Unit 8.2
ROAD TO CIVIL WAR: 1848-1861
ROAD TO CIVIL WAR: 1848-1861
Theme #1
In the wake of the Mexican
War, sectional tensions over the
Mexican Cession were
temporarily eased by the
Compromise of 1850.
Total Mexican Losses due to Texas Annexation
and the Mexican War
Important Events Leading up to Civil War:
 Missouri Compromise of 1820
 Nullification Controversy of 1832
Abolitionism
 Gag Rule, 1836
 Wilmot Proviso, 1848
 Compromise of 1850
 Kansas Nebraska Act, 1854
 “Bleeding Kansas”
 Dred Scott case, 1857
 John Brown’s Raid, 1859
 Election of 1860: Lincoln elected
M iss
N ully
A lmost
G agged
Missouri Compromise
Nullification Controversy
Abolitionism
Gag Rule
W hen
C lay’s
Wilmot Proviso
Compromise of 1850
K angaroo
B it
D ead
J ohn’s
E ar
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas
Dred Scott case
John Brown’s Raid
Election of 1860
I. The Mexican Cession
A. Intense debate ensued over lands
acquired from Mexico in 1848
(Mexican Cession)
1. Wilmot Proviso (1848):
proposed law to ban slavery in
the Mexican Cession
-- Southerners were furious
2. Slavery issue once again in the
forefront of U.S. politics
3. Issue threatened to split both
Whigs and Democrats along
sectional lines
B. “Popular sovereignty”
1. Definition: The people of a
territory should decide for
themselves the status of
slavery in that territory
2. Lewis Cass, Democrat,
introduced the idea during the
presidential campaign of 1848
3. The idea received
widespread
support
4. Ultimately, it failed
to avert Civil War
C. Election of 1848
1. Zachary Taylor:
Whig candidate
-- Appeared neutral on
the slave issue
2. Lewis Cass:
Democratic candidate
-- “popular sovereignty”
3. Free Soil party: Martin Van
Buren
a. Coalition of northern antiextension of slavery Whigs,
Democrats, and Liberty Party
b. Supported Wilmot Proviso,
federal support for internal
improvements, and free gov’t
homesteads to western settlers
c. Foreshadowed Republican
party in 1854
4. Result: Taylor 163, Cass 127, Van
Buren 0
Election of 1848
President Zachary Taylor
1849-1850
Whig
III. Sectional issues by 1850 deeply
divided the nation
A. California’s application for
statehood threatened the
sectional balance
1. Gold Rush (1848 and 1849)
-- Paved the way for rapid
economic growth in CA
2. Draft of CA state constitution
excluded slavery
3. Southern “fire-eaters”
threatened secession if CA was
admitted to the Union
B. Mexican Cession territories
seemed to lean toward free-state
status
C. Underground Railroad
infuriated southerners
1. Seemed further proof that the
North did not respect the
Constitution’s protection of
slavery
2. Southerners demanded a new
tougher fugitive slave law
D. Texas land claims east of Rio
Grande
Disputed
Territory
1. Texas claims were much larger
than U.S.-recognized border
2. Also threatened to seize Santa
Fe
3. U.S. refused to accept Texas’
land claims
4. President Taylor threatened to
send troops to Texas if it moved
on any of the disputed
territories
E. Northerners demanded an end to
slavery and slave auctions in
Washington, D.C.
-- Many were embarrassed that
slavery and slave auctions were
highly visible to foreign visitors
A slave
auction in
Richmond,
Virginia, 1861
F. Nashville Convention, June 1850
1. Southern “fire-eaters” planned
to meet and discuss southern
rights and possible secession if
California was admitted into the
Union.
2. Represented an ominous sign
for the Union if no compromise
was reached regarding
sectional issues
IV. The Compromise of 1850
A. Henry Clay initiated his third
major compromise
1. Proposed a stronger fugitive
slave law
2. Calhoun was opposed to
compromise
3. Webster: “7th of March
Speech”
a. Significance: (last speech)
b. Abolitionists opposed
c. William H. Seward -“Higher Law”
Henry Clay introduces the “Compromise of 1850” in the Senate
while Daniel Webster (just left of Clay), John Calhoun (just right of
the speaker), and Vice President Millard Fillmore (seated above the
others) look on.
