THE UNION IN PERIL:CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR

CHAPTER 10Section 4

Slavery and Secession

Why did the South secede?

Slavery and Secession Pro or Anti Slavery Reasons why Pro or Anti-

SlaveryDred Scott decision

Lecompton ConstitutionDebate

Douglas; Debates

Lincoln; Debates

Harpers Ferry

John Brown’s Hanging

Election of Lincoln

Secession

Dred Scott Decision - 1857• Dred Scott lives in Illinois and Wisconsin for 5 years – free

states. He argues he has become free by living there.• Supreme Court, led by Roger B. Taney, decides

– Slaves cannot sue in court b/c they are not full citizens– Slaves are private property, govt. cannot take away

property w/o due process

HISTORICAL CONSEQUENCES:Kansas-Nebraska Act, Missouri Compromise, and Compromise of 1850 are now UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!

Dred Scott v Sanford, March 1857“The question is simply this: Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into

this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States, and as such become entitled to all the rights, and privileges, and immunities, guarantied by that instrument to the citizen? One of which rights is the privilege of suing in a court of the United States in the cases specified in the Constitution....”

“It is impossible, it would seem, to believe that the great men of the slaveholding States, who took so large a share in framing the Constitution of the United States, and exercised so much influence in procuring its adoption, could have been so forgetful or regardless of their own safety and the safety of those who trusted and confided in them.... “

“Upon the whole, therefore, it is the judgment of this court, that it appears by the record before us that the plaintiff in error is not a citizen of Missouri, in the sense in which that word is used in the Constitution; and that the Circuit Court of the United States, for that reason, had no jurisdiction in the case, and could give no judgment in it. Its judgment for the defendant must, consequently, be reversed, and a mandate issued, directing the suit to be dismissed for want of jurisdiction.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1532.html

Lecompton Constitution Debate- 1857• President Buchanan endorses the pro-slavery

constitution (the Lecompton Constitution) of Kansas.

• Kansas is now a Free-soiler state by 10 to 1!!!• Stephen Douglass, a Democrat, sees this as a

gross violation of popular sovereignty, and gets Congress to authorize a new vote in Kansas. Kansas passes an anti-slavery constitution under the new vote.

• Douglass’ actions tear the Democratic party into two: Northern Dems and Southern Dems.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates - 1858• Stephen Douglass and Abe Lincoln run for same Senate

seat for Illinois.• Lincoln challenges Douglass to 7 open-air debates.KEY ISSUE: slavery in the territories

Douglass = popular sovereignty should decide the issue (slavery will loose and whither away)Lincoln = slavery will not wither away, but must be stopped from spreading.

• Lincoln points out that popular sovereignty made irrelevant by Dred Scott v. Sanford.

• Douglass counters with Freeport Doctrine, suggests that states/people can “work around” or ignore the slave ruling

John Brown and Harpers Ferry• October 16, 1859 – John Brown and 18 men attempt

to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.• Their intent = start a slave rebellion in Virginia.• They fail. Stopped by local militia and Col. Robert

E. Lee’s US marines.• Brown is tried for treason in a VA court and hung on

Dec. 2, 1859. • Brown becomes a martyr to Northern Abolitionists.• South believes Northern abolitionists are trying to

start slave rebellions. More talk of secession.

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John Brown (1800-1859) was an abolitionist who took direct action to free slaves by force. Following his raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in mid-October 1859, he was convicted of treason, conspiracy, and murder. One of the most controversial abolitionists, Brown was regarded by some as a martyr and by others as a common assassin. … Ralph Waldo Emerson said that Brown's death would "make the gallows as glorious as the cross." This image shows a heroic Brown … as he walks to his execution on December 2, 1859.

John Brown, The Martyr New York:

Currier and Ives, 1870 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam007.html#jbrown

Election of 1860• Republicans hold their national convention in 1860.• Everyone expects Sen. Seward to be nominated.• Seward, however, has made too many aggressive

anti-slavery remarks.• Lincoln-Douglas Debates introduce Lincoln to the

nation, and he is nominated instead.• Democrats are split into North and South,

weakening the party.• Know-nothings and others form the Constitutional

Union Party, which takes away votes from the Dems• Lincoln wins the election.

South Secedes• Lincoln wins every Northern state and NOT ONE Southern

state.• Southerners feel they have lost their voice in the national

government. To protect their states’ rights they secede.• Dec. 20, 1860 South Carolina secedes, followed by

Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida and Texas.

• These 7 form the Confederate States of America.• President Buchanan does NOTHING.• The Nation waits: What will Lincoln do when he takes

office?

WHY DID THE SOUTH SECEDE?CHRONOLOGICAL1787

1861

MOST RESPONSIBLE:1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.