The Nation Divides
The Road to the Civil War
The Debate Continues
• Wilmot Proviso – 1846 David Wilmot
proposed that slavery be banned from the
Mexican Cession.
– Reignited the debate over slavery
Compromise of 1850
• 1849 – CA applied for statehood. They wanted
to be admitted as a free state.
– South says…. NO WAY!
• Henry Clay proposed another Compromise.
– It contained 5 parts.
Compromise of 1850
1. CA would be admitted as a FREE state.
2. Rest of Mexican Cession would decide issue of
slavery with popular sovereignty
1. doctrine which the status of slavery in territories was
determined by the settlers themselves.
3. Texas would give up its land claims against New
Mexico
Compromise of 1850
4. The slave trade (not slavery itself) would end
in Washington D.C.
5. New, stronger fugitive slave law would be
passed.
Before the Compromise of 1850
After the Compromise of 1850
President Millard
Fillmore,
replaced Taylor,
supported the
Compromise of
1850, and signed
the bills into law.
The Fugitive Slave Act
• Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850,
replaced the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793,
angered Northerners and made matters
worse.
– Declared all runaway slaves must be brought back
to their masters.
The Fugitive Slave
Act made it legal for
slave catchers to
capture runaway
slaves in free states.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Written by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
• Best selling novel of 1800’s
• Helped fuel anti-slavery
sentiment
Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Abolitionist
• “So this is the lady
that started the Civil
War.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• In an attempt to organize the Louisiana
Territory so a new railroad could be built,
Congress passed this Act.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• New law divided the remainder of the
Louisiana Territory into the territories of
Kansas and Nebraska
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Slavery would be decided by popular
sovereignty
• This repealed (removal or reversal of law) the
Missouri Compromise of 1820
Maps show the
compromises over the
extension of slavery into
the territories. The area
affected by the Missouri
Compromise (top), the
Compromise of 1850
(center
Kansas-Nebraska Act
GOAL: organize land for new railroad to Pacific.
BUT…
all was lost in the arguing.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• People rushed to new territory of Kansas and
it wasn’t long until violence broke out against
pro and anti-slavery groups.
• There was even violence in CONGRESS!
• It was a sign of things to come…..
“Bleeding Kansas” 1856
Popular Sovereignty decides slavery in Kansas
(Henry Clay)
– FAILED - Lawrence burned by pro-slavery radicals
– State collapsed into civil war - 200 people killed –
“…a territory of mobs and gangs, of lynchings,
shootings at night, rigged elections, and literally
murderous rivalries.”
• Debate spills over into violence in the nation’s
capital
Daguerreotype of Senator
Charles Sumner in 1855
Congressman Preston Brooks
Congressman Laurence M. Keitt
Dred Scott Decision - FACTS:
• Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri. (MO)
Dred Scott
Dred Scott Decision - FACTS:
• Scott and his owner moved to Wisconsin for four years.
Dred Scott
Dred Scott Decision (1857) - FACTS:
• Scott’s owner died after returning to Missouri.
Dred Scott
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)
“The Final Straw” (1859-1860)
• John Brown’s Raid
(1859)
– Brown attacked
federal arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry hoped to use
weapons to free
all slaves
– Failed- captured,
hanged
Election of 1860
• During all of this, it
was time to elect a
new president.
• Northern
Democrats
nominated
Stephen Douglas.
• Southern
Democrats
nominated John
Breckenridge
Election of 1860
• Meanwhile, a new party formed, the
Constitutional Union Party, whose members
strictly supported the Constitution.
• They nominated a slave-holder named John
Bell.
Election of 1860
• Finally, the
Republicans
nominated Abraham
Lincoln.
• Lincoln opposed the
spread of slavery, but
did not want to
abolish it where it
already existed.
Election of 1860
• Add pics
Election of 1860
Election of 1860
Because of the 4 way
split, Lincoln won
the election with
less than 40% of the
popular vote.
Abraham Lincoln’s Election
• Lincoln’s election in 1860 angers South – slaveholders call him “The Black Republican” - S. Carolina
secedes on Dec. 20, 1860
Secession
• December 1860, South Carolina voted to leave
the Union.
• In February 1861, Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas
followed South Carolina and left the Union.
Secession!: South Carolina Dec.1860
The Confederate States
• These Southern states
formed the
Confederate States of
America.
– They drafted a
Constitution
– Elected Jefferson Davis
as president
President Lincoln knew
the Union had to be
saved.