Chapter 14

1. Chapter 14 The Coming of the Civil War

2. Slave Power Comes North • The Compromise of 1850 lasted about 4 years • Abolitionists intensified their propaganda • Slaves continued to seek their freedom in the North • The new fugitive slave laws encouraged more Southerners to try and recover escaped slaves

3. Slave Power Comes North • Thousands of runaway slaves fled to Canada • Northerners increasingly refused to step aside and allow slaves to be taken away • Enforcing the law was becoming more difficult

4. Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin(1852), increased sectional tensions and illustrated the evils of slavery • The novel was a huge success in America and abroad and reached audiences that abolitionists could not • Southerners accused Stowe of distorting the realities of plantation life and of trying to foment hatred towards the South

5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Before the novel, few had looked upon slaves as real people • The novel caused many who were not abolitionists to question the morality of slavery Simon Legree – Uncle Tom’s Cabin

6. The Young America Movement • The “Young America” spirit believed that democracy would triumph everywhere • Many helped revolutions in Europe or dreamed of annexing new land in the Caribbean William Walker

7. Stephen Douglas: Little Giant • Douglas was a spokesman for the Young America Movement • Douglas believed in expansion and popular sovereignty • He wanted to build more RRs, acquire more territory, and expand trade • He was anti-slavery but did not believe it to be a moral issue

8. Stephen Douglas: Little Giant • His success in pushing through the Compromise of 1850 made him well-known • His attempt at winning the Democratic presidential nomination was thwarted by the nomination of the dark horse Franklin Pierce – the Whigs nominated General Winfield Scott • Political stability was teetering as the Whig party crumbled • Congress fell under the control of pro-slavery Democrats

9. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • President Pierce balanced his cabinet with men from pro-slavery South and anti-slavery North • Pierce was incapable of handling the factions • Senator Stephen Douglas produced a bill that would organize the lands west of Missouri and Iowa as the Nebraska Territory President Franklin Pierce

10. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Settlers were already moving into the territory • Douglas wanted the territory organized to facilitate RR expansion and make Chicago the terminus (he was director of the Illinois Central) • Southerners wanted the RR line to go through Memphis or New Orleans • James Gadsden purchased land from Mexico to facilitate RR construction for the Southern RR

11. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • In accordance with the Missouri Compromise, Nebraska would be a free state as it lay above the agreed parallel • Under pressure from Southern senators, Douglas agreed to create two territories Kansas and Nebraska and repeal the part of the Missouri Compromise that excluded slavery north of the parallel

13. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Whether the territories should be free or slave- let the populations decide • Making concessions to the South also might help him secure the next presidential nomination • Douglas erred – the territory had been free-soil for 34 years and many Northern moderates were radicalized

14. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • The reaction of the North was almost as intense as the patriots under the Stamp Act • The South in both houses backed the bill as did Douglas and Pierce • The Northern Democrats split and the bill became law in 1854 • The bill was the greatest single step towards civil war

15. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • The repeal of the Missouri Compromise was like a slap in the face of the North • The status of slavery, once settled, was now open again

16. The Parties • There were 91 free-state Democrats in the House when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed- only 25 after the next election • Most Whigs flocked to two new parties: the “Know-Nothing” party and the Republicans • The “Know-Nothings” grew out of a secret organization whose password was “I don’t know”

17. The Parties • The “Know-Nothings” • Primarily Nativists or anti-immigration • Public financing of religious schools and prohibition of alcohol were big issues • They wanted 21 years before citizenship granted • They tended to adopt the view of slavery in whatever region they were

18. The Parties • The Republicans • Made up of former Free-Soilers, anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats • It was a Northern party not a national one • They were not abolitionist (though abolitionist voted Republican) but wanted territories free of slavery • In 1854, the Republican won more than 100 seats in the House

19. Bleeding Kansas • Kansas became a battleground • Both sides refused to let the Kansans to work out the issue- they began a movement of settlers into the territory • In 1854 an election was held to pick a territorial delegate to Congress. A large band of pro-slavery Missourians crossed the border and helped elect a pro-slavery man

20. Bleeding Kansas • In March 1855, 5,000 “border ruffians” again crossed into Kansas and elected a territorial legislature. There were only 2905 eligible voters but over 6,000 votes were cast • The legislature promptly enacted a slave code and made laws against abolitionism • Anti-slavery forces refused to recognize the new laws and established their own legislature • By January 1857 there were two governments in Kansas

