Holt Call to Freedom
Chapter 18
A Divided Nation
18.1 The Debate over Slavery
Objectives:
Explain how the outcome of
the Mexican War affected the
debate over slavery’s
expansion.
Examine the major provisions
of the Compromise of 1850 and
the views expressed for and
against it.
Analyze why the Fugitive Slave
Act was controversial in the
North.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 2
I. The Expansion of Slavery
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 3
A. Slavery in the Mexican Cession
1. President James K. Polk and
others wanted the Missouri
Compromise line to extend to
the Pacific, to divide the
Mexican Cession into free and
slave territory.
2. Some northerners wanted to
prohibit slavery in all of the
Mexican Cession.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 4
Source: http://www.americanpresidents.org/images/11_150.gif
A. Slavery in the Mexican Cession
3. The Wilmot Proviso, which
Congress never passed, would
have banned slavery in the
entire Mexican Cession.
4. This debate showed the
sectionalism, or the favoring of
one region’s interests over the
interests of the country as a
whole, that gripped the United
States.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 6
No
Slavery
Source: http://lfa.atu.edu/ssphil/people/ssjw/us1/map.gif
Source: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/gal/wilmot.jpg
B. The California Problem
1. California applied for
admission to the Union.
2. Most Californians wanted to
enter the Union as a free state.
3. Many southerners opposed the
addition of another free state,
because it would upset the
balance between slave and free
states in the U.S. Congress.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 9
II. The Compromise of 1850
A. Henry Clay offered a
compromise to resolve the
debate over slavery in the
Mexican Cession and the
admission of California to the
Union.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 10
Source: http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/fi/000000a5.jpg
B. Henry Clay’s Offer
1. California would enter as a free
state.
2. Popular sovereignty would
decide the issue of slavery in
the rest of the Mexican
Cession, which would be
organized as the Territory of
New Mexico.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 12
*Free*
Source: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/education/light8/images/slavery1850.jpg
B. Henry Clay’s Offer
3. Congress to pay Texas’ debts
to end dispute between Texas
and New Mexico.
4. Ended the slave trade – but not
slavery – in Washington, D.C.,
the nation’s capital
5. Created a more effective
fugitive slave law
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 14
C. Responses
1. Some antislavery northerners
wanted to admit California without
any restrictions.
2. Some southerners rejected the
proposal because it would upset
the balance between the two
sections of the country.
3. Daniel Webster, a senator from
Massachusetts, favored the plan
because he thought that preserving
the Union was more important than
regional differences.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 15
Source: http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/fi/0000008e.jpg
II. The Compromise of 1850
D. Congress passed Clay’s
proposal, known as the
Compromise of 1850.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 17
Source: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/education/light8/images/slavery1850.jpg
III. The Fugitive Slave Act
A. The Fugitive Slave Act made it
a federal crime to help runaway
slaves.
B. The law let officials arrest
fugitives even where slavery
was illegal and paid officials
who returned fugitives more
than if the officials rejected
slaveholders’ claims.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 19
An April 24, 1851
poster warning
colored people in
Boston about
policemen acting
as slave catchers.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Slave_kidnap_post_1851_boston.jpg
III. The Fugitive Slave Act
C. Many northerners opposed the
law because it denied runaway
slaves a trial by jury.
D. When a group of northerners
unsuccessfully attempted to
free Anthony Burns, a fugitive
slave from Virginia, a deputy
marshal was killed.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 21
Source: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/collections/printbk/images/burns.jpg
IV. Antislavery Literature
A. Abolitionists published tales of
fugitive slaves to build support
for their cause.
B. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, about a
cruel slaveholder.
C. The bestselling novel was
praised in the North, but
condemned in the South.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 23
Source: http://adam2.org/articles/images/stowe.jpg
18.2 Trouble in Kansas
Objectives:
Explain how different regions
of the country reacted to the
Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Describe the ways people tried
to settle the conflict over
slavery in Kansas.
