Chapter 11
SECTION 4
Violence Begins
Under the Kansas-Nebraska Act both states would vote about slavery. This put slavery and antislavery groups in the areas at odds with each other
Free Soilers from New England rushed to Kansas to help end slavery in the territory
Proslavery settlers in Missouri created secret societies to oppose the free soilers. Some even
voted in the Kansas election illegally
Things began to escalate after a group of Southerners, with the support of a federal marshal,
looted newspaper offices and homes in Lawrence, KS
Violence Begins
This action got a response from John Brown, an anti-slavery man who believed he was chosen by
god to end slavery
May 24th Brown led several New Englanders to a proslavery camp in KS. While there they drug
five men from their beds and killed them with swords in front of their family
These actions sparked a summer of murderous raids and counterraids in Kansas called “Bleeding
Kansas”
This also happened in D.C. After a very fiery speech where Senator Charles Sumner made insults
toward Senator Andrew Butler, two days later Butler’s nephew beat Sumner with his cane
Slavery & National Politics
During the election of 1856 the Democrats supported the Compromise of 1850 and the KansasNebraska Act. In opposition the Republicans declared the gov’t’s right to restrict slavery
Buchanan won the election and promised the south he would “never stop the agitation of the
slavery issue”
Along with the election the Supreme Court handed down the decision on the Scott v. Sanford
case
The case happened when Dred Scott, a free man working in Missouri, filed a lawsuit against his
owners for freedom because he had lived in the North
Supreme Court said slaves a property and property cannot file lawsuits, slaves were not free if
they had lived in free areas and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional
Lecompton Constitution
A small proslavery group in Kansas elected members to a convention to write a constitution
(required to be a state)
It was a proslavery constitution that most people refused to vote on. President Buchanan
actually endorsed the constitution hoping it would help solve the problem
Stephen Douglas disliked the constitution and criticized Buchanan for accepting the constitution.
After a revote the constitution would pass
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Stephen Douglas was running for reelection to the Illinois Senate against Abraham Lincoln
Douglas, like many whites, thought that white Americans were superior to African Americans
He even tolerated slavery because he believed in the absolute right of white citizens to choose
the society and gov’t they wanted
This race became recognized nationwide due to a series of debates between the two men
The two men were very different- Douglas was stout and wore new suits. Lincoln was tall,
awkward and thin and wore everyday clothing
The debates showed two important gov’t ideas
Douglas agreed with majority rule or popular sovereignty (voting on slavery)
Lincoln was worried about minority rights or the majority should not limit rights because there
are more of them
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Douglas and Lincoln had similar ideas about African Americans. They both did not agree with
social or political equality of African Americans
Lincoln did not propose ending slavery in the south because he did not believe the gov’t had the
power to do that- he thought it would die out on its own
Lincoln saw slavery as a moral issue
Douglas ends up winning the election
John Brown’s Raid
3 years after “Bleeding Kansas” John Brown goes to Virginia to try to raid an arsenal
Brown with 21 other men were to steal weapons, give them to slaves and let them kill slave
owners and lead the US to moral renewal
Colonel Robert E. Lee was alerted to the raid. He killed some followers and the others
surrendered.
John Brown was hung and killed.
His actions deepened the split between the North and the South