U.S. History: SantaOlalla
Wilmot
Proviso
David
Wilmot
“neither slavery
nor involuntary
servitude shall
ever exist in any”
lands won from
Mexico
North
South
Severely limited
rights of free
African
Americans
Many believed
God intended
that black people
should provide
labor for the
white “civilized”
society
1. Abolitionists
minority
2. Some
sympathetic to
Southern
plantation
owners
“I hold it [slavery]
to be a good…
and [it] will
continue to prove
so if not disturbed
by the… spirit of
abolition” John
C. Calhoun
Question
• How did northerners and
southerners view slavery?
– Because northerners did not rely on
slavery, many did not have strong opinions
about it. Some believed that it was morally
wrong. Many southerners viewed slavery
as an integral part of their economy and so
did not want it to end.
The Election of 1828: Slavery
Free-Soil Party
• Support Wilmot Proviso
• Pledged to a “national
platform of freedom”
• Martin van Buren
• “free soil, free speech,
free labor, and free men”
• Won 10% of votes
Whigs and Democrats
• Popular sovereignty
• Democrat Governor
Lewis Cass
– Opposed Wilmot Proviso
• Whig Zachary Taylor
– General, hero
– Owned slaves
– Wins election
Question
• What role did the Free-Soil Party
play in the election of 1848?
– Although, Van Buren, the Free-Soil
Party candidate, did not win any states,
he won enough votes away from Cass
to cause Taylor to win
California
1848, gold discovered in CA
1 year time 80,000 + people go to CA (chaotic)
1849, drafted a Constitution
CA wanted to be admitted as a free state
Henry Clay offers a compromise
Henry Clay’s Compromise
CA admitted as free state
NM and UT use popular sovereignty
to decide slavery issue
Slave trade- not slavery- ended
in WA D.C.
Congress passed strict new
fugitive slave act
TX give up claims to NM for $10
million
Question
• How did California statehood spark a
new crisis over slavery?
– If California were admitted as a free
state, the country would have more free
states than slave states. The South
feared that this shift in power would lead
to a universal ban of slavery.
Response to Clay’s Proposal
• John C. Calhoun: “that the agitation on the
subject of slavery would, if not prevented by
some timely effective measure, end is disunion.”
– South  less protection
– If North disagreed: South would secede
• Daniel Webster: accept Clay’s compromise
– Popular sovereignty South comforted but slavery
not spread to West
Compromise of 1850
• Based on Clay’s proposal
• Calhoun and Taylor die
• President Millard Fillmore supported
compromise
–
–
–
–
–
CA admitted as free state
Popular sovereignty applied
TX relinquished claims of NM for $10 million
Slave trade prohibited
Fugitive Slave Act added amendments
Resistance Against the Fugitive Slave
Act
• Northerners enraged (not just
abolitionists)
• Personal Liberty Laws
• Issue with Act
– 1. Freedmen passed off as slaves
– 2. Judges get higher pay when vote in
favor of slave owners
Underground Railroad
• Not underground
• A secret network of “conductors” hid runaway
slaves in farm wagons and riverboats and
moved to the North or Canada
• Series of complex signals and hiding places
• Harriet Tubman, “Black Moses”
Questions
• Why might the Underground Railroad have been
more active in free states than slave states?
– The Underground Railroad was more active in free
states where most abolitionists lived and worked.
Southern states depended on slave labor and
opposed the Underground Railroad as it took their
workers away
• In what ways did the Fugitive Slave Act affect
free African Americans?
– Free African Americans were often captured and
enslaved because northerners were encouraged and
rewarded monetarily to turn in slaves.
Stowe and
Delaney
Condemn
Slavery
• Harriet Beecher Stowe,
1852, published Uncle
Tom’s Cabin
condemned slavery
– spread compassion for
enslaved people in North,
infuriated South
• Martin Delaney wrote
Blake
– Slave uprising
Question
• How did northerners respond to the
Fugitive Slave Act?
