Ch 19: Drifting Toward Disunion (1854-1861)
Already existing sectional tensions were further strained by these short term causes of the Civil War
A) Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852) & Hinton R. Helper (1857)
1. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) helped start the war—and win it.
B) Bleeding Kansas (1854-1858)
1. The North-South Contest for Kansas
C) Election of 1856: Neither Dem & Rep Candidates Tarred by the Kansas Brush
1. Republicans lost b/c:
D) The Dred Scott Bombshell (March 6, 1857) & the Financial Crisis of 1857
1. Scott: slave who lived w. master for 5yrs on IL-WI--> sued for freedom on basis of residence on free soil
2 .Sup Ct, w. Chief Justice Taney (from MD) ruled that:
3. Reps were infuriated by Dred Scott setback while S’ers were inflamed by all this defiance to the law
4. Bitterness caused by Dred Scott decision deepened by hard times
5. N hardest hit while S rode out the storm w. flying colors--> gave S’ers overconfidence in econ
6. N’ers came up w. idea for free farms of 150 acres from public domain. