1. Yes, that means that there is a test coming...
Unit 6 Review
Yes, that means that there is a test coming...

2. Stephen Douglas and the Transcontinental Railroad
Stephen Douglas was an Illinois Democrat senator
Transcontinental railroad would make Chicago THE major trade hub of the entire midwest
Congressional delegates from Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois worked to organize the Nebraska Territory (northern part of the Louisiana Purchase)
This would illegally erase Indian claims to the land

3. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
Created in order to keep the South happy (balance of political power)
Revoked the 36/30 Missouri Compromise line
Replaced the restrictions on slavery with the concept of popular sovereignty
Opened the entire Louisiana Purchase to slavery

4. Kansas: A House Divided
Groups began to spring up in places such as Missouri and New York in hopes of sending voters into Kansas in order to sway the vote on popular sovereignty
Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed virtually any “resident” to vote
Pro-Slavery “Pukes” came in from Missouri and elected a proslavery majority to the convention
Missouri, in particular, did not want Kansas to be a free-soil state because it would create a free zone below a slave belt
Free-soil forces held their own convention
Kansas now had two conventions, two capitals, and two sets of Senators
The divide leads to “Bleeding Kansas” in 1855

5. Pottawatomie Massacre
John Brown led seven others on a vigilante-style assassination of proslavery men
Brown and his men hunted the other men, using only their broadswords, along Pottawatomie Creek
Killed and mutilated five men and boys

6. Charles Sumner
Senator Sumner presented a speech called “The Crime Against Kansas”
His speech attacks slavery and Kansas but also personally attacks Stephen Douglas and Senator Andrew Butler
Butler was an old man with a speech impediment, and the attacks were unfair and mean
Congressman Preston Brooks, a relative of Butler’s, sought to defend his honor and challenged Sumner to a duel
When Sumner refused to duel Brooks Brooks physically attacked him, beating him repeatedly with his cane
Brooks became a hero to the South and “Brooks canes” can into vogue - Charleston, SC even presented Brooks with a new walking stick that said “Hit Him Again!” on it

7. Downfall of the Whigs
The Whigs were unwilling to take a stand on the major moral issue of their time (slavery) and this led to their downfall
The expansion of the Democrats also contributed to their demise, especially in the South

8. The American Party
Was created as a negative reaction to the influx of German and Irish immigrants
Held an “anti-immigrant” view
Nicknamed the “Know-Nothing” Party because of the secrecy of the group and for the members’ reply when asked about their organization, “I know nothing”
Greatest weakness was that it alienated immigrants who were opposed to slavery

9. The Anti-Nebraska Party
Sought to unite all people who opposed slavery
Became known as the “Republican” Party
The party experienced very rapid growth, perhaps the fastest of any political party of that time
They made slavery the key issue because they realized that all other issues were connected to slavery either directly or indirectly

10. The Election of 1856
Republicans selected John C. Fremont, and not William Seward, as their candidate
Southerners were afraid of Fremont being elected, stating that his election would be “the end of the Union”
Democrats chose Senator James Buchanan
Saw slavery as a sectional issue subject to political compromise
The American Party chose Millard Fillmore, who was rejected by the Whig Party
He did not have a real chance to win but hoped that the electoral vote count would be close enough that the choice would have to go to the House
Buchanan wins the election

11. Dred Scott Slave born to Army surgeon John Emerson
Emerson moves, with Scott, to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory - both of which prohibited slavery
When Emerson dies Dred Scott and his wife and part of the estate that goes to Emerson’s daughter - his friends sue on his behalf, claiming his freedom
The jury agreed that Scott should be free but Mrs. Emerson appealed the decision and the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision based on the law of comity (this allowed them to avoid the issue of declaring Scott either property or a citizen)
After being given to Mrs. Scott’s brother, John Sanford, Scott files a case in his own name, Scott v. Sandford, which makes it to the Supreme Court
The SCOTUS ruled against Scott
Roger B. Taney’s opinion said that no slave could be a citizen because they were not born a citizen and that blacks were, in fact, inferior to whites

12. Stephen Douglas and the Transcontinental Railroad
Stephen Douglas was an Illinois Democrat senator
Transcontinental railroad would make Chicago THE major trade hub of the entire midwest
Congressional delegates from Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois worked to organize the Nebraska Territory (northern part of the Louisiana Purchase)
This would illegally erase Indian claims to the land

13. Roger B Taney Supreme Court Chief Justice in the Dred Scott case
Taney’s opinion
Blacks in America are not and will never be citizens

14. Panic of 1857
Investors were afraid of another Bleeding Kansas and started selling off their shares in the railroads
Affects the stock market and the banks
South feels more free economically because of “King Cotton”

15. Fire Eaters
Aggressive, often violent proslavery supporters (extremists) who believed that slavery proved superior to the factory system of the North

16. Lecompton Constitution
Pro-slavery Constitution of Kansas
2nd constitution drafted
Congress strongly opposed this constitution
Made life hard for Buchanan

17. William English
Tells Kansas you’ll get 23 million acres if you accept the Lecompton Constitution otherwise you have to wait until you reach 90,000 (1861) to become a state

18. Lincoln Almost Quits
He had run for Commissioner of the General Land Office - and he lost
I’m done, I’m going to give up
Mary Todd Lincoln convinces him not to give up

19. Springfield, IL Speech “A House divided against itself cannot stand…”
Referring to America and the issue of slavery

20. Lincoln’s Opinion of Slavery
God cannot be both for and against the same thing
Lincoln is anti-expansionism not anti-slavery
View pre-Civil War

21. The Wanderer
Charles A. L. Lamar purchases a ship from New York and has it modified and sent to Savannah
Travels to Africa and purchases 600 slaves, 300 of which die on the way back
He is arrested and goes on trial
He is questioned and released without charges
Repurchases his own ship at auction
The South will not enforce anti slavery laws