Depict the series of violent
events that showed growing
division over slavery in the
United States.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 25
I. The Election of 1852
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 26
A. The Democrats
1. Selected Franklin Pierce, a
little-known politician from New
Hampshire, after none of the
four leading candidates
secured a majority of votes.
2. Pleased southerners by
promising to honor the
Compromise of 1850 and to
enforce the Fugitive Slave Act
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 27
Source: http://www.usconstitution.com/$so$1/franklinpierce2.jpg
B. Whigs
1. Nominated Winfield Scott, a
hero of the Mexican War
2. Southerners did not trust Scott
because he had not completely
supported the Compromise of
1850.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 29
Source: http://www.wildwestweb.net/cwleaders/Winfield%20Scott.jpg
I. The Election of 1852
C. Pierce easily defeated Scott.
Source: http://www.multied.com/PageMill_Images/image24.gif
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 31
II. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 32
A. A Railroad to the Pacific
1. Stephen Douglas, a Congress
member from Illinois, had long
supported the construction of a
railroad running from Illinois to
the Pacific Ocean.
2. Would require making the
remainder of the Louisiana
Purchase a territory
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 33
Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASdouglassS.jpg
A. A Railroad to the Pacific
3. Because of the Missouri
Compromise, the land in this
territory would eventually enter
the Union as free states.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 35
B. Douglas and the Southerners
1. Southerners wanted the
railroad to follow a southern
route.
2. To gain their support, Douglas
promised to open up the new
territory to slavery.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 36
C. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
1. Douglas introduced the
Kansas-Nebraska Act in
Congress in 1854.
2. The act called for dividing the
rest of the Louisiana Purchase
into two new territories-Kansas
and Nebraska.
3. Popular sovereignty would
determine the issue of slavery
in each territory.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 37
Source: http://img.sparknotes.com/content/testprep/bookimgs/sat2/history/0001/KansasNebraska.gif
D. Response
1. Anti-slavery northerners
condemned the act for
violating the “sacred pledge”
of the Missouri Compromise
and for expanding slavery.
2. Pierce and Douglas convinced
some Democrats to vote for the
act.
3. The act passed and became
law in May 1854.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 39
III. “Bleeding Kansas”
A. Antislavery and pro-slavery
forces saw Kansas as a contest
to be won.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 40
B. Territorial Elections
1. Held in March 1855
2. Won by pro-slavery forces,
who had the votes of
thousands of men who crossed
the Missouri border into
Kansas, voted, and then
returned home (called “Border
Ruffians”)
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 41
C. Two governments
1. Territorial legislature (in
Lecompton) passed strict proslavery laws.
2. In response, antislavery
Kansans formed their own
government in Lawrence.
3. Pro-slavery forces attacked
Lawrence, the antislavery
capital.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 42
C. Two governments
4. Abolitionist John Brown killed
pro-slavery men in the
Pottawatomie Massacre.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 43
Source: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/west/browns.jpg
D. Violence in the Senate
1. Senator Charles Sumner of
Massachusetts gave a speech
about Kansas, in which he
insulted Senator Andrew
Pickens Butler of South
Carolina.
2. In retaliation, Butler’s nephew,
Representative Preston
Brooks, beat Sumner badly in
the U.S. Senate chamber.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 45
Source: http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/assets/photos/1098.jpg
Miniature Painting on ivory
of Preston S. Brooks
William Scarborough,
South Carolina
1844
Source: http://www.cas.sc.edu/mcks/html/images/collects/collect04.gif
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Smith_Brooks
18.3 Political Divisions
Objectives:
Analyze the effect of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act on U.S.
political parties.
Explain why Dred Scott sued
for his freedom and how the
Supreme Court ruled on his
case.
