UNIT 6: A NATION DIVIDED

AND REBUILT1846-1877

IN THIS UNIT…

Chapter 15: The Nation Breaking ApartChapter 16: The Civil War BeginsChapter 17: The Tide of War TurnsChapter 18: Reconstruction

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

The Civil War represented the greatest threat to the survival of the American republic in our history. Why we fought, how the Union won, and how we rebuilt the nation remain

enduring matters of discussion and debate.

CHAPTER 15: THE NATION BREAKING APART

LESSON 1: TENSIONS RISE BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH

IN THIS CHAPTER…

Lesson 1: Tensions Rise Between North and SouthLesson 2: Slavery Dominates PoliticsLesson 3: Lincoln’s Election and Southern Secession

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What issues and events shattered the nation’s unity and led to civil war?

KEY QUESTION

What led to increased tension between the North and the South?

VOCABULARYWilmot Proviso: 1846 proposal that outlawed slavery in any territory gained from the War with Mexico

Compromise of 1850: Series of laws intended to settle the major disagreements between the free states and slave states

Fugitive Slave Act: 1850 law meant to help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves

Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1854 law that established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and gave their residents the right whether to allow slavery

Popular Sovereignty: A system in which issues are decided by the citizenry or votes

NORTH AND SOUTH FOLLOW DIFFERENT PATHSThe economies of the North and South relied on different things

• North: Industry and Commerce• Attracted many immigrants• Many abolitionists• Many workers feared slaves would replace them

• South: Plantations and Slavery• Made great profits from free labor• Slavery gave owners a feeling of superiority• Slave owners used the argument that they introduced slaves to

Christianity and provided them with food, clothing and shelter• This divided the nation politically

SLAVERY AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSIONNorth and South feared upsetting the balance of free and slave states

• Especially with the newly acquired land from MexicoWilmot Proviso: proposed bill to outlaw slavery in any territory the US acquired from MexicoSoutherners prevented the bill from passingThis proposal brought slavery a key issue in politics

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850National leaders were debating how to deal with slaveryMany California residents wanted to be a free stateThis would upset the balanceSo… they Compromised

• North was happy when California was admitted as a free state• South was happy that Congress could not pass laws for the rest of

the territories won from Mexico and Congress would pass a stronger law to help slaveholders

Briefly kept peace between the North and South

THE CRISIS DEEPENSPart of the Compromise of 1850 was…The Fugitive Slave Act

• Accused fugitives could be held without an arrest warrant• Fugitives had no right to a jury trial• Southerners could recapture runaway slaves• Penalized people who did not cooperate with the law• Slave catchers could roam the North (sometimes they

captured free African Americans)This Act angered many Northerners and drew more people to the abolitionist cause

OUTRAGE OVER THE ACTHarriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852

• Novel that presented the cruelty and the immorality of slavery• Described the escape of a slave named Eliza and her baby

across the Ohio River• Book was very popular in the North• Southerners argued the it was a false picture of the South

and slavery

VIOLENCE ERUPTSTensions heightened with the Fugitive Slave Act and Uncle Tom’s CabinKansas-Nebraska Act: a bill that organized the Nebraska territory into two parts (Kansas and Nebraska)Popular Sovereignty was used to decide if the bill would pass

• System that allows residents to vote to decide an issueThe bill passed and got rid of the Missouri Compromise, which turned Kansas into a violent and bloody battle ground

BLEEDING KANSASElection of 1855

• More people proslavery than antislavery• But….

• 5,000 Missouri antislavery residents illegally voted in KansasSettlers on both sides armed themselvesA proslavery mob looted the town of Lawrence, KansasJohn Brown, an extreme abolitionist, led 7 others in a massacre of his neighborsAs news spread, violence spread and civil war in Kansas beganIt continued for 3 years and the territory was known as “Bleeding Kansas”

VIOLENCE IN CONGRESSCongressmen grew so angry that violence occurredSenator Charles Sumner was beaten at his desk so badly that he never fully recovered from his injuriesAntislavery forces united with “Bleeding Kansas” and “Bleeding Sumner”

KEY QUESTION

What led to increased tension between the North and the South?

CHAPTER 15: THE NATION BREAKING APART

LESSON 2: SLAVERY DOMINATES POLITICS

IN THIS CHAPTER…

Lesson 1: Tensions Rise Between North and SouthLesson 2: Slavery Dominates PoliticsLesson 3: Lincoln’s Election and Southern Secession

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What issues and events shattered the nation’s unity and led to civil war?

KEY QUESTION

How did the country divide further?

