1850s: a decade of crisis

1850s: A Decade of Crisis

Chapter 18-19

Objective #1

• Assess the extent to which the idea of Manifest Destiny affected politics within the United States as illustrated by the Compromise of 1850

Objective #2

• Trace the increasing sectional hostility of the 1850s as a result of– Slavery– The Fugitive Slave Act– Kansas-Nebraska Act– “Bleeding Kansas”– Dred Scott v. Sanford– John Brown’s Raid

Objective #3

• Trace the increasing sectional hostility of the 1850s, as a result of slavery, and the rise of the Republican Party and the election of 1860.

North-South Avoids/Compromises Showdown on Slavery

• 1787: 3/5 and slave trade compromises

• 1820: Missouri Compromise

• 1833: Nullification

• After war with Mexico: what do we do with the new territory?

The Mexican CessionThe Mexican CessionThe Mexican CessionThe Mexican Cession

Wilmot Proviso

• “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in the new territories.– Attached to an

appropriations bill for funding the war with Mexico

• Passed House, Failed in Senate

• Debate by section, not party line

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Did Congress Have the Right to Dictate Slavery in States?

• Precedent said yes– Northwest Ordinance– Missouri Compromise

John C. Calhoun’s Argument

• Unconstitutional to prohibit slavery

• Act of Congress cannot keep slaveholders from taking their property into territories (5th Amendment)



Election of 1848• Dems: Lewis Cass

– Dems official stance on slavery: silence

– Cass: Popular Sovereignty

• Whigs: Zachary Taylor– Taylor had never voted in

an election– But was popular war

hero– Silent on slavery (owned

slaves)

• Free-Soil: Martin Van Buren





Who were the Free-Soilers?

• Northerners• Did not trust Cass or Taylor• Supported Wilmot Proviso• Abolitionists

– Keep western land free of blacks (slave and free) so that whites would not have to compete with them

– “Free soil, free labor, and free men”

• Nationalists who wanted federal money for internal improvements

• Advocated free homesteads for farmers• Industrialists against Polk’s reduced tariff • A few Northern Whigs and Antislavery Democrats

Results of Election of 1848



Issues Taylor has to Solve

• 1. California: Free or slave?• 2. Land from Mexico: Free or slave?• 3. Existence of slave trade in

Washington D.C.• 4. Lack of enforcement of Fugitive Slave

Act of 1793– Southern states meet in Oct., 1849 to

discuss secession.

Compromise of 1850

• Written by Henry Clay• 1. California admitted as free state.• 2. New Mexico and Utah territories: popular

sovereignty• 3. Texas given $10 million to pay off debts to

Mexico.• 4. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850• 5. Slave trade ended in D.C. (but not slavery)

Taylor Threatens Veto

• But, Taylor dies unexpectedly in 1850.

• VP Millard Fillmore becomes President

• Signed into law• Political parties

continue to split sectionally



Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

• Required federal marshals to help slaveholders seize runaway slaves

• Abolitionists: it encouraged kidnapping

• Blacks could not testify on own behalf

• Federal commissioners in charge of cases were paid more if they ruled person was a slave.

• Many Northern states passed laws forbidding local officials from aiding



Compromise of 1850

Compromise of 1850

HarrietBeecherStowe(1811 – 1896)

HarrietBeecherStowe(1811 – 1896)

So this is the lady who started the Civil War.

-- Abraham Lincoln

So this is the lady who started the Civil War.

-- Abraham Lincoln

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852 Sold 300,000

copies inthe first year.

2 million in a decade!

Sold 300,000 copies inthe first year.

2 million in a decade!

1852 Presidential Election


Franklin Pierce Gen. Winfield Scott John Parker Hale Democrat Whig Free Soil

Franklin Pierce Gen. Winfield Scott John Parker Hale Democrat Whig Free Soil

Major Party Candidates

• Democrats (Pierce):– Pro-slavery Northerner (accepted by South)– Pro-territorial expansion (like Polk)– Endorsed the Compromise of 1850

• Whigs (Scott):– War hero (of course)– Pro-Compromise of 1850

• Problem for Whigs: More disorganized– Northerners did not like him for endorsing Fugitive

Slave Act– Southerners did not like the Northerner.

