the road to secession: the 1850’s. candidates zachary taylor “old rough & ready” whig...
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The Road to Secession:The 1850’s
Candidates
Zachary Taylor
“Old Rough & Ready”
Whig
Lewis Cass
Democrat
Results• Taylor wins
The Statehood of CA• Applied to be a free state in 1850• Problems?
– Upset the sectional balance– 15 free & 15 slave– Influence UT & NM to become free as
well
Wishes of the North & South
North:– CA admitted
as a state– Abolishment of
slavery in Washington, DC
South:– Maintain
sectional balance
– The end to runaway slaves
The Compromise• Written by Henry
Clay• Provisions:
– CA admitted as a free state
– Abolition of the slave trade in DC
– Popular Sovereignty in NM & UT
– A stringent Fugitive Slave Law passed
Why it passed
• Taylor opposed• But he died July 9,
1850– Millard Fillmore
became president– Congress eager to
end sectional crisis
Popular Sovereignty
• Autonomous people of a territory should determine themselves the status of slavery in their territory
• Proposed by Stephen Douglas (IL)
• Became a major political issue of the 1850’s
Fugitive Slave Law (1850)• Provisions:
– Law enforcement everywhere had to assist with runaway slaves
– Those that helped runaway slaves would be fined and jailed
– Captured slaves were not entitled to trials/juries
– Many free blacks conscripted back into slavery
• Problems for the North:– Called it the “Bloodhound Bill”– Some states refused to enforce– Major boost for Abolitionist movement
Harriet Beecher Stowe• In 1852 she wrote Uncle Tom’s
Cabin– Anti-slavery novel– Inspired by the Fugitive Slave Law
(1850)
• Became a bestseller– Sold 300,000 copies in the 1st year– Over 2 million within a decade
• Helped focus Northern anger against slavery
• South angry that it was so popular
The End of the Great Triumvirate• The three great statesmen from the three
areas of the country• Had managed to reach compromises and
maintain harmony in the country
John C. Calhoun –
South
Died 1850
Henry Clay – West
Died 1852
Daniel Webster –
North
Died 1852
Candidates in 1852
Franklin Pierce
Democrat
Winfield Scott
“Old Fuss & Feathers”
Whig
Results• Pierce wins
Death of the Whigs
• Main personalities have passed away• Party split in election of 1852
because of Scott’s stance on slavery– North somewhat supported, wanted
Fillmore to be nominee– South did not support
• 1852 was last Whig nominee for president
The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
• Stephen Douglass proposed– Wanted to build a
transcontinental RR– Never passed because of
North vs. South issues• The law passed and
created 2 new territories, Kansas & Nebraska– Slave issue determined by
Popular Sovereignty– Assumed NE would be free
& KS would be slave
• Problem?– It repealed the Missouri Compromise of
1820
Northern Reaction:
Impact on Democrats
• Begins to splinter the party• Northern Democrats do not want to
see the expansion of slavery• Southern Democrats happy about the
possibility of expanding slavery
Birth of the Republican Party (1854)
• Formed in reaction to Kansas- Nebraska Act
• Mutt group:– Whigs– Some Northern
Democrats– Free-Soilers– Know Nothings– Opponents of K-N Act
• Formed around an issue– SLAVERY
• Outlawed south of the Mason-Dixon Line
• Became main party of the North almost overnight
Bleeding Kansas• KS ready to become a state in 1855• Election held to decide Pro or Anti Slavery• Anti-slaverites flood the region from the North
– Called “Free Soilers”
• Pro-slaverites pour in from MO – Called “Border Ruffians”
• Border Ruffians won • Free Soilers establish their own government
Bleeding Kansas• 1856, the two groups began to
attack one another• Civil War in Kansas over slavery
– Only 2 slaves lived there
• Statehood denied
Caning of Charles Sumner
• Violence in KS spills into U.S. government• Charles Sumner is an abolitionist senator
from MA• Gives a speech “Crime against Kansas”
condemning violence & slavery– Also insults Senator Andrew Butler (SC)
• 2 days later, Preston Brooks attacked Sumner
Candidates
James Buchanan
Democrat
Popular Sovereignty
John C. Fremont
Republican
End the Expansion of Slavery
Millard Fillmore
American
Anti-Immigration Policies
Results• Buchanan wins
Who is Dred Scott?
• Slave who traveled with his master into North several times
• While in the North, he legally married & had children
• In 1846 in MO, he sued his master for freedom
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
• Case goes to the Supreme Court• Decision handed down in 1857 by Chief Justice
Roger B. Taney– Main theme of his tenure in office was the
defense of slavery
• Wanted to end the debate about slavery once and for all
• Provisions:– No African-American (free of slave) were citizens of
the U.S., they were property• Therefore no right to sue
– Ruled the MO Compromise unconstitutional• Congress could not restrict the expansion of slavery
Reaction• Northern proponents of Popular
Sovereignty:– Horrified– No stopping the expansion of slavery
• Republicans:– Entire party platform is now illegal– Refused to honor decision because the
Supreme Court is controlled by the South
• Democrats:– Split apart into 2 factions– North vs. South
Lecompton Constitution (1858)
• Two Constitutions written in KS in 1855– Lecompton Constitution was for a Slave KS – Topeka Constitution was for a Free KS
• Buchanan in favor of the Lecompton Constitution
• Tried to bring KS in as a Slave State in 1858• Created a huge controversy in Congress• More fighting• KS still not made a state
Illinois Senate Seat• Lincoln nominated by Republican party
– Makes famous “House Divided” speech
• Running against Stephen Douglas• Lincoln challenges Douglas to a series of
debates
A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.
Freeport Doctrine
• Most famous debate• Lincoln challenges Douglas on Dred
Scott decision• Douglas issues his “doctrine”
– Territories can vote against having slavery
• Angers Southern Democrats– Loses chance for becoming president
• Douglas wins election
John Brown
• Fervent abolitionist• Wants to make VA a free state• Attacks armory in Harper’s
Ferry Oct. 1859• Fails & is hung• Seen as a martyr in
the North• Seen as a huge
problem in the South
Candidates
Abraham Lincoln
Republican
Stephen Douglas
Northern Democrat
John Breckenridg
e
Southern Democrat
John Bell
Constitutional
Union Party
Results• Basically two elections – one in the North,
one in the South• Lincoln wins
Crittenden Amendments• Proposed by John
Crittenden Dec 1860• Last attempt at
compromise• 36º 30’ extended to
Pacific– North of line no slavery– South of line popular
sovereignty
• Rejected by Lincoln– No compromise, but
wanted to avoid war
Southern Secession Begins• SC begins the exodus in Dec 1860
• Pres. Buchanan does nothing
War begins April 12, 1861