US History
Fort Burrows
16.3 – The Crisis Deepens
READ pgs 468-472
Main Idea:
In the 1850s, violence in Kansas and the Dred Scott decision inflamed tensions
over slavery.
Vocabulary:
Kansas-Nebraska Act – 1854 law that established the territories of Nebraska and
Kansas, giving the settlers the right of popular sovereignty to
decide on the issue of slavery
Border Ruffians – proslavery bands from Missouri who often rode across the
border into Kansas to battle the antislavery forces there
guerrilla warfare – the use of hit-and-run military tactics
lawsuit – legal case brought to settle a dispute between a person or group
Dred Scott v. Sandford – Supreme Court case in which a slave, Dred Scott, sued for
his freedom and lost; case brought into question the federal
power over slavery in the territories
Setting the Scene:
Americans had hoped that the Compromise of 1850 would end the debate over
slavery in the West. Before long, though, proslavery and antislavery forces were
battling for control of the territory of Kansas. An observer described election day in
one Kansas district in 1855:
“On the morning of the election, before the polls were opened, some
300 or 400 Missourians and others were collected in the yard… where the
election was to be held, armed with bowie-knives, revolvers, and clubs. They
said they came to vote without being sworn. Some said they came to have a
fight, and wanted one.”
Hearing of the events in Kansas, Abraham Lincoln, then a young lawyer in Illinois,
predicted that “the contest will come to blows, and bloodshed.” Once again, the issue
of slavery in the territories divided the nation.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
 January 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill to set up two
governments for the Nebraska Territory; Kansas and Nebraska Territory
 Boundaries: South – Texas, North – Canada, East from Missouri, West Rockies
 Douglas knew white Southerners did not want another free state
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 He proposed to make two territories; Kansas and Nebraska
 Each territory would decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty
 This bill was known as the Kansas–Nebraska Act
¿¿ What was the purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska Act ?
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
 Support for the Act
Kansas–Nebraska Act seemed to be fair; let the people of the territory
decide if they wanted slavery or not
Southern leaders supported the Act
They hoped Missouri slave owners would move into Kansas; thus creating
another slave state
President #14, Franklin Pierce a Democrat, also supported the bill by
helping it pass through Congress
In doing so, Pierce is known for ‘lighting a fire under the powder keg’
Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface"
(a Northerner with Southern sympathies) who served in the U.S. House of
Representatives and Senate. Later, Pierce took part in the Mexican-American
War and became a brigadier general. His private law practice was in his home
state, New Hampshire.
In the presidential election, Pierce and his running mate William R. King won
by a landslide in the electoral college, defeating the Whig Party ticket of
Winfield Scott and William A. Graham by a 50% to 44% margin in the
popular vote and 254 to 42 in the electoral vote.
 Northern Outrage
Northerners were unhappy with the bill; they claimed the Missouri
Compromise had already banned slavery in Kansas and Nebraska
The Kansas–Nebraska Act would repeal the Missouri Compromise
Northern opponents called the Act, ‘criminal betrayal of precious rights’
They felt slavery could now spread to areas that had been free for more
than 30 years
Their protest openly challenged the Fugitive Slave Act
The Crisis Turns Violent
 Kansas had become a testing ground for popular sovereignty
 Proslavery and antislavery groups fought for control of the territory
 Many farmers, most without slaves, came for cheap farm land
 Abolitionists brought more than 1,000 settlers from New England
 Proslavery settlers moved into Kansas also
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 Proslavery bands from neighboring Missouri, known as Border Ruffians, rode
across the border to battle the antislavery forces in Kansas
In territorial Kansas' first election, some 5,000 so-called "Border Ruffians" invaded
the territory from Western Missouri and forced the election of a pro-slavery
legislature. Although the number of votes cast exceeded the number of eligible voters
in the territory, Kansas Governor Andrew Reeder reluctantly approved the election to
prevent further bloodshed.

 Two Governments
1855, Kansas does have the popular sovereignty election
With the help of the Border Ruffians crossing the border and voting
illegally, a proslavery legislature came to power
Strong laws – put to death if you helped a slave runaway and 2 years hard
labor for ‘speaking out’ against slavery
Antislavery settlers did not accept the laws and they created their own
governor and legislature
Two rival governments means ‘chaos’ for Kansas

 “Bleeding Kansas”
Proslavery men raided Lawrence, Kansas); destroying homes and an
antislavery newspaper called Free-Soil
John Brown moved his family to punish supporters of slavery
With his four sons, they rode into Pottawatomie (path uh WAHT uh mee) Creek
in the middle of the night and killed 5 proslavery settlers
This attack began fighting from both sides of the slave issue; guerrilla
warfare led to more violence
By 1856, more than 200 dead; newspapers started calling the territory
“Bleeding Kansas”
¿¿ What was the effect of popular sovereignty in the Kansas-Nebraska territory ?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
Violence in the Senate
 Charles Sumner, a sharp-tongued Senator from Massachusetts, denounced the
proslavery legislature of Kansas
 He continued criticizing his fellow Senators from the South
 He singled out Andrew Butler, who was not present, a proslavery Senator from
South Carolina
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 A few days later, Butler’s nephew, Senator Preston Brooks, entered the Senate
chambers and used a walking-cane to beat Sumner until he fell to the floor –
bloody and unconscious
 It took a full 3 years for Sumner to fully recover from the attack
 Many Southerners felt Sumner got what he deserved
 Hundreds of people sent ‘canes’ to Brooks to show their support
 Northerners believed the brutal act was more evidence that slavery led to violence
The Dred Scott Case
 The Supreme Court was called upon to settle the slavery issue and bring harmony
back to the United States
 Dred Scott, a slave, sued for his freedom
 Scott was a slave in Missouri, his master moved to Illinois then to Wisconsin
Territory – a free territory
 Scott’s owner returned them to Missouri and shortly thereafter died
 Scott’s lawsuit claimed – because he lived in a free territory, he had become a free
man
 Scott was represented by antislavery lawyers