21. Bleeding Kansas • President Pierce denounced the free-state government which encouraged the pro-slavery settlers • May 1856- 800 pro-slavery settlers sacked the town of Lawrence- a center of abolition • An abolition extremist, John Brown, murdered an equal number of pro-slavery men in another small community in retaliation

22. Bleeding Kansas • The violence perpetrated by both sides caused an explosion of violence as marauding bands attacked homesteads after first determining their positions on slavery • Brown escaped capture but was forced to flee Kansas • Republicans, eager to propagandize the situation, filled newspapers with exaggerated stories of “bleeding Kansas”

23. Bleeding Kansas • The Democrats were also at fault by making a mockery of the Kansas elections • The main responsibility lay with President Pierce. He should have remained neutral but openly sided with the South • When the first territorial governor complained to the president about the manner in which the first territorial legislature was elected, he replaced him with a pro-Southern man

24. President Buchanan • The Republican Party now dominated the North • For the 1856 Election, it nominated John Fremont a hero of the War with Mexico. He was popular, a war hero, with little political experience • The campaign slogan was: “Free soil, free speech, and Fremont”

25. President Buchanan • The Democrats cast aside Pierce, but did not dare nominate Douglas who now had many enemies in the North • They settled on James Buchanan who had served as minister to Great Britain during the Kansas crisis and was therefore not “tainted” • A third party, the American Party, nominated Millard Fillmore

26. President Buchanan • The Democrats campaigned by denouncing the Republicans as a sectional party intent on destroying the Union • Buchanan won a minority of the vote but won in the Electoral College • He had been in politics since he was 24 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature President James Buchanan

27. President Buchanan • He served as Polk’s Secretary of State then as minister to Britain under Pierce • He was big and heavy yet graceful, could drink vast quantities of alcohol without looking inebriated • He was popular with women but never married • He was patriotic and moderate

28. The Dred Scott Decision • Before the Kansas crisis has died down, a new one emerged • John Emerson, an army officer, had been stationed in several locations in the North during his tour accompanied by his slave, Dred Scott • When Emerson died, Scott and his wife sued in court for their freedom claiming they were free by virtue of living in the North where slavery was outlawed

29. The Dred Scott Decision • The freedom of Scott and his wife was really not the issue: who had the power to outlaw slavery? Congress or the state legislatures? • The case went to the Supreme Court • The Court declared that free or slave, blacks were not citizens, therefore Scott could not sue in a federal court Dred Scott

30. The Dred Scott Decision • The Court further stated that since Scott had returned to Missouri, the laws of the Northern states no longer applied to him • The Court was mostly composed of Southerners and pro-slavery Northerners • The decision threatened Douglas’ concept of popular sovereignty- if Congress could not exclude slaves from a territory how could a state legislature do it?

31. The Dred Scott Decision • Justice Taney also argued that the Fifth Amendment permitted slaves to go anywhere as “no act of congress can deprive a man of liberty or property…” • Under this ruling, slaves could be brought into any territory • Many Northerners believed that the South was trying to expand slavery even into the North

32. The Lecompton Constitution • Buchanan tried to defuse the Kansas crisis by appointing a new governor- Robert J. Walker • Pro-slavery leaders convened a constitutional conference on Lecompton while Free-Soil forces refused to participate • When a pro-slavery constitution was produced and refused to submit it to a fair vote, Walker denounced it and hurried to Washington

33. The Lecompton Constitution • Influenced by pro-slavery advisors, Buchanan not only did not reject the constitution, he asked Congress to admit Kansas as a state with the constitution as its framework • Douglas attacked the decision and shattered the Democratic Party. • Admitting Kansas as a slave state would go against his idea of popular sovereignty and ruin his hopes of becoming president

34. The Lecompton Constitution • Buchanan and Douglas fought over the issue with Buchanan putting great pressure on Douglas • Congress rejected the Lecompton constitution • In Kansas a referendum was ordered and the Lecompton constitution was defeated by anti-slavery citizens while pro-slavery citizens sat out

