Aim: Was the Civil War inevitable?Aim: Was the Civil War inevitable?

How was the United States

drifting towards disunion?

How was the United States

drifting towards disunion?

• Why and how was America divided in the mid 1800's?

• Why and how was America divided in the mid 1800's?

In the 1850’s, differences between the North and South (& West) Increasingly divided the country.

How did the States try to keep the Union together?

The Missouri Compromise

The Compromise of 1850The Compromise of 1850

Kansas Nebraska ActKansas Nebraska Act

Promoted by Stephen DouglasPromoted by Stephen Douglas Controversy: declared the Missouri Compromise Controversy: declared the Missouri Compromise

“inoperative and void”“inoperative and void” Authorized the use of popular sovereignty to Authorized the use of popular sovereignty to

determine the status of slaverydetermine the status of slavery Motives- desire for Southern support and the Motives- desire for Southern support and the

building of a transcontinental railroadbuilding of a transcontinental railroadWhy did the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act lead to “bleeding Kansas ” and so much political discord?

Bleeding KansasBleeding Kansas

•Explain why “the nation took the greatest single step in its march toward the abyss of secession and civil war” when Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. •Explain why Kansas Territory came to be the focus of sectional hostilities in the mid-1850s.

What happened to Senator Charles What happened to Senator Charles Sumner?Sumner?

Sumner was against slavery, and he Sumner was against slavery, and he believed that the crimes in Kansas were a believed that the crimes in Kansas were a “rape of virgin territory.”“rape of virgin territory.”While working in his office, Congressman While working in his office, Congressman Preston Brooks, a pro slavery activist, Preston Brooks, a pro slavery activist, attacked him violently beating him with his attacked him violently beating him with his cane. cane. Brooks became a hero in the South and Brooks became a hero in the South and Sumner became a martyr for freedom in Sumner became a martyr for freedom in the North. the North.

What does this 1856 cartoon represent?

How was the event like a dress How was the event like a dress rehearsal for the Civil War?rehearsal for the Civil War?

It deepened the divide between the It deepened the divide between the North and the South, and aggravated North and the South, and aggravated the issue of whether slavery should the issue of whether slavery should be allowed in unchartered territories be allowed in unchartered territories or not. or not.

It created lasting revenge in Kansas, It created lasting revenge in Kansas, and a schism between those who and a schism between those who supported slavery and those who supported slavery and those who were against it.were against it.

Harper’s Ferry & John Brown

Harper’s Ferry & John Brown

John Brown was a staunch, white abolitionist, and friend of Fredrick Douglass

Brown planned to rob Harpers Ferry (weapons arsenal) and use weapons to assist slaves in escaping

Long-range foal was to drive southward into Tennessee and Alabama to raiding federal arsenals and inciting slave insurrections.

John Brown was a staunch, white abolitionist, and friend of Fredrick Douglass

Brown planned to rob Harpers Ferry (weapons arsenal) and use weapons to assist slaves in escaping

Long-range foal was to drive southward into Tennessee and Alabama to raiding federal arsenals and inciting slave insurrections.

Brown’s trialBrown’s trial Brown was tried in a Virginia court for treason

even though he attacked federal property He was found guilty of treason and murder and

was sentenced to death, before which, he made a five minute speech denying that he came to Virginia to commit violence. He claimed his only goal was to liberate the slaves.

In the North, Ralph Waldo Emerson compared Brown to Jesus Christ and declared that his death had made “the gallows as glorious as the cross,”

After Harpers Ferry, Southerners believed that secession and creation of a slaveholding confederacy were now the South’s only options.

Brown was tried in a Virginia court for treason even though he attacked federal property

He was found guilty of treason and murder and was sentenced to death, before which, he made a five minute speech denying that he came to Virginia to commit violence. He claimed his only goal was to liberate the slaves.

In the North, Ralph Waldo Emerson compared Brown to Jesus Christ and declared that his death had made “the gallows as glorious as the cross,”

After Harpers Ferry, Southerners believed that secession and creation of a slaveholding confederacy were now the South’s only options.

The Dred Scott Case - The Decision that changed

America…Who was Dred Scott?

The Dred Scott Case - The Decision that changed

America…Who was Dred Scott?

Missouri SlaveSued for his freedomLived in Illinois for four years, which

was a free state, while he was a slave of an army surgeon

Claimed that living in a free state for that long abolished his slave status.

Missouri SlaveSued for his freedomLived in Illinois for four years, which

was a free state, while he was a slave of an army surgeon

Claimed that living in a free state for that long abolished his slave status.

Dred Scott Facts

• 1850: Missouri court gave Dred Scott his freedom.

• Two years later the decision was reversed and Scott was a slave once again.

• Scott appealed this to the Federal Courts. • By a 7-2 margin the major decision was that

he had no right to sue a federal court for freedom because he was not a citizen of the U.S.

• Claimed he had no respectable rights.

Impact of DecisionImpact of Decision

The ruling made clear that: congress had no right exclude

slavery from the federal territories since any law excluding property was a violation of the fifth amendment (prohibition against the seizure of property without due process of law).

that slaves and free blacks were not citizens thus the Constitution and Bill of Rights were not intended to apply to them.

The ruling made clear that: congress had no right exclude

slavery from the federal territories since any law excluding property was a violation of the fifth amendment (prohibition against the seizure of property without due process of law).

that slaves and free blacks were not citizens thus the Constitution and Bill of Rights were not intended to apply to them.

The Breakdown of the Party System

• In response to massive foreign immigration• Resentment against the growing political power of

foreigners• The “Know-Nothings” were formed out of a secret

society (against Immigration & Catholicism)• Lincoln opposed b/c of the intolerance• “When the Know-Nothings get in control, it will read

‘all men are created equal, except Negroes, foreigners, and Catholics.’”

• 1856 the Know-Nothings are replaced by the Republicans in the North

• 1856 election- won by Democrat James Buchanan

With the election of 1860 looming what kind of

President did the public really need?

What was the biggest problem facing the nation?What was the biggest problem facing the nation?

“If we could first know where we are, and whether we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”

- Abraham Lincoln “House Divided”

“If we could first know where we are, and whether we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”

- Abraham Lincoln “House Divided”

Lincoln- Douglas Debates

• In 1858 another important election was held for the Senator of Illinois. The election was important because of the two men who were running for that office.

• Stephen Douglas,a Democrat, was the man who introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The other candidate, a Republican,was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln wanted all states to be free, but did not want to stop slavery in the states where it was already decided.

• Douglas and Lincoln held a series of debates which helped the Americans decide how they really felt about slavery. People came from hundreds of miles to hear the debates. Lincoln lost the race by only a few votes.

Northern Democrats Southern Democrats

Know-Nothing Party

Republicans

Candidates Stephen Douglas John Breckinridge

John Bell Abraham Lincoln

Platform - Popular Sovereignty - Enforcement of Fugitive Slave Act and the Dred Scott Decision

- Extension of Slavery in new territories- Annexation of slave populated Cuba

“The Union, the Constitution, and the enforcement of laws”

- Preserve the Union- Opposed extension of slavery- Protective tariff- Pacific railway- Rights for immigrants- Internal improvements- Land

Based on the criteria, who would be the best candidate?

Candidate Popular Vote % Popular Vote Electoral VoteLincoln 1,865,593 39.79% 180 (all free states)

Douglas 1,382,713 29.40% 12 (MI & 3/7 NJ votes

Breckinridge 848,356 18.20% 72 (all cotton states)

Bell 592,906 12.61% 39 (VA,KY,TN)

• What do these statistics show about the United States in 1860?

• How did Lincoln win?

Secession