Sectional Conflict (1850 – 1861)
Growing sectional conflict occurs through President Polk’s (1844-1848),
expansionist’s policies. These conflicts were between the North and the South. As the
U.S. gained more territories in the West; the North + South argued over the slave state
issue (balance of power in Congress). With more and more territories in the west looking
to become states the more obsolete the Missouri Compromise became;
(1. Missouri=slave state, 2.Maine=non slave state, 3. North of 36’30’ =free territory)
1. Missouri Compromise (1820) Limitations
The Miss. Compromise did not account for the territories in the West. It
accounted for just territories north of 36’30’ (Louisiana Purchase)
2. Compromise of 1850 (California’s Statehood)
Issue: California wants to be admitted to Union as a non slave state. A
compromise is made by Sen. Henry Clay (Kentucky)
a. California is admitted as a free state
b. Popular sovereignty – the remaining territories of the west could vote
whether to be a free or a slave state.
c. Cease to Public Slave Auction- in Washington, D.C.
d. Fugitive Slave Act-govt officials in the North would assist in the capture of
runaway slaves + return them to their owners. (Northern Abolitionists
resisted)
3. Kansas – Nebraska Act (1854)
An act introduced by Congressman Stephen Douglas of Illinois that promoted
popular sovereignty to territories looking for statehood + made the Missouri
Compromise obsolete. The bill opened Pandora’s box. If popular sovereignty was good
for Kansas and Nebraska then why was it not good enough for the territories in the
Louisiana Purchase and under the Missouri Compromise? A congressional debate lasted
31/2 months, but was passed in 1854 with the support of President Pierce.
*Politically the Kansas Nebraska Act weakened the Whig Party (replaced the Federalists
as a major political party and challenged the Democratic-Republicans). The Democratic
Party (formerly Demo-Reps) lost the support of the North, and the conflict gave rise to
the Republican Party with strong roots in the North.
a. Missouri Compromise no longer applies
b. Popular Sovereignty will decide
4. The Abolitionist Movement
Most northerners were indifferent to slavery and only a minority wanted it
outlawed, but while abolitionists remained small in number, their constant single-issue
approach to slavery as a political and moral issue kept it in the public’s eye.
a. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Toms Cabin”(1852) a kind spirited
elderly slave beaten to death by the vicious slave overseer. The effect was the
North saw slavery as morally wrong. The South was offended because it was
not a true depiction of the South.
b. Harriet Tubman escaped slave who helped over 500,000 people escape
slavery by a route to the North—the Underground Railroad.
c. Frederick Douglas –escaped slave who was very vocal about the injustices of
slavery. Founder of a newspaper written by African Americans
d. William Lloyd Garrison – reformer who published an anti-slavery
newspaper called the “Liberator” in 1831.
e. John Brown – believed in violence to fight slavery. In Kansas, 1856 Brown
and his son killed 5 supporters of slavery who had killed ant-slavery settlers.
1. Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (1859) Brown led a revolt on a Federal
arsenal – the plot failed, Brown was caught and executed.
North saw Brown as a Martyr South saw Brown as a fanatic
f. The Dred Scott Case (1857) – The Supreme Court case that supported
slavery. Dred Scott (slave) lived in Missouri (slave state) but was taken by his
owner to Illinois (free state), argued that he lived in a free state so therefore he
should be free. The Supreme Courts decision; Chief Justice Roger Taney, a
Southerner argued that:
a. Free Afr.Amer. are not citizens therefore they cannot sue in
Federal Court.
b. Slaves are property + when brought to free territories they remain
property-the owner cannot be denied property w/o due process of
the law.
c. The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional b/c it denied slave
owners their property rights.
5. Rise of the Republican Party (1856)
a. New Political Divide
Democratic Party = national party
Republican Party=sectionalist party, but appeared to be an anti-slavery + antisouthern party. (Alliance of the Whigs, No. Democrats, and abolitionists)
Their platform:
1. to keep slavery out of the Western territories (*abolition of
slavery in the South was a goal of only a minority in the Republican Party).
2. Enacting tariffs to protect Northern industry
3. Building a trans-continental railroad system (east meets west)
***chief objective was to stop the spread of slavery.
c. Lincoln – Douglas Debate (1858)
Rep
(both from Ill.)
Dem
Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Douglas
Slavery was “morally, socially,
Popular sovereignty
And politically wrong”
d. Election of 1860
So. Democrats want someone with a stronger stand on slavery than Douglas (a moderate)
so they nominate-----John Breckinridge. A new 4th political party (Constitutional Union
Party) nominates—John Bell. 4 candidates made it easier for Lincoln to win.
Effects of the Election of 1860: South Carolina was the first of many Southern
states who secede from the Union. By March 1861, the US acting like 2 separate
nations.
6. Causes for the Divide
a. Cultural and Economic differences – Agricultural South=traditional life,
Industrial North = urban, changing lifestyles
b. Regional Loyalties
b.
c.
d.
e.
South = regionalists (states rights)
North = nationalists
Southerners mistaken belief in an easy victory- King Cotton was a
necessity for the Industrial north to survive. The South could win the backing
of Great Britain because of the cotton trade.
Lack of National Leadership –Pre Civil War Presidents were weak
leaders—Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan. The death’s of
nationalists Senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster (1850’s)
Slavery as a Moral Issue. South=slavery was a way of life.
North = morally wrong + anti-democratic
Combined Effects of many incidents
1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published (1852)
2. John Browns raid in Kansas (1856)
3. Dred Scott decision (1857)
4. Hanging of John Brown (1859)
5. Anti-slavery Republican President (1860)