1. Drifting Toward Disunion
Chapter 19
Drifting Toward Disunion

2. Kansas Territory erupted in violence in 1855
1820 Missouri Compromise invalidated by the Dred Scott decision
1860 nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President

3. Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Sources of her antislavery sentiments lay in the crusades of the Second Great Awakening
Millions of copies of her book were sold
It made slavery appear almost as evil as it really was.
Lincoln said to her, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”

4. Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries
1858 Hinton R. Helper’s The Impending Crisis of the South
He hated slavery and blacks
Book was banned and burned in the South
Believed that nonslaveholding whites suffered most from slavery.

6. The North-South Contest for Kansas
Northerners searching for richer lands
Census of 1860 found two slaves out of 107,000 people in Kansas and only 15 in Nebraska
1885 election=victory for slave supporters
1856 proslavery raiders burned part of the free-soil town of Lawrence

7. Kansas in Convulsion John Brown “Old Brown”
Dedicated to abolitionist cause
May 1856 led followers to Pottawatomie Creek
1856 Civil War in Kansas
1857 Kansas had enough people to apply for statehood with popular sovereignty.
Lecompton Constitution (devised by proslavery forces)
People only allowed to vote for slavery or no slavery
No matter what, there would still be black bondage as slave owners already in Kansas were protected.
Many free-soilers were upset and boycotted the polls and the 1857 constitution was approved with slavery

8. “Bully” Brooks and His Bludgeon
Senator Charles Sumner of Mass. (leading abolitionist) delivered a speech “The Crime Against Kansas”
Condemned proslavery men
Insulting to South Carolina and Senator Andrew Butler
May 22, 1856 Congressman Preston S. Brooks of Carolina approached Sumner, pounded the orator with a cane, and made the victim fall bleeding to the floor
Brooks resigned and then was reelected
Sumner left for three and a half years to Europe for treatment
Mass. Reelected Sumner

10. “Old Buck” Versus “The Pathfinder”
Democrats met in Cincinnati to nominate presidential standard bearer of 1856
James Buchanan(Penn. Lawyer) chosen
“Old Buck” Buchanan
Republicans nominated Captain John C. Fremont (pathfinder of the West) who was supposed to find path to White House
Know-Nothing Party = secret American party organized by “nativists” (old stock Protestants)
1856 nominated Millard Fillmore
Antiforeign and anti-Catholic
Slogan “Americans Must Rule America”

11. The Electoral Fruits of 1856
Buchanan won by beating Fremont and Fillmore

12. The Dred Scott Bombshell
Dred Scott decision was handed down by the Supreme Court on March 6, 1857
Dred Scott (black slave) sued for freedom because of his long residence on free soil
The Supreme Court ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had been unconstitutional
The court believed that because a slave was property he could be taken into any territory and legally held there in slavery.
The reason was because the 5th Amend. Forbade Congress to deprive people of their property.

13. The Financial Crash of 1857 Causes
California gold helped inflate currency
Demands of Crimean War over stimulated growing of grain
Furious speculation in land and railroads
5000 businesses failed within a year
North was hit the hardest while the South enjoyed cotton prices
1860 Congress passed a homestead act: Public lands were available for 25 cents an acre
Vetoed by President Buchanan
Republicans given two issues for election: protection and farms

14. An Illinois Rail-Splitter Emerges
Illinois Senatorial election of 1858
Republican candidate = Abraham Lincoln
Born in 1809 in Kentucky to impoverished parents
Better-known trial lawyer in Illinois
One term in Congress
Received 110 votes for vice-presidential nomination at Philadelphia Convention of 1856

15. The Great Debate: Lincoln versus Douglas
Seven debates between August to October 1858
Most famous debate came at Freeport, Illinois
Lincoln asked whether the vote of the people or the vote of the Supreme Court would prevail
Douglas’s response (“Freeport Doctrine”) was aimed toward the people and stated that “No matterhow the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people voted it down.”
Douglas defeated Lincoln for Senate seat
But Douglas hurt his chances of winning presidency

17. John Brown Murder or Martyr?
John Brown’s plan = invade south secretly, call slaves to rise, give them arms, and establish a black free state
On October 1859, at Harpers Ferry, Brown killed and injured innocent people
He and some of his followers were captured by U.S. Marines
“Old Brown” was convicted of murder and treason
He was hung

18. The Disruption of the Democrats
Dem. Met in Charleston, South Carolina where departure was becoming a habit
Dem. Then tried in Baltimore but many walked out
Constitutional Union Party was organized
Met in Baltimore and nominated John Bell of Tenn. For presidency
Believed in the Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the Laws

19. A Rail-Splitter Splits the Union
Republicans met in Chicago in the Wigwam (huge, boxlike wooden structure)
A noisy election campaign broke out
Victory = Lincoln

20. The Electoral Upheaval of 1860
Election of 1860 was virtually two elections: in North and in South
Lincoln (Republican) Breckinridge (Democratic) Bell (Constitutional Union) Douglas (Democratic)
Federal gov. could not touch slavery in those states where it existed except by a constitutional amendment
Lincoln wins election with only 40% of the popular vote. Democrats together amassed more votes.

21. The Secessionist Exodus
Dec Convention at Charleston led to secessions of states in lower South (ex. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Texas)
Feb at Montgomery, Alabama led to creation of gov. called the Confederate States of America
President Jefferson Davis
Lincoln could not take office until March 4, 1861
Buchanan was blamed for not holding the Union together.
Lincoln did the same (wait and see).

22. The Collapse of Compromise
Senator James Henry Crittenden of Kentucky proposed Crittenden amendments to the Constitution which were designed to appease the South
Slavery would be allowed south of 36° 30’, given federal protection in all territories as well as future territories such as Cuba or Mexico.
Lincoln rejected the Crittenden plan

23. Farewell to Union
Many Southerners supported secession because they saw it as an opportunity and believed they would be unopposed.
13 original states had entered the Union and now 7 – ultimately 11 – Southern states were voluntarily withdrawing from it

24. “Act of Secession”