ACADUS- NOTES ch 19 “Drifting Toward Disunion, 1854-1861
Learning Objectives
1.
Enumerate the sequence of major crises, beginning with the Kansas-Nebraska Act, that led up to secession,
and explain the significance of each event.
2.
Explain how and why the territory of bleeding Kansas became the scene of a dress rehearsal for the Civil
War.
3.
Trace the growing power of the Republican party in the 1850s and the increasing domination of the
Democratic party by its militantly proslavery wing.
4.
Explain how the Dred Scott decision and John Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid deepened sectional antagonism.
5.
Trace the rise of Lincoln as a Republican spokesman, and explain why his senatorial campaign debates with
Stephen Douglas made him a major national figure despite losing the election.
6.
Analyze the election of 1860, including the split in the Democratic party, the four-way campaign, the sharp
sectional divisions, and Lincoln’s northern-based minority victory.
7.
Describe the secession of seven southern states following Lincoln’s victory, the formation of the
Confederacy, and the failure of the last compromise effort.
Glossary
1.
puppet government A weak government created or controlled by more powerful outside forces.
2.
bigoted Blindly or narrowly intolerant..
3.
public domain Land or other property belonging to the whole nation, controlled by the federal government
4.
bandwagon In politics, a movement or candidacy that gains rapid momentum because of people’s
purported desire to join a successful cause.
5.
apportionment The allotment or distribution of legislative representatives in districts according to
population. (Reapportionment occurs after each census according to growth or loss of population.)
6.
splintering Concerning the small political groups that result when a larger organization has divided or
broken apart.
7.
affidavit A sworn, written testimony, usually attested to by a notary public or legal officer, that may be
admitted as evidence in court.
8.
martyr One who is tortured or killed for adherence to a belief.
9.
border state The northernmost slave states which remained within the Union, although they contained
many Confederate sympathizers/volunteers (Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri)
10. vassalage The service/homage given by a feudal subordinate to an overlord; similar arrangement between
political figures or entities.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
Opened new lands that would help people settle in them
Repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820
Allowed settlers in those territories to use popular sovereignty to settle the slavery issue.

The initial purpose of the Act was to create opportunities for a Mideastern Transcontinental Railroad.
o PROBLEM- popular sovereignty written into the proposal by Senator Stephen Douglas (Dem- Ill.)
 Wanted to ease tensions between North and South
 Allowed the South to expand slavery into these new territories
 Allowed the North to abolish slavery in its states
Opponents to the act said it favored pro-slavery
o Republican Party created in opposition to the Act
 Wanted to stop the expansion of slavery
 Quickly became the dominant force throughout the North

Bleeding Kansas (1854-1858):
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A series of violent events involving anti-slavery “Free-Staters” and pro-slavery “Border Ruffians”
o Kansas Territory and the western border towns of the (slave) state of Missouri
QUESTION- should Kansas enter the Union as a free state or slave state?
o Kansas could decide the issue via popular sovereignty (Kansas-Nebraska Act)
o Resulted in a mass emigration to Kansas by both anti and pro-slavery activists
 “Border Ruffians” outnumbered the “Free-Staters” in the popular sovereignty election
o “Lecompton Constitution”- pro-slavery activists wrote a state constitution which asked the US
government to admit Kansas as a slave state
 Anti-slavery activists wrote their own anti-slavery constitution and established their own
capital
 Buchanan supported the Lecompton Constitution but Congress rejected it
 Kansas remained a territory until the slavery issue could be resolved by the settlers
o Kansas was finally admitted as a free state in 1861, three months before the start of the Civil War
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
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Dred Scott- an African-American slave who attempted to sue for his and his family’s freedom
o Had lived in a slave state and then moved to the free territories of Illinois and Minnesota with his
master
o Scott argued that since he lived in free territories, he should be free from slavery
DECISION- Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 against Scott
o Stated that because Scott was a slave he was not a citizen and could not bring suit in federal
court
o Chief Justice Robert R Taney ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional
 US government cannot deprive citizens of their legal property
 Slaves were defined as property under US law
Court decision outraged abolitionists and deepened sectional tensions
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)
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A series of seven debates in the Illinois Senatorial Election
o Abraham Lincoln (Rep) and Stephen Douglas (Dem)
The main issue of debate was slavery
o LINCOLN- did not support immediate abolition but he also did not support the extension of
slavery into the territories
o DOUGLAS- supported the concept of popular sovereignty in the territories
 “Freeport Doctrine”- popular sovereignty also states to legally outlaw slavery if that is
how the residents vote
Newspapers covered the debates nationwide and Lincoln later had the speeches published in a book
o Led to Lincoln’s nomination for President in 1860
John Brown

Militant abolitionist- preached armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery for good
o POTTAWATOMIE CREEK- Brown and his followers killed 5 pro-slavery men in 1856 in Kansas”
o HARPER’S FERRY- raid on a federal arsenal in 1859 in which he and his followers tried to started
an armed slave uprising in West Virginia
 Tried and executed for treason, conspiracy, and murder in Virginia
 Escalated tensions between North and South
 Many Northern abolitionists viewed John Brown as a “martyr for slavery”
 Many Southerners were afraid that more slave insurrections would occur
Election of 1860
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Set the stage for the Civil War on the issue of states’ rights and slavery in the territories
o Democratic Party split between North (Stephen Douglas) and South (John C. Breckingridge)
o Union party ran John Bell
o Republicans ran Abraham Lincoln (was not on the ballot in ten southern states)
A month after Lincoln’s election, South Carolina seceded