THE RISE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Charles Sumner vs. Preston Brooks.
-Congressmen (Sumner, Mass, Brooks, South Carolina)
-both borderline crazy
-Brooks beat Sumner with a cane in his office
-Sumner became “martyr-like” for the North/abolitionists.
James Buchanan as President.
-1856, elected president over John Fremont (R) and Millard Fillmore (Am.)
-A bachelor
-conscientious, very moderate, lacked leadership mentality.
REVIEW DRED SCOTT AND THE LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION:
Dred Scott Case:
Lecompton Constitution:
What might these two events have done to Buchanan’s credibility?
Abraham Lincoln:
-During the late 1850’s, a Southern dominated Congress.
-“Slave Power Conspiracy”
-Stephen Douglass seemed to be the best hope to preserve the Union.
-Enter Abe, as a significant opponent to Douglas’s Senate seat in 1858 to help
make the Republicans more credible.
Lincoln’s life:
-no formal schooling,
-moved around a great deal as a youth.
-loyal Whig when he entered national politics (i.e. spot resolution)
-did not drink liquor.
-man of great integrity
-took a realistic view on slavery.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, page 378:
LINCOLN:
DOUGLAS:
What were each candidate’s feelings on the Dred Scott case?
RESULT: Douglas emerges victorious; Lincoln emerges as a worthy adversary.
“The campaign of 1858 marked Douglas’s last triumph, and Lincoln’s last
defeat.”
John Brown’s raid, October 1859 Harper’s Ferry, Maryland.
-this event served to further widen the sentiment and distrust between the
North and South. (John Brown a terrorist?)
The Election of 1860:
Who were the 4 candidates? What were the results?
Republican:______________________
_
Democratic Southern:___________________________
Democratic Northern:____________________________
Constitutional Union:___________________________
The Secession Crisis:
“Buchanan bumbled helplessly in Washington.
And out in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln juggled
cabinet posts, and grew a beard.”