Chapter 10 Section 4
The System Fails
Free Soilers
• These people worked to
end slavery in the
territories
– Came to Kansas
• Pro slavery did as well
• By 1855, Kansas had 2
competing capitals
– Antislavery Topeka
– Proslavery Lecompton
– The 2 sides would
eventually become
violent
What did free soilers hope to
accomplish in Kansas?
• To make sure Kansas
entered the Union as a
free state
How did the free soilers plan to
accomplish their goals in Kansas?
• By settling the territory
and defending it against
slavery advocates as
necessary
Bleeding Kansas
• Pro slavery supporters
looted abolitionist
newspaper offices and
homes
• John Brown retaliated
by kindnapping 5 men
and killing them in front
of their families
• This set off a summer of
violence in Kansas
Bleeding Sumner
On the afternoon of May 22, 1856, Preston Smith Brooks (a
Democratic Congressman from South Carolina) physically
attacked Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in the
Senate chambers, hitting him on the head with his thick cane.
Sumner was blinded by his own blood, and staggered away
until he collapsed, lapsing into unconsciousness. Brooks
continued to beat Sumner until he broke his cane. Several
other senators attempted to help Sumner, but were blocked
by Rep. Laurence Keitt, who was holding a pistol and shouting
"Let them be!" This was in retaliation for insulting language
Sumner used against Brooks's relative in a speech Sumner
made that denounced Southerners for proslavery violence in
Kansas. Sumner was beaten severely and did not return to his
Senate desk for three years as a result of his injuries to the
head and neck area; he became regarded as an antislavery
martyr.
Explain how the events that occurred in Kansas and in
Congress in 1856 support the message of the section’s
title: “The System Fails.”
• The divisions between
political parties and
regions made the
nation unable to find a
compromise over
slavery that would last
• The violence in Kansas
and in the Senate is
proof that the system
failed as it existed
Dred Scott v Sanford
• Dred Scott (a slave)
• Living in Missouri
• Filed a suit against his
owner
• Argued that because he
had once lived in a state
where slavery was illegal,
he should be free
• Supreme Court Rules 7-2
against Scott
What was the legal impact of Dred Scott v.
Sanford on the issue of slavery in the
territories?
• Slaves could not sue in
court because they
were not citizens
• Slaves could not obtain
freedom simply by
living in a free state
• All territories open to
slavery
– Regardless if they were
in the North or South
Lincoln Douglas Debates
• A series of 7 debates
between Abraham
Lincoln and Stephen
Douglas on the issue of
slavery in the territories
In your own words, describe the difference
between Lincoln’s and Douglas’s views on
slavery?
• Lincoln believed slavery
was wrong
• Believed slavery was a
moral issue
• Did not believe that a
majority (popular
sovereignty) could deny
minority rights
• Never proposed ending
slavery until the Civil war
– Just wanted to halt its
expansion
• Douglas was more
tolerant of slavery
• He believed in the
absolute right of white
citizens to choose the
society and government
(slave or free) that they
wanted
Arsenal
• A place where weapons are
made or stored
• John Brown raided the
arsenal at Harper’s Ferry,
Virginia
• Hoped to seize the
weapons, give them to
slaves and start a rebellion
• Troops under Robert E Lee
put down the attack
• Brown sentenced to death
What do you believe was the greatest
impact of John Brown’s raid?
• The raid deepened the
division between the
North and South
• Brown became a martyr
to the abolitionist
movement
• South outraged by this
• South saw Brown as a
criminal
• Feared more attacks from
abolitionists