Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846-1861)

Vocabulary:

Key Terms:

  1. popular sovereignty-term referring to the idea that each territory could

decide for itself whether or not to allow slavery

  1. secede-to withdraw from membership in a group
  2. fugitive-runaway
  3. propaganda-false or misleading information that is spread to

further a cause; information used to sway public opinion

  1. civil war-war between people of the same country
  2. lawsuit-legal case brought to settle a dispute between a

personor a group

  1. guerilla warfare-hit-and-run attacks
  2. arsenal-place where guns are stored
  3. treason-actions against one’s country
  4. martyr-person who dies for their beliefs
  5. unamendable-unable to change

Key People/Places/Events:

  1. Henry Clay - congressman from Kentucky (West supporters),

the “Great Compromiser” worked out MissouriCompromise

  1. John C. Calhoun-congressman from South Carolina (South

supporters) against Missouri Compromise

  1. Daniel Webster-congressman from Massachusetts (Northeast

supporters) supported Missouri Compromise

  1. Harriet Beecher Stowe-daughter of an abolitionist minister who wrote

“UncleTom’s Cabin”

  1. Stephen Douglas-senator from Illinois who passed through the

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

  1. John Brown-antislavery settler from Connecticut, let massacre

offive proslavery men and boys in Pottawatomie Creek.

  1. Dred Scott-slave who lived in a free state by his owner, and

sued for his freedom once the doctor has died.

  1. Roger B. Taney-Chief Justice who did not recognize the Missouri

Compromise and who did not free Dred Scott

  1. Abraham Lincoln-16th US President, lawyer from Illinois at the time

of theDred Scott case, central figure in fight against slavery

  1. Missouri Compromise-1819 agreement proposed by Henry Clay, keeping

the number of free and slave states equal

  1. Wilmot Proviso-1846 law passed, banning slavery in any territory

won by the US from Mexico

  1. Free-Soil Party-1848 bipartisan antislavery party founded to keep

slavery out of the western territories

  1. Compromise of 1860-agreement over slavery by which California joined

theUnion as a free state and a strict fugitive law was passed

  1. Fugitive Slave Act-1850 law passed requiring all citizens to aid in the

capture of runaway slaves

  1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin-1852 novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe to

show the evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive SlaveAct

  1. Kansas-Nebraska Act-1854 law establishing the territories of Nebraska

and Kansas, giving settlers the right of popular sovereigntyto decide on the issue of slavery

  1. Border Ruffians-proslavery bands from Missouri who often battles

anti-slavery forces in Kansas

  1. Dred Scott v. Sandford-1857 Supreme Court case that brought into

question the federal power over slavery in the territories

  1. Republican Party-established in 1854, with the goal of keeping

slaveryout of the western territories

Chapter 14 – The Nation Divided (1846 – 1861)

Section 1 – Growing Tensions Over Slavery

Obj: to describe the purpose of the Missouri Compromise; to explain why conflict arose over the issue of slaver in the western territories; and, to explain why the Free-Soil Party was founded.

