the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people voted it down; the people had the power. • Lincoln lost the election, but the debates gained him a national reputation & reaffirmed the Republicans’ uncompromising commitment to the free-soil position

15. John Brown: Murderer or Martyr? • John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA; he & 18 men planned to end slavery in the South by leading slave insurrections • Slaves didn’t revolt, and Brown was captured and convicted of treason and sentenced to death • The South was happy, but abolitionists were infuriated by his execution

16. John Brown: Northern Martyr or Southern Villain?

17. The Disruption of the Democrats • Democrats were fatally split: • Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas who ran on a platform of popular sovereignty • Southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge who swore to protect slavery in the West • Ex-Whigs & Know-Nothings formed the Constitutional Union Party & ran John Bell & on a compromise platform

18. A Rail-Splitter Splits the Union • The Republicans, sensing victory against their split opponents, nominated Abraham Lincoln, not William Seward • Platform had an appeal to every important non-southern group to widen its appeal • For free soilers it proposed non-extension of slavery • For northern manufacturers, a protective tariff • For the immigrants, no abridgement of rights • For the West, internal improvements at federal expense • For the farmers, free homesteads • Southerners threatened that Lincolns election would result in Southern secession

19. The 1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart

20. The Electoral Upheaval of 1860 • Lincoln won with only 40% of the popular vote • South immediately launched a campaign for succession from the Union

21. The Secessionist Exodus • South Carolina had threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected president • They did so in December of 1860 • Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed in the next six weeks • The seven seceders created the Confederate States of America and chose Jefferson Davis as president

22. Farewell to Union • The seceding states did so for several reasons • They feared that their rights as a slaveholding minority were being threatened • They were alarmed at the growing power of the Republicans • They believed that they would be unopposed despite what the Northerners claimed • The most significant underlying cause of the Civil War was slavery (though economic differences also contributed) • The North & South argued for two very different ideals of liberty & independence but by the 1850s, the sectional ideologies made any form of compromise impossible

23. Chapter 19 Assessment The conflict over slavery in Kansas • Came about because the first settlers brought substantial numbers of slaves to the territory • Was resolved by the Crittenden Compromise • Was temporarily resolved by the Compromise of 1850 • Was greatly escalated by abolitionist-funded settlers and proslavery “border ruffians” from Missouri In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court • Avoided controversy by ruling that the slave Dred Scott had no right to sue in federal court • Ruled that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was unconstitutional • Ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories because slaves were private property • Ruled that slaves could sue in federal court only if their masters permitted them to do so

24. Chapter 19 Assessment The conflict over slavery in Kansas • Came about because the first settlers brought substantial numbers of slaves to the territory • Was resolved by the Crittenden Compromise • Was temporarily resolved by the Compromise of 1850 • Was greatly escalated by abolitionist-funded settlers and proslavery “border ruffians” from Missouri In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court • Avoided controversy by ruling that the slave Dred Scott had no right to sue in federal court • Ruled that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was unconstitutional • Ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories because slaves were private property • Ruled that slaves could sue in federal court only if their masters permitted them to do so

25. Chapter 19 Assessment The conflict over slavery in Kansas • Came about because the first settlers brought substantial numbers of slaves to the territory • Was resolved by the Crittenden Compromise • Was temporarily resolved by the Compromise of 1850 • Was greatly escalated by abolitionist-funded settlers and proslavery “border ruffians” from Missouri In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court • Avoided controversy by ruling that the slave Dred Scott had no right to sue in federal court • Ruled that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was unconstitutional • Ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories because slaves were private property • Ruled that slaves could sue in federal court only if their masters permitted them to do so