1852Electio

n Results

1852Electio

n Results

Federal Government in 1853

• Executive Branch: • Pro-slavery Northern President (Democrat)• Majority of cabinet was from South (Democrat)• Veto Power

• Legislative Branch:• North controls House (Democratic controlled)• North controls Senate (Democratic controlled)

• Judicial Branch:• Majority of the justices were Southerners

Democrats in Control

• Mandate for Manifest Destiny

• 1853: Gadsden Purchase for southern railroad link to west coast for $10 million

• South also interested in extending further south into Latin American lands

Ostend Manifesto (1854)

• Pierce approved a secret meeting of American diplomats in Ostend, Belgium – Discussed buying Cuba for

$120 million– South could potentially pass

North in size and power

• Northern free-soilers outraged– At same time Uncle Tom’s

Cabin peaking– Pierce was forced to drop

issue

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Commodore Matthew Perry Commodore Matthew Perry Opens Up Japan: 1853Opens Up Japan: 1853

Commodore Matthew Perry Commodore Matthew Perry Opens Up Japan: 1853Opens Up Japan: 1853

•Followed Cushing’s treaty with China in 1844

• First formal agreement between US and China

•Perry arrives in Japan with warships

• Gives Japanese gifts and asks for free trade

• Returned in 1854 and received positive response

•Followed Cushing’s treaty with China in 1844

• First formal agreement between US and China

•Perry arrives in Japan with warships

• Gives Japanese gifts and asks for free trade

• Returned in 1854 and received positive response

Stephen Douglas

• Congressman from Illinois

• Pro expansion• Pro popular

sovereignty• Invested in railroads• Wanted to capture

leadership of Democratic party



Nebraska Question

• Had to keep southern Democrats happy over slavery

• Nebraska territory requests statehood• It is totally above 36 30 line• South wants Nebraska to be a slave

state• He risks alienating South and ruining his

chance to one day be President.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• Split Nebraska into two territories (Kansas and Nebraska)

• Both could decide by popular sovereignty

• Assumption: One would be free, one would be slave

• Endorsed by President Pierce

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

Results of Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Re-opened question of slavery in territories• Split parties further

– Killed Whig Party (sectional differences within party)

• Split the Union– Most Northerners were against the destruction of

Missouri Compromise– Will resist all future southern demands for slave

territory– Refused to enforce Fugitive Slave Law

• Bleeding Kansas (and later contributed to Civil War)

Growing Cities

• Increased nativism: job competition, language differences, religion, lowering wages

• Immigrants usually supported Democratic Party

• Growing belief that immigrants were corrupting politics

• American (Know-Nothing) saw little success as third party.

• Birth of Republican Party

Birth of the Republican Party, 1854

Birth of the Republican Party, 1854

ß Northern Whigs.

ß Northern Democrats.

ß Free-Soilers.

ß Know-Nothings.

ß Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

ß Northern Whigs.

ß Northern Democrats.

ß Free-Soilers.

ß Know-Nothings.

ß Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Republican Platform

• Would not interfere with slavery where it already existed

• Did not support equal rights for blacks• Anti-Catholic• Pro-temperance• Pro-public school• End fugitive slave laws• Support middle class, small business, laborers,

Northern farmers• Anti-Kansas Nebraska Act

Problems with Kansas

• New England Emigrant Aid Society sent free-soilers to Kansas to vote

• Missouri sent citizens to Kansas to vote in the election (more of them)

• Election results: twice as many people voted than number of registered voters

• Pro-slavery government was elected (Shawnee Mission)

• Free-Soilers set up government in Topeka• Federal government did nothing to solve problem.

“Bleeding Kansas”“Bleeding Kansas”

Border “Ruffians”

(pro-slavery

Missourians)

Border “Ruffians”

(pro-slavery

Missourians)

Violence in Kansas (1856)

• Pro-slavery supporters march on free-soil supported Lawrence (Sack of Lawrence)

• John Brown and group of abolitionists hack five pro-slavery men in revenge two days later (Massacre of Pottawatomie Creek)

“The Crime Against Kansas”

“The Crime Against Kansas”

Sen. Charles Sumner(R-MA)

Sen. Charles Sumner(R-MA)

Congr. Preston Brooks(D-SC)

Congr. Preston Brooks(D-SC)



√ James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Know-Nothing

√ James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Know-Nothing

1856Election Results

1856Election Results

1857: Call for New Election in Kansas

• LeCompton Constitution offered by the pro-slavery government as a “compromise”