Explain how Abraham Lincoln
and Stephen Douglas differed
in their views on slavery.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 49
I. New Party
1.Republican Party forms 1854
2.Made up Democrats, Free Soilers,
and abolitionists
3.Opposed the spread of slavery
B. Election of 1856
1.Democrats nominate James
Buchanan of Pennsylvania
2.Was James K.Polk’s secretary of
state
3.Not involved with Kansas-Nebraska
Act
B. Election of 1856
1.Republicans nominate John C.
Fremont
2.Had very little political experience
3.Was strongly against slavery
B. Election 1856
1.Millard Filmore was nominated by
the Know Nothing Party
2.James Buchanan wins the election by
winning both slave and free states
electoral votes
Election Results
II. The Dred Scott Decision
1.Slave of an Army surgeon from
Missouri
2.Traveled to free Illinois and
Louisiana Purchase
3.1846 Scott sued for his freedom
Dred Scott
A. Key Issues
The Supreme Court had to answer
three questions:
1.Was Dred Scott a U.S. Citizen?
2.Did living in free soil make him
free?
3.Was the ban on slavery in the
Louisiana Purchase constitutional?
Chief Justice Roger Taney
B. Decision
1.The Supreme Court was led by
Roger Taney
2.The Court decided that Scott was not
a U.S. Citizen
3.Also living on free soil did not make
him free
4.The banning of slavery north of 36
30’ was unconstitutional
III. Lincoln-Douglas Debate
A. Lincoln-Douglas
1.Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer from
Illinois, joined the Republican Party
in 1856
2.In 1858 he was nominated to run for
U.S. Senate
3.His opponent was Democrat Stephen
Douglas
Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Douglas
B. Debate
1.The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a
series of 7 debates
2.The main issue of the debates was
slavery
3.Lincoln used Douglas’ popularity to
gain attention for himself.
C. Viewpoints
1.Lincoln believed slavery was wrong
2.He stated that African Americans
were not the social and political
equal of whites, but equal as men
3.Douglas believed in letting the
people decide on slavery.
D. Result
1.Douglas wins the Senate seat
2.Lincoln becomes a major figure in
Republican Party
18.4 Secession
Objectives:
Describe Americans’ reactions
to John Brown’s raid on
Harpers Ferry.
Analyze the factors that led to
Lincoln’s victory in the
presidential election of 1860.
Examine the reasons why
some southern states decided
to leave the union.
© Holt Call to Freedom Lecture Notes - Slide 67
I. Harpers Ferry
1.John Brown wanted to attack a
federal arsenal in Virginia
2.The goal was to arm slaves and lead
a revolt
3.On October 16 1859 Brown led 20
men and entered the arsenal
Source: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/west/browns.jpg
Harpers Ferry
A. John Brown’s Raid
1.Brown hoped slaves would join him,
but none did
2.Local men surrounded the arsenal
and killed 8 of his men
3.Federal troops, led by Colonel
Robert E. Lee, kill 2 more of
Brown’s men
Colonel Robert E. Lee
B. Judging John Brown
1.Brown was charged with treason,
murder, and rebellion
2.John Brown was hanged on
December 2, 1859
3.Many people in the North mourned
his death
II. Election of 1860
1.The Democratic Party split between
North and South
2.Northern Dem. Nominated Stephen
Douglas
3.Southern Dem. Nominated John C.
Breckinridge
B. New Party
1.Constitutional Union Party forms
2.Nominate John Bell
C. Election of 1860
1.The Republicans nominated
Abraham Lincoln
2.Lincoln wins election
3.Lincoln does not win a single
Southern state
III. Breaking With Union
1.Many Southern whites believed
Lincoln would ban slavery
2.South Carolina’s legislature met to
discuss secession, or formally
withdrawing from the Union
A. South Carolina
1.On December 17, 1860 South
Carolina voted to secede from the
Union
2.In February 1861 Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and
Texas join South Carolina
3.On February 4 1861 the seceding
states formed the Confederate States
of America
IV. Jefferson Davis
1.Jefferson Davis of Mississippi is
elected president of the Confederate
States of America
2.The first capital of the Confederacy
was located in Montgomery
Confederate Capital