Chapter 14:
A Divided Nation
1848-1860
Section 1: The Debate Over Slavery

U.S. won Mexican-American War in 1848
Added 500,000+ acres to U.S.
 Missouri Compromise – no slavery above 36*30’
 Popular sovereignty: political power belongs to the
people; people make the choice about slavery.

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
David Wilmot: Wilmot Proviso – document stated,
“neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall
exist in any part of the (Mexican Cession)”
Growing sectionalism: favoring interests of
an area over the whole country.
Free-Soil Party: (1848) anti-slavery northerners
who supported Wilmot Proviso.

The California Question
Slave state or not?
 Would upset 15 free / 15 slave state balance
 Jefferson Davis (Senator – Mississippi)

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Compromise of 1850: Henry Clay (KY)
1. California enters union as a free state
2. Mexican Cession = fed. land, popular
sovereignty rules on slavery issue
3. Texas gives up land west of Rio Grande
Fugitive Slave Act
1.
Made it a crime to help runaway slaves & let
officials arrest slaves in free states.
*Punishable by 6 months in jail & $1,000 fine.
4. The slave trade was outlawed in Washington
D.C., but not slavery.
5. *New fugitive slave law*
Section 2 : Trouble in Kansas


Democrat –
Franklin Pierce
wins election of
1852.
Stephen Douglas
wants to build a
RR that runs from
Chicago to the
Pacific Ocean.

Opposed by
southerners
New Orleans

Kansas-Nebraska Act (May 1854): plan to divide
the rest of Louisiana Purchase into:
1. Kansas territory
2. Nebraska territory
*Eliminates the Missouri Compromise 36*30’ line*

Kansas Problems:
1. Abolitionists vs. pro-slavery settlers
> Two Kansas legislatures = pro-slavery &
anti-slavery
> Sack of Lawrence: 1 man dies
> Pottawatomie Massacre: John Brown & his
men kill 5 pro-slavery men.
2. Brooks vs. Sumner: Preston Brooks uses
his walking cane to beat Charles Sumner
unconscious in the Senate chambers.
Section 3: Political Divisions


Republican Party (1854): Whigs, Democrats,
Free-Soilers & abolitionists – party united
against spread of slavery in West.
Election of 1856: Democrats – James Buchanan
Republicans – John C. Fremont

Dred Scott Decision
> 1857: Supreme Court addressed the 3 key
issues.
1. Was Scott a citizen?
2. Time Scott spent living in north = freedom?
3. Constitutionality of prohibiting slavery in
Louisiana Purchase?

Lincoln-Douglas debates: Abraham Lincoln vs.
Stephen Douglas for Illinois senate seat in 1858.
* Central issue of debates was spread of
slavery in the West *

Freeport Doctrine: Local police would enforce
voters’ decisions on slavery & Dred Scott case if
it was different than Supreme Court’s ruling.
Section 4

John Brown’s raid: he and his men took over
Harpers Ferry arsenal in Virginia.

Colonel Robert E. Lee captured John Brown in a
firehouse; hanged on Dec. 2, 1859.


Northerners split on John Brown’s actions
Southern whites afraid of next “John Brown”

“…safety of the south lies outside the Union.”

Election of 1860
Abe Lincoln: Republican: WINNER
 Stephen Douglas: N. Democrat
 Breckinridge: S. Democrat
 Bell: Constitutional Union
*Lincoln promised not to abolish slavery where it already
existed*


The South Secedes
Within a week of Lincoln’s election, SC secedes
from Union
 Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana &
Texas also secede to form Confederate States of
America.


Jefferson Davis: elected President of Confederacy

Lincoln inaugurated March 4, 1861.

Announced he would keep all federal property in
seceding states.