  • 1819 – 11 free states and 11 slave states
  • Missouri applied to join Union as a slave state
  • Would give South majority in the Senate
  • Henry Clay proposed that Maine, who had applied for statehood, be admitted as a free state.
  • Balance the same – 12 free states and 12 slave states –
  • Clay’s plan was called the Missouri Compromise.
  • Exception – Missouri
  • Only Louisiana Purchase
  • 1848 – Mexican War
  • Once again the question of slavery in territories arose.
  • Between 1820 and 1848, foru new slave states and four new free states were admitted to the Union.
  • Balance maintained with 13 of each.
  • Territory gained by the Mexican-American War threatened to destroy the balance again
  • Wilmot Proviso –
  • David Wilmot – called for a law to ban slavery in any territories won from Mexico.
  • Southerners opposed, House passed the Proviso in 1846, but Senate defeated it.
  • Americans took sides in the issue of slavery
  • Abolitionists insisted it morally wrong
  • Southern slaveholders and white southerners believed it should be allowed in any territory and any slave who escaped be returned
  • Moderates – argued that the Missouri Compromise line should be extended across the Mexican Cession to the Pacific.
  • Any new state north of the line would be a free state
  • Any new state south of the line would be a slave state
  • Other moderates supported the idea of popular sovereignty
  • The debate over slavery led to the birth of a new political party – Free-Soil Party
  • Founded by antislavery supporters
  • 1848 Presidential Campaign –
  • Free-Soilers wanted Martin Van Buren
  • Democrats chose Lewis Cass
  • The Whigs selected Zachary Taylor
  • Slavery a popular issue in the election
  • Van Buren – called for a ban on slavery in the Mexican Cession
  • Cass supported popular sovereignty
  • Taylor did not speak on the issue

Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846 – 1861)

Section 2 – Compromises Fail

Obj: to explain why the slavery debate erupted again in 1850; to describe the impact of the Compromise of 1850; and, how “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” affected attitudes toward slavery; to identify the goal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; to explain why violence erupted in Kansas and the Senate; and, the impact of the Dred Scott case on the nation

  • There was peace for a time after the Missouri Compromise
  • 1849 – 15 free states and 15 slave states
  • California wanted to join the Union as a free state and Oregon, Utah and New Mexico might also join as free states.
  • Many southerners feared that the South would be hopelessly outvoted in the Senate.
  • Crisis
  • Senator Henry Clay “The Great Compromiser” was looked upon for a solution.
  • It had been 30 years since the Missouri Compromise
  • Clay, 73-years old, frail and ill, still pleaded for the North and South to reach an agreement.
  • Warning, if they failed to do so, it would break the nation apart.
  • 1850 – President Taylor died, the new President was Millard Fillmore, unlike Taylor, he supported Clay’s compromise plan
  • Stephen Douglas, of Illinois, took up Clay’s fight and guided the Compromise of 1850 through Congress.
  • The Compromise of 1850 consisted of five parts
  • First – it allowed California to enter the Union as a free state
  • Second – it divided the rest of the Mexican Cession into the territories of New Mexico and Utah and voters in each would decide the slavery question according to popular sovereignty.
  • Third – it ended the slave trade in Washington DC, the nation’s capital. Congress, however, declared that it had no power to ban the slave trade between slave states.
  • Fourth – it included a strict fugitive slave law.
  • Fifth – it settled a border dispute between Texas and New Mexico
  • 1850 – Fugitive Slave Act – required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves
  • Enraged antislavery northerners
  • In several northern cities, crowds tried to rescue fugitive slaves from their captors.
  • 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe – “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
  • The Compromise of 1850 dealt mainly with lands that were part of the Mexican Cession.
  • It did not resolve the issue of slavery in lands that had been part of the Louisiana Purchase.
  • January 1854 – Stephen Douglas introduced a bill to set up a government for the Nebraska Territory.
  • He proposed the Nebraska Territory be divided into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and popular sovereignty would rule in each.
  • 1852 – President Franklin Pierce, a Democrat, supported the Act.
  • With Pierce’s help, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed through Congress.
  • This would light a fire under a powder keg.
  • Many northerners unhappy with new law
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act would, in fact, repeal the Missouri Compromise
  • Open Protests
  • Slavery could now spread to areas that had been free for more than 30 years.
  • Proslavery and antislavery forces sent settlers to Kansas to fight for control of the territory.
  • Border Ruffians battled the antislavery forces in Kansas
  • 1855 – Kansas held elections – hundreds of Border Ruffians crossed into Kansas and voted illegally.
  • This helped elect a proslavery legislature
  • Laws refused to be accepted by antislavery settlers.
  • Kansas in chaos
  • 1856 – abolitionist John Brown, took matters into his own hands in retaliation of attacks from proslavery supporters.
  • By late 1856 – more than 200 people had been killed.
  • Newspapers called the territory “Bleeding Kansas”
  • Dred Scott case – caused an uproar and further divided the North and South

Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846 – 1861)

Section 3 – The Crisis Deepens

Obj: to explain why the Republican Party came into being in the mid 1850s; to identify the events that lay behind the repaid emergence of Abraham Lincoln as a Republican leader; and, to describe how Americans reacted to John Brown’s raid of Harper’s Ferry

  • In the Mid-1850s, people who opposed slavery in the territories sought a new political voice.
  • Neither Whigs nor Democrats
  • Free-Soilers, northern Democrats and antislavery Whigs gathered in Michigan in 1854.
  • There they formed the Republican Party
  • Its main goal – keep slavery out of the western territories
  • The party grew quickly
  • It was ready to challenge the older parties for power.
  • 1856 election –
  • Republicans selected John. C. Fremont
  • Democrats chose James Buchanan
  • President Millard Fillmore ran as the candidate of the American, or “Know-Nothing” Party.
  • Buchanan won the election with support from a large majority of southerners and many northerners.
  • 1858 – the next test for Republicans
  • Republican Abraham Lincoln challenged Democrat Stephen Douglas for a seat in the Senate.
  • Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates.
  • They debated seven times.
  • Slavery an important issue.
  • Douglas – popular sovereignty – he personally disliked slavery, but stated that he did not care whether people in territories voted up or down for it.
  • Lincoln – did not believe in “perfect equality” between blacks and whites, however, he did believe that slavery was wrong.
  • Douglas won the Senate seat, but two years later the two would meet again, this time for the office of the presidency.
  • In the meantime, John Brown carried his antislavery campaign from Kansas to the East, to Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. He planned an uprising, but instead was met by General Robert E. Lee’s troops, was captured, brought to trial, found guilty of murder and treason, showed no emotion as he was sentenced to death.
  • He became a hero to many northerners and even considered a martyr. He was hanged.
  • The nation was poised for a violent clash

Chapter 14 – A Nation Divided (1846– 1861)

Section 4 – The Coming of the Civil War

Obj: to explain how the 1860 election reflected sectional divisions; to describe how the South reacted to the election results; and, how the Civil War began in 1861

  • The election of 1860 –
  • Northern Democrats chose Stephen Douglas
  • Southern Democrats chose John Brekinridge
  • Constitutional Union chose John Bell
  • Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln
  • Lincoln won the election of 1860.
  • Lincoln’s election brought a strong reaction in the South.
  • To southerners it meant no longer a voice in national government.
  • They believed that the President and Congress were now set against their interests especially slavery.
  • South Carolina’s governor written to other governors before the election
  • Stating “If Lincoln won, it would be their duty to leave the Union”.
  • Slavery in the West no longer an issue –
  • Many believed that the North put an abolitionist in the White House
  • They felt secession was their only choice
  • December 20, 1861 – South Carolina the first state to secede
  • February 1861 – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas also seceded.
  • At the convention in Montgomery, Alabama – the seven states formed a new nation – the Confederate States of America.
  • Jefferson Davis elected the first president of the Confederacy
  • Lincoln stated in his inaugural address “no state…can lawfully get out of the Union”. Still he pledged that there would be no war unless the South started it.
  • Jefferson Davis had already ordered Confederate forces to begin seizing federal forts in the South, President Lincoln faced a difficult decision.
  • April – he was forced to make up his mind – Confederate troops controlled nearly all forts, post offices, and other federal buildings in the South.
  • Union only held three off Florida coast and Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
  • April 11, 1861 – Confederacy demanded Fort Sumter surrender.
  • Major Robert Anderson, of the Union, refused. Confederates open fired, Union troops quickly ran out of ammunition
  • April 13, Anderson surrendered the fort.
  • This marked the start of a civil war that would last for four terrible years.