1. LESSON 3
The Crisis of the 1850s

2. Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the belief that Americans had a God-given right to own all the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Many Americans also believed it was their duty to spread American political, economic, and social values to others.
The United States achieved its manifest destiny through treaties with other nations and from a war with Mexico, which cost Mexico a third of its land.

3. “American Progress”
This painting was titled “American Progress” by its painter John Gast.
Why do you think it has come to represent the idea of Manifest Destiny?

4. Achieving Manifest Destiny
The Mexican Cession is the land gained by the United States from Mexico as a result of the Mexican War, 1846–1848.
What states were eventually carved out of this land that once belonged to Mexico?

5. The Question of Slavery
A Growing Divide
The Question of Slavery
The debate over slavery intensified after the Mexican War.
Congress had to figure out if slavery would be allowed in the new states territories.
Before the war, the proposed Wilmot Proviso sought to ban slavery from any land won in the war with Mexico.
Although it did not become law, it was a sign that tensions were rising and war was coming.

6. Compromise of 1850 The Compromise had four key points:
A Growing Divide
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise had four key points:
Allowed California to become a free state.
Created Utah and New Mexico and let the people there decide on the slavery issue (popular sovereignty).
Discontinued the slave trade in Washington, DC.
Strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law.
Few people were pleased with the compromise. Calhoun was furious.

7. The Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay speaking to the Senate about the Compromise of Daniel Webster is seated to his left, and John C Calhoun is seated to the left of the Speaker’s chair.

8. Opposition to the Compromise: South Carolina Considers Secession
A Growing Divide
Opposition to the Compromise: South Carolina Considers Secession
Three groups formed in South Carolina.
Secessionists wanted South Carolina to secede from the US.
Unionists wanted to stay in the Union.
Cooperationists thought seceding would be okay only if other states followed.
At a convention, the leaders of South Carolina decided secession wasn’t necessary yet.

9. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
A Growing Divide
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Part of the Louisiana Purchase became Kansas and Nebraska.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise and allowed slavery question to be settled by popular sovereignty.
Pro-slavery men went to Kansas to intimidate voters into voting for slavery. Abolitionists, including John Brown, fought back.
Kansas became known as “Bleeding Kansas” because of all the bloodshed.

10. A Growing Divide
Bloody Congress
Outspoken Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, was attacked by South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks after speaking out against slavery in Congress.
How did Northerners and Southerners react to this event? How was the event a sign that relations between the regions were beyond repair?

11. What do you think the creator of this cartoon thought about event?
A Growing Divide
Bloody Congress
What do you think the creator of this cartoon thought about event?

12. Birth of the Republican Party
A Growing Divide
Birth of the Republican Party
Events in Kansas and Congress deepened the divide between North and South
The Whig Party died because of divisions over slavery.
Abolitionists and free-soilers from the Whig Party joined with others to form the new Republican Party.

13. The Dred Scott Decision
A Growing Divide
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a Missouri slave who lived with his master in free states for many years.
When his master died, he sued for his freedom.
The Supreme Court denied Scott’s claim, ruling that because he was black he was not a citizen and therefore had no rights, including the right to file a lawsuit.

14. A Growing Divide
Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown, an ardent abolitionist, wanted to start a slave rebellion in Virginia.
With 20 men, he seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
Colonel Robert E. Lee captured Brown and he was hanged publicly.
Brown became a martyr for the abolitionist cause.

15. A Growing Divide
Raid on Harpers Ferry
A newspaper illustration shows John Brown and his followers moments before solders led by Col. Robert E. Lee captured them.

16. John Brown—Villain or Hero
A Growing Divide
John Brown—Villain or Hero
John Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in US History.
His supporters viewed his actions as heroic. They believed his death made him a martyr for the abolitionist cause.
His opponents saw him as a terrorist, who used violence to promote his cause.
What do you think?

17. A Growing Divide
The Election of 1860
The country was bitterly divided on the issue of slavery, and the tension came to a climax in with the election of Abraham Lincoln.
Four candidates:
Lincoln—Republican
Stephen Douglas—Northern Democrats
John C. Breckinridge—Southern Democrats
John Bell—Constitutional Union Party
Lincoln won. South Carolina seceded about a month later.

18. This political cartoon criticized the rowdy divisions in national politics that came out in the 1860 election. Why do you think the artist does not seem to support any of the candidates?

19. The Election of 1860