Bell Ringer
Write the question for this answer:
Dred Scott Decision
Poster
 25 min. to work on this.
 If not finished, it is homework
Slavery and Secession
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
1858 race for Illinois state senator
Republican
Successful
lawyer
Local
politician
Democrat
2 term senator
Experience
Lots of money
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln challenged Douglas to 7 open-air
debates on the issue of slavery
Different speaking styles
Douglas was self-confident, paced the stage,
shook his fists
Lincoln spoke calmly and used direct and plain
language
Stephen A.
Douglas
Believed popular sovereignty
would allow slavery to pass
away on its own
 Thought slavery was unsuitable
for farming the Midwest and,
because of this, people would
naturally vote against it in these
areas
Abraham
Lincoln
Slavery was immoral and
based on greed
Believed slavery would
continue to spread unless
legislation was passed to
outlaw it in the territories
They tried to distort the views of the other…
Douglas is defending
slavery and supports
the Dred Scott
decision!
Slavery is a
moral, social, and
political wrong
that should not
be allowed to be
spread!
Yeah?! Well,
you’re an
abolitionist and
want racial
equality!
The Freeport Doctrine
 Lincoln asked Douglas, “Could the settlers of a territory vote to exclude
slavery before the territory became a state?”
 The Dred Scott decision said NO- territories could not exclude slavery
 Lincoln argued that this made popular sovereignty an empty phrase
 Douglas responded that slavery could not exist anywhere unless it was
enforced by police. If a territory elected representatives who did not want
slavery, all they would have to do is not enforce slavery
John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Seized the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s
Ferry, Virginia
Took 60 prominent slave owners
hostage and assumed their slaves
would come forward to fight
No slaves showed up, Brown was
hanged
Some northerners hailed him as a
martyr
Lincoln is Chosen as the Republican
Candidate in the Election of 1860
Promised to stop the spread of slavery, but reassured
the South that he would neither directly or indirectly
interfere with slavery that already existed
The South believed that if he was elected, it would be
the “greatest evil that has ever befallen this country”
Election of 1860
Republican- Abraham Lincoln
Constitutional Union Party- John Bell
(ignored issue of slavery
Democratic Party split
North- Stephen Douglas and Popular
Sovereignty
South- John Breckenridge (Pro-slavery)
Secede
To withdraw formally
from membership in
a federal union
Southern Secession
The Confederate States of America
Constitution “protected and
recognized” slavery in new
territories and each state was
“sovereign and independent”
Jefferson Davis became
president
“The time for compromise has now
passed”