Chapter 15 - The Coming Crisis

Expansion and Growth Between 1800 and 1850: Population tripled national wealth doubled Great but unequal growth of wealth, industry, and urbanization Southern economic & political influence declining

MAP 15.2 The Compromise of 1850 MAP 15.2 The Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850, messier and more awkward than the Missouri Compromise of 1820, reflected heightened sectional tensions. California was admitted as a free state, the borders of Texas were settled, and the status of the rest of the former Mexican territory was left to be decided later by popular sovereignty. No consistent majority voted for the five separate bills that made up the compromise.

Political Parties Split over Slavery The country begins to divide over slavery & freedom: Whigs and Democrats forge intersectional coalitions Sectional divisions in politics and religious organizations

Congressional Divisions John C. Calhoun’s states’ rights defense: territories common property of each of the states Congress could not discriminate against slave owners Northerners grew increasingly concerned over what they saw as a southern conspiracy to control the government: the “slave power.” Millard Fillmore became president after Taylor died in office in 1850 weak, indecisive

Two Communities, Two Perspectives Both North and South: were committed to expansion, but each viewed manifest destiny in its own terms shared a commitment to basic rights and liberties but saw the other as infringing on them Northerners viewed their region as a dynamic society that offered opportunity to the common man, in contrast to the stagnant slave owning aristocracy of the South. Southerners viewed their section as promoting equality for whites by keeping blacks in a perpetual state of bondage.

The Election of 1852 The growing polarization of opinion strained the party system Democrats nominate Franklin Pierce Whigs nominate war hero Winfield Scott General apathy characterized the election: turnout fell below 70%.

“Young America” Between 1845 and 1848, the United States became a continental nation: The “Young America” movement pushed for expansion into Latin America. Failed offer to buy Cuba from Spain The Ostend Manifesto revealed Southern ambitions to gain more slave territory

The Politics of Nativism An outburst of anti-immigrant feeling: Huge influx of Irish into American cities Rise of the “Know-Nothing” or American Party to prevent what they saw as a takeover by the immigrants In response an expansionist, free soil Republican Party emerged

The Election of 1856 The Republican Party nominates John C. Frémont Democrats nominated James Buchanan as a compromise candidate Know-Nothings ran Millard Fillmore

The Election of 1860 Northern Democrats nominate Stephen Douglas Southern Democrats nominate John C. Breckinridge Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln Constitutional Union Party nominates John Bell And the winner is……. In the 1860 election, the Democrats would nominate Stephen Douglas for president. Southern Democrats, not willing to accept him as their candidate, chose John C. Breckenridge as their candidate, thus dividing their votes. Lincoln would eventually win the Republican nomination for the 1860 election and the electoral vote for presidency.

The Election of 1860 (cont'd) Breckinridge and Lincoln represented the extreme positions on slavery in the territories Douglas and Bell tried to find a middle ground Lincoln won the election by virtually sweeping the North but with no votes from the South which excluded him from their ballots

MAP 15.5 The Election of 1860 MAP 15.5 The Election of 1860 The election of 1860 was a sectional election. Lincoln won no votes in the South, Breckinridge none in the North. The contest in the North was between Lincoln and Douglas, and although Lincoln swept the electoral vote, Douglas’s popular vote was uncomfortably close. The large number of Northern Democratic voters opposed to Lincoln was a source of political trouble for him during the Civil War.

The Response in the South February 1st, 1860 – South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, & Texas secede!

The North’s Political Options The North appeared to have three options: Offer the South a compromise over slavery to maintain the Union Let the secessionist states go in peace Use force to maintain the Union

Establishment of the Confederacy The seven secessionist states established the Confederate States of America in February 1861 The Confederate Constitution was identical to the U.S. document but guaranteed states’ rights and protected slavery Jefferson Davis was chosen as its president

Lincoln’s Inauguration “I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Abraham Lincoln Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861

The Gathering Storm Americans in 1850, proud of their nation, did not anticipate the crises of the next decade. As compromise failed, the party system collapsed, with Southern Democrats rejecting a Northern Republican president Divided by slavery, Americans had no recourse but civil war.