1. Chapter 15, Section 2

2.  The party had formed in 1834 to oppose the polices of Andrew Jackson.  Some Southern Whigs joined the Democratic Party.  The Northern Whigs joined with other rivals and formed the Republican Party.

3.  The party was both an antislavery and a sectional party sought to protect the interest of the North.  They quickly gained strength in the north due to the events of “Bleeding Kansas.”  With the 1856 election nearing, the republicans seized the chance to gain seats in Congress and win the presidency.

4.  The Republicans needed a strong presidential candidate to strengthen their young party.  They elected John C. Frémont, a young hero known for explorations in the west.  Republicans liked Frémont because he wanted to admit California and Kansas as free states.

6.  The democrats nominated James Buchanan. Buchanan was working overseas as the ambassador to Great Britain, and said little about slavery, but rather his main goal was to preserve the Union.  The American Party, or Know- Nothing Party, an anti-immigrant party nominated Millard Fillmore. Fillmore had been president following the death of Zachary Taylor.

7.  The election turned into two separate races.  In the North, it was Buchanan against Frémont.  In the South, it was Buchanan against Fillmore.  Buchanan won, he carried all the slaves states besides Maryland, where Fillmore claimed his only victory.  Frémont won 11 Northern states, resulting in the power of newly created republican party.

9.  Dred Scott had been an enslaved person in Missouri.  Scott had lived in a free territory for quite some time, before being taken back to Missouri.  After his owners death, Scott argued he was a free man because he had lived in a free territory.  Scott and his family sued in court for their freedom.

10.  In 1856, the Dred v. Sandford case had reached the Supreme Court.  In 1857, the Court ruled against Scott.  Chief Justice Roger B. Taney stated that Scott was not a U.S. Citizen, as a result he could not sue in U.S. courts. Taney also ruled that Scott lived in Missouri, so he was bound by Missouri Slave Code.

11.  After the Dred Scott decision, the Republicans charged that the Democrats wanted to legalize slavery in all territories and states. Stephen A. Douglas, sponsor of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, was on of their main targets in 1858. That year, Illinois Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln to challenge Douglas for his U.S. Senate seat.  Lincoln expressed the Northern fear that Southerners wanted to expand slavery to the entire nation.

12.  Lincoln laid forth the groundwork of his speech by quoting the bible.  The two men held debates across Illinois in front of large crowds.  The Lincoln-Douglas debates are models of political debate today.

13.  For Lincoln, slavery was “a moral, a social and a political wrong.” He did not suggest that he wanted to end slavery, but rather stop it from expanding.  Douglas agreed that it was the national governments role to prevent the expansion of slavery, but he argued that popular sovereignty was the best way to address the issue.  However popular sovereignty was considered unconstitutional from the Dred Scot case. As slaves were considered property, people could not vote to ban slavery because doing so would take slaveholders property rights away.

14.  John Brown wanted to provoke a slave uprising. He planned to capture the weapons in the U.S> arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  On October 16, 1859, Brown and 18 followers- 13 white and 5 black- captured the Harpers Ferry arsenal.  Brown sent out word to rally and arm local slaves, but instead he was met by U.S. Marines.  Brown was tried for murder and treason. He was convicted and sentenced to death.