1. Section 3 – pg 368 The Crisis Deepens
Chapter 10
Section 3 – pg 368
The Crisis Deepens

2. A New Antislavery Party
Pg 368
A New Antislavery Party
As the Whig party split up in 1854, many northerners joined the new political party
Republican Party: main goal was to stop the spread of slavery
Attracted northern democrats and Free-Soil Party members
Congressional elections held months after party formed
Of the 245 candidates elected to the House of Reps, 105 were Republicans
Causes Democrats to lose control of all but 2 northern state legislatures

3. 2 years later, Republicans ran their first Presidential candidate
Pg 368
2 years later, Republicans ran their first Presidential candidate
John C. Fremont, the army officer who helped CA win independence during Mexican-American War
Ran a strong antislavery campaign
Democrat James Buchanan was elected
Fremont had won 11 of the nation’s 16 free states

4. The Dred Scott Decision
Pg 369
The Dred Scott Decision
In March 1857 (3 days after Buchanan took office) Supreme Court decided the case of Dred Scott vs Sandford
Big blow to antislavery forces
Dred Scott was an enslaved person who
was owned by a US Army doctor
They lived in Illinois, Wisconsin, and
Missouri
With the help of antislavery lawyers
Scott sued for his freedom
Argued that he was free b/c they had lived where slavery was illegal

5. The Court Decides Pg 369 Chief Justice Roger B Taney wrote out
decision for the court
Decided Scott was not free for 2 reasons
B/c he is a African American and therefore not a citizen, he had no right to sue in federal court
Traveling to other territories does not matter b/c slaves are property and the Constitution protects citizens right to property
Also decided that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in any territory thus the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional

6. Pg 369
Reaction
Supporters of slavery were very happy b/c this meant slavery was now legal in all of America
Northerners were stunned at the decision
African American leader Fredrick Douglas felt that outrage over this decision would bring more whites over to the abolitionist cause
One northerner, an Illinois lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, spoke out against the decision
Said that the idea that African Americans
could not be citizens was based on a false
view of history
Soon, Lincoln became a central figure in
the fight against the spread slavery

7. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Pg 370
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln had a brief career in politics
Serves in the Illinois state legislature
Elected to Congress as a Whig
Left after a single term to return to Illinois to practice law
Opposing the Kansas – Nebraska Act, brought him back to politics on the Republican side
Had a rivalry against Senator Stephen Douglas who had written the act
They both had courted Mary Todd, who ended
up marrying Lincoln
This hottie 

8. Pg 370
A House Divided
In 1858, Illinois Republicans chose Lincoln to run for the Senate against Douglas
Accepted the nomination
“A house divided against itself
cannot stand”
Lincoln did not state that he
wanted to ban slavery but many
southerners were convinced
that he was an abolitionist

9. Pg 371
Debating Slavery
Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of public debates
Thousands of people were to hear him speak
Douglas strongly defended popular sovereignty
Said each state had the right to do what they wanted
Also painted Lincoln as a dangerous abolitionist who wanted equality for African Americans
Lincoln took the stand against the spread of slavery
“If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong”
Said that slavery would die on its own but we need to keep it out of the west

10. Pg 371
In response to Douglas said that he had no interest in bringing social and political equality for whites and blacks
But did state that he believed that African Americans had the right to the same freedoms under the Declaration of Independence
In the end, Douglas won Senate election
The debates had made Lincoln known
throughout the country
2 yrs later, they meet against in the
race for Presidency

11. Pg 371
John Brown’s Raid
John Brown had been run out of Kansas after the Pottawatomie Massacre (when he killed 5 proslavery people)
Went to New England where he hatched a plot to raise an army and free people in the South who were enslaved
In 1859, Brown and a small band of supporters attacked the town of Harpers Ferry in Virginia
Goal was to seize guns stored there by the US Army
He thought that the enslaved African Americans would support him and he would give them weapons and lead them in a revolt

12. Pg 371
Brown’s forces got control of the guns but troops controlled by Colonel Robert E Lee surrounded Brown’s forces before they could escape
Ten of Brown’s men were killed
Brown was wounded and captured

13. Pg 372 At Brown’s trial, he sat quietly as the court
found him guilty of murder and treason
His defense was that the Bible had instructed
him to care for the poor and enslaved
Was sentenced to death
Hung in Virginia on December 2, 1859
Many northerners considered him a hero
The southerners saw it as proof that the north was trying to destroy their way of life