1. Challenges to Slavery

2. VOCABULARY Arsenal Martyr A storage place for weapons and ammunition
A person who sacrifices his or her life for a principle or cause

3. The Republican Party Why Was the Republican Party Founded?
Northern Democrats were leaving the party
Slavery destroyed the Whig Party
1854 Antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers formed the Republican Party
Candidates ran for state and congressional elections in 1854
Message: Government should ban slavery from new territories
Republicans won control of the House of Representatives and several state governments
No support for the Republicans in the South
3/4 of the Democratic candidates from free states lost in 1854
Now becoming a “Southern party”

4. The Election of 1856 Election Results (R) John C. Fremont (CA)
“Free soil, free speech, nd Fremont”
(D) James Buchanan (PA)
Former Congressman
Popular sovereignty
(American Party-Know Nothings)
Former President Millard Fillmore
Attacked immigrants
Election Results
Buchanan: Won 174 electoral votes
Fremont: 114 electoral votes
Did not receive a single electoral vote south of the Mason-Dixon line
Fillmore: 8 electoral votes

5. Lincoln and Douglas Senate Election 1858
Stephen A. Douglas
Abraham Lincoln
A likely candidate for president in 1860
Disliked slavery, but thought the controversy hurt the nation’s growth
Believed popular sovereignty would solve the issue
Born of a poor background in KY
Intelligent,
ambitious,
and successful
lawyer

6. Lincoln and Douglas Debates
Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates
Met 7 times in August, September, and October of 1858
Slavery was the main topic
Debate at Freeport
Lincoln: Questioned his views on popular sovereignty
Douglas: People could exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting slaveholders rights
Satisfied antislavery followers, lost him support in the South
Became known as the Freeport Doctrine
Douglas: Claimed Lincoln wanted African Americans to be fully equal with whites
Lincoln denied this and said the real issue is “between the men who think slavery is wrong and those who do not think it is wrong. The Republican Party thinks its wrong.”
Douglas won the election by a narrow victory
Lincoln still received a national reputation from the debates

7. The Raid on Harper’s Ferry
October 16, 1859 John Brown led 18 men (including whites and African Americans) on a raid in Harper’s Ferry, VA
His target was an arsenal
Hoped to start a rebellion against the slaveholders by arming enslaved African Americans
Quickly defeated by local citizens and federal troops
Convicted of treason and murder and was sentenced to hang
Some Northerners denounced his use of violence
Others (including Ralph Waldo Emerson) proclaimed him a martyr
Rallying point for abolitionists
Southerners felt a great Northern conspiracy against them seemed inevitable
The Raid on Harper’s Ferry

8. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
According to the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Constitution protected what institution from acts of Congress?
Slavery
Who challenged Stephen Douglas in the Senate race in Illinois and debated him repeatedly on the issue of slavery?
Abraham Lincoln
Which abolitionist led a failed raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia arsenal in 1859?
John Brown