Chapter 13
A House Divided, 1840–
1861
Fruits of Manifest Destiny
 Continental



Expansion
Caused slavery moved to center of national politics
by 1840s:
 Nearly all land east of Mississippi was in white hands
 Economic crisis pushed settlers west
Manifest Destiny increased in these years
 The
Mexican Frontier: New Mexico and
California


Mexico achieves independence from Spain in 1821
Opens up a new frontier for American settlers
Map 13.1 The Trans-Mississippi West, 1830s – 1840s
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Fruits of Manifest Destiny
 The



Texas Revolt
Mexico allowed Americans to settle in hopes of
developing area
By 1830, Americans outnumbered Tejanos
Slavery exacerbated tensions
 Mexico
had abolished slavery, but Texas local
authorities allowed American settlers to bring
slave with them
 Texas
revolted from Mexico in 1835, won
independence in 1837.
Fruits of Manifest Destiny
 The


Election of 1844
Henry Clay – Whigs
James K. Polk – Democrats
 Polk
“first dark horse candidate in American
history!”
 Days before Polk’s inauguration, Texas was
annexed by Congress
Map 13.2 The Mexican War, 1846 - 1848
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Map 13.3 Gold – Rush California
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
A Dose of Arsenic
 Victory
over Mexico raised the fatal political
issue that plunged the nation into civil war

Expansion of slavery into the West
 The




Wilmot Proviso:
1846
Proposed the prohibiting of slavery from all
territory acquired from Mexico
Passed the House
Failed the Senate
Map 13.4 Continental Expansion through 1853
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
A Dose of Arsenic
 The

Free Soil Appeal
Popular in North
 Western
Territories = economic advancement
 Slavery prevents economic growth for the laborers

Southern rebuttal
 Violation
of equal rights
 Fed gov’t had no right to keep them from brining
property into territories
A Dose of Arsenic
Crisis


and Compromise
California asked to be admitted in 1850
Compromise of 1850
 CA
= Free
 Stronger Fugitive Slave Law
 Status of slavery in territories acquired from
Mexico would be left to a vote by inhabitants
 U.S. would pay off Texas debt accumulated while
“independent”
Map 13.5 The Compromise of 1850
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
A Dose of Arsenic
 The




Fugitive Slave Issue
Allowed federal commissioners to determine
alleged fugitives w/o a jury or testimony
Local authorities could not interfere
Required individual citizens to help
Contradiction of southern states’ rights
argument!
A Dose of Arsenic
 Douglas




and Popular Sovereignty
Strong believer in western development
Needed formal governments to be instituted for
this to happen
South opposed this!
Pop Sovereignty
 Status
of slavery would be dicided by the local
settlers, not Congress
A Dose of Arsenic
 The



Kansas-Nebraska Act
Allowed fo popular sovereignty in the two
territories
Shattered the Democratic Party
Led to the emergence of a new party dedicated
to ending the expansion of slavery –
 THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY
Map 13.6 The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
The Rise of the Republican Party

The Rise and Fall of the Know-Nothings



“I know nothing”
Nativist sentiment
The Free Labor Ideology


Primary goal to open the west to the free market
See Seward in Voices of Freedom*
The Rise of the Republican Party
 Bleeding





Fueled Republican Party’s growth
Two rival governments emerge
 Pro- Slavery (Illegal)
 Free- Soilers
Fighting breaks out
200 people die
Seemed to discredit Stephen Douglas’s popular
sovereignty policy
 1856


Kansas and the Election of 1856
Election
James Buchanan and John C. Freemont
Showed the parties had reorganized
Map 13.7 The railroad network, 1850s
Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
The Emergence
of Lincoln
Lincoln’s rise to power & the
impending sectional crisis
Abraham Lincoln’s nick name,
“The Railsplitter,”
Abraham Lincoln’s nick name, “The Railsplitter,”
The Emergence of Lincoln

The Dred Scott Decision



Traveled to Missouri w/ owner
Sued upon return
Court sided w/ owner


See Excerpt*
The Decision’s Aftermath



Mo. Compromise unconstitutional?
Slavery = legal & constitutional in ALL western territories!
Buchannan attempts to admit Kansas as a slave state, but
Douglass, with the republicans, blocks him!
The Emergence of Lincoln
 Lincoln
and Slavery

Lincoln re-enters politics in 1854, b/c of the
KNA!

Willing to compromise
 Halt
the expansion ONLY!
 Believed in “some” or basic rights for blacks

Own their own labor
The Emergence of Lincoln

The Lincoln-Douglas Campaign

1858 Illinois Senate Election

Douglas v. Lincoln

Lincoln – “the nation will not survive half-slave and
half free”

Lincoln- Douglass Debates
Classic of American History
 Different definitions of Freedom @ the heart




Lincoln – Freedom = abolishing slavery (eventually)
Douglas – resided in local self-government
Douglas wins; but, Lincoln is now on the MAP!
The Emergence of Lincoln

John Brown at Harpers Ferry







1859
Armed slave revolt
Plan made “little sense” (GML 525)
North = Hero
South = Radical Terrorist and/ or Insane
*Last words – (GML 525)
The Rise of Southern Nationalism



Nationalism: ________________________________.
Future more favorable outside the Union
PROTECTION OF SLAVERY was key issue

“Slavery is our king” – SC politician
The Emergence of Lincoln

The Democratic Split



Douglas’s position of Kansas alienated pro-slave southerners
Southern Dems v. Northern Dems
The Nomination of Lincoln


Republican for president 1860.
Lincoln’s positives:




commitment to preserving the Union
moral opposition to slavery appealed to abolitionists.
No association with the nativist, Know-Nothing wing of the party, And
he could ensure Illinois’s votes.
The 1860 Republicans Platform was at its core against the expansion of
slavery!
The Emergence of Lincoln

The Election of 1860

Two different elections!?!?!?
NORTH
SOUTH
Lincoln v. Douglas
Douglas v. Breckinridge, v.
John Bell





Lincoln carried all of the North
Breckinridge carried most slave states
Bell carried the upper South
Douglas had support in all areas of country, but not enough
North pop = Lincoln victory!
1861 Political Cartoon
“Lincoln the Cat”