Causes of the Civil War The 1850s: Road to Secession

Problems of Sectional Balance in 1850 California statehood. Southern “fire-eaters” threatening secession. Underground RR & fugitive slave issues: Personal liberty laws

The War With Mexico: Before the war: suspicions that the objective of war was to gain land: land that would be desirable to Southerners for cotton agriculture While the war was on, the Wilmot Proviso had been proposed by No. Democrats: no slavery would be allowed in any territory acquired from Mexico Could shift balance of power

Lewis Cass: Popular Sovereignty Allow the people of the territory to decide Organize territory w/o mention of slavery; Leave it to the people of the territory to decide for themselves A “democratic” method, BUT: at what stage do the people decide???

By 1850, sectionalism is prominent: 2 ways of life: urban v. rural, diverse population v. uniform culture 2 economic systems: industrial v. agricultural 2 political philosophies: “we the people” v. states’ rights

TERRITORY GAINED FROM MEXICO (Mexican Cession) California: wants to be admitted as a free state What will be the policy for the rest of the territory? TENSION…to keep peace Compromise of 1850: California: free state New Mexico & Utah: popular sovereignty DC: end slave trade Fugitive Slave Act

Clay’s Compromise of 1850 Admit California as free state New Mexico & Utah : popular sovereignty End slave trade in DC Adopt more stringent Fugitive Slave Act Settle boundary dispute b/t Texas & NM

Compromise of 1850

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896) So this is the lady who started the Civil War. -- Abraham Lincoln

Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Sold 300,000 copies in the first year. 2 million in a decade!

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852

The “Know-Nothings” [The American Party] Nativists. Anti-Catholics. Anti-immigrants. 1849  Secret Order of the Star-Spangled Banner created in NYC.

1852 Presidential Election √ Franklin Pierce Gen. Winfield Scott John Parker Hale Democrat Whig Free Soil

1852 Election Results

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

BACK to Louisiana Territory Kansas & Nebraska Act 1854 Stephen Douglas: railroad plans Organize these regions as territories Use popular sovereignty BUT: Missouri Compromise had already decided the issue: NO NEW SLAVE STATES Renews anger between North & South Fighting in Kansas (“bloody Kansas”)

Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians) “Bleeding Kansas” Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)

Bleeding Kansas Pro-slavery groups pour in to gain control; draw up Lecompton Constitution Anti-slavery groups, led by NE Emigrant Aid Society; draw up Topeka Constitution Guns all around. (John Brown & sons hack five pro-slavery men to death.)

Tension in Other Areas Congress: Charles Sumner of Mass. makes anti-slavery speech criticizes Sen. Andrew Butler of SC. Butler’s nephew, Preston Brooks (H of R), beat Sumner so badly with a cane, he was unable to return to Senate for 4 years Brooks was censured by H of R Southerners sent Brooks new canes

“The Crime Against Kansas” Sen. Charles Sumner (R-MA) Congr. Preston Brooks (D-SC)

Birth of the Republican Party, 1854 Northern Whigs. Northern Democrats. Free-Soilers. Know-Nothings. Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Ostend Manifesto 1854 Rationale to purchase Cuba from Spain If denied, U.S. should declare war Manifest Destiny Fallout from Bleeding Kansas is a setback from movement

1856 Presidential Election √ James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Whig

1856 Election Results

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857

The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858 A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

Stephen Douglas & the Freeport Doctrine Popular Sovereignty?

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, 1859

John Brown: Madman, Hero or Martyr? Mural in the Kansas Capitol building by John Steuart Curry (20c)

Republican Party Platform in 1860 Non-extension of slavery [for the Free-Soilers. Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists]. No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”]. Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest]. Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense. Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].

1860 Presidential Election √ Abraham Lincoln Republican John Bell Constitutional Union 1860 Presidential Election Stephen A. Douglas Northern Democrat John C. Breckinridge Southern Democrat

1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!

1860 Election Results

Crittenden Compromise: A Last Ditch Appeal to Sanity Senator John J. Crittenden (Know-Nothing-KY)

Secession!: SC Dec. 20, 1860

Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861