The Nation Breaking Apart How was the Compromise of 1850 similar to and different from the Missouri Compromise? Why was the Kansas Nebraska Act so controversial? What consequences did the Dred Scott decision have for free blacks? Popular Sovereignty Republican Party

The Nation Breaking Apart Compromises, Statehood, Laws, & People

North & South Take Different Paths More industry & Commerce Rapid growth of Northern cities Immigration from other countries Canals, railroads, roads connecting cities People heading to the NW territories Plantation Farming Few wealthy planters control the money Made profit from slave labor Economy based on exporting cotton Money invested in slaves, not industry North & South Take Different Paths

California’s Statehood New land out west leads to debate about expanding slavery Upset the balance in Congress between slave states and free states Most Californians want their state to be a free one Southerners want to divide the state in half: half free/half slave California’s Statehood

California’s Statehood President Zachary Taylor does not want to extend slavery & allows California to apply for statehood without going through territorial status first. This does not give the South time to move to California with slaves. 1850, California applies for statehood as a free state. Senator Jefferson Davis warns that the balance of power in Congress is permantly destroyed. California’s Statehood

Compromise of 1850 Senator Henry Clay to the rescue.......again! For the North.... he suggests that California be admitted as a free state, and that the slave trade is banned in Washington, D.C. For the South....he suggests that no laws regarding slavery would be passed in territories gained from Mexico and......... Compromise of 1850

Compromise of 1850 & The Fugitive Slave Act ....there would be a stronger law enforced that would help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves. Many felt that both sides had to give up too much, but many others just wanted to stop arguing about the slavery issue and hold the Union together. Compromise of 1850 & The Fugitive Slave Act

Runaway slaves that made it to the North would be recaptured and resold into slavery. Northerners were required to return runaway slaves to slave catchers. Southern slave catchers roamed the North looking for fugitive slaves. 1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It portrays the moral issues of slavery. Fugitive Slave Act

Characters in the book were Uncle Tom, an older respected slave, the three owners that Uncle Tom has had throughout his life, and Eliza, a slave who escapes with her baby. Northerners loved the book and made it popular. Southerners claimed it was untrue and exaggerated. Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

The debate over slavery brings bloodshed in the West. 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois proposes a bill that breaks the Nebraska Territory into Nebraska & Kansas. Who decides whether to make them slave or free states? Douglas suggests that the decision be decided by ‘Popular Sovereignty’, or a direct vote by the residents on the issue. Kansas Nebraska Act

If the popular sovereignty vote passed, it would allow people to vote for slavery in territories where the Missouri Compromise had banned it. Southerners LOVED this and supported the bill. It would allow them to potentially vote in slavery in areas where it had been banned. The bill passed and Kansas would turn into a battleground over slavery. Kansas Nebraska Act

Proslavery and antislavery supporters rush into Kansas to vote, including 5,000 proslavery Missourians who voted illegally. The Kansas legislature ends up packed with proslavery representatives. Antislavery settlers set up their own government and the problems began. Proslavery forces attack the town of Lawrence, Kansas, destroying offices of the governor. ‘Bleeding Kansas’

John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, with 7 others went to the cabins of his proslavery neighbors and murdered 5 people. Civil War breaks out in Kansas and continued for three years, thus becoming known as ‘Bleeding Kansas’. ‘Bleeding Kansas’

Republican Party Forms Antislavery politicians meet to form a new political party called the Republican Party. As a result of Bleeding Kansas, the Republican Party gained strength in the North. They nominated John C. Frémont for president.(Antislavery) Many blamed the violence in Kansas on the Democratic Party. They nominated James Buchanan for president.(Proslavery) Republican Party Forms

The American, or Know-Nothing Party, nominated Millard Fillmore for president. He had already served as president after the death of Zachary Taylor. They were divided over the slavery issue and had little political strength. James Buchanan won the election, but the Republican Party had shown that it was powerful and the nation was split over slavery. Know-Nothing Party

Dred Scott was a slave who had been brought from Missouri, a slave state, to territories where slavery was illegal. He was brought back to Missouri and after his owner’s death, he sued for his freedom saying that he had lived in free territory and should be free. The case reached the Supreme Court in 1856. What do you think the decision was? Why? The Case of Dred Scott

In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled against Scott. He claimed that Scott was not a U.S. citizen and could not sue in the U.S. court system. He also said that Scott was bound by Missouri’s slave code. The Decision

Dred Scott & Justice Taney

He also argued that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories because it violated their 5th Amendment property rights. He declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Do you think that Justice Taney was fair and impartial in his ruling? The Decision

John Brown on the Attack Again It’s 3 years later and John Brown is in Virginia with a plan to capture the weapons in the U.S. arsenal to give to slaves. He captured the Harper’s Ferry arsenal and killed 4 people in the raid. He sent out word for slaves to join him in the fight, but none did. The marines attacked Brown and captured him. He was tried for murder and treason, sentenced to hang, and was mourned by Northerners upon his death. The country is on the verge of breaking. John Brown on the Attack Again