Road to CIVIL WAR
1850 - 1860
Settling Differences
Essential Q’s…
Why did the Mexican Cession divide the
North and South?
How did Northerners and Southerners try to
settle their differences?
Who Am I ?
Daniel Webster…
“I wish to speak today, not as a
Massachusetts man, nor as a
Northern man, but as an
American… I speak for the
preservation of the Union.”
*March 7, 1850
U.S. Expansion means…
LET’S fight amongst ourselves over the new
land!!!
- The issue of SLAVERY in new lands divides
us… NORTH vs. SOUTH
- The Missouri Compromise (1820) had kept
things equal between N and S
- What would come of the new lands
acquired in the Mexican Cession?
Wilmot Proviso
-David Wilmot (anti-slavery Democrat)
passes the Wilmot Proviso in the House
of Representatives, outlawing slavery in all
land acquired from Mexico
- Senate defeats the bill (North and South
representation was equal)
Sectionalism
- People are more loyal to their state or
region than to the country as a whole.
- How do Southerners feel?
- There way of life is being threatened!
-How do Northerners feel?
- Abolitionists - slavery is morally wrong
Lewis Cass
- Lewis Cass of Michigan believes that the
voters who live in a territory should
decide whether the states that they
form should be slave or free.
- When the people rule, you have…
- POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
ELECTION of 1848
- Democrats (strength in the South)
nominate…
- LEWIS CASS (Michigan)
- Whigs (strength in the North) nominate…
- Zachary Taylor (Mex. War hero) that
owned a plantation in Louisiana with more
than 100 slaves (Fillmore, a NY moderate,
is his running mate)
ELECTION of 1848
- Free-Soil party
- Why does it form?
- Some Northerners will not back a
slaveholder!
- “Free soil, free speech, free labor, and
free men!”
- Former President, Martin Van Buren,
is their man
ELECTION of 1848
- Taylor is the winner!!!
- Free Soil party receives an impressive
number of votes…
- Slave issue matters to the people!
- Political parties need to listen to the
people!
California
- By end of 1849, 95,000 people have
“rushed” to California
- Convention in fall of 1849 involves
adoption of constitution prohibiting
slavery
- Free states already had majority in the
House, and now they would have it in the
Senate.
- Southern leaders threaten to secede
Who Am I ?
John C. Calhoun
- Argues that continued anti-slavery
legislation by the North would lead to
eventual rule by African Americans
- He warns Americans about a race war
- Many slaveholding Southerners disagree
with Calhoun, but some do agree
Who Am I ?
Compromise of 1850
- Henry Clay is the man!!!
- He’s the “Great Compromiser”
- Worked out Missouri Comp. of 1820
Compromise of 1850
- Calhoun rejects any compromise as unfair to the
South and believes that the North has already
been too hostile
- Webster gives a speech in favor of the
compromise
- Clay’s rival supports his attempt to preserve the
Union
- Stephen A. Douglas (Illinois) creates five bills
out of Clay’s work (pass in Sept. of 1850)
*Taylor may not have approved, but he had died
in July… Fillmore signs the bills
Compromise of 1850
- Webster says, “I can now sleep… the Union
stands firm.”
- MANY
SOUTHERNERS
STILL WANT
SECESSION!!!!!
Moving Closer to Conflict
Essential Q’s…
How do Northerners react to the Fugitive
Slave Act?
Why does the Kansas-Nebraska Act cause
bloodshed?
How does Dred Scott affect slavery in the
territories?
