THE LEAD UP TO THE CIVIL WARChapters 17-19

The Election of 1844

•James K. Polk is nominated, running on a platform of “Manifest Destiny.”

•He calls for the U.S. to take control of the Oregon Territory (up to Alaska).

•He is opposed by Henry Clay, still a Whig. Polk wins a close election.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• After Polk is elected, he turns his attention to securing not only Oregon, but Texas to the Pacific Ocean.

• He asks for a declaration of war from Congress, saying American blood has been spilled on American soil.

• Abraham Lincoln, a Whig, asks for a “Spot Resolution”, wanting Polk to show him the spot where blood was shed (there was no blood shed).

The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

• Eventually, after a short war, which was the first to be covered by newspapers (there was 1 female reporter), Gen. Winfield Scott seizes Mexico City.

• Peace negotiations begin in Feb. 1848 and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is signed, which cedes all land between Texas and the Pacific to the U.S.

• 5 years later, the U.S. purchases land in So. Cal. in the Gadsden Purchase (which, in effect, rounds out the continental U.S.)

California Love

•This acquisition opens the slavery debate back up as the U.S. abolitionist movement grows.

• In 1849, gold is discovered in California, bringing in thousands of “49ers” with it.

•Within a year, California has enough population to seek admission as a free state.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

• Many slaves ran away or attempted to run away, but the ultimate form of rebellion was the armed uprising.

• Nat Turner and his fellow slaves took over the plantation until the state militia was called in to put it down.

• This was the only armed rebellion due to fear, the coming of the militia, and the slaves talking to each other.

President Zachary Taylor

•Elected in the election of 1848 (Polk did not seek a 2nd term).

•As a deadlock was heating up between the North and South as far as whether new states should be free or slave, Taylor (on July 4th) is out all day in the sun and on the verge of dehydration.

President Zachary Taylor

•He developed indigestion and his Drs. tried to purge him (obviously not good when someone is dehydrated).

•On July 9th, 1850 “Old Rough and Ready” dies.

•Millard Fillmore, open to compromise to keep the country united, becomes President.

The Compromise of 1850

• Henry Clay comes through with a compromise all in one bill.

• The bill doesn’t pass the first time and Clay decides to go on vacation, but in the meantime he talks to Stephen Douglas (IL.) who wants to push it through Congress one part at a time.

• Taken together the bill is the Compromise of 1850.

The Compromise of 1850

•Under the Compromise; • California was brought in as a free state• Texas was given $10,000,000 for its debt• The Fugitive Slave Law was enacted and interpreted very loosely.

• The Compromise doesn’t say anything about the are between California and Texas because that would alienate either the slaveholders or the anti-slave Northerners.

The Fugitive Slave Law

• Also known as the “Bloodhound Bill”.• Fleeing slaves could not testify on their own behalf.

• The federal commissioner who handled each case was given $5 if the runaway slave was freed and $10 if not (kind of like a bribe, right?).

• Northerners who were caught aiding runaway slaves were subject to heavy fines and jail sentences.

The Fugitive Slave Law

•The passage set off an explosive chain reaction in the North.

•Many moderates, once passive, were now driven into the swelling ranks of the anti-slaveryites.

Stephen Douglas

•By 1854, Stephen Douglas wants to build a railroad from IL to CA.

•He feels it will benefit the nation, the state of IL, and himself (most importantly).

•He felt that land north of the slavery line in the west was unorganized and needed law.

Stephen Douglas

• He introduces the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which would divide the Territory of NE (at this time from the southern border of present day Kansas, all the way up to Canada) into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska.

• Their status regarding slavery would be determined through popular sovereignty.

• Kansas, right next to slave holding Missouri would choose to be a slave state, while Nebraska, next to free state Iowa, would choose to be free as well.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

•The Act would be in direct contradiction to the Compromise of 1820, which outlawed slavery north of 36-30.

•The only way to work around it would be to repeal the act outright and risk shattering the uneasy truce patched together by the Compromise of 1850.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Southerners rose to support gaining one more slave state and President Franklin Pierce cowered to his southern advisers.

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act is passed in 1854, and the greatest impact it has is shattering the Whig party.

• Southern Whigs are in support, whereas Northern Whigs are against it.

Two Party Politics?

• The 2nd political party system comes to an end in 1854.

• The Republicans, who have al support in the North, feel the government should take slavery out of the territories.

• The Democrats become dominated by the South, which is not good for agreeing on compromises because it could split the nation in half.

• This ends the Jacksonian era in the U.S., leading to the greatest U.S. crisis…

Dred Scott v. Stanford

•Dred Scott, a black slave, had lived with his master for five years in IL and WI territories

•Backed by abolitionists, he sued for freedom on the basis of his long residence on free soil.

•The Supreme Court then twisted a simple legal case into a complex political issue.

Dred Scott v. Stanford

• The Court, not surprisingly, ruled that because Scott was black, he could not sue in federal courts.

• A majority of the Court, led by Roger B. Taney of MA, decreed that because a slave was private property, he or she could be taken into any territory and legally held there in slavery.

• According to the Fifth Amendment, Congress was forbidden to deprive people of their property without due process of law.

Dred Scott v. Stanford

• The Court ruled that the Compromise of 1820 had been unconstitutional; congress had no power to ban slavery from the territories, regardless of what the territories themselves wanted.

• Southerners were happy, but Northern Democrats, especially Douglas were outraged.

• Republicans were infuriated by the setback and Southerners sat back and watched as their countrymen openly questioned the Supreme Court.

John Brown: Murderer or Martyr?

• Brown hatched a scheme to call upon slaves to rise against their masters and establish a black free state as a sanctuary.

• At Harper’s Ferry in VA, Brown, along with some 20 men (including a few blacks) seized the federal arsenal in Oct. 1859 and killed seven innocent people (including a free black) and injuring ten more people.

• The slaves never got word of the uprising and Brown, wounded, was captured along with this men by U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee.

John Brown: Murderer or Martyr?

• Brown was quickly convicted even though several people wrote letters to the judge that he was clinically insane.

• Brown knew he was worth more to the abolition cause dead than he was alive.

• Southerners were outraged at these groups of abolitionists being backed by powerful Northerners and wondered how they could remain in union with these people.

• Northerners were infuriated by Brown’s execution.

The Election of 1860

• In essence, this was two different elections; one in the North and one in the South.

• South Carolinians rejoiced because now they had an excuse to secede.

• In the North, the “rail-splitter” had split off the South.

• 60% of voters favored another candidate than Lincoln and he was not even on the ballot in ten southern states.

The Secessionist Exodus

• SC threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected and they were true to their word; 4 days after the election, they called a special convention.

• Meeting in Charleston in December 1860, they unanimously voted to secede.

• During the next six weeks, six other states of the lower South followed; Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

The Secessionist Exodus

• In February 1861, these seven states created a government known as the Confederate States of America.

• They chose former MS Senator Jefferson Davis as their president.

• Lincoln was not to take office until March 4, 1861 so he was still a private citizen of IL.

• President Buchanan, never one to ruffle feathers, has been blamed for not keeping the seceders in the Union by force.