Chapter 21 Power Point A Dividing Nation Essential Question: Which events of the mid-1800s kept the nation together and which events pulled it apart?

Election of 1860   Abraham Lincoln was elected as President.   He faced a nation that had split apart over the issue of states’ rights regarding slavery and was preparing for civil war!   Lincoln wrote in a letter to a friend, “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”

21.2 Continuing the Issue of Slavery   In 1819 – Alabama and Missouri applied to Congress as slave states.   Congress didn’t question Alabama as a slave state, since it was located far south of the Ohio River and was surrounded by slave states.   Congress also wanted to keep the slave states and free states equal. Illinois was admitted in 1818 as a free state. This would restore the balance.

21.2 Continuing the Issue of Slavery   BUT – most of Missouri was geographically considered to be in the north.   States that were north of the Ohio River were to be free states.

21.2 Continuing the Issue of Slavery   Southerners in Congress were afraid that if there were more free states than slaves states ~ they would lose voting power.   The North already had more votes in the House of Representatives than the South.

21.3 Missouri Compromise   Rather than risk the breakup of the Union, Henry Clay came up with the Missouri Compromise.   In 1820 ~ Missouri was admitted as a slave state ~ and Maine was admitted as a free state.   This kept the balance of power between free and slave states the same ~ which temporarily ended the slavery debate.

21.3 Missouri Compromise   Congress also drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana Purchase at latitude 36 degrees 30’.   North of this line ~ slavery was to be banned forever.   South of the line, slavery was allowed.

21.4 The Missouri Compromise unravels   The states were flooding Congress with requests either “for” or “against” slavery, but they decided to set aside indefinitely any antislavery petitions.   Abolitionists attacked slavery in books, newspapers, and at public meetings.   White Southerners deeply resented these attacks on their way of life.

Compromise of 1850   Daniel Webster and Henry Clay worked together to balance the interests of the North and the South with regard to slavery. Clay created this compromise ~ and Webster helped to get it approved.

Compromise of 1850   The Compromise of 1850 admitted California into the Union as a free state. It also allowed New Mexico and Utah territories to decide whether to allow slavery, outlawing the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and it created a stronger Fugitive Slave Law.   The Fugitive Slave Law required the return of escaped slaves.

Fugitive Slave Act   It failed because… Northerners didn’t want to enforce the Act ~ Southerners felt the act didn’t do enough to ensure the return of their escaped property.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin   Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe.   In the South, the novel and Stowe were hated.   In the North, it made many more people angry about the cruelties of slavery. It turned many more against the horrors of slavery.   In the book, the main character was beaten to death by his master.

Kansas-Nebraska Act   This Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine whether they would allow slavery within each territory. KansasNebraskaMissouri Compromise   It allowed slavery in new Northern territories.

Kansas-Nebraska Act   The act was designed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.   The initial purpose of the Kansas–Nebraska Act was to open up many thousands of new farms and make feasible a Midwestern Transcontin ental Railroad.   Instead it led to a violent struggle over slavery in Kansas. Stephen Douglas

Violence in Congress   Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was greatly disturbed about the violence in Kansas. He gave a powerful speech in Congress about it. The speech was reprinted and distributed in the North.   Two days later, South Carolina representative Preston Brooks attacked Sumner in the Senate ~ beating him with his metal- tipped cane until it broke in half. It rendered Sumner bloody and unconscious.   Southerners applauded the attack ~ and Northerners viewed it as another example of the South’s brutality.

The Struggle Over Slavery Becomes Violent   Lawrence, Kansas ~ the home of the antislavery government was attacked by proslavery settlers.   In retaliation ~ an abolitionist ~ John Brown ~ plotted revenge by attacking a proslavery town in Kansas. He and his 4 sons and son-in- law dragged 5 men they suspected of supporting slavery from their homes and hacked them to death with swords.

From Congress to the Supreme Court   Dred Scott was a slave. His owner took him outside the south and through states that did not allow slavery. These states had rules that any enslaved person brought into the state became free. Dred Scott sued to try to win his freedom.

The Dred Scott Case   The Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, a negro, had no rights whatsoever. He was property, not a person or a citizen. He had no right to sue in federal court. Further, the court ruled that the federal government had no legal right to interfere with the institution of slavery.   The Dred Scott case is, for many people, the absolute worst point in the history of the Supreme Court.

John Brown’s Raid   Lincoln fought to stop the spread of slavery through politics.   The abolitionist, John Brown decided not to wait for Congress to act. He planned to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA.   An arsenal is a place where weapons and ammunition are stored.

John Brown’s Raid   Brown launched his raid in He wanted to arm slaves for a rebellion to end slavery.   All of Brown’s men were either killed or captured during the raid.   Brown was convicted of treason and sentenced to death ~ but many Northerners viewed him as a hero.

Election of 1860   Abraham Lincoln won this election, running for the Republican Party.   His opponents divided their votes three ways. In 10 Southern states, Lincoln wasn’t even on the ballot. All of his votes were cast in the North. Abraham Lincoln – Republican Party Stephen Douglas – Northern Democrats John C. Breckinridge – Southern Democrats John Bell – Constitutional Union Party

Election of 1860   The results of this election delivered a message to the South that it was now in the minority.   Southerners were afraid that Congress would try to abolish slavery.

Lincoln on Slavery   Once elected ~ Lincoln decided not to interfere with slavery in the South.   He supported the Fugitive Slave Act.   BUT he drew the line at letting slavery extend into the territories.

The South Secedes from the Union   On December 20, 1860 ~ South Carolina voted to secede from the Union.   Six more Southern states soon followed South Carolina’s lead ( Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas).   February 1861 ~ those states joined together as the Confederate States of America.

Attack on Fort Sumter   April 12, 1861 ~ Confederates in South Carolina attacked Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charlestown Harbor.   After 33 hrs. defenders of the fort hauled down the American flag and replaced it with the white flag of surrender.

The Civil War Begins   The time for compromise was now over following the attack on Fort Sumter.   The issues that had divided the nation for so many years would now be decided by a civil war.