Sectional Conflict Intensifies Chapter 10

War with Mexico The United States defeated Mexico in a war that lasted from Result: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo= Mexico ceded (gave up) more than 500,000 square miles of territory to the United States. This land included: California, Utah, Nevada, and parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming

Using the map above, write down the slave states and free states in your notebook.

The Great Debate The Mexican war heightened the opposing view points on slavery and led to sectional tensions. Southerners also wanted new laws to help them retrieve African Americans who escaped to free territory.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe Stowe presented African Americans as real people imprisoned in dreadful circumstances (slavery). The book shed light to many northerners on the harshness of slavery. Southerners tried to have the novel banned and attacked it’s portrayal of slavery. Some historians even consider it one of the causes of the Civil War.

The Fugitive Slave Act Established in A person claiming that an African American had escaped from slavery only had to point out that person as a runaway and the slave would be taken into custody. The accused African American had no right to a trial. Federal commissioner received $10 if they decided in favor of the slaveholder and $5 if the decision went the other way. This outraged many northerners.

The Underground Railroad It was a well organized system that was legendary during the 1830’s and helped thousands of slaves escape. “Conducters” helped transport runaways north to free states in secret and gave them shelter and food along the way. Harriet Tubman: the most famous, “conducter,” herself a runaway, risked many trips to the South.

The Underground Railroad

The Transcontinental Railroad

Transcontinental Railroad The opening of Oregon and the admission of California to the Union convinced Americans that a transcontinental railroad needed to be built to connect the West Coast to the rest of the country. Reduced the trip from many grueling weeks to only four days while promoting settlement and growth in the territories along the route.

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed settlers to move into that area and decide whether or not they wanted slavery (popular sovereignty).

The Kansas Nebraska Act

The Dred Scott Decision Dred Scott was an enslaved man whose Missouri slaveholder had taken him to live in free territory before returning from Missouri. Scott sued to end his slavery. On March 6, 1857, the Supreme Court ruled against Scott claiming that African Americans were not citizens and could not sue in the courts. The decision further intensified the sectional conflict.

John Brown’s Raid A proclaimed abolitionist who claimed that “God had raised him up to break the jaws of the wicked.” Armed a group of enslaved people and began an insurrection, or rebellion, against slaveholders.

The Election of 1860

Secession To secede means to withdraw from a formal alliance, association, or political union. Many southern states felt that Lincoln winning the election was a win for the abolitionist movement. South Carolina was the first state to secede. By February 1, more states in the lower south (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had voted to secede. February 1861 the seceding states declared themselves the Confederate States of America or the Confederacy.

The Confederacy The Convention created their own Constitution which declared each state independent and guaranteed the existence of slavery in each state. They chose Jefferson Davis as their president who declared, “The time for compromise has now passed. The south is determined to…make all who oppose her smell Southern powder and feel southern steel.”

Fort Sumter Falls In April Lincoln announced that he intended to resupply Fort Sumter (South Carolina). Jefferson Davis decided to bomb Fort Sumter for 33 relentless hours wrecking the fort but killing no one. The Civil War had begun.

The Upper South Secedes After the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve in the military for 90 days. The call for troops created a crisis in the Upper South. They believed they had no choice but to secede from the Union. By June of 1861Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee had all seceded.

The Border States To prevent Maryland’s succession, Lincoln applied martial law. Under martial law, the military takes control of an area and replaces civilian authorities and it suspends certain civil rights. Anyone supporting the succession could be arrested and held without trial. The Kentucky government was divided between the Confederacy and the Union. Missouri was held to the Union’s cause with the support of federal forces. war-the-south-secedes-and-war-begins-video.htm war-the-south-secedes-and-war-begins-video.htm