Events Leading to the Civil War

Chapter 15

What do we do with it now that we have it?

• After the Mexican-American War America was forced to answer the question:– Will it be a slave state or a free state?

Missouri Compromise-1819

• 11 free states / 11 slave states

• Missouri wanted to enter the union as a slave state– Upset the balance in the Senate to favor

the South

Missouri Compromise-1819

Missouri Compromise

• Proposed by Henry Clay

• Missouri > Slave State

• Maine > Free State

• Slavery would be prohibited north of

36˚ 30’

• Reduced tensions and postponed war

• Some wanted to ban slavery in the new territories– Wilmot Proviso (1846)

• “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.

• Did not pass the Senate– South was more powerful at that time

• Lead to the Free-Soil Party (1848)

• Some said the people should decide if slavery will be allowed in the area in which they live.– POPULAR

SOVEREIGNTY

Compromise of 18501. California would enter union as a free state.

2. Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession.

3. Texas would give up land east of Rio Grande. Gov’t would pay Texan debts.

4. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.

5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law.

Favored

Compromise of 1850

North

1. California would enter union as a free state.

2. Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession.

3. Texas would give up land east of Rio Grande. Gov’t would pay Texan debts.

4. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.

5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law.

Favored

Compromise of 1850

North

1. California would enter union as a free state.

South

2. Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession.

3. Texas would give up land east of Rio Grande. Gov’t would pay Texan debts.

4. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.

5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law.

Favored

Compromise of 1850

North

1. California would enter union as a free state.

South

2. Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession.

Both 3. Texas would give up land east of Rio Grande. Gov’t would pay Texan debts.

4. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.

5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law.

Favored

Compromise of 1850

North

1. California would enter union as a free state.

South

2. Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession.

Both 3. Texas would give up land east of Rio Grande. Gov’t would pay Texan debts.

North 4. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.

5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law.

Favored

Compromise of 1850

North

1. California would enter union as a free state.

South

2. Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession.

Both 3. Texas would give up land east of Rio Grande. Gov’t would pay Texan debts.

North 4. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.

South 5. More effective Fugitive Slave Law.

Favored

Fugitive Slave Law September 1850

• Made it a crime to help slaves runaway

• Allowed officials to arrest runaway slaves in free states.– Not allowed to testify for

themselves– No trial by jury– Commissioners got paid

more if they returned slaves to their owners.

Those helping runaways had to become more clever.

• Codes– Spirituals

• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

• Amazing Grace

– Alexander Ross– Quilts

Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852• Written by Harriet

Beecher Stowe

• Sold 300,000 copies in 1st year in the US alone

• Educated the world about the horrors of slavery

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Came as a result of wanting to settle the Great Plains– Railroad

• Proposed by Stephen A Douglas

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Divide the rest of Louisiana Purchase into Nebraska and Kansas.

Nebraska-Kansas Act

• Popular Sovereignty– People poured into

Kansas to cast votes

• 6000 votes• 1600 residents

Bleeding Kansas

• 1856• Violence erupts

– 2 governments form• Anti-slavery vs. • Pro-slavery

• 800 Pro-slavery men rode to Lawrence to arrest Anti-slavery leaders– All heck breaks loose

John Brown

• “Fight fire with fire”• “Strike terror in the

hearts of pro-slavery people.”

• May 24, 1856– Pottawatomie Creek

Massacre– Killed 5 Pro-slavery

men

Dred Scott

• Slave of a Army doctor

• Moved from Missouri to Illinois to Wisconsin to N. Minnesota

• Sued for freedom– Should’ve been freed

when his master moved to free land

Dred Scott Decision - 1857

• Chief Justice Taney• Could not sue

– Not citizen

• Missouri Compromise unconstitutional– Interfered with 5th

Amendment – the right to own

property

Republican Party Formed

• 1854• A political party united

against the spread of slavery in the West

• Will eventually choose Abraham Lincoln as their party’s candidate for the Presidency

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

• 1858• Campaigning for the

Senate seat of Illinois

• 7 debates throughout Illinois

• Lincoln made his political debut

Lincoln• 6’ 4”• Lanky• Country lawyer• Former US Representative• Platform: Stopping the spread of slavery

Douglas

• 5’ 4”• Powerful voice and

personality• Nicknamed “The

Little Giant”• Believed in popular

sovereignty

John Brown’s Raid -Oct.1859

• Harper’s Ferry, Virginia

• 21 followers• Planned to attack an

arsenal• Wanted to arm

slaves and lead an armed revolt

John Brown’s Raid

• Robert E Lee captured Brown

• Convicted of treason, conspiracy, and murder

• Executed Dec. 2, 1859

Election of 1860

• Southerners declared if Republican’s won, they would secede.

• Breckinridge vs. Douglas vs. Lincoln vs. Bell

John Breckinridge

• Southern Democrat

• Could not prevent slavery from spreading

• State’s rights

Stephen A. Douglas

• Northern Democrat

• Popular Sovereignty

Abraham Lincoln

• Republican

• Wanted to prevent slavery from spreading

John Bell

• Constitutional Union Party

• Wanted to preserve the unity of the nation

• No stance on slavery

Lincoln Wins

• Majority of electoral votes

• Only 40% of popular votes.

The South Secedes