Chapter 14- Causes of the Civil War

1. Chapter 14- Causes of the Civil War From Compromise to Secession 1850-1861

2. Introduction • 1.) How did the Fugitive Slave Act lead to the undoing of the Compromise of 1850? • 2.) Why did the Whig Party collapse after the Kansas-Nebraska Act while the Democratic Party survived? • 3.) How did the Republican doctrine of free soil unify northerners against the South? • 4.) Why did southerners conclude that the North was bent on extinguishing slavery in the southern states?

3. The Compromise of 1850 • Introduction • When the treaty ending the Mexican War was signed in 1848, a delicate balance existed between free and slave states • 15 of each • All the proposed solutions for handling slavery in the Mexican cession were controversial • Whether to prohibit it • Open the whole area to slaveholders • Extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific • Or apply popular sovereignty • Other issues also divided the North and South • CA and UT asked Congress for admission to the Union as free states

4. 1.) Admit CA as a free state 2.) Divide the rest of the Mexican cession into NM and UT territories, with the future of slavery in each left up to its residents 3.) Settle the border dispute between TX and NM in NM’s favor 4.) Compensate TX by having the federal govt. pay off the state’s past public debt 5.) Allow slavery to continue in Washington D.C. but ban slave trading there 6.) Pass and enforce a tough new fugitive slave law • After heated debate and much maneuvering, the compromise passed

5. Assessing the Compromise • The Compromise of 1850 did not settle the underlying differences between the sections • The one clear advantage that the South gained, the passage of the stringent Fugitive Slave Act, backfired

6. Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act • Sent federal marshals all over the country looking for runaways • Caused widespread opposition in the North • Northern mobs attacked marshals to rescue arrested fugitives • Vigilance committees helped runaways escape to Canada • 9 states passed personal liberty laws designed to interfere with enforcement of the Act • The Act made the northerners resent the South, while southerners resented the North’s refusal to live up to the terms of the Compromise

7. Uncle Tom’s Cabin- 1852 • Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe • By 1853, 1.2 million copies had been sold • Caused many anti-southern feelings and sympathy for slaves • “So you’re the little woman who started this great war,” – Lincoln

8. The election of 1852 • The Whigs=General Winfield Scott • War hero • Democrats=Franklin Pierce • The Democrats rallied behind the Compromise of 1850 and popular sovereignty in the territories • Whigs were torn apart into northern Whigs and southern Whigs over the sectional controversy

9. The election of 1852 (cont.)

10. The Collapse of the Second Party System, 1853-1856 • During Pierce’s administration the 2nd party system (Whigs vs. Democrats) collapsed • In the 1850’s, the issues (banking, internal improvements, tariffs, and temperance) that had been the main focus of partisan politics were pushed from center stage • New debate was over slavery’s extension • The Whig Party was internally divided over the issue • Disintegrated when Stephan A. Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska bill threw the future of slavery in the territories wide open

11. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Passage of this act in 1854 dealt a shattering blow to the second party system • It also renewed the sectional strife that Clay’s compromise had aimed to quiet • Stephen A. Douglas was eager to advance the settlement of Kansas and Nebraska and to promote the building of a transcontinental railroad through the area

12. The Kansas-Nebraska Act (cont.) • To accomplish these goals, he needed to organize a territorial govt. for the region • But he was running into southern opposition because the area was north of the Missouri Compromise line and would therefore be free • To gain southern support, Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Bill

13. The Kansas-Nebraska Act (cont.) • It repealed the Missouri Compromise • Organized the 2 territories • Left the question of slavery in both KS and NE up to popular sovereignty • That gave the South a chance to gain at least KS for the “peculiar institution

15. The Surge of Free-Soil • Douglas was surprised at the angry reaction in the North • Many regarded the law as part of a southern plot to spread slavery into KS, the rest of the LA Territory, and even into the North • Free-soil sentiment had grown tremendously in the North • Mostly because northerners wanted the territories to be the place where upwardly mobile, enterprising, poor Americans could become independent, self-employed farmers and businessmen • Not really to end slavery • If slavery invaded the territories, it would discourage and drive out free labor

16. The Whigs Disintegrate 1854-1855 • Southern Whigs had joined Democrats in voting for the KS-NE Act • Northern “conscience” Whigs, led by Senator William Seward, and free-soil Democrats reacted angrily against both of the major parties • In the elections of 1854 and 1855, many of the disaffected Whigs turned first to the Know-Nothing (American) Party • Later they voted increasingly to the new Republican Party • As a result of these moves, the Whig Party fell apart

17. The Rise and Fall of the Know-Nothings, 1853-1856 • Know-Nothings was also called the American Party • It evolved out of a secret nativist society called the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner • In the North, the party combined hatred of Catholics, immigrants, and slavery-extension • It took a conspiratorial view of the world in which the Pope and Slave Power were both plotting to extinguish the American democratic republic • In 1854 and 1855, the Know-Nothings scored major victories in northern states such as MA

