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America’s Descent into Civil War 1850-1860
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Highlightsthe Evils of Slavery • The stronger Fugitive Slave Act of 1851 angered many Northerners and encouraged more activity along the Underground Railroad, which provided slaves a means of escaping to freedom in Canada • Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 – the book became a bestseller and awoke Northern readers to the evils of slavery • Stowe based the work on extensive research of slavery and slave conditions in the South
The Gadsden Purchase & Southern Expansionists • In 1853, President Franklin Pierce’s administration negotiated the purchase of the southern strip of what is now Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico’s government for $10 million • Secretary of War Jefferson Davis sought the purchase to encourage construction of a transcontinental railroad from New Orleans to southern California • Southern expansionists went even further and demanded the annexation of Cuba and Central America to help America add more potential slave territory in North America and the Caribbean • Three U.S. ambassadors to Europe formally called on the Pierce administration to annex Cuba in the Ostend Manifesto of 1854; encouraged Southern adventurism in Latin America
The Kansas-Nebraska Act • In 1854, Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act to organize western territories and encourage settlement of the Plains • His objective was to encourage westward expansion and pave the way for a transcontinental railroad that would connect Chicago with the Far West • To avoid the issue of slavery, Douglas proposed that each territory be able to choose its own status through “popular sovereignty” – the idea was that Nebraska would likely want to be a free state and Kansas would vote to be a slave state • The act further eroded the Missouri Compromise by opening up the possibility of slavery extending north of the “Thirty-Six Thirty” line
“Bleeding Kansas” • The Kansas-Nebraska Act created conflict in Kansas territory between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces • Violence and bloodshed gripped the nation’s attention and foreshadowed the Civil War • Rival governments emerged in Kansas and vied for recognition as the “legitimate” government • Rep. Preston Brooks of SC caned Massachusetts Senator and abolitionist Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate – the “Bleeding Sumner” incident provoked outrage in the North
The Election of 1856 • The Whig Party disintegrated because of disagreements over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the issue of slavery; many of its anti-slavery supporters gravitated to the new Republican Party (founded in 1854 in opposition to the Act) • The Republicans promoted free-soil and the restriction of slavery’s expansion westward; they nominated famous general and “pathfinder” John C. Fremont as their first presidential candidate in 1856 • Other Whigs and some Democrats supported the “Know-Nothing” Party, which campaigned for restrictions on immigration and nominated former President Fillmore • The Democrats united behind James Buchanan, a Northerner who was well liked by Southern Democrats because of his favorable positions on Bleeding Kansas and slavery
The Dred Scott v. Sandford Case 1857 • Dred Scott sued for his freedom, arguing that his master had taken him to free territory for a time and that this made him a free man after his master’s death • The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger Taney (a Southerner) argued that: • 1. Dred Scott was a slave and could not sue in court because he had no citizenship rights (nor did any other black American) • 2. The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because it had sought to limit slavery to a certain region; the Court argued that owning slaves was a property right that could not be restricted by any territory (or state!)
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, challenged Douglas for his Illinois Senate seat in 1858 • Their series of seven debates grabbed national media attention because the campaign focused on the issue of slavery and the Dred Scott decision • Lincoln argued that slavery was morally wrong and should be limited if not ended altogether • Douglas took the moderate position that slavery should be allowed where people wanted it (despite Dred Scott) but angered many Northerners and Southerners as a result
John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry • John Brown led a group of radicals who attempted to take over the Harper’s Ferry federal armory in October 1859 to prepare for an armed slave revolt • The raid was unsuccessful and resulted in Brown’s capture and trial – he was hung on December 2, 1859 • Southerners suspected that Brown had been funded and encouraged by Northern abolitionists • Was Brown a hero or a madman?
John Brown: Terrorist or Martyr? “If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments-I submit; so let it be done.”-- John Brown, speaking on November 2, 1859 during his sentencing “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” -- John Brown, in a note left before his execution on December 2, 1859
The Election of 1860 • Growing tensions over Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, and Brown’s raid contributed to one of the most divisive national elections in American history • The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln to ran as a moderate who appealed to free-soil and anti-slavery forces; he beat out the Republican front-runner, Senator William Seward of New York, who was considered too controversial • The Democrats split over the issue of slavery – Southern Democrats rejected Stephen Douglas as too moderate on the issue of slavery and nominated John Breckenridge of Kentucky; Northern Democrats nominated Douglas • More moderate Southerners, who wanted to preserve national unity, created the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee
Election results: Who won and why? Why did this election contribute directly to Southern secession?
Questions • Discuss the impact of the Fugitive slave act, and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin on Northern sentiment against slavery and the workings of the Undergound railroad. • How were policies and plans for expansion westward related to debates about slavery? • Why was the Gadsen Purchase important? Apart from the west where else did Southerners look for ways to expand slavery? • Discuss the significance of the Dred Scott decision. How would Northerners and Southerners have differed in their views on this case? • How would Lincoln and Douglas likely have responded to the question of whether John Brown was a hero or a madman?
