Causes of the Civil War part 2

The Republican Party Forms

• Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 split the Whig party

• Northern Whigs formed the Republican party

• “Bleeding Kansas” key to Republican rise

• Many people blamed Democrats for violence

• Nominated John C. Fremont for President in 1856• Republican position on slavery so unpopular in

South that his name didn’t appear on the ballot

The Election of 1856

• Democrats nominated James Buchanan• Had been out of the country since 1853• His goal was to maintain the Union• Didn’t speak out against or for slavery

• Know-Nothing Party nominated Millard Fillmore• Party split over slavery

• North: Buchanan vs. Fremont

• South: Buchanan vs. Fillmore

• Buchanan won but Fremont won 11 Northern states

The Case of Dred Scott• Owner had taken him into territories where

slavery was illegal

• After owner’s death he sued for his Freedom

• Case reached the Supreme Court in 1856• Ruled against him since he was not a U.S.

citizen and was considered property by the 5th Amendment

• Ruled that ALL African Americans, slave or free, were not citizens.

• Northerners outraged and turned to the Republican party to halt power of Southern slaveholders

How did it Contribute to the Cause of the Civil War?

• Said African American’s were not citizens

• Angered the North

• Showed what South could do about slavery if they got held of the government

Lincoln and Douglas Debate

• 1858 Republicans nominated Lincoln to run against Democrat Douglass for IL seat in Senate

• Lincoln stood against expansion of slavery, “a moral, a social and a political wrong” but didn’t suggest abolishing it.

• Douglas argued that popular sovereignty was the best way to address it, most democratic way

• Lincoln lost but became popular and strengthened the Republican party

John Brown Attacks Harpers Ferry

• Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom

• Wanted to capture weapons at the U.S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA

• October 18, 1859, 13 whites and 5 blacks killed 4 people in the raid

• Sent out the word for slaves to join them but none came

• U.S. Marines attacked and Brown and 6 others were captured

Reaction to Harper’s Ferry

• John Brown was tried and hanged

• Abolitionists tolled bells and fired guns in salute.

• Southerners were enraged by Brown’s actions and horrified by Northern reactions

How did it Contribute to the Cause of the Civil War?

• South was furious that someone was trying to rally the slaves

• North was happy that Brown tried to do something about slavery.

Political Parties Splinter

• Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln for election of 1860

• Democratic party split on slavery and popular sovereignty• Northern Democrats nominate Stephen A.

Douglass• Southern Democrats nominate John

Breckinridge

• Constitutional Union Party nominates John Bell

The Election of 1860

• North race and South race

• Lincoln won North • Wanted to stop expansion of slavery, not

outlaw it.

• Breckinridge carried most of South

• North had more people so Lincoln won Presidency

• South felt Republicans wanted to ban slavery so saw the victory as a threat to the Southern way of life

Southern States Secede

• Southerners had threatened to secede if Lincoln won.

• Felt they voluntarily joined the Union so they had right to leave

• December 20, 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union

• Within 6 weeks: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas

How did it Contribute to the Cause of the Civil War?

• Lincoln not voted in by the South (not allowed on Ballot)

• Showed what North would do if they held power (vote in a anti slave president)

• South secedes

Confederate States of America

• February 1861 became the Confederate States of America

• Jefferson Davis elected President

• Drafted a Constitution modeled after the Union one

• Supported state’s rights

The Union Responds to Secession

• Secession raised issue of majority rule

• Southerners were afraid Northerners would use majority rule to abolish slavery

• Northerners felt Southerners did not want to live by rules of democracy.