B. Threat of war persisted
1. President Taylor, swayed by
Seward, was opposed to
concessions to the South
2. Taylor was determined to
send troops to Texas if it moved on
New Mexico
3. Taylor’s death resulted in
Millard Fillmore’s ascension to the
presidency
-- He was more willing to
compromise
President Millard Fillmore
1850-1853
Whig
E. Provisions: (omnibus legislation)
1. Northern gains
a. California admitted as a free
state
b. Abolition of the slave trade in
Washington, D.C.
c. Texas would surrender
disputed territory to New
Mexico
2. Southern gains
a. Popular sovereignty in the
remainder of Mexican Cession
area (NM & UT)
b. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
c. Texas got $10 million from the
federal gov’t
Compromise of 1850
D. Results:
1. Fugitive Slave Law was the
major issue dividing North &
South in the early 1850s
a. North infuriated by the law
b. Some northern states passed
more “personal liberty” laws
c. Ableman v. Booth, 1859
-- Supreme Court upheld the
Fugitive Slave Law
An abolitionist
poster in response to
the Fugitive Slave
Law, April 24, 1851
2. North got a better deal
a. California became a free
state
b. Popular sovereignty in the
New Mexico and Utah
territories favored the North
c. Texas cession was likely to
be free territory
d. Halt of the slave trade in
Washington, D.C.
Memory Aid: “PopFACT”
Compromise of 1850
Pop ular Sovereignty in the Mexican
Cession
F ugitive Slave Law
A bolition of slave trade in Washington, D.C.
C alifornia enters the Union
T exas gives up claim to NM lands for $10
million
V. Election of 1852
A. Democrats: Franklin Pierce
B. Whigs: Gen. Winfield Scott
-- Whigs fatally split over the
slavery issue
C. Pierce d. Scott 254-42
D. Effectively marked the end of
the Whig party
-- Significance
Theme #2
The 1840s spirit of “manifest
destiny” continued into the 1850s
with America’s movement
westward and its first forays into
overseas expansionism. As
before, the issue of slavery went
hand-in-hand with expansion.
VI. Expansionism under President
Pierce
A. “Young America” (overseas
expansion)
B. Nicaragua
1. U.S. & Britain sought a canal
2. Monroe Doctrine
3. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 1850
4. Walker Expedition, 1855-57
C. Asia
1. Acquisition of California and
Oregon gave U.S. access to the
Pacific
2. U.S. opened trade with China
3. 1853, Pierce sent Commodore
Matthew Perry to Japan to force
her to open trade
with the U.S.
D. Cuba
1. Polk failed to purchase Cuba
a. Some southerners hoped to
create two new slave states
b. Some invested in Cuban
sugar plantations
2. Ostend Manifesto, 1854
a. U.S. secretly demanded
Cuba for $130 million
b. If Spain refused, U.S. would
take it by force
c. Plan seriously back-fired
E. Gadsden Purchase, 1854
1. U.S. sought to connect
California and Oregon to the
rest of the nation via a
transcontinental railroad
2. Issue in Congress: should the
route be a northern or southern
one?
3. U.S. purchased the Mesilla
Valley in southern New Mexico
territory from Santa Anna for
$10 million
4. South now seemed poised to
get the new railroad
Theme #3
The passage of the KansasNebraska Act destroyed the
Compromises of 1820 and 1850
and spurred the creation of the
Republican party, placing North
and South on a direct course
toward Civil War.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
VII. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854):
most important short-term cause
of the Civil War
A. Stephen Douglas proposed
splitting the Nebraska
Territory into two: Kansas and
Nebraska
1. Response to Gadsden
Purchase
2. Wanted Illinois to be the
eastern terminus for a new
transcontinental railroad
Stephen Douglas
“The Little Giant”
3. Kansas would presumably
become a slave state;
Nebraska would be free
4. Slavery would be
determined by popular
sovereignty
5. Problem: Kansas was
above the 36˚30’ line
-- Solution: repeal the
Compromise of 1820!
