Events Leading to the Civil War 1820-1860

1. Events Leading to the Civil War1820-1860 Missouri Compromise Wilmot Proviso Compromise of 1850 Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 Scott v Sanford 1857 Lincoln Douglas Debates Raid on Harpers Ferry The Election of 1860

2. Missouri Compromise - 1820 • Allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state together with Maine entering as a free state and maintained the balance in the number of slave and free states in the Senate

3. Abolition of Slavery • Abolition has been a hotly debated topic in our country…even before we were a country! Think back to the debates surrounding the Declaration of Independence! • Many states began to abolish slavery shortly after the US is established…Vermont did so in 1777!

4. Abolition of Slavery • Individuals and organizations began to form to promote abolition

5. Abolition of Slavery • Uprisings and rebellions occurred on a regular basis as slaves themselves fought against the institution!

6. The Wilmot Proviso 1846 • Proposal to prohibit slavery in territory gained through conquest…..particularly the Mexican Cession territory • Passed by House of Representatives, defeated in Senate by Southern members • Outraged the South, led to Calhoun Resolutions • Territories are joint property of all states • Congress has no right to enact a ban on slavery • South will nullify such a law, may secede from Union • Never enacted

7. Westward Expansion makes it complicated! • Gold discovered in California, 1848, which leads to the Gold Rush of 1849 • California, with a population of 80,000, seeks to join the Union as a free state • South refuses and seeks to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific • Hello…..We need to Compromise here!!

8. Compromise of 1850 Daniel Webster believed that national unity was far more important that sectional interests John C. Calhoun feared that the North was trying to destroy the South Henry Clay worked tirelessly to pass a compromise bill

9. Compromise of 1850 • Stephen Douglas got the Compromise through Congress: • California joins as a free state • Fugitive Slave Law includes harsher punishments • Ends slave trade in District of Columbia • Popular Sovereignty over slavery issue in remaining Mexican Cession Territories

10. Compromise of 1850 • Reaction in the North is swift • Opposition to Fugitive Slave Law • Increase in Abolitionist activities • Increased support for the Underground Railroad

11. The Abolitionists are making progress!

12. Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852 • The novel, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, became an international best seller and greatly helped the abolitionist cause as it exposed the tragedies of slave life.

13. Westward Expansion is still…… …….making it complicated! • Westward expansion continued, with the growing population came the need for more railroads but the route to construct caused major problems

14. Kansas-Nebraska Act • Stephen Douglas proposed something new: • Repeal the Missouri Compromise • Allow the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide the issue of slavery by Popular Sovereignty The South favored this proposal, the North condemned it as a way to extend slavery into new territory

15. Kansas-Nebraska Act • Some saw the map as less than neutral and fair

16. Bleeding Kansas • As both pro- and anti- slavery men poured into Kansas to caste their votes, a mini Civil War broke out.

17. Bleeding Kansas • "Come on, then, gentlemen of the slave states. Since there is no escaping your challenge, we accept it in the name of freedom. We will engage in competition for the virgin soil of Kansas, and God give the victory to the side which is stronger in numbers, as it is in right." -- Senator William Seward, on the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, May 1854 • By the end of 1856 over 200 had been killed

18. Scott v. Sanford - 1857 • -Scott moved to a free territory with his owner…he believed that because he lived in free territory, he should be free. • -So, he sued in federal court in 1854. • -The court ruled against him, so he appealed to the Supreme Court. • -The Supreme Court’s decision, based primarily on Chief Justice Roger Taney’s written opinion, ruled: • That slaves were not and could never be citizens. Thus, Dred Scott had no right to file a lawsuit and remained a slave regardless of the territory in which he lived. • -Also, he stated that by banning slavery, Congress was, in effect, taking away or regulating property – which violated the 5th Amendment SO…Banning slavery in the territories was prohibited by the federal government…each state, via popular sovereignty, can regulate property and therefore slavery!

19. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate the issues plaguing the nation as they run for office in the US Senate. • The greatest debate is over “Popular Sovereignty” • Douglas believed that a states had the right to decide for themselves whether slavery should exist within their borders. • Lincoln believed that the debate over slavery was a tearing our nation apart….it needed to go away…for that very reason! “A house divided against itself can not stand!”

20. The Raid on Harper’s Ferry • John Brown and other abolitionists led a raid on a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. • They seized weapons and held citizens hostage….but ultimately surrendered after several were dead and wounded. • They were quickly tried, found guilty, and executed! • Although this abolitionist raid was quickly quashed by the federal government…..…….Southerners were very fearful of the growing violence in the abolitionist movement!

21. Lincoln Wins the Election of 1860! • Although Lincoln did not win the Congressional Election of 1858….he became a viable candidate for President two years later! • He ran as the Republican candidate…stating that he would work tirelessly to preserve the Union! • He won the election with no support in the Southern states at all! • The South was very nervous to be a part of a union that would potential pass legislation ending their way of life…..whatever shall they do….hmmmmm?