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Chapter 19 Drifting Toward Disunion 1854-1861. Kansas Territory erupted in violence in 1855 1820 Missouri Compromise invalidated by the Dred Scott decision 1860 nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President. Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries.
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Chapter 19 Drifting Toward Disunion 1854-1861
Kansas Territory erupted in violence in 1855 1820 Missouri Compromise invalidated by the Dred Scott decision 1860 nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President
Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries • 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Sources of her antislavery sentiments lay in the crusades of the Second Great Awakening • Millions of copies of her book were sold • It made slavery appear almost as evil as it really was. • Lincoln said to her, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”
Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries • 1858 Hinton R. Helper’s The Impending Crisis of the South • He hated slavery and blacks • Book was banned and burned in the South • Believed that nonslaveholding whites suffered most from slavery.
The North-South Contest for Kansas Northerners searching for richer lands Census of 1860 found two slaves out of 107,000 people in Kansas and only 15 in Nebraska 1885 election=victory for slave supporters 1856 proslavery raiders burned part of the free-soil town of Lawrence
Kansas in Convulsion • John Brown “Old Brown” • Dedicated to abolitionist cause • May 1856 led followers to Pottawatomie Creek • 1856 Civil War in Kansas • 1857 Kansas had enough people to apply for statehood with popular sovereignty. • Lecompton Constitution (devised by proslavery forces) • People only allowed to vote for slavery or no slavery • No matter what, there would still be black bondage as slave owners already in Kansas were protected. • Many free-soilers were upset and boycotted the polls and the 1857 constitution was approved with slavery
“Bully” Brooks and His Bludgeon • Senator Charles Sumner of Mass. (leading abolitionist) delivered a speech “The Crime Against Kansas” • Condemned proslavery men • Insulting to South Carolina and Senator Andrew Butler • May 22, 1856 Congressman Preston S. Brooks of Carolina approached Sumner, pounded the orator with a cane, and made the victim fall bleeding to the floor • Brooks resigned and then was reelected • Sumner left for three and a half years to Europe for treatment • Mass. Reelected Sumner
“Old Buck” Versus “The Pathfinder” • Democrats met in Cincinnati to nominate presidential standard bearer of 1856 • James Buchanan(Penn. Lawyer) chosen • “Old Buck” Buchanan • Republicans nominated Captain John C. Fremont (pathfinder of the West) who was supposed to find path to White House • Know-Nothing Party = secret American party organized by “nativists” (old stock Protestants) • 1856 nominated Millard Fillmore • Antiforeign and anti-Catholic • Slogan “Americans Must Rule America”
The Electoral Fruits of 1856 Buchanan won by beating Fremont and Fillmore
The Dred Scott Bombshell Dred Scott decision was handed down by the Supreme Court on March 6, 1857 Dred Scott (black slave) sued for freedom because of his long residence on free soil The Supreme Court ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had been unconstitutional The court believed that because a slave was property he could be taken into any territory and legally held there in slavery. The reason was because the 5th Amend. Forbade Congress to deprive people of their property.
The Financial Crash of 1857 • Causes • California gold helped inflate currency • Demands of Crimean War over stimulated growing of grain • Furious speculation in land and railroads • 5000 businesses failed within a year • North was hit the hardest while the South enjoyed cotton prices • 1860 Congress passed a homestead act: Public lands were available for 25 cents an acre • Vetoed by President Buchanan • Republicans given two issues for election: protection and farms
An Illinois Rail-Splitter Emerges • Illinois Senatorial election of 1858 • Republican candidate = Abraham Lincoln • Born in 1809 in Kentucky to impoverished parents • Better-known trial lawyer in Illinois • One term in Congress 1847-1849 • Received 110 votes for vice-presidential nomination at Philadelphia Convention of 1856
The Great Debate: Lincoln versus Douglas • Seven debates between August to October 1858 • Most famous debate came at Freeport, Illinois • Lincoln asked whether the vote of the people or the vote of the Supreme Court would prevail • Douglas’s response (“Freeport Doctrine”) was aimed toward the people and stated that “No matterhow the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people voted it down.” • Douglas defeated Lincoln for Senate seat • But Douglas hurt his chances of winning presidency
John Brown Murder or Martyr? John Brown’s plan = invade south secretly, call slaves to rise, give them arms, and establish a black free state On October 1859, at Harpers Ferry, Brown killed and injured innocent people He and some of his followers were captured by U.S. Marines “Old Brown” was convicted of murder and treason He was hung
The Disruption of the Democrats • Dem. Met in Charleston, South Carolina where departure was becoming a habit • Dem. Then tried in Baltimore but many walked out • Constitutional Union Party was organized • Met in Baltimore and nominated John Bell of Tenn. For presidency • Believed in the Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the Laws
A Rail-Splitter Splits the Union Republicans met in Chicago in the Wigwam (huge, boxlike wooden structure) A noisy election campaign broke out Victory = Lincoln
The Electoral Upheaval of 1860 Election of 1860 was virtually two elections: in North and in South Lincoln (Republican) Breckinridge (Democratic) Bell (Constitutional Union) Douglas (Democratic) Federal gov. could not touch slavery in those states where it existed except by a constitutional amendment Lincoln wins election with only 40% of the popular vote. Democrats together amassed more votes.
The Secessionist Exodus • Dec. 1860 Convention at Charleston led to secessions of states in lower South (ex. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Texas) • Feb. 1861 at Montgomery, Alabama led to creation of gov. called the Confederate States of America • President Jefferson Davis • Lincoln could not take office until March 4, 1861 • Buchanan was blamed for not holding the Union together. • Lincoln did the same (wait and see).
The Collapse of Compromise Senator James Henry Crittenden of Kentucky proposed Crittenden amendments to the Constitution which were designed to appease the South Slavery would be allowed south of 36° 30’, given federal protection in all territories as well as future territories such as Cuba or Mexico. Lincoln rejected the Crittenden plan
Farewell to Union Many Southerners supported secession because they saw it as an opportunity and believed they would be unopposed. 13 original states had entered the Union and now 7 – ultimately 11 – Southern states were voluntarily withdrawing from it