CRISIS, CIVIL WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION
UNIT 7
ANTEBELLUM: THE COMING STORM
Much like a storm on the horizon, the American Civil War could be seen coming long before it arrived. The product
of decades of conflict over the issue of states rights and slavery’s place in the nation as America expanded westward.
Attempting to avoid the coming storm, the nation struggled to find a way to settle the issue without bloodshed.
Sectionalism - loyalty to the interests of one region or section of the country, rather than the nation as a whole.
Northern states developed an industrial economy based on manufacturing and wished to see free labor
not slavery) dominate the nation
Southern states developed an agricultural economy consisting of a slavery-based system wishing to see
that system expand westward into new territories lest it be pushed out by a growing antislavery majority
slave codes – laws that forbid slaves from owning property, leaving without permission, owning
firearms or learning to read or write
passed to keep slaves in a state of dependency and maintain the property status
Numerous conflicts led to greater tension between the North and South while compromises attempted to ease these
tensions that drove each section apart.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798) – a state can nullify laws its disagrees with
Missouri Compromise (1820) - drew and east-west line through the Louisiana Purchase, with slavery
prohibited above the line and allowed below
Nat Turner Rebellion and David Walker (1831) - fed white southern fears about slave rebellions and led to
harsh laws in the South against fugitive slaves
Nullification Crisis (1832) - Southerners argued that individual states could nullify laws passed by the
Congress and could leave (“secede”) freely if they chose.
Gag rule (1836) – rule passed in the House that forbid the discussion of slavery in House (repealed in 1844)
abolition movement - grew in the North, led by William Lloyd Garrison, and many New England
religious leaders
Wilmot Proviso (1846) – proposed that slavery could not exist in any land the U.S. gained from Mexico
SLAVERY: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
The issue of slavery in the new territories continued to drive the two sections of the nation apart as a few prominent
Southerners now began to discuss the possibility of secession (leaving the union) while others formed parties and
compromises in an attempt to end the issue.
Free Soil Party (1848) – party formed after the election of Zachary Taylor in 1848 from anti-slavery Whigs and
Democrats in the North  “Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men” became their slogan
feared slavery would make it difficult for white settlers to find work or purchase land in the West
As California acquired the population to apply for statehood, after the discovery of gold, it threatened to unbalance
the nation’s slave and free state balance that had been in place in the Compromise of 1820 (Missouri Compromise).
Something had to be done to fix the problems of this generation.
Compromise of 1850 – compromise proposed by Henry Clay, the “Great Compromiser” to address the issues
plaguing the nation in 1850
 California entered as a free state
 southwestern territories acquired from Mexico would use popular sovereignty to decide on the issue of
slavery in their territories
 outlawed slave trading in Washington D.C.
 Texas gave up its claims to New Mexico land in exchange for the federal government assuming its debt
 tougher fugitive slave law
Fugitive Slave Act – set up a law where a slaver-owner needed only to point out an African-American as a
runaway slave to take him/her into custody  runaway could not testify in court
- no statute of limitations applied
- federal judge decided the runaway’s fate  $10 to side with the slave-owner, $5 if he did not
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Underground Railroad – a secretive network of trails and safe houses used to transport runaway slaves from the
slave South to the free North
Harriet Tubman – former slave who led slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) – a best-selling novel, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, inflamed northern abolitionist
with revealing details about slavery in the South  debunked the myth of paternal slavery (slaves as kids)
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 – attempting to create a transcontinental railroad from Illinois, Dem. Senator
Stephen Douglas proposed two new territories (Kansas and Nebraska) that would allow popular sovereignty
to address the slavery issue
using popular sovereignty would repeal the Missouri Compromise in those territories
Bleeding Kansas - bloody fighting began in Kansas as pro- and anti-slavery forces battle each other to sway
the vote on slavery in their favor
led to the birth of the Republican Party that same year to oppose the spread of slavery
John Brown - abolitionist who led anti-slavery forces in Kansas on an attack killing five men
sparking other conflicts resulting in nearly 200 deaths  blood spilt in the West over slavery
Caning of Charles Sumner (1856) – abolitionist Senator Charles Summer (Mass.) delivered a speech accusing
proslavery senators of forcing Kansas to become a slave state
after singling out Senator Andrew P. Butler (S.C.), Butler’s cousin Preston Brooks retaliated by
caning Sumner, leaving him severely injured as some Southerners made Brooks a hero and
Northerners became more determined than ever to stop the expansion of slavery  blood spilt in the
capital over slavery
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) - Supreme Court case dealing with the freedom of a slave in a free territory.
- Court claimed that slaves were property and could not sue a states for their freedom
- declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional believing states could not limit or prohibit the ownership
of property within any state borders  ends the concept of a “free state”
A HOUSE DIVIDED
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858) - Republican Abraham Lincoln and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas
conducted debates when running for the U.S. Senate in Illinois
- Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery into new states warning, “A house divided against itself cannot
stand.” I believe this Government cannot endure; permanently half slaver and half free. I do not expect the
Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will
become all one thing or all the other
- Douglas stood for popular sovereignty believing the slavery issue should be left up to the states
Freeport Doctrine - position held by Stephen Douglas, that people in the territory have the power to prohibit
slavery by refusing to pass local laws necessary to make a slave system work
Lincoln losses the election, but gains national attention for himself and the Republican Party
Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859) - John Brown led an attack on the armory at Harpers Ferry, VA to seize weapons
for a slave rebellion  it fails and Brown was executed for his crime angering many Northerners
Election of 1860 - Abraham Lincoln wins the election followed by the secession of seven Southern states, led by
South Carolina on Dec. 20, who feared that Lincoln would try to abolish slavery
Follow by Mississippi (January 9, 1861),Florida (January 10, 1861),Alabama (January 11, 1861),
Georgia (January 19, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861),Texas (February 1, 1861).
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these seven states join together and write a constitution forming a confederate government with the first
capital in Montgomery Alabama  South began seizing courthouses, post offices, and forts
Lincoln believed that since secession was illegal and Confederate governments in the Southern states
were illegitimate. Thus, the states had never really left the Union  a position he held throughout the
Civil War
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