18. The Rise and Fall of the Know-Nothings, 1853-1856 (cont.) • However, the Party declined rapidly after 1855 • It was pulled apart by the slavery-expansion issue • Its southern adherents supported the KS-NE Act • a position unacceptable to northern nativists, who deserted to the emerging Republicans

19. The Republican Party and the Crisis in Kansas, 1855-1856 • The Republican Party first appeared in northern states in protest against the KS-NE Act • As the Know-Nothings faded by 1856, the Republicans became the main opposition party to the Democrats • The Republicans were basically a group of former northern Whigs and Democrats who wanted to restore the MO Compromise, Liberty Party abolitionists, and free-soilers • Little united them at first except their opposition to the KS-NE Act • Fighting in KS between proslavery and antislavery forces (bleeding Kansas) strengthened the party and its free-soil stand

20. Bleeding Kansas 1855-1856 • Both proslavery and antislavery settlers rushed to KS • In 1855, when the first election for a territorial legislature took place, thousands of proslavery Missourians invaded KS for the day and voted illegally • This fraud produced a proslavery legislature • Which from its capital in Lecompton, KS, passed repressive laws aimed at crushing the free-soilers

21. the Crisis in KS, 1855-1856 (cont.) • The free-soilers, considering the Lecompton legislature a shame • They organized a rival govt. in Topeka • After the sack of Lawrence and John Brown’s Pottawatomie massacre • A civil war broke out in KS • Between the 2 govts. and their followers • Popular sovereignty had not worked • Popular sovereignty caused angry debate between Pierce and Northern Democrats and Republicans • Pierce and Northern Democrats=recognized the fraudulent Lecompton gov’t. • Republicans=decried the outcome as a shame

22. Brooks Sumner Affair • Crisis in Kansas (Bleeding Kansas) also spread violence to Congress with Preston Brooks’ attack on Senator Charles Sumner • Sumner gave a speech douncing the actions of the proslavery people in Kansas, the South in general, and in particular a relative of Preston Brooks • Brooks attacked Sumner with a cane • Elicited two different responses from the north and south • Sumner had to go to England for medical treatment, suffered migraines for the rest of his life, but was able to eventually return to Congress • Read the primary sources about the attack

23. The Election of 1856 • Republicans nominated John C. Fremont • Platform called on Congress to exclude slavery from all remaining territories • Democrats nominated James Buchanan • Backed popular sovereignty • Know-Nothings nominated Millard Fillmore • Buchanan won but the Republicans did remarkably well in the North • Had Fremont carried PA and either IL or IN, he would have been elected despite receiving almost no southern votes

24. The Election of 1856 (cont.)

25. The Dred Scott Case, 1857 • the Supreme Court entered the controversy over slavery in the territories • The Supreme Court was composed mostly of southerners • Ruled that blacks (slave or free) were not citizens of the United States • Also ruled that the Missouri Compromise had always been unconstitutional because Congress had no right to exclude slavery from any territory • To do so violated the 5th Amendment protection of property and property holders • The Republicans denounced the decision and prepared to ignore it

26. The Lecompton Constitution 1857 • In KS, the proslavery legislature proposed a state constitution that protected slaveholders and gave the settlers the right to vote only on whether to allow more slaves into KS • President Buchanan backed the Lecompton constitution and called on Congress to grant KS statehood under it • Stephen Douglas (author of the KS-NE Act) broke with Buchanan and denounced the actions of the Lecompton legislature • Claimed it undermined the original intent of popular sovereignty • Northern Democrats and Republicans applauded Douglas • Southern Democrats applauded Buchanan • Kansas is admitted as a free state in 1861

27. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • In 1858, Douglas ran for reelection to the Senate and Abraham Lincoln was the Republican nominee • Lincoln was not well-known or political successful at the time • Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates • In the debates, Lincoln attacked slavery as morally evil but denied that Congress had the right to abolish it in the South or that he favored equality for blacks • he stuck to his position that barring slavery from the territories • Lincoln also forced Douglas into making his Freeport Doctrine statement • Which pleased northern Democrats but made Douglas and his views unacceptable to the South • Douglas won the IL Senate seat, but the election further split the Democratic Party • Made Lincoln “famous in the North and infamous in the South”

28. Early Abolitionism • In the 1830s, abolitionism really took off, with the Second Great Awakening • Theodore Dwight Weld was among those who were inflamed against slavery. • preached against slavery and wrote American Slavery As It Is.

29. Abolition • 1831 • Militant white abolitionist movement began • Led by William Lloyd Garrison • The Liberator • "I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD," clarified the position of the NEW ABOLITIONISTS. • He founded the NEW ENGLAND ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY in 1832. • In 1833, he met with delegates from around the nation to form the American Anti-Slavery Society. • Saw his cause as worldwide.

30. Radical Abolitionism • Sojourner Truth, a freed Black woman who fought for black emancipation and women’s rights • Martin Delaney, one of the few people who seriously reconsidered Black relocation to Africa, also fought for Black rights.

