A Nation Divided
Essential Question: How was the Civil War a political, economic, and social turning point?
Growing tensions over slavery
Slavery and the Mexican-American War : 1820-1848- four slaveholding states and four free
states join the Union. The land acquired during the war threatens to change the balance.
A. The Wilmot Proviso: Congress bans slavery for any territory that might become part
of the United States as a result of the Mexican-American war.
a. It was not passed, but it did create concern in the South
B. An Antislavery Party: Created controversy, Whigs and Democrats did not take a firm
stand on slavery.
a. Popular Sovereignty: vote directly on issues among the state rather than
having their elected representative decide.
b. Many Whigs and Democrats wanted to take a stand against slavery and cread
the Free-Soil Party.
A Bitter Debate: California Gold rush caused people to move out west causing California to
become a state. The threat of California becoming a free state allows for the south to begin
threatening to Secede. Senator Henry Clay creates a plan (The Great Compromiser).
Compromises Fail
The Compromise of 1850: Five bills passed.
A. To Please the North: California becomes a free state. Slave trade in the Nation’s
capitol is banned.
B. To Please the South: Popular Sovereignty would be used to decide the question of
slavery in the rest of the Mexican Cession. Fugitive slave law allowed special
government officials to arrest any person accused of being a runaway slave. Suspects
had no right to a trial to prove that they had been falsely accused.
C. Outrage in the North: Outraged about the Fugitive slave law. It made the Northerners
even angrier.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Harriet Beecher Stowe escaped slavery and wrote this to make the nation
feel what slavery is like. Southerners were outraged by this book and saw it as propaganda.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act: Moved the Nation closer to war. Senator Stephen Douglas pushed
the act because he wanted a railroad built from Illinois through the Nebraska Territory to the
Pacific Coast. This would form two new territories in a free territory. Douglas proposed that
slavery in the new territories be decided by popular sovereignty. This undoes the Missouri
Compromise.
Bleeding Kansas: Both Northerners and Southerners moved into the state to secure the vote.
Illegal Missourians came to Kansas to vote in the election. A second election was held to correct
the vote.
A. Growing Violence: two governments form. A proslavery sheriff was shot when he
tried to arrest antislavery settlers. He then attacked the town with 800 of his men.
John Brown- antislavery settler, led seven men to a proslavery settlement near
Pottawatomie Creek and murdered five proslavery men and boys. These incidents set
off widespread fighting.
B. Bloodshed in the Senate: Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was the leading
abolitionist senator. He denounced the proslavery legislature in Kansas, and attacked
hi southern foes singling out Andrew Butler (SC senator). Butler’s nephew,
Congressman Preston Brooks, marched into the Senate chamber and beat Sumner
with a cane. He never fully recovered.
The Crisis Deepens
A New Antislavery Party: Whigs split in 1854. Northerner Whigs create the Republican Party,
whose goal was to stop the spread of slavery into the western territories. The quickly became a
powerful force in politics.
The Dred Scott Decision: 1857 Dred Scott was an enslaved person to an army doctor. Slavery
was illegal in their territory. Scott sued for his freedom and argued that he was free because he
lived where slavery was illegal.
A. The court decides: Scott was not a free man because he had no right to sue in a
federal court (African Americans were not considered citizens) and because living in
a free territory did not make an enslaved person free. Slaves were property and
property rights were protected by the U.S constitution.
B. Reaction: Supporters of slavery rejoiced and Northerners were stunned. Frederick
Douglas condemned the ruling, but still had hope for the future. Abraham Lincoln
was a lawyer from Illinois who spoke out against this decision.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: Lincoln became the legislature in Illinois and was elected to
Congress as a Whig. The Kansas-Nebraska act turns Lincoln from a Whig to a Republican.
Senator Stephen Douglas (Illinois) and Lincoln debate.
A. A House Divided: Lincoln is chosen to run against Douglas.
B. Debating Slavery: Lincoln challenges Douglas to public debates. Douglas defends
popular sovereignty (painted Lincoln as a dangerous abolitionist). Lincoln stands
against slavery. He says that all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. Douglas won the senate election, but they would rival again for
presidency.
John Brown’s raid: Relocates back to New England. He wants to create an army to free the
slaves. They attack Harpers Ferry in Virginia. They seized guns to give to the African
Americans. Colonel Robert E. Lee surrounded Brown’s force before they could give the African
Americans the guns. At trial he was sentenced to death. Southerners believed that the
Northerners wanted to destroy their way of life.
The coming of the Civil War
The Nation Divides
A. Election of 1860: Abraham Lincoln versus Douglas. The Democratic party splits in
two (Slavery, antislavery). The Constitutional union party is formed in hopes of
keeping the Union together. This election shows just how broken the Union was.
B. Southern Sates Secede: The south feels as if they do not have a voice. South Carolina
is the first to Secede.
C. The Confederate States of America: six more states follow NC. And create the
Confederate States of America with Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis as President.
The Civil War Begins: March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln became President. The most urgent
problem that Fort Sumter in SC’s commander would not surrender it. SC authorities starve Fort
Sumter into surrendering, but it did not work. Confederate leaders decided to capture the fort
while it was isolated. Artillery open fired on the fort. U.S troops surrendered.
Vocabulary
Popular Sovereignty
Secede
Fugitive
Henry Clay
John C. Calhoun
Daniel Webster
Controversy
Crisis
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Propaganda
Stephen Douglas
John Brown
Deprive
Impose
Dred Scott
Roger B. Taney
Abraham Lincoln
Embrace
Clarify
Civil War
Accommodation
Isolate