The Crisis Deepens
Chapter 8
Section 2
New Political Parties Emerge
 By the end of 1856, the nation’s political landscape had
drastically changed
 Whigs – split over slavery
 Northern Conscience Whigs
 Southern Cotton Whigs
 Democrats – alive – yet scarred – split over slavery
 Northern Democrats
 Southern Democrats
 A. Slavery Divided Whigs
 Founded in 1834 as a reaction to Andrew Jackson – long
divided over the issue of slavery
 COTTON vs CONSCIENCE
 Division – issue over slavery
 Widening gap Election of 1852 & Fugitive Slave Act –
Conscience Whigs supported Winfield Scott – Cotton whigs
supported him to portray the union even though he supported
fugitive slave act
 Democrat Franklin Pierce won the Election
 Final Demise – Kansas Nebraska Act
 B. NATIVISM – the favoring of native born people over
immigrants
 Beliefs –
 Feared papal power – growing Catholicism
 Resisted the growth of immigrants
 Stronger immigration laws
 Order of the Star Spangled Banner
 Party created by the nativists – aka – American Party or Know Nothing
Party
 Know Nothing Party –
 Anti - Catholic
 Opposed Immigration – Especially Catholic Immagration
The “Know-Nothings” [The American Party]
How is the issue of
immigration different or
the same today as it was
in 1856?
Anti –Slavery Parties Form
 A. Liberty Party – formed in 1844 – platform to pursue
the cause of abolition by passing new laws ( effected the
election of 1844 bt Clay & Polk)
 Free Soil Party – opposed the extension of slavery into
the territories
 Chose Martin Van Buren in 1848 – failed to win any of the
electoral vote – won 10% of popular vote
 ** NOT ABOLITIONISTS – objected to ending slavery on
economic grounds – did not want slavery to extend
1852 Presidential Election
√ Franklin Pierce
Democrat
Gen. Winfield Scott John Parker Hale
Whig
Free Soil
1852
Election
Results
Society’s Efforts to Stop Slavery
 “Underground Railroad”
created by Harriet Tubman +
conductors to evacuate slaves
from South- almost 50,000
slaves saved by “railroad”
 Tubman rescued over 300
slaves after her escape
The Issue of Slavery
RACISM RULED throughout country
 Abolitionists racist by modern standards – Churches,
schools, cemeteries wouldn’t accept them – workers
didn’t trust them – worried about their own jobs
 Mistreated in South
 Girls used + sold as breeders for more slaves
 Southerners see their slaves as property, which could be
moved with them to new lands
Dred Scott Decision (1857) - FACTS:
* Scott sued for his freedom. He claimed that he should be a
free man since he lived in a free territory (WI) for four years.
Dred Scott
SUPREME COURT
DECISIONS:
Q: Was Scott a U.S.
citizen with the right to
sue?
A: NO
Q: Did living in a free
territory make Scott a
free man?
A: NO
Q: Did Congress have
the right to outlaw
slavery in any territory?
A: NO
RESULTS:
• Dred Scott was not given his freedom.
• The Missouri Compromise was found to be unconstitutional.
Open to
slavery
through
popular
sovereignty
(Compromise
of 1850)
Missouri Compromise line is declared
unconstitutional (Dred Scott Decision)
Open to
slavery
through
popular
sovereignty
(KS-NE
Act)
How did the Dred Scott
decision contribute to the
growing split between
North and South?
 C. JULY 6 1854 – the Republican party was organized in
Jackson, Michigan –
 Members




Free soilers
Antislavery democrats
Nativists
Temperance supporters
 Beliefs
 Opposed the Kansas Nebraska Act
 Opposed the spread of slavery
Bleeding Kansas
 Situation – Kansas was the first testing/ battling ground
for new law “Bleeding Kansas”

1. March 1855 Kansas had enough to hold an election to
establish territorial legislature





David Atchinson
Lecompton Constitution
May 21, 1856 – Sack of Lawrence
Pottawatamie Massacre
Violence in the Senate – “Caning of Charles Sumner”
“Bleeding Kansas”
Lecompton Constitution
 A. Fall of 1857 – pro-slavery gov’t at Lecompton –
wrote a constitution and applied for admission – (slave
state)
 i. Kansas had 60,000 plus in pop. – however it was 10 to 1 in
favor of freesoliers -- ii. President Buchannon endorsed the Lecompton Constitution
 iii. Stephen Douglas – outraged said it was against the Kansas/
Nebraska Act – allowed for popular sovereignty
 Douglas persuaded Congress to authorize another
referendum on the Lecompton Constitution --- voters
rejected the Constitution – Kansas will enter as a Free State
– Douglas a hero
Lincoln/ Douglas Debates
 1858 race for Senate in the state of Illinois featured 2 term
incumbent Stephen Douglas & former Whig Congressman
now Republican Abraham Lincoln.
 ** to gain recognition Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series
of 7 open air debates
Douglas
 “Little Giant”
 Stocky and energetic
 Spoke with his hands, dramatically, pounding on the
podium with fists, pacing dressed in sharp clothes, used
impressive language
 Beliefs – believed that popular sovereignty was correct
method in handling slavery
Lincoln
 6’4’’ tall, gangly , wore a stove piped hat, dressed in
plain, rumpled clothes, former lawyer, politician, spoke
in plain language
 Beliefs – believed slavery to be immoral/ “labor system
based on greed” he was opposed to the spread of slavery
– didn’t expect southerners to give up slavery
2nd Debate – Freeport, Illinois
 Freeport Doctrine –
 L – “Could the settlers of a territory vote to exclude slavery
before that territory became a state?” (Dredd Scott)
 D – Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is
supported by local police regulations.”
 Douglas will win the Senate, but now some Republicans view
Lincoln as an excellent candidate for Presidency.
What were the
Positions of Stephan
Douglas and Abraham
Lincoln on slavery?
1859
 John Brown had dedicated his life to freeing the slave –
leading a rebellion – it was his calling – and he believed
the time to be ripe.
 October 16, 1859 – led a band of men black/ white into
Harper’s Ferry, Va.
Wanted to seize the Federal Arsenal
Distribute arms to slaves
No rebellion occurred – slaves were scared
8 of Brown’s men killed
Couple of Days later – Col. Robert E. Lee killed 2 more men and
captured Brown and his surviving men
 Brown was hanged December 2, 1859





John Brown’s Raid
on Harper’s Ferry, 1859
In what ways might a
Northerner and a
Southerner view John
Browns Action differently?
Use the graphic organizer below to list the causes of
the growing tensions between the south and the north
Growing Tensions