The Union in Peril: Slavery Divide & Political Chaos

1. 12 The Union in Peril

2. The Union in Peril • Slavery in the Territories • Political Disintegration • Kansas and the Two Cultures • Polarization and the Road to War • The Divided House Falls • Conclusion: The “Irrepressible Conflict”

3. Slavery in the Territories

4. Deferring Conflict • Compromise even in 1787 • Missouri Compromise • South Carolina had tried to nullify, 1833 • Gag rule, 1836 • 1840’s the conflict breaks out again • Debate increasingly North v. South

5. Free Soil or Protection • War with Mexico, 1846 • Wilmot Proviso • Free Soilers • Some oppose slavery for ideological reasons • Some don’t want blacks in the West • John C. Calhoun • Says Congress has no right to limit slavery

6. War News

7. The Compromise of 1850 • Popular sovereignty: leave decision to states • Election of 1848 • Whigs choose Zachary Taylor – slaveholder • Democrats nominate Cass – no stand • Free-Soilers select Van Buren • Taylor elected

8. The Compromise of 1850 (cont’d) • Henry Clay proposes compromise • Put forward by Stephen Douglas, Illinois • The Compromise • California free • New Mexico and Utah to decide themselves • Slave trade abolished in District of Columbia • Fugitive Slave Act

9. Consequences of the Compromise • Two new political issues • Greater sectional alignment • Constitution questioned as supreme law • Fugitive slave law unpopular • Many vowed not to comply • States pass “personal liberty laws”

10. Consequences of the Compromise (cont'd) • Rhetoric angrier • Frederick Douglass • Sojourner Truth • Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

11. The Compromise of 1850

12. Political Disintegration

13. Party Politics • Party lines blurred • Voter apathy

14. Celebrating a Political Victory

15. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Nebraska Bill – Stephen Douglas • To push development • Violated Missouri Compromise • Bill passes • Whig party disappears • Know Nothings and Republicans emerge • Slavery issue enflamed

16. Expansionist “Young America” • Franklin Pierce, elected 1852 • Expansionist • Search for more cottonlands • Gadsden Purchase, 1853 • Filibusters into Mexico • Attempts to acquire Cuba • Ostend Manifesto • Supported by Democrats

17. Expansionist “Young America” in the 1850s: Attempted Raids into Latin America

18. New Political Directions • Nativism, Know-Nothings • Angered by immigrants, especially Catholics

19. Immigration and Politics

20. Immigration and Politics, cont

21. New Political Directions (cont’d) • Republicans • Moralists, against slavery • Anti-Catholic • Reformers • Supporters of Clay’s American System

22. New Political Directions (cont'd) • Election of 1856 • Republicans: John C. Frémont • Democrats: James Buchanan • Know-Nothings: Millard Fillmore • Buchanan wins with only 45% of popular vote

23. Kansas and the Two Cultures

24. Competing For Kansas • Passage of Kansas-Nebraska Act • Kansas to vote on the slavery issue • Free-Soilers mobilize • So does opposition • Elections disputed • Kansas becomes a microcosm of national issues

25. “Bleeding Kansas” • Free-Soilers v. pro-southern forces • Lawrence, Kansas sacked • Pottowatomie Creek Massacre – John Brown • Minor civil war

26. Scenes from North and South

27. Scenes from North and South, cont

28. Kansas and the Two Cultures • The North • Cities, many small towns • Moral legislation favored • Slavery seen as an evils • A mobile society: socially and geographically • The South • Social order important • For states’ rights

29. Polarization and the Road to War

30. The Dred Scott Case • Dred and Harriet Scott claim they are free • Court rules they are not free • Of an inferior order without rights • Missouri Compromise unconstitutional • Fact that Scott’s stay in free states irrelevant • Decision endorsed by President Buchanan • The decision further exacerbates sectionalism

31. Constitutional Crisis in Kansas • Lecompton Constitution, 1857 • Pro-slavery, barring free blacks from state • Did not reflect popular opinion in Kansas • Congress rejects Lecompton Constitution • Stephen Douglas opposes it • Buchanan supports it

32. Lincoln and the Illinois Debates • Illinois senatorial race, 1858 • Lincoln speaks against sectionalism, slavery • Douglas takes no moral stand • Douglas elected • Republicans do well elsewhere

33. John Brown’s Raid • John Brown, 1859, tries to begin slave uprising • Attacks federal arsenal at Harper’ Ferry • His attack and death seen as heroic by many • Provoked fear of revolt in the South

34. John Brown as anAvenging Hero

35. The Election of 1860 • Democrats have two conventions, two candidates • Republicans choose Lincoln • Lincoln elected • Secession follows before inauguration

36. The Presidential Election of 1860

37. The Divided House Falls

38. Secession and Uncertainty • December, 1860, South Carolina secedes • Six more states follow • Confederate States created, February, 1861 • Jefferson Davis elected president • Lincoln waits, considers • Dedicated to preserving Union

39. Secession and Uncertainty (cont'd) • Provisioning of Fort Sumter prevented • Jefferson Davis orders the fort surrender • As relief expedition nears, Confederacy fires

40. Conclusion:The “Irrepressible Conflict”

41. Conclusion:The “Irrepressible Conflict” • After 1848, conflict intensifies • Many divisions: economic, cultural, political • But slavery is decisive

42. Timeline