6. Southerners fully
supported it
B. Bill passed in 1854
1. Northerners were shocked:
saw the Compromise of 1820 as
“sacred”
a. Many northerners now were
unwilling to obey the
Fugitive Slave Law
b. Anti-extension of slavery
movement grew significantly
2. Wrecked the two previous
compromises (1820 & 1850)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
An 1856 Cartoon
An 1856 cartoon depicts a giant freesoiler being held down by James Buchanan and Lewis Cass
standing on the Democratic platform marked "Kansas", "Cuba" and "Central America". Franklin
Pierce also holds down the giant's beard as Douglas shoves a black man down his throat.
C. Birth of the Republican party
1. Formed in response to the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
a. Included Whigs, northern
Democrats, Free-Soilers, and
some Know Nothings
b. Lincoln came out of political
retirement and ran for
Illinois senate seat
2. Impact: emerged as the
nation’s second major party
overnight
3. Largely banned in the South
VIII. “Bleeding Kansas”
A. New England Emigrant Aid
Company
-- “Beecher’s Bibles”
B. Southerners were furious the
spirit of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
was being violated
C. 1855 election in Kansas for the
first territorial legislature
1. Missouri “border ruffians”
-- “Vote early and vote often”
2. Southerners won the election
3. Northerners boycotted it
D. Attack on free-soil Lawrence,
Kansas
E. Preston Brooks canes Charles
Sumner
1. Charles Sumner’s speech
2. Preston Brooks’ attack
3. Significance
F. John Brown: Pottawatomie
Massacre, May 1856
1. Revenge for sack of
Lawrence and
caning of Sumner
2. A mini-civil war in Kansas
broke out that later merged
with the Civil War
G. Lecompton Constitution (1857)
1. Kansas applied for statehood
based on popular sovereignty
2. Southerners drafted a proslavery constitution
3. Free-soilers once again
boycotted the election
4. President Buchanan supported
the Lecompton Constitution
5. Douglas opposed it
6. Congress sent it back to Kansas
7. Kansas was denied statehood
H. Kansas issue split the
Democratic party
1. Buchanan’s support for Kansas
split the party along sectional
lines
2. Douglas’ opposition to Kansas
alienated him among
southerners
3. Republicans would win the
election of 1860
4. Lack of unified national parties
meant the Union could not hold
IX. Antislavery literature
A. Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle
Tom’s Cabin (1852)
B. Hinton Helper: The
Impending Crisis of the
South (1857)
X. Election of 1856
A. James Buchanan – Democrat
-- Platform: popular sovereignty
B. John C. Fremont – Republican
-- Platform: non-extension of
slavery
C. Millard Fillmore -- American
(“Know-Nothing”) Party
-- Platform: anti-immigration
D. Results: Buchanan victorious
Election of 1856
President James Buchanan
1857-1861
Democrat
Theme #4
Major North-South crises in the
late 1850s culminated in the
election of Republican Abraham
Lincoln to the presidency in 1860.
His election caused seven
southern states to secede from
the Union and form the
Confederate States of America.
XI. Dred Scott Decision (March, 1857)
A. Scott lived with his master for 5
years in Illinois and Wisconsin
territories
-- He sued for his freedom arguing
that he had lived on free soil
B. Three main questions before
Supreme Court
1. As a black man, was Scott a
citizen with a right to sue in
federal courts?
2. Had prolonged residence in a
free state and territory make
Scott free?
3. Did Congress have the right to
impose the 36˚30’ line to
restrict slavery in certain
areas of Louisiana Territory?
C. Roger B. Taney’s Decision
1. Scott was a slave & not a citizen
-- Result: All blacks, North &
South, were no longer citizens!
2. Slaves could not be taken away
from owners without due process
of law (5th Amendment)
-- Slaves could be taken
into any territory and
held there
3. Missouri Compromise was
ruled unconstitutional
-- Congress couldn’t forbid
slavery in the territories
even if the territories wished
it
D. Impact
1. Contributed to the split in the
Democratic party
a. Northern Democrats who
favored popular sovereignty
were horrified (e.g.