31. Radical Abolitionism • The greatest Black abolitionist was Frederick Douglass • His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, depicted his remarkable struggle and his origins • While Garrison seemed more concerned with his own righteousness, Douglass increasingly looked to politics to solve the slavery problem. • He and others backed the Liberty Party in 1840, the Free Soil Party in 1848, and the Republican Party in the 1850s. • In the end, many abolitionists supported war as the price for emancipation.

32. Women’s Rights • Many of the women’s rights leaders began their reform careers in the abolitionist movement • Seneca Falls, NY • 1848 • Women’s rights convention • Elizabeth Cady Stanton • Lucretia Mott • Declaration of Sentiments- Like Declaration of Independence/Bill of Rights for Women

33. Harper’s Ferry- John Brown’s Raid 1859 • John Brown and 18 followers seized the federal arsenal and armory at Harpers Ferry, VA • They intended to arm southern white and black protesters in a holy war against slavery • No one showed up to participate in the rebellion • Brown’s failed raid convinced southerners that they had barely survived a northern plot to get them all murdered in a slave insurrection • Northerners, while initially disavowing Brown, came, during his trial, to sympathize with him • The whole incident set the stage for civil war

35. The Legacy of Harpers Ferry • John Brown’s raid touched off a wave of fear and hysteria in the South • Southerners believed Brown had the backing of abolitionists and Republicans who were plotting to incite more slave rebellions • These fears played into the hands of southern extremists

37. The South Contemplates Secession • Southerners began to speak of secession as the only way to protect themselves • They regarded northern opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act and to slavery in KS as unconstitutional • They also saw it as an offense to the South • Which wounded southern pride • Some argued that separation from the Union would also permit the South to seize more territory in the Caribbean and the West for slavery

38. The Collapse of the Union 1860-1861 • The Election of 1860 • The Republicans broadened their appeal in the free states in 1860 by supporting a protective tariff, federal aid for internal improvements, and a homestead act • Lincoln was their nominee for President • The northern and southern Democrats were unable to agree on a platform so they split

39. The Election of 1860 (cont.) • Northern Democrats=Douglas • Still advocated popular sovereignty • Southern Democrats=John C. Breckenridge • Insisted that Congress must pass laws protecting slavery in all territories • Constitutional Union Party=John Bell • Appealed mostly in the border states and Upper South • Lincoln won • His name did not appear on southern ballots • Won a majority of electoral college • Only 39% of popular vote

40. The Election of 1860

41. The Movement for Secession • Believed that a Republican president would unleash more John Browns on them • The states of the Deep South began to secede even before Lincoln took office • SC led the way on Dec. 1860 • AL, MS, FL, GA, LA, TX • On Feb. 4, 1861, delegates from those 7 states met in Montgomery, AL to form the Confederate States of America

42. The Search for Compromise • KY senator John Crittenden proposed a compromise to bring the Deep South back into the Union • It included constitutional amendments that guaranteed the federal govt. would never interfere with slavery in the South • Drew the MO Compromise line across the remaining territories • with slavery permitted south of the line in all present and future U.S. territory

43. The Search for Compromise (cont.) • Lincoln rejected the Crittenden plan because he would not abandon the free-soil promise on which he had been elected • He regarded the plan as an invitation to the South to seize territory in the Caribbean for slavery • He also felt that he had won an honest election • That giving in to a losing minority would damage the American tradition of majority rule

44. The Coming of War • The Confederacy began to take over federal forts within it region • Soon after Lincoln’s inauguration, the Confederacy bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston’s harbor • thus firing the 1st shot in the rebellion that became the Civil War • Lincoln responded by proclaiming that a rebellion existed in the Lower South • Called for 75,000 militia volunteers from the loyal states to subdue it

45. The Coming of War (cont.) • Rather than send their troops to fight against sister southern states, VA, NC, AR, and TN seceded and joined the Confederacy • The North was now aroused and ready to fight to save the Union • though not yet ready to abolish slavery

47. Conclusion • At no time prior to the Civil War, did the majority of Americans call for the end of slavery in the South • Rather, in the 1850’s, the gulf between the North and South widened over the spread of slavery into the territories • Northerners believed their freedom to pursue economic opportunity would be denied if they had to compete against slave labor in the West

48. Southerners claimed that to curtail slavery in the territories violated their constitutional right to use their property (slaves) as they saw fit • Attempts to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, the KS-NE Act’s repeal of the MO Compromise, the subsequent fighting in KS, the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s raid all further embittered intersectional conflict

49. National political parties collapsed under the strain: • the Whigs disintegrated • The Democrats divided into northern and southern wings • A new strictly northern party, the Republicans, emerged • By the end of the 1850’s, northerners were convinced the South meant to impose slavery throughout the nation • Southern states were ready for secession as the only way to protect their “peculiar institution” from a North that they saw as intent on destroying slavery even in the South