35. The Lecompton Constitution • Buchanan pressed Congress to admit Kansas the Lecompton constitution • Congress ordered another referendum in Kansas- the constitution was again defeated by a ratio of 6-1 • More than opposition to slavery influenced the vote- most Kansans were alienated by Washington due to land policies that ruined many

36. The Emergence of Lincoln • Many Northerners blamed the Panic of 1857 on the South • The Southern-dominated Congress had reduced tariffs and many businesses went under due to foreign competition • The South saw the Panic as proof that it had the superior economic system • The Union was cracking and threatened to break apart

37. The Emergence of Lincoln • To many, Douglas seemed the man who could preserve it • His reelection to the senate took on added significance – his Republican opponent was Abraham Lincoln • Lincoln had entered politics when he was elected to the state legislature as a Whig when he was barely 25

38. The Emergence of Lincoln • Though no abolitionist, Lincoln was bitterly opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Act • Opposed to slavery he did not blame the Southerners • His moderation and his moral force won Lincoln many admirers Abraham Lincoln

39. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Contrasts in looks, style and oratory • Douglas was short and stout and Lincoln tall and lean • Douglas was dapper and flashy while Lincoln appeared worn and rumpled • Douglas spoke with bold gestures, paced the stage, and never hesitated to call Lincoln a liar while Lincoln spoke slowly and deliberately giving the impression of utter sincerity

40. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • In fact, both men were very close in their views on slavery and how it should be handled in the states • Douglas won election – barely – but answers given in the debate would cost him the presidential nomination • Lincoln’s defeat did not cost him – in fact the defeat revitalized his political career

41. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • The campaign of 1858 was Douglas’ last great triumph and Lincoln’s last defeat • By early 1859 radical Southerners, spooked by Republican victories in both houses, spoke openly of secession should a Republican become president in 1860 • Taking the offensive, Southern “fire-eaters” demanded a slave code for the territories, talked of annexing Cuba, and reviving the African slave trade

42. John Brown’s Raid • October 1859 – John Brown with 18 white and black followers seized the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry upstream from Washington • His goal was to arm the slaves and establish a black republic in western Virginia • He took several hostages including a great-grand nephew of George Washington • No slaves came forward to join him

43. John Brown’s Raid • Federal troops under the command of Robert E. Lee trapped Brown and his men in an engine house of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad • After a two-day siege, in which 10 of Brown’s men were picked off, Brown was captured

44. John Brown’s Raid • Despite Brown’s near-certain insanity, he was supported by several well-known abolitionists including Emerson and Thoreau • Southerners reacted in an equally irrational manner and attacked Northerners in the South even lynching one • Brown was immediately tried in Virginia for treason and murder and sentenced to death • In his last days, Brown turned calm and spoke eloquently of the evils of slavery and the need to extinguish it • Despite his dubious and violent past, he was now seen in the North as a near saint • Brown was hanged December 1859 – a Northern hero

45. The Election of 1860 • By 1860 the Union was on the brink of dissolution • Extremism was more evident in the South • Why? They felt surrounded by hostility; the North was growing at a much faster rate; and John Brown’s raid filled them with panic • The Southern states became even harsher towards the slaves- they banished free blacks and made manumission illegal

46. The Election of 1860 • Secession seemed like a reasonable course of action- it would be a defense against rising abolitionism and a way to strike back at the North • The nomination of Douglas was probably the last chance at keeping the Union together but the South would not support him unless he gave in to their many demands including an admission that slavery was right

47. The Election of 1860 • The Northern and Southern wings of the Democratic Party could not agree and nominated their own candidates- the North nominated Douglas and the South nominated John Breckenridge (Buchanan’s vice-president) • The Republicans, after a close race between Seward and Lincoln, nominated the moderate Lincoln • The remnants of the Whigs and American Parties formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell

48. The Election of 1860 • Breckenridge would carry the South and Bell the border states but the Northern Democrats and the Republicans battled in the North and West • The Republicans had a strong, attractive economic program and it soon became clear Lincoln would win • Douglas, knowing this, said “We must try and save the Union. I will go South.” He toured the South asking all to stand by the Union whoever was elected president. He was the only candidate to remind voters that their choice could end in war

49. The Election of 1860 • Lincoln did not win a majority. He won almost one million fewer votes than the combined total of his three opponents • He did win 180 electoral votes and the election