Fugitive Slave Act
Northerner’s
reaction…
ANGER
Fugitive Slave Act
Aid fugitive
slaves and
get…
–Fines of
$1,000 and
six months
in jail
Fugitive Slave Act
Slave Hunters…
- offer rewards
- catch free African
Americans
- free or runaway
Africans Americans
cannot testify for
own defense
Abolition
Harriet
Tubman
- former slave
and
conductor in
the UGRR
Abolition
Frederick
Douglas
- runaway
slave and
abolitionist
speaker
Abolition
Sojourner
Truth
- Former
slave, stood
up for rights
of all
Abolition
William Lloyd
Garrison
- publisher of
abolitionist
ideas
Abolition
Harriet
Beecher
Stowe
- Uncle Tom’s
Cabin (1852)
Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Stephen A. Douglas proposes this…
- Divide the Nebraska Territory into
Nebraska and Kansas
- each would have popular sovereignty
- President Pierce (Democrat elected in
1852) supports this and helps it get
passed
- Southerners envision slaveholders
moving in from Missouri
Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Northerners are NOT happy…
- It cancels the Missouri Compromise
- It opens the possibility of more slave
states
AND…
THE RACE IS ON!!! Move. Move. Move.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Violence in Kansas..
- Lawrence is a “free-soil” stronghold
- Border Ruffians move in from
Missouri - vote illegally for pro-slavery
- What were the “black laws”?
- Ruffians and Pro-Slavery advocates loot,
burn and kill in Lawrence
- John Brown comes for revenge and
kills 5 pro-slavery settlers
- 200 die in Bleeding Kansas
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Violence in the Senate
- Charles Sumner denounces
Andrew Butler and supporters of
the violence in Kansas
- Preston Brooks takes revenge
and beats him with a cane!!!
Violence in the Senate
Dred Scott
-1857 - Supreme Court (Roger
B. Taney) says that Dred Scott
cannot sue, b/c he’s not a
citizen
-ALSO… Missouri Compromise
is unconstitutional (banning
slavery in territories would
require an amendment)
A New Political Party
- Republican Party (new again) - statelevel Republicans, abolitionists, FreeSoilers, anti-Nebraska Whigs and
Democrats
- John C. Fremont
- Democratic Party (southerners) - James
Buchanan (PA) - Popular Sovereignty
- Know-Nothing - Millard Fillmore
Lincoln - Douglas 1858
- Illinois Senate Race - DEBATES
- It’s all about SLAVERY
- Popular Sovereignty vs. Morals
- Lincoln’s House Divided speech
- Debate about Dred Scott
- Lincoln loses the race, but he gains
much recognition and respect
John Brown
Attacks at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (1859)
- Occupied an armory
- Seized a nearby rifle factory
- Wanted to start a slave revolt
- Brown refused to flee when he could have
escaped
- Robert E. Lee was sent to capture Brown
- 10 of his men (2 of his sons) were killed
* Many mixed feelings about Brown
John Brown
Election of 1860
- Democratic Party split between
Douglas and Breckinridge (Kentucky)
- Douglas - Popular Sovereignty
- Breckinridge - Dred Scott
- Republican… LINCOLN
* Lincoln wins and the South is MAD!!
Preface I
• “Peculiar institution.”
• Jackson – “I would rather die in the last
ditch than see the Union disunited.”
• Calhoun – “The Union – next to our liberty,
most dear.”
Preface II
• “We began by declaring that all
men are created equal; but now
from that beginning we have run
down to the other declaration, that
for some men to enslave others is
a ‘sacred right of government.’
These principles cannot stand
together.” - LINCOLN
Chapter 1
•620,000 Americans
died in the Civil War
•What were they
fighting over?
NORTH
•
•
•
•
•
•
ADVANTAGES:
More PEOPLE
More SUPPLIES
More RAILROAD
More MONEY
Strong NAVY
• DISADVANTAGES:
• Divided public opinion
• Troops away from
home
• Inept, indecisive
commanders (at first)
South
• ADVANTAGES:
• Defending HOMES,
FAMILIES, LAND,
WAY OF LIFE
(liberty)
• Skilled, effective
commanders
• United and Motivated
• Familiar land
• DISADVANTAGES:
• Ag. Economy (lacked
supplies for war)
• No army at first, and
no navy
• No National
Government at first
• (see North
Advantages)
Northern STRATEGIES
• Winfield Scott’s ANACONDA
PLAN
–CAPTURE RICHMOND
–CONTROL THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
–BLOCKADE SOUTHERN
PORTS
Southern STRATEGIES
• DEFENSE!!!
• Offense on Small Scale
• Capture DC
• Get HELP from Europe
• Win in the North (Gettysburg)