• Only allowed people to vote on existing constitution with or without slavery

• Constitution protected slavery where it already existed

1857 Election results

• Only 2000 of 24,000 voters participated• Proslavery government elected• Free blacks barred from state• President James Buchanan endorsed it• Stephen Douglas opposed it: not true popular

sovereignty– Persuaded Senate to reject constitution– Hurt his support in the South

• Kept Kansas from becoming a state until 1861– Would become a free state when secessionists left

Congress

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857

Dred Scott Case (1857)

• Slaves are property and cannot be taken without due process (5th Amendment)– Compromise of 1820 had been

unconstitutional all along– Congress did not have power to ban

slavery in the territories

• Could not sue because he is not a citizen

Panic of 1857• Caused by:

– Over-speculation of land– Flood of gold from California caused inflation– Problems in grain market

• North hit worst• North favored higher tariff (industrialists) and cheaper

land (farmers)– Homestead Act (1860): public land given to farmers for $.25

an acre (vetoed by Buchanan)– Republican party planks in 1860

• King Cotton not impacted– South saw this as proof of economic superiority of cotton

production

The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858

The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858

A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

• S. Douglas (D)– Dodged slavery

issue– Popular sovereignty

• Believed to be the front-runner for presidential nomination in 1860.



Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• Abraham Lincoln (Re)– Anti-slavery but pro-

Union first– Believed in political

equality of blacks

• Challenged Douglas to a series of debates



Freeport Doctrine

• Douglas stated that people in a territory could vote slavery down despite the Dred Scott decision

• Upset South

• Further splits Democratic party

• Douglas wins election but damages his chances for being President

John Brown’s Raidon Harper’s Ferry, 1859

John Brown’s Raidon Harper’s Ferry, 1859

John Brown’s Raid (1859)

• Brown and 22 men raid the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry

• Hoped to provoke slave uprising

• Arrested and executed for treason

• Madman or martyr?

• Gap between North and South grows

1860Presidenti

alElection

1860Presidenti

alElection

√ Abraham Lincoln

Republican

√ Abraham Lincoln

Republican

John BellConstitutional

Union

John BellConstitutional

Union

Stephen A. DouglasNorthern Democrat

Stephen A. DouglasNorthern Democrat

John C. Breckinridge

Southern Democrat

John C. Breckinridge

Southern Democrat

Election of 1860

• Democrats cannot decide on a candidate– North supports S. Douglas– South supports John Breckenridge (upset with

Douglas over Freeport Doctrine)

• Democrats split into Northern and Southern Democrats with two candidates

• Constitutional Union Party: fourth party made up of some Democrats, Know-Northings and former Whigs– John Bell was their nominee

Election of 1860

• Republicans want to take advantage of the split

• Run “moderate” Abraham Lincoln

• Reduced attacks on slavery (except to come out against extension of slavery), avoided expansion and equal rights

Republican Party Platform in 1860

Republican Party Platform in 1860ß Non-extension of slavery [for the Free-

Soilers.

ß Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists].

ß No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”].

ß Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest].

ß Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense.

ß Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].

ß Non-extension of slavery [for the Free-Soilers.

ß Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists].

ß No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”].

ß Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest].

ß Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense.

ß Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].

1860 Election: 3 “Outs” & 1 ”Run!”

1860 Election: 3 “Outs” & 1 ”Run!”

1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!

1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!

1860

Election

Results

Note: Lincoln did not appear on the ballot in

10 southern states

1860

Election

Results

Note: Lincoln did not appear on the ballot in

10 southern states

Crittenden Compromise

• Amendment to Constitution trying to save Union– Slavery prohibited North

of 36 30 line– Future states could come

into the Union with or without slavery

• Not enough to save the Union

Secession!: SC Dec. 20, 1860

Secession!: SC Dec. 20, 1860

Confederate States of America

• Created in February, 1861

• Jefferson Davis was elected President– President Buchanan did nothing

• Needed his military (15,000 troops) to patrol Native Americans out west

• Believed an attack would ruin any chance of reconciliation

• Border states stay in the Union

Ft. Sumter: April, 1861

• Symbol of Union power in CSA• U.S. Major Robert Anderson requested

supplies– Lincoln wants to avoid war--that means no troops

or weapons– Lincoln also afraid borders states would leave

• Lincoln sends supplies• CSA, led by PGT Beauregard attacks• USA surrenders at battle of Ft. Sumter

Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861

Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861

1850s: a decade of crisis

Documents

free mennationalists

free labor

free state

slave trade compromises1820

existence of slave trade

sectionallyfugitive

result of slavery

new mexico