Early Attempts to Abolish
Slavery
Ch: 15-16
The Civil War
• The Civil War was fought from 1861-1865
over the issues of slavery and economics- the
620,000 that died represents the greatest loss
of American life in war.
• Abolitionists like John Brown, Frederick
Douglass, and Harriet Tubman made many
efforts to halt slavery.
Early Attempts to Abolish Slavery
• The admissions of Texas and California highlighted
the deep divisions that existed in America regarding
slavery during the 1840’s and 50’s.
• The Compromise of 1850 failed to settle slavery, and
Southerners passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which
required Northerners to return escaped slaves.
• “Bleeding Kansas” took place in 1856, when proand anti-slavery forces clashed because pro-slave
forces in Missouri had crossed the border to pad the
slave vote in that state.
Early Attempts to Abolish Slavery
• The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to enter
as a slave state, and Maine to enter as a free one.
Although it balanced the numbers of free and slave
states, it did nothing to address the issues of slavery.
• John Brown’s Raid in 1859 was influenced by the
events of “Bleeding Kansas”- he tried to start a slave
revolt by arming them with weapons he stole from an
arsenal in Kansas.
• The Wilmot Proviso (1846) and the Kansas-Nebraska
Act (1854) made unsuccessful attempts to end
slavery.
Early Attempts to Abolish Slavery
• In 1857, the slave Dred Scott sued for his freedom, because he
claimed that he had lived in a state where slavery had been
banned. The Supreme Court ruled against him, and this
electrified anti-slave forces throughout the country.
• A series of political debates between Senate candidates
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in 1858.
The issue of slavery took center stage.
• Free blacks continued to struggle in northern states, where
they faced racism and state laws that recognized their freedom,
but did not provide methods for them to compete with white
workers.
The Civil War
• Speeches by Daniel Webster and John C.
Calhoun demonstrated the differences states
felt between the government’s ability to end
slavery and enforce their decision.
• Slave states included: GA, LA, AL, FA, N/S
Car, VA, TN, AK, KY, MS and Miss.
The Civil War
• Free States: IA, IL, MN, IA, OH, PA, NY, NJ,
DE, CT, MS., VT, ME, NH, and RI
• Slave states were totally dependent upon
farming to survive, while Free states had a
better balance of manufacturing and industry.
• After Lincoln’s election in 1860, slave states
began to secede from the Union- the
Crittenden Provision was an example of how
the south began that process.