VOCABULARYJohn C. Frémont: Republican presidential candidate in 1856

James Buchanan: Democratic presidential candidate in 1856

Dred Scott v. Sandford: 1856 Supreme Court case in which a slave, Dred Scott, sued for his freedom; the Court ruled against Scott

Abraham Lincoln: Illinois Republican who ran against Stephen A. Douglas in 1858

Harpers Ferry: Federal arsenal in Virginia; captured in 1859 during an antislavery revolt

PRESIDENTS UPDATENumber Year Name Party Nickname

13 1850-1853 Millard Fillmore

Whig “The Accidental President”

14 1853-1857 Franklin Pierce

Democratic “Young Hickory of

Granite Hills”

15 1857-1861 James Buchanan

Democratic “The Sage of

Wheatland”

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYShe was only 13, but her story edged the nation closer to

civil war. Emily Edmondson grew up in slavery in Washington D.C. On April 15, 1848, Emily, her 15-year old sister Mary, and four of her brothers joined more than 70 other slaves in an escape attempt. Hidden on board a ship, they sailed toward freedom in the North. However, their ship was pursued and captured. Despite a debate in Congress and a public outcry, Emily and her sister were shipped to New Orleans to be resold.

In New Orleans an outbreak of yellow fever forced slave traders to send the girls back to the safety of Virginia. It was then that the girls’ parents contacted Harriet Beecher Stowe’s brother, who was a famous abolitionist. He raised enough money to buy their freedom. Harriet Beecher Stowe arranged for the girls to attend Oberlin College.

Although Mary died young, Emily became a famous abolitionist. Her story motivated various antislavery groups to create the Republican Party – a party dedicated to the elimination of slavery.

SLAVERY AND POLITICAL DIVISION•The Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the Whig Party in two

• Southern Whigs supported the Act (joined the Democratic Party)• Northern Whigs opposed the Act (joined others and formed the

Republican Party)

• Opposes the Expansion of slavery• Opposes Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Supports states’ rights• Favors limited government

Republican Party Democratic Party

John Fremont James Buchanan

Norther

n Interests

Abolitionist

s Norther

n Whigs

Slavery

Supporter

s Souther

n Whigs

ELECTION OF 1856•Republicans nominated John C. Frémont

• Handsome young hero• Known for explorations in the West• Nicknamed “the Pathfinder”• Wanted California and Kansas admitted as free states

•Democrats nominated James Buchanan• Said little about the Kansas-Nebraska Act• Said little about slavery• Claimed his goal was to maintain the Union

•Millard Fillmore ran for the Know-Nothing Party(he was president after the death of Zachary Taylor)

•Buchanan won

THE BREAKING POINT•A Supreme Court case continued to divide the country

•Read Background Info

A SUPREME COURT CASEDRED SCOTT V. SANFORD (1857)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Citizenship was decided on a state level

• What is the Missouri Compromise?

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia around 1799.In 1834, Dr. Emerson (Dred Scott’s owner) moved to Illinois and Minnesota: non-slave states.In 1843, Dr. Emerson died and left his possessions to his wife.Dred Scott sued Mrs. Emerson saying that he had become free when he had been brought to the North.Sanford is Mrs. Emerson’s brother and lawyer.

Photo taken from: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1573

DECIDE IF EACH ARGUMENT LISTED BELOW IS IN FAVOR OF FREEING DRED SCOTT OR PLACING IN BACK INTO SLAVERY.The Missouri Compromise of 1820 outlawed slavery forever in certain areas. Dred Scott's owner took him to these free areas. Thus, Scott became free forever.

In the case of Strader v. Graham (1850), the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case of three slaves who had been taken from Kentucky to Indiana and Ohio and then back to Kentucky. The Court declared that the status of the slave depended on the laws of Kentucky, not Ohio.

It was law in many states and had been common law in Europe for centuries that a slave who legally traveled to a free area automatically became free.

Even before the Constitution, some states allowed blacks to vote. The Constitution does not say explicitly that blacks cannot be citizens.

The Constitution recognized the existence of slavery. Therefore, the men who framed and ratified the Constitution must have believed that slaves and their descendants were not to be citizens.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? YOU BE THE JUDGE!Should Dred Scott be granted freedom in the case based on the previous arguments?ORShould Dred Scott be returned to slavery to Mrs. Emerson based on the previous arguments?

SO… WHAT DID THE SUPREME COURT DECIDE?

• They ruled that Dred Scott could not be a citizen and therefore did not have the RIGHT to sue in court at all.