Stephen Douglas)
b. Southern proslavers were
overjoyed and saw the
possibility for the creation of
several new slave states in
the territories
2. Republicans were infuriated
a. Many claimed that the
decision was merely an
“opinion” and that it was
non-binding
b. Southern proslavers saw the
Republican view as further
evidence that the North
would not obey the
Constitution
XII. Financial Crash of 1857
A. Causes
1. Overspeculation on railroads
and land
2. Inflation due to California
“Gold Rush”
3. Overproduction of grain
(Crimean War)
B. Results
1. Industrial North was hardest hit
-- Southerners boasted that
“King Cotton” was superior
to the flawed northern
economy
2. Renewed demand for free
farms in the West
3. Demand for higher tariffs
XIII. Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A. Republican Abraham Lincoln vs.
Stephen Douglas for Illinois’
national senate seat
1. Douglas was one of the most
powerful politicians in the
country
2. Lincoln’s “House Divided”
Speech: given during his
acceptance of his nomination
*See next slide for excerpt
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I believe this government cannot endure,
permanently, half slave 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. Either the
opponents of slavery will arrest the further
spread of it, and place it where the public
mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the
course of ultimate extinction; or
its advocates will push it forward,
till it shall become alike lawful in
all the States, old as well as new
— North as well as South.”
Abraham Lincoln, 1858
B. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a
series of seven debates
1. Douglas advocated for popular
sovereignty
2. Lincoln advocated nonextension of slavery
3. Debates received national
attention
C. Freeport Doctrine
1. Lincoln insisted Douglas
address the Dred Scott case
2. Douglas declared a territory
could pass laws to undermine
slavery
3. Douglas’ position further split
the Democratic party and
damaged his run for president
in 1860
D. Results
1. Douglas’ popular sovereignty
position prevailed
2. Steppingstone for Lincoln’s
presidential ambitions
3. Cost Douglas the presidency in
1860
XIV. John Brown attacks Harper’s
Ferry, 1859
A. Brown’s scheme: invade
Virginia and start a massive
slave rebellion
B. Attack failed; several were killed
and Brown was captured and
executed
U.S. forces,
led by Capt.
Robert E.
Lee, attack
Brown’s
position.
C. Northern abolitionists
viewed Brown as a
martyr
D. Viewed as ominous
in southern eyes
1. Brown seen as an agent of
northern abolitionism and antislavery conspiracy
2. Southern states began to arm
3. Perhaps the most important
cause of disunion (except for
Lincoln’s election)
XV. Election of 1860
A. Nominating conventions of 1860
1. Democratic party split in two
a. Northern Democrats
nominated Stephen Douglas
b. Southern Democrats
nominated John C.
Breckenridge
2. Constitutional-Union Party:
John Bell
3. Republicans nominated
Lincoln
a. Republican platform
 Non extension of slavery
 Protective tariffs
 Transcontinental railroad
 Internal improvements
 Free homesteads
 No loss of rights for
immigrants
b. Southerners threatened
secession if Lincoln was
elected
An 1860
Republican
campaign
flag
Lincoln and Stephen Douglas struggle to control the northern and
western states while John C. Breckinridge claims the south and John
Bell attempts to glue the map back together.
Bell: “Bless my
soul I give up”
Breckenridge: “ That
long legged abolitionist
is getting ahead of us all
Douglas: “I
never run so in
my life”
B. Election Results
1. Lincoln elected with only 40% of the
vote
-- Most sectional election in U.S. history
2. The Democrats still had control of
both houses of Congress which
was dominated by the South
-- A majority of Supreme Court
justices were southerners
President Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
Republican
XVI. Southern states secede from the
Union
A. December 1860, South Carolina
unanimously voted to secede
from the Union
B. 6 other states seceded during
Buchanan’s “lame duck” period:
MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX
C. Confederate States of
America
-- Jefferson Davis
D. Buchanan’s response
E. Reasons for southern secession
1. Political balance seemed to favor
the North
2. Hated victory of the Republican
party that seemed anti-South
3. Angry over free-soil criticism &
abolitionism, northern
interference (Underground RR),
and John Brown’s raid
4. Many southerners thought
secession would be unopposed
5. Desired end to dependence on
the North
6. South had the moral high ground
XVII. Crittenden Compromise
1. Motive: appease the South
2. Provisions
3. Lincoln’s response