THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION CHAPTER 4: THE UNION IN PERIL 1.
The Union in Peril
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Transcript of The Union in Peril
As slavery becomes the dominant issue in U.S. politics, the face of the country itself will change…
The Union in Peril
The Divisive Politics of SlaverySection 1
• North is industrialized• Railroads carry manufactured goods and
settlers west, raw materials east• Immigrants fear expansion of slavery
• Slaves might compete with non-slave labor• Could reduce status of white workers
Differences Between North and South
• Southern economy relied on cash crops• Enslaved African Americans meet most labor
needs• Whites fear restriction of slavery will change
society & economy• In 3 states, blacks are majority; in 2, they make
up ½ of population
Differences Between North and South
Wilmot Proviso declared that there would be no slavery in territory acquired from Mexico
North: slave territory adds slave states; no jobs for free workers
South: slaves are property under Constitution, individuals moving West should be able to bring; fear more free states
Slavery in the Territories
• Some Southerners threaten secession if the Wilmot Proviso isn’t overturned
• Henry Clay offers Compromise of 1850 to settle disputes over slavery
The Debate Moves to the Senate
1. California would be a free state2. Popular sovereignty: New Mexico and Utah would
decide whether slavery would be legal 3. Abolish slave trade in Washington D.C.4. Owning slaves legal in Washington, D.C.5. Pay Texas $10 million to give up claims to eastern
New Mexico6. Fugitive Slave Act ordered all citizens to assist in
the return of enslaved people who had escaped from their owners
The Compromise of 1850
Clay gives a speech begging the North and South to compromise and save the Union
“I have, Senators, believed from the first that.. The subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion [of
the United States]… It has reached a point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the
Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and gravest question that can
ever come under your consideration: How can the Union be preserved.”
• Clay’s speech starts one of greatest debates in U.S. history
• Senate rejects the Compromise and Clay leaves Washington!
• Stephen A. Douglas eventually reintroduces the resolutions individually • Compromise of 1859
Debates over the Compromise
Protest, Resistance, and ViolenceSection 2
The Fugitive Slave ActAlleged fugitives denied jury trial; right to testify on own
behalfFederal commissioners paid more for returning than
freeing accusedPeople helping a fugitive are fined, imprisoned, or both
Northern ResponseMany still send fugitives to CanadaPersonal Liberty Laws forbid prison for fugitives, grant
jury trials
Fugitive Slaves
Underground Railroad – secret network of to help slaves escape
Fugitives go on foot at night, often no food, avoiding armed patrols
Some stayed in North; others go to Canada
The Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman
escapes from slavery and becomes a
conductor on 19 trips
1852: Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin stirs protest
Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows slavery as moral problem, not just political
Despised by Southerners
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Except – Questions
1. Within the group about the be auctioned off, what different categories or classes does Stowe describe?
2. Stowe depicts St. Clare as being a wonderful Master to his slaves – what differences are there between St. Clare and the men who are at the auction in the excerpt? What type of life will St. Clare’s former slaves be facing?
3. Stowe writes her book to elicit an emotional reaction from her readers to the practice of slavery – do you think she is successful? Why or why not?
• Created by Stephen A. Douglas• Would override the Missouri Compromise
• Popular sovereignty is best way to organize new states
• Doesn’t think slavery is feasible in Midwest, but wants Southern support (he wants to run for President)
• 1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act allows popular sovereignty in regards to slavery
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Race for Kansas• Northerners and Southern settlers pour into Kansas
Territory• 1855: Kansas holds elections for territorial legislature• Proslavery “border ruffians” vote illegally, win
fraudulent majority• Proslavery government in Lecompton• Antislavery government in Topeka
• Territory called Bleeding Kansas for incidents that kill some 200
“Bleeding Kansas”
• Senator Charles Sumner verbally attacks colleagues over the issue of slavery (he is against)
• Congressman Preston S. Brooks beats Sumner for insults to uncle
• Southerners applaud Brooks; Northerners condemn him
Violence in the Senate
The Birth of the Republican PartySection 3
Slavery Divides the Whigs• 1852: Northern, Southern Whigs split over slavery• Democrat Franklin Pierce is elected president • Whig Party splinters after Kansas-Nebraska Act
NativismNativism is the belief in favoring native-born Americans
over immigrants1854: Nativists form Know-Nothing Party
Middle-class Protestants afraid of Catholicism; split over slavery
New Political Parties Emerge
Forerunner of the Republican Party• Liberty Party pursues abolition through laws
The Free-SoilersOppose slavery in territoriesSupport restrictions on blacksObject to slavery’s impact on white wage-based labor
forceConvinced of conspiracy to spread slavery throughout
U.S.
New Political Parties Emerge
Republican Party• 1854: unhappy Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers
form Republican Party • Oppose slavery in territories; other opinions varied• Main competition is Know-Nothing Party
The 1856 Election• Democrat James Buchanan is elected and
secession is averted
New Political Parties Emerge
Make sure you have a pen and paper …
Politics are about to get complicated!!
Anti-Federalists Federalists
FederalistsJeffersonian-Republicans(Democratic-Republicans)
Democrats(Andrew Jackson)
National Republicans(John Quincy Adams)
Democrats Whigs
Know-Nothing Party (1854)
Free-Soil Party(1848)
Liberty Party(1844)
Republican Party
(eventually)
New Third Party Groups
Slavery and SecessionSection 4
1857: Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in free areas after his master moved, sues for freedom
Decision:1. slaves do not have rights of
citizens2. no claim to freedom, suit
begun in slave state3. Congress cannot forbid
slavery in territories
The Dred Scott Decision
The Lecompton Constitution• Proslavery Kansas government writes a constitution,
seeking statehood• Vote put before the people of Kansas, but they vote down
constitution• Stephen Douglas gets second vote put before the
people; voters reject it again
Why do you think the voters in Kansas shoot down their own constitution??
Kansas Seeks Statehood
• 1858: Republican Abraham Lincoln runs for Douglas’s Senate seat• Challenges Douglas to seven debates
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Issue Lincoln Douglas
Slavery Slavery is immoralSlavery is
backwards, not immoral
Spread of Slavery
Legislation needs to be created to stop the spread of slavery
Popular sovereignty will
undo slavery
ElectionsLincoln questions how to form free states if
territories must at least allow slavery
Douglas suggests the Freeport
Doctrine – simply elect leaders who
do not enforce slavery
Both men distort the other’s views to make them seem extreme• Douglas wins the seat but his ideas worsen the split between
Democrats• Lincoln’s attacks on the “vast moral evil” of slavery draws national
attention
Harpers Ferry• 1859: John Brown plans slave uprising, needs
weapons • Leads men to federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry • U.S. Marines put down rebellion, capture Brown
John Brown’s Hanging• Dec 1859: Brown hanged for high treason • Many Northerners admire Brown; Southerners fear
future uprisings
Passions Ignite
Overflowing crowds attend the Republican Presidential Convention in Chicago
• Lincoln wins nomination - seen as more moderate than others• Tells South he will not meddle with slaves, but the South still feels
threatened
The Election of 1860• Democrats split over slavery• Lincoln wins with less than half of popular vote
• gets no Southern electoral votes
Lincoln Elected President
The Election of 1860
• South Carolina first state to secede, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas• want complete independence from federal control• fear end to their way of life• want to preserve slave labor system
• Feb. 1861: Confederate States of America established
• Permits slavery, recognizes state sovereignty• Mass resignations from the federal government• Former senator Jefferson Davis unanimously
elected president
Southern Secession