Warm-up
1. How does the land gained from
the Mexican-American War affect
the balance of power in the U.S.?
2. How does the Industrial
Revolution affect the movement of
people into the west?
Compromises and the national
move towards Civil War
Jefferson Davis (Sec. of War)
• What should become
of our new lands?
– Slavery?
– Free?
– Balance of Power?
• Heavily influences
the Pierce
administration
The Shaky Union
1) The South feared that the North would take
control of CONGRESS and SOUTHERNERS
began to proclaim states’ rights as a means of selfprotection.
2) The North believed that the nation was a UNION
and could not be divided.
3) While the Civil War did not begin as a war to
abolish SLAVERY, issues surrounding slavery
deeply divided the NATION.
Issues that Divided the Nation
1) An important issue separating the country related
to the power of the FEDERAL government.
2) Southerners felt that they had the power to declare
any national law ILLEGAL (nullification).
Northerners believed that the national
government’s power was SUPREME over that of
the states.
3) Southerners felt that the abolition of SLAVERY
would destroy their region’s economy.
Northerners believed that slavery should be
abolished for MORAL reasons.
Compromise of 1850
• Created in reaction to new lands gained
from Mexican-American War
• Missouri Compromise is inadequate now
that U.S. geography has changed
1850 Compromise Agreement
North Gets:
South Gets:
California admitted
as a free state
No slavery restrictions
in Utah or New Mexico
territories
Slave trade prohibited
in Washington D.C.
Slaveholding permitted
in Washington D.C.
Texas loses boundary
dispute with
New Mexico
Texas gets $10 million
Fugitive Slave Law
Fugitive Slave Laws (1850)
• 1. No jury trials for
blacks
• 2. Slaves cannot
testify against masters
• 3. Federal
commissioners handled
all cases
– $5 if slaves are freed by
the ruling
– $10 if ruling in favor of
claimant (master)
The Abolition Movement
The Underground Railroad
• “Escape” Route
from South for
runaway slaves
Harriet Tubman “Moses”
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
• Written by Harriet
Beecher Stowe
• Personalized Slavery
• Sold 3 million
copies
• Banned in the South
– “Book of Lies”
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
• Authorized the creation of Kansas and
Nebraska
• Abolished the Mason-Dixon Line (Missouri
Compromise)
• Supported Popular Sovereignty
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Compromises Attempting to
Resolve Differences
1) Missouri Compromise (1820): Missouri entered
the Union as a SLAVE state. Maine entered the
Union as a FREE state.
2) Compromise of 1850: California entered the
Union as a FREE state. Southwest territories
would DECIDE about slavery (popular
sovereignty).
3) Kansas-Nebraska Act: People in each state would
decided the SLAVERY issue (popular
sovereignty)
Senator David Atchison
*Leads
5,000 pro
slavery
Missourians
into Kansas
*Attempts
to swing
slavery vote
*Kansas =
slave state
Bleeding Kansas (1856)
• Pro-slavery Missourians (in Kansas) attack
Lawrence, KS (anti-slavery city)
• Lawrence is burned, 200 die in total
John Brown
"These men are all
talk. What we need
is action—action!"
Brooks-Sumner Incident
• Sen. Charles Sumner (MA) gives antislavery speech in the Senate
• Insults Sen. Andrew Butler (SC)
• Butler’s nephew, Rep. Preston Brooks (SC)
felt his family was insulted
• Beats Sumner unconscious with his cane
Sumner suffers severe brain damage – 3 year coma
Brooks receives hundreds of canes to replace the
one he broke on Sumner’s head
Dred Scott Case (1857)
• Upheld slavery
– Dred Scott sues for his freedom
• Roger B. Taney (Chief Justice) Rules:
–
–
–
–
Slaves cannot sue
Slaves are not citizens
Slaves are property
Consequence = Slavery cannot be stopped
Final ruling in Dred Scott Case:
Missouri Compromise declared
unconstitutional (Congress could not
ban slavery from any state)
Chief Justice
Taney
Reaction
• Harper’s Ferry, WV – John Brown leads 21
abolitionists on a raid
• Raids a federal arsenal – hopes to arm
southern slaves to lead rebellion
• Hoped to establish a base to conduct raids
from the Blue Ridge Mountains
• Captured, executed for treason
• Became a martyr for the cause
“I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes
of this guilty land will never be purged away but
with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered
myself that without very much bloodshed it might be
done.”
–John Brown, written the day of his death.
Wrap-up
• What helps to create the escalation of
violence in the 1850s between the free and
the slave states?
• What impact did Uncle Tom’s Cabin have
in the U.S?
• How did John Brown’s death affect people
in the U.S.?