1. Warm up: Review Previous Lessons
Which areas were declared to use popular sovereignty in the Compromise of 1850?
What state was added as a free state in the Compromise of 1850?
What was repealed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Why did popular sovereignty in the Kansas-Nebraska Act make Northerners angry?

2. 1857: Dred Scott v. Sandford
1857: Dred Scott, born a slave, was taken by his owner into a free territory
After being denied a chance to purchase his freedom, Scott sued and argued that his residence in free territory meant he was now free
The Supreme Court made a ruling about slavery in the West

3. Dred Scott v. Sandford The ruling:
1. Scott was property, not a citizen, and therefore could not sue
2. The Constitution protects people’s property, including slaves
3. Slavery could NOT be banned in ANY western territory
North—Republicans and abolitionists were angry that slavery could legally spread west
South—southerners loved the ruling
The Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford is unanimously denounced by modern scholars. Many contemporary lawyers, and most modern legal scholars, consider the ruling regarding slavery in the territories to be obiter dictum and not a binding precedent. Bernard Schwartz says it "stands first in any list of the worst Supreme Court decisions—Chief Justice C. E. Hughes called it the Court's greatest self-inflicted wound.

4. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Illinois Republican Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for Senate and challenged him to a series of debates
Lincoln lost the election, but he and the Republican party gained popularity
Douglas said that slavery could be allowed but a territory did not have to pass laws to protect it
The South felt more threatened by Lincoln and northern Republicans
The debates were held in seven towns in the state of Illinois:

5. John Brown’s Raid
John Brown wanted to lead a slave rebellion
1859 Brown led a band of followers (including four of his sons) in an attack on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry Virginia
Brown planned to use weapons from the arsenal to form a slave army
Federal troops under the command of Robert E. Lee captured Brown and his followers
Brown and six followers were convicted of treason and executed
Many anti-slavery northerners viewed Brown as a martyr
Southerners saw Brown’s raid as evidence of the north’s desire to destroy the south
John Brown and his followers seized a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
Brown intended to smuggle military weapons to the South and start a major slave rebellion

6. John Brown’s Raid Brown is captured and executed
Abolitionists viewed John Brown as a martyr
Southerners feared Northern conspiracies to attack slavery
John Brown wanted to lead a slave rebellion
1859 Brown led a band of followers (including four of his sons) in an attack on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry Virginia
Brown planned to use weapons from the arsenal to form a slave army
Federal troops under the command of Robert E. Lee captured Brown and his followers
Brown and six followers were convicted of treason and executed
Many anti-slavery northerners viewed Brown as a martyr
Southerners saw Brown’s raid as evidence of the north’s desire to destroy the south