1800
1820
1831
1833
1836
1838
1840
1843
1846
-
1848 1850 -
1854 1856
1857
1858
1861
1863
1865
1868
1869
-
Dred Scott’s Timeline and Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott is born
Congress enacts Missouri Compromise
Dred Scott's owners, Peter and Elizabeth Blow, die; Dred Scott is sold to John Emerson
Dred Scott taken into Free State of Illinois
Dred Scott taken into free Wisconsin territory; marries Harriet Robinson
Irene Sanford marries John Emerson
Irene Emerson, with Dred and Harriet Scott, returns to the slave state of Missouri
John Emerson dies
Dred and Harriet Scott file freedom suit against Irene Emerson in Missouri state circuit
court
First Missouri Supreme Court appeal
Second State Circuit Court trial; second Missouri Supreme Court appeal; Irene Emerson
marries Calvin Chaffee, moves to Massachusetts, and turns her business affairs over to
her brother, John Sanford
U.S. Federal Circuit Court trial of Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford argued before U.S.
Supreme Court
Dred Scott v. John Sandford argued before U.S. Supreme Court
Dred Scott decision; Taylor Blow formally frees Dred and Harriet Scott
Dred Scott dies
Civil War begins
Emancipation Proclamation is issued
Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery
Fourteenth Amendment gives citizenship to former slaves
Fifteenth Amendment gives African American MEN the right to vote
13th , 14th , and 15th Amendments are known as the Civil War Amendments

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
 The Supreme Court’s Decision
Scott’s case did reach the Supreme Court; Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court made many rulings in this case
1st – an enslaved person was not a United States citizen, therefore he
could not file a lawsuit
2nd – slaves were to be considered as property
3rd – Congress did not have the power to outlaw slavery in any territory
The Court’s ruling meant that the Missouri Compromise was
unconstitutional
United States Supreme Court of 1857
Roger B Taney
** Chief Justice
Peter V Daniel
John McLean
John Catron
James M Wayne
Samuel Nelson
Robert C Grier
John A Campbell
Benjamin Curtis
(1777 – 1864)
1836 – 1864
(1784 – 1860)
(1785 – 1861)
(1786 – 1865)
(1790 – 1867)
(1792 – 1873)
(1794 – 1870)
(1803 – 1881)
(1809 – 1874)
1841 – 1860
1830 – 1861
1837– 1865
1835 – 1867
1845 – 1872
1846 – 1870
1853 – 1881
1851 – 1857
Roman
Catholic
Virginia
Episcopal
Ohio
Methodist
TN
Protestant
Georgia
Protestant
New York Protestant
PA
Presbyterian
Maine
Episcopal
Mass
Episcopal
Ohio
¿¿ What was the significance of the decision in the Dred Scott case ?
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________.

 The Nation Reacts
White southerners rejoiced; slavery would be legal in all territories
African Americans responded angrily; held public meetings to condemn the
ruling
A speaker in Philadelphia hoped the ruling would lead more whites to
“join with us in our efforts to recover the long lost boon of freedom”
boon – a timely benefit
White northerners were shocked; by restricting slavery to the South, they
had hoped slavery would die out
A Cincinnati newspaper declared, ‘We are now one great…slave holding
community’
Frederick Douglass spoke out against the decision, “This infamous decision
maintains that slaves are property…That people of African descent are
not and cannot be citizens of the United States.”
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“All I ask of the American
people is that they live up to
the Constitution, adopt its
principles, take in its spirit,
and enforce its provisions.
When this is done…liberty…
will become the inheritance
of all the inhabitants of this
highly favored country.”
Fredrick Douglass,
Collected Speeches,
1857
1. What were the 2 goals of the Kansas-Nebraska Act ?
1.___________________________________________________________________
2.___________________________________________________________________
2. Why did violence erupt in Kansas and in the Senate ?
Kansas___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Senate____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
3. What impact did the Dred Scott case have on the nation ?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
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Scott vs. Sandford
1800 - Dred Scott is born.
1820 - Congress enacts Missouri Compromise
1831 - Dred Scott's owners, Peter and Elizabeth Blow, die; Dred Scott is sold to John Emerson.
1833 - Dred Scott taken into Free State of Illinois.
1836 - Dred Scott taken into free Wisconsin territory; marries Harriet Robinson.
1838 - Irene Sanford marries John Emerson
1840 - Irene Emerson, with Dred and Harriet Scott, returns to the slave state of Missouri.
1843 - John Emerson dies
1846 -Dred and Harriet Scott file freedom suit against Irene Emerson in Missouri state circuit court.
1848 - First Missouri Supreme Court appeal.
1850 - Second State Circuit Court trial; second Missouri Supreme Court appeal; Irene Emerson
marries Calvin Chaffee, moves to Massachusetts, and turns her business affairs over to her
brother, John Sanford.
1854 - U.S. Federal Circuit Court trial of Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford argued before U.S.
Supreme Court.
1856 -Dred Scott v. John Sandford argued before U.S. Supreme Court.
1857 - Dred Scott decision; Taylor Blow formally frees Dred and Harriet Scott.
1858 - Dred Scott dies.
1861 - Civil War begins.
1863 - Emancipation Proclamation is issued.
1865 - Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery in the United States.
1868 - Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the
United States
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