Lecture 21: The Road to War II PDF

Lecture 21: The Road to War II I. Crisis of the Union: a. 1850’s- a Troubled Decade: i. Compromise of 1850 ii. Fugitive Slave Act iii. Uncle Tom’s Cabin iv. Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1. “Bleeding Kansas” & “Bleeding Sumner”...

Lecture 21: The Road to War II I. Crisis of the Union: a. 1850’s- a Troubled Decade: i. Compromise of 1850 ii. Fugitive Slave Act iii. Uncle Tom’s Cabin iv. Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1. “Bleeding Kansas” & “Bleeding Sumner” b. Election of 1856: i. Democrats nominate James Buchanan 1. He was unconnected with the Kansas-Nebraska Act (was out of the country when it was passed) ii. The Know-Nothing Party nominates Millard Fillmore iii. The Republicans nominate John C. Fremont. iv. Buchanan wins- only candidate to have support in all areas of the nation. 1. Fremont got a lot of support in the North. a. Showed that the Republicans were becoming a force to be reckoned with. c. Dred Scott Decision-1857: Dred Scott versus Sanford. i. Background: 1. Dred Scott taken from Missouri- a slave state- into Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory in the 1830s. 2. After his master died, Scott sued for his freedom due to the fact that slavery was illegal in Illinois and Wisconsin due to the Northwest Ordinance (1787) and the Missouri Compromise. 3. 1856- case reached Supreme Court ii. Verdict: Chief Justice Roger Taney (wanted to provide judicial protection for slavery) 1. Scott was a slave and could not sue for his freedom 2. No black person, slave or free, could be a United States citizen. 3. Said that Scott’s claim to freedom because he lived in a free territory was bogus- because the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Said it violated the Fifth Amendment. a. As a result- Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories. b. Weakened Popular Sovereignty- if Congress could not regulate slavery, how could they authorize a territorial legislature to do so. iii. Effect: 1. In theory- it opened up all territories to slavery 2. Very popular in south- very unpopular in the north 3. Republicans argued that if slavery was reintroduced to the territories- it could be forced on free states too. 1 d. More Trouble in Kansas: i. Lecompton Government- proslavery ii. Topeka Government- pro free state iii. Lecompton Constitution- 1857: would bring Kansas in as a slave state 1. Buchanan backed this constitution as a way to satisfy his southern supporters. Tried to force Congress to pass it. 2. Congress sent constitution back to Kansas for a referendum- it was voted down by a huge majority. 3. Kansas would eventually enter as a free state 4. Constitution issue damaged Buchanan and Democratic party. Many in the north felt that Democrats were controlled by southern Slave Power. a. Many Northern Democrats would switch to the Republican party. e. Lincoln-Douglas Debates- 1858: launched Abraham Lincoln onto the national stage. Opponent- Stephen Douglas. i. Seven Debates- August to October 1858: 1. Douglas portrayed Lincoln as a radical abolitionist 2. Lincoln argued that Congress had no authority to abolish slavery in the South. He was against the spread of slavery to the territories (free soil) a. People in the South felt that Republicans like Lincoln were all abolitionists ii. The Result: Douglas won 1. Made a national name for Lincoln (famous in the North, infamous in the South) a. Potential Republican Candidate for President in 1860 2. Widened split in Democratic party f. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry- October 16 1859: i. Brown- fervent abolitionist ii. Planned to arm slaves from federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and start a slave rebellion iii. Slaves did not turn out in rebellion. Brown captured. iv. Brown was tried for treason and hung in December 1859. 1. Made him a martyr to the abolition movement 2. Raised fears in the south of slave uprisings 3. South blamed Republican Party for uprising g. Election of 1860: i. Republicans chose Lincoln: ii. Democrats Divided over slavery: 1. Southern Democrats want platform to call for protection of slavery in the territories. Northern Democrats reject this. 2  a. Southern Democrats nominate John C. Breckenridge b. Northern Democrats nominate Stephen Douglas iii. Lincoln won- took all of the free states (including California and Oregon) h. Secession: i. While Lincoln had promised to protect slavery in the south, southerners did not believe him. Call for secession ii. South Carolina- secedes Dec. 20 1860: iii. Rest of Deep South follows by February 1st 1861: Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,Texas. iv. Confederate States of America formed- February 4 1861: 1. Montgomery, Alabama 2. Jefferson Davis- elected first President v. States of upper south reluctant to secede- their economy was tied much closer to the North than the lower south’ i. War Begins: i. South Carolina forces fire on Federal garrison at Fort Sumter- April 12 1861. Fort surrendered April 13 1861. ii. President Lincoln called for 75,000 militia to suppress the rebellion in the lower south. 1. Pushes the upper south to secede: Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee 3