• Why?▫ At the time the Constitution was approved,

African Americans were not recognized as citizens.

▫ Only citizens had the right to sue in court at this time.

• The Court also decided that banning slavery violated slaveholder’s property rights- so the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional

• ". . . . . . We think they [people of African ancestry] are . . . not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word "citizens" in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. . . ."

— Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, speaking for the majority

Photo taken from: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1573

WHAT HAPPENED?

• Dred Scott returns to slavery with Mrs. Emerson.

• Mrs. Emerson remarries and her new husband opposes slavery.

• Mrs. Emerson sells Dred Scott and his family to the Blow Family.

• The Blow Family grants the Scotts their freedom.

• Dred Scott dies in 1858 of tuberculosis, but this case was a major event that led to the Civil War. • Photo taken from: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1573

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE• Many Northerners were fearful that the South wanted to

legalize slavery throughout the nation• Stephen A. Douglas was a Democratic Senator • Republican Abraham Lincoln challenged him in a debate• “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• The two men continued to debate across Illinois throughout

the year• About Slavery

• Douglas won the reelection, but Lincoln was famous

JOHN BROWN’S RAID• John Brown had previously murdered 3 proslavery Kansans• Brown wanted to start a slave uprising• So…

• He planned to capture weapons in an arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia

• Brown and 18 others captured the arsenal• Then sent the word to arm local slaves• U.S. marines attacked Brown• 10 men were killed• Brown was convicted of treason and was hanged

• Abolitionists tolled bells and fired guns in his honor• This led the country to THE BREAKING POINT

KEY QUESTION

How did the country divide further?

CHAPTER 15: THE NATION BREAKING APART

LESSON 3: LINCOLN’S ELECTION AND SOUTHERN SECESSION

IN THIS CHAPTER…

Lesson 1: Tensions Rise Between North and SouthLesson 2: Slavery Dominates PoliticsLesson 3: Lincoln’s Election and Southern Secession

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What issues and events shattered the nation’s unity and led to civil war?

KEY QUESTION

How did the South respond to Abraham Lincoln’s election?

VOCABULARYConfederate States of America: Confederation formed in 1861 by the Southern states after their secession from the Union

Jefferson Davis: First president of the Confederate States of America

ELECTION OF 1860•Huge tensions between Northern Democrats and Southern DemocratsCandidates:

• Northern Democrats nominated: Stephen A. Douglas• Southern Democrats nominated: John Breckinridge• Republicans nominated: Abraham Lincoln• Constitutional Union Party nominated: John Bell

•Lincoln won• He said he would not abolish slavery• Many Southerners did not trust him• Whites saw this victory as a threat to their way of life

The White House

Bell: “Bless my soul I give up.”

Breckinridge: “That long-

legged Abolitionist is getting ahead

of us after all.”

Douglas: “I never run so in my life.”

SOUTHERN STATES SECEDE•Southern states warned that they would secede (withdraw) from the Union if Lincoln was elected

• They believed that states had certain rights that the federal government could not overrule

• Since the states had voluntarily joined, they could also leave•December 20, 1860

• South Carolina seceded•Other states with economies that depended on slavery also seceded

• Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas•Formed the Confederate States of America

• Elected Jefferson Davis as president• Drafted a Constitution

• Supported state’s rights• Protected slavery

THE UNION’S RESPONSE•Northerners believed the secession was unconstitutional•President James Buchanan argued against secession•If secession was permitted, the Union would become weak•Some people tried to compromise•The Crittenden Compromise was proposed

• Slavery should be protected south of the Missouri Compromise• Congress should not abolish slavery in a slave state

•Did not pass in Congress•Attempts at compromise failed•Slavery had pulled the nation apart

LINCOLN’S INAUGURATION•Many wondered what the new president would do about the crisis•Inauguration Speech

• He assured the South that he had no intention of abolishing slavery

• He spoke against secession•Lincoln did not want to invade the South•But would not leave government forts in the South abandoned•The forts would soon need to be supplied•The nation waited anxiously to see what would happen next

EVENTS THAT SHATTERED THE NATION’S UNITY•Wilmot Proviso•Compromise of 1850•Uncle Tom’s Cabin•Kansas-Nebraska Act•Whig Party Splits•Election of 1860•Dred Scot Case•John Brown’s Raid

KEY QUESTION

How did the South respond to Abraham Lincoln’s election?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What issues and events shattered the nation’s unity and led to civil war?

PRESIDENT UPDATENumber Year Name Party Nickname16 1861-1865 Abraham

LincolnRepublican “Honest Abe”

“The Great Emancipator”