• Northerners responded by passing
personal liberty laws and helping
escaped slave remain free
Douglas pushes for Popular
Sovereignty
• Senator Douglas wants new states to decide by
popular sovereignty
• 2 territories bring issue up again: KansasNebraska
• Kansas-Nebraska Act voids Missouri
Compromise by allowing slavery to spread to
areas that had been free for 30 years
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
Created potential for
slavery in Kansas and
Nebraska by allowing
popular sovereignty
It was sponsored by Stephen
Douglas: it overturned MO
Compromise meant to unite
nation, but instead further
divided it and led to the creation
of the Republican Party
Missouri Compromise, 1820
Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
“Bleeding Kansas”
• Farmers looking for land
• Settlers from North and South with political
motives
– Each group wanted to outnumber the others in order
to control government
– Deadly consequences
“Bleeding Kansas”
• 2 governments
– 1855, Border Ruffians (proslavery)
– Northern abolitionists (New England Emigrant
Aid Society)
• 1856, Topeka government petition for
statehood
– 2 governments petitioning for statehood
• May 21, 1856 Border Ruffians raid
antislavery town (Lawrence, KS)
– John Brown retaliates (midnight execution of
5 proslavery settlers)
“Bleeding Kansas”
• Abolitionists condemn John Brown massacres
• “Bleeding Kansas”, throughout 1856 violent
outbreaks occurred around Lawrence
• Kansas eventually admitted as free state, 1861
• Violence in Senate
– “The Crime Against Kansas” (Charles
Sumner)
– Sumner insults Andrew Butler
• Butler’s nephew, Preston Brooks attacked
Sumner with cane
Brooks beats Sumner with Cane
Question
• Why did violence break out in
Kansas?
• People established both antislavery and
proslavery governments in Kansas. Each
group was determined that Kansas would
enter the Union with its views entrenched in
the new government.
The Shifting Political Scene
• Previously all presidents had
represented all areas of the
growing nation
• Policies began to turn
supporters away Whig Party
• Fillmore last Whig President
• Clay and Webster dead
• Relied on Winfield Scott
– Lost to Democrats
– Too much tension in party to
successfully launch campaign
American Political Parties During 1850s
American Political Parties
Democratic Party
1800-Present
• Opposed strong central government
• Divided over slavery issue in 1850s
Whig Party
1834-1852
• Favored national economic development
• Opposed Andrew Jackson
• Antislavery members left in 1850s
Know-Nothings (The
American Party)
1843-1856
• Opposed to immigration
• Joined by Antislavery Whigs
• Took a proslavery platform in 1856
Free-Soil Party
1847-1854
• Worked to prevent slavery in the western territories
• Formed by antislavery Democrats and Whigs
• Absorbed into the new Republican Party
Republican Party
1854-Present
• Opposed to slavery
• Opposed to Kansas-Nebraska Act
Question
• How did the rise and fall of political
parties reflect divisions in the United
States?
• Political parties emerged in support of
or opposition to issues that divided
Americans
Sectional Division Intensified
• Election of 1856
– Republican John C.
Frémont war hero
• “Free Soil, Free Labor,
Free Men, Frémont”
– Democrat James
Buchanan
• Stop the “agitation of
the slavery issue”
– Know-Nothings
former President
Millard Fillmore
Dred Scott Decision
• Supreme Court, 1857 MO slave Dred
Scott
• Chief Justice Roger B. Taney
• Court ruled against Scott
– Property cannot sue
• South celebrated
• North alarmed
– Frederick Douglass thinks this will speed up
the process of abolition
Question
• What were the reactions to the
Dred Scott decision?
• Many southerners celebrated the
decision while many northerners were
outraged by it.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858
Lincoln
• “Honest Abe”
• Opposed KansasNebraska Act
• Attacked popular
sovereignty as wrong
• Won a large support
group due to debates
Douglas
• “Little Giant”
• Sincerity questioned
• Supported annexation of
TX
• Promoted popular
sovereignty
• Won election
Question
• How did Lincoln and Douglas differ on
the issue of slavery?
• Lincoln wanted to end slavery. Douglas
believed that each state should decide
whether to be a free or slave state.
• Angel of God
• Violence = best way to avenge the evil of
slavery
• Solicited recruits and funds for armed
assault
• Harper’s Ferry, VA
– Hubs of trains and canals for escape routes
Execution of • “Robert E. Lee came and
took a stand. "This
John Brown
lawlessness won't be
tolerated let's punish
those who
collaborated" After my trial
I was put to death but
opinions were when I took
my last breath a hero to
some, others said what
for? My actions pushed
the nation to war.” MC
LaLa
Reactions to Execution of John Brown
• Northerners thought abolitionist activism had
gone too far
• Others saw Brown as courageous martyr
• Lincoln and other Republicans condemned
Brown
• Douglas accused Republicans of instigating
attack by Brown
• Many others prepared for war
Issues at Hand in Election of 1860
• Debate over Kansas decision on
slavery
• Dred Scott Decision of Supreme
Court
• Fugitive Slave Act
• States’ rights
Resolution
• MS Senator, Jefferson Davis resolution
– Congress adopt resolutions restricting federal control
over slavery in territories
– States also cannot interfere in pre-existing slave
states
• Issue of survival of Union
– Divided nation
– North would not vote for a President from the South
(vice versa)
Abraham
Lincoln
• Republican
• Illinois
• Platform:
Slavery not
allowed in
the
territories
Stephen
Douglas
• Northern
Democrat
• Illinois
• Platform:
popular
sovereignty
should
decide the
issue of
slavery in the
territories
when they
become
states
John Bell
• Const’l
Unionist
• Tennessee
• Platform:
The federal
government
should
support
slavery and
also defend
the Union
John
Breckinridge
• Southern
Democrat
• Kentucky
• Platform:
The federal
government
must protect
slavery
Breckinridge
Bell
Douglas
Lincoln Wins Election
Lincoln Wins
• 40% of popular vote
• 60% electoral votes
• Didn’t receive a single vote from
South
Question
• How did Lincoln’s election reflect
the break between the North and
the South?
• Lincoln’s election reflected the break
between the North and the South
because he won without receiving a
single southern electoral vote.
Union Collapses
• “The union now subsisting between South
Carolina and the other states, under the
name of the ‘United States of America,’ is
hereby dissolved”
– Reason for leaving: the election of a President
“whose opinions and purposes are hostile to
slavery”
– 6 other southern states follow secession
– Slave-dependent, cotton-growing states
stepped together
Secession
Confederacy Formed
• 7 seceding states formed
Confederate States of America
– Framed a Constitution
– Stressed independence of each state
– Implied states had right to secede
– Guaranteed protection of slavery
– Prohibited importing new slaves
(appease Britain and France)
• Not all southerners agreed with secession
Final Compromise
• John Crittenden proposed
constitutional amendment (Crittenden
Compromise)
– Allowed slavery in western territories
south of MO Compromise line
– Called for federal funds to reimburse
slaveholders for unreturned fugitives
Long-Term Causes of the Civil War
• Sectional economic and cultural
differences
• Debate over expansion of slavery into
territories
• Political compromise failed to ease
sectional differences
– MO Compromise 1820
– Compromise 1850
– Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
Long Term Causes of the Civil War
• Laws and court decisions increased
sectional tension
– Fugitive Slave Act 1850
– Dred Scott Decision
– Tariff policy
• Growth of antislavery movement
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Short-Term Causes of the Civil War
1. Kansas-Nebraska Act splits
political parties
2. Breakdown of party system
3. Lincoln elected President
4. S.C. seceded from Union
Civil War Begins
• March 4, 1861, Lincoln sworn in
• When southern states seceded seized
federal forts and arsenals within their
borders (Fort Sumter)
– Guarded harbor at Charleston, SC
• Lincoln sent supplies to fort, food only (no
arms)
– Troops ran out of ammunition South fired
upon fort Fort Sumter fell
Question
• What events led to the outbreak
of the war?
• When President Lincoln sent supplies
to Fort Sumter, the Confederates
attacked and took control of the fort.
As a result, President Lincoln ordered
volunteers to fight the Confederacy.