Drifting Toward Disunion

1854-1861A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand. I Believe This Government Cannot Endure Permanently Half Slave And

Half FreeAbraham Lincoln, 1858

*Uncle Tom’s Cabin• published in 1852, by Harriet Beecher Stowe• Stowe was dismayed by passage of the Fugitive Slave Act• she wanted to write a book to illustrate to the North-the

evils of slavery.• sold several hundred thousand copies in the 1st year-

soon millions were sold domestically & in other countries (translated into 20 languages)

Effects of the Book• The South- condemned the book& its author- “vile

wretch in petticoats”• The North- Northerners swore never to help enforce the

Fugitive Slave Act• Overseas- the book was popular in Britain & France (may

have prevented Britain & France from siding with the South).

“The Impending Crisis of the South”• written by Hinton R. Helper (non-aristocrat from NC) in

1857• attempted to prove (with aid of statistics) that non-slave

holding whites were the ones who suffered indirectly from slavery.

• published in the North- widely read by Northerners

(distributed by Republican Party as campaign lit.) • book was banned in the South- burned publically • Southern aristocrats feared the non-slave holding

majority might abandon the cause.

The Contest for Kansas• settlers flooded into Kansas under the promise of popular

sovereignty• a small portion were financed by Northern abolitionists groups-

like • The New England Emigrant Aid Society (sent 2000 people)-

some carried “Beecher Bibles”-named for Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.

• Southerners felt betrayed- felt outwitted by northern“Nebrascals” trying to abolitionize Kansas & Nebraska.

• Pro-slavery Southerners began to pour into Kansas.

• Competing Governments Emerge• 1855- a territorial legislature needed to be elected= pro-slavery men from

Missouri flooded in to vote (fraud)= set up their own government at Shawnee Mission.

• Free-Soilers protested by setting up their own government in Topeka, Kansas.

**“Bleeding Kansas” or “Boody Kansas” Begins A territorial civil war broke out in Kansas in 1856 & would continue on & off until it merged with the Civil War in 1861-1865.• destroyed millions in property, paralyzed agriculture, cost

many lives The Sacking of Lawrence• 1856- a gang of pro-slavery raiders shot up & burned part of

the free-soil town of Lawrence, Kansas.

The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre• May 1856- Abolitionist John Brown led followers & hacked

to death five alleged pro-slavery men as revenge for Lawrence.

• John Brown (obsessed abolitionist) “Old Brown”- moved to Kansas from Ohio with part of his large family

The Sacking of Lawrence, Kansas

The Lecompton Constitution• 1857- Kansas had enough people (mainly free-soilers) to apply

for statehood- using the principle of popular sovereignty.• Proslavery forces drew up a tricky constitution- Lecompton

Constitution (viewed by Free-Soilers & Abolitionists as a fraud). • people were not allowed to vote for or against the constitution as

a whole.• a vote against slavery meant a provision would protect Kansas

slave owners= allowing slavery in Kansas ANYWAY!• Free-soilers boycotted the vote= proslavery forces approved the

constitution with slavery

Reaction to the Lecompton Controversy• President Buchanan supported the constitution= Splintered

the Democrat Party (only national party left).

• Sen. Stephen Douglas was appalled by this deformed version of popular sovereignty= fought for a compromise- submit the entire Lecompton Constitution for to a popular vote.

• • Free-soilers stampeded the polls & voted the proslavery

constitution down.• Kansas remained a territory until 1861

“Bully Brooks” Bloodies Sumner1856- US Senate- Charles Sumner (of Mass.-most disliked) gave a speech reacting to Lecompton Constitution.

• Speech: “The Crime Against Kansas”- Sumner condemned proslavery men & referred insults to SC Sen. Andrew Butler (best liked Senator).

• May 22, 1856- Congressman Preston Brooks (SC-cousin to Butler) caned (beat) Sumner on the floor of the Senate until his cane broke.

Effects:• Brooks was hailed in the South as a hero; Sumner became a

hero for antislavery forces.

The Election of 1856• Conducted while “bloody Kansas” continued 1. Democrats: met in Cincinnati- James Buchanan (Penn. Lawyer).Mainly chosen because he had been in London during Kansas-Nebraska Act passage- no taint.• proved to be mediocre, irresolute, confused• Platform: pro-popular sovereignty

2.The Republican Party: met in Philadelphia; leading Republican William Seward decided not to run.

• Republicans chose Capt. John C. Fremont (explorer- “the Pathfinder”) –had no political experience.

• Platform- against extension of slavery into territories 3. The American Party (Know-Nothings): nominated ex-president Millard Fillmore.• anti-immigrant & anti-Catholic party• Former Whigs also endorsed Fillmore• American Party & Whigs cut into Republican votes

Election of 1856

Fremont

Millard Fillmore

James Buchanan

1856 Election Campaign• a mudslinging affair- Buchanan attacked because he was a

bachelor, Fremont was attacked for being illegitimate & possibly Catholic.

• Election Outcome: Electoral College- 174 to 114 for Fremont, Fillmore-8

• Popular Vote: Buchanan= 1,832,955 , Fremont= 1,339,932, Fillmore= 871,731.

Why did the Republicans Lose the Election?1. Fremont was not trusted on slavery issue.2. Southern “fire eaters” threatened that if Fremont (“Black

Republican”) were elected it was war on the South= northerners voted for Buchanan.

* The Republican Party made a strong showing against the Democrats & looked to 1860!

*The Dred Scott Supreme Court Case (1857)1. the Supreme Court ruled that Scott was a black slave & therefore not a

citizen= could not sue in federal courts.2. the court decided that a slave is private property & could be taken into any

territory & legally be held there as slave.3.The Missouri Compromise (repealed 3 years earlier) had been

unconstitutional all along.• Southerners were happy with the ruling• Popular Sovereignty supporters were mystified • Antislavery forces (esp. Republicans) were angered by the Dred Scot case=

insisted the ruling was an court opinion & was not binding.• Southerners were angered because of the defiance of Antislavery Northerners

toward the ruling.

The Panic of 1857President Buchanan had an economic crisis and vexing slavery questions to trouble him. • Cause: Gold coming out of California= inflated our currency,

over speculation in land & railroads• • Effects: 5,000 businesses failed in one year = unemployment

rose= hunger (“bread or death”)• The North (grain growers) hardest hit; the South virtually

unaffected= led to delusion that Cotton was King.

Changes Caused by the Panic of 18571. Demand for a Homestead Act GrowsThe North began to demand free farms of 160 acres from government land.Two groups opposed: Eastern Industrialists & The South.* 1860-Congress passed a Homestead Act- Pres. Buchanan vetoed

2. Demand for Higher TariffsTariff of 1857- passed a few months before the panic hit; reduced tariffs by 20% (due to demands by Southerners).* During the economic panic-the Northern manufacturers blamed the lower tariff for their problems = wanted it raised to protect them** Protective Tariffs & land for the farm less will be election issues for the Republicans in 1860.

The 1858 Illinois Senatorial ElectionThe Senate term for Dem. Stephen Douglas was about to expire.• Republicans decided to run Abraham Lincoln against

Douglas.Abraham Lincoln• a lanky (6’ feet 4” inches) • Born: Kentucky 1809 to poor parents- log cabin• Schooling: one year formal frontier school- mostly self-

educated• veteran of the Black Hawk Indian war• made a living as a rail splitter & became an Illinois lawyer • suffered from melancholy ; told stories to diffuse situations• married Mary Todd (from a wealthy slave owning Kentucky Family)• Nickname: “Honest Abe” refused to take cases in which he would

have to suspend his conscience. • Political Life: served term in Congress (1847-1849)

Lincoln’s Position on slaveryIn 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas forced the Kansas-Nebraska Act through Congress. This bill repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and opened much of the Midwest to slavery. Douglas’ political rival in Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln made three public speeches in the fall of 1854 because he was angry.• Lincoln’s Peoria Speech (longest of the three—3 hours long)---Lincoln outlined his

moral, political, economic, and legal arguments against slavery.• Lincoln said slavery was wrong but admitted he did not know what should be

done about it…he even contemplated “freeing all the slaves, and send them to Liberia---to their own native land”.

• Early on…Lincoln supported colonization back to Africa for free blacks• He had supported gradual emancipation & then compensation for slave holders• Lincoln was not an abolitionist who criticized Southerners• During the Civil War, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation

freeing slaves only in the states in rebellion (the South—not border states)---with this act, Lincoln turned away from his previous positions on slavery completely.

• April 1864—three years into the Civil War, Lincoln said” I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think, and feel.”

The Lincoln–Douglas Debates (1858)Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates (7) from Aug. to Oct. 1858.• Douglas was known as a fierce & excellent debater• Lincoln spoke in a high pitched voice & seemed ill at ease until he

broke into his arguments. *The Freeport Doctrine• Most famous of the Lincoln-Douglas debates• Held in Freeport, Ill.• Lincoln’s question to Douglas: Suppose the people of a territory

should vote slavery down (with Popular Sovereignty)? The Supreme Court in the Dred Scott had decreed that they could not. Who prevails? The Court or the People?

• Douglas’ answer: slavery could be kept out of a territory if the people voted it down or made laws to keep it out.= Freeport Doctrine (his answer angered Southerners)

• Douglas defeated Lincoln for the Senate seat• Lincoln emerged with more publicity in the north

Lincoln got Douglas to admit that Popular Sovereignty could work against the expansion of slavery…..

Southerners would not support Douglas for the presidency in 1860

Picture/ L&D Debates

• By winning in Illinois-Douglas hurt his chance for the presidency• Douglas’s opposition to the Lecompton Constitution & defiance of

the Dred Scott court decision= Southern Democrats would leave the party (and Union) before accepting him.

The Raid at Harper’s Ferry (1859)John Brown planned to invade the South with followers, enlist slaves to rise up, furnish them with weapons, & establish a free black state sanctuary. • Funded by northern abolitionists

• #1 Objective: take the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in western Virginia= to gain weapons.

Result: he seized the arsenal with 20 men & several blacks; killed 7 innocent people (one, a free black) & injured 10 more.• Blacks failed to rise up• a wounded Brown was captured by US Marines led by Lt. Robert E.

Lee.

• captured by USMC under the leadership of Robert E. Lee

• Put on trial for treason.Picture/J.Brown

Picture/J.Brown

The Trial of John BrownBrown got a legal but fast trial. His defense (insanity) was supported by family & friends (13 relatives were insane)• Brown was given the death sentence• used the trial & sentence to highlight the abolitionist

cause• became a martyr for abolition• last words: “this is a beautiful country”Effects of Harper’s Ferry• South: Brown was a murderer & treasonous, became

convinced that “murderous gang of abolitionists” wanted to murder them.

• concluded that all Northerners shared views of violent abolitionists

• Moderate Northerners: deplored Brown’s raid • Abolitionists & Free-Soilers; angered at Brown’s

execution.

• He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.

• His last words were to this effect: “I believe that the issue of slavery

will never be solved unless through the shedding of blood.”

• Northerners thought of John Brown a martyr to the abolitionist cause.• Southerners were terrified that John Brown almost got away with this, AND there must be others like him in the North who are willing to

die to end slavery.• South’s outcome: To leave the U.S.

and start their own country.

Picture/J.Brown Hanging

Reading/Tubman on Brown

The Election of 18601. Democrats held two conventions- each time Southern Democrats walked out= Northern Dems in Baltimore nominate Stephen DouglasPlatform: for popular sovereignty & against obstruction of the Fugitive Slave Law.

2.Southern Democrats met in Baltimore & nominated John C. Breckenridge (moderate views from border state of Kentucky)

Platform: favored extension of slavery into the territories & annexation of Cuba.

3. Constitutional Union Party : formed by a moderate group who feared break up of the Union. • consisted mainly of former Whigs & Know-Nothings• Met in Baltimore to nominate John Bell (Tenn.)

• 4. The Republicans: met in Chicago; William Seward (best known) & Abraham Lincoln were top candidates

• after 3 nomination ballots- Lincoln was chosen the nominee

Republican Platform: contained an appeal that pleased all non-southern sections & groups.• For Free-Soilers: no extension of slavery• Northern Manufacturers: lower tariffs• immigrants: no curtailment of rights• Northwest: a Pacific railroad• the West: internal improvements paid by the government• for Farmers: free homesteads from the public domain

** Southerners stated that the election of “baboon” Lincoln would lead to dissolution of the Union. • Lincoln was no abolitionist

1860 Election Results & ReactionsLincoln won (minority president) – 60% of voters had voted for some other candidate.• Lincoln was a sectional president- was not allowed

on the ballot in 10 Southern states= received no popular votes.

• 1860 Election was really 2 elections

Douglas- (12 electoral votes) campaigned for himself (unusual).• drew votes from all sections & ranked second in

popular vote

Breckenridge- candidate of Southern “Fire eaters” had fewer votes in slave states than the combined strength of his opponents-Douglas & Bell ( no strong sentiment for secession?)

Election of 1860

Country is polarized (divided) over the issue of slavery.

Once Lincoln is elected as president,

South Carolina will secede from

the U.S. along with

several other

Southern States.

They will form the

Confederate States of

America---CSA

• 303 total electoral votes and

152 to win.

1860 Election implications for the South• still had a 5 to 4 majority on the Supreme Court• Republicans did not control the Senate or House• US government could not touch slavery without an amendment.–

slave states could veto any amendment.

Secessionitis Hits the South • SC had threatened secession if Lincoln were elected • Dec. 1860- a convention held at Charleston voted unanimously to

secede= 6 weeks later= 6 more southern states followed: Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas Later 4 more Southern states joined= 11 seceding states

• Feb. 1861- the original 7 seceding state’s delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama to create a government= The Confederate States of America

• President of the Confederacy: Jefferson Davis

Secession

The “Lame Duck” crisis• made the existing crisis worse

• Lincoln elected Nov. 1860 – would not take office until March 4, 1861. (Buchanan-Lame Duck)

• 1933- 20th Amendment shortened this period by 10 weeks

• Pres. Buchanan is still the acting president as southern states seceded.

• Buchanan- respecter of the Constitution did not believe that the South could legally secede nor did it give him authority to stop it.

• Buchanan could not use force- 15,000 US troops were out west fighting Indians.

• Some Northerners still had hope for compromise

*The Crittenden Compromise• last ditch effort to save the Union

• developed by Sen. James Henry Crittenden (Kentucky); a man chosen to fill the seat of Henry Clay.

• proposed a constitutional amendment: ban slavery in territories north of the 36- 30 line but south of that line it was given federal protection in all territories existing or shall exist later (Cuba).

• future states (north & south) could come into the Union free or slave- based on popular sovereignty.

• Southern slave supporters given full rights in southern territories.

** Lincoln used the pocket veto on the proposal to kill it.

Why did Southern States Leave the Union? A variety of reasons all related to slavery. • Political balance had tipped in favor of the North• the Victory of the Republicans seemed to threaten

slave holding rights• Northern interference: abolitionists, Underground

Railroad, John Brown’s Raid.• Some southerners expected some Northerners to

oppose their secession• Golden opportunity to stop being second to the

North• Worldwide nationalism (Poland, Germany)• Self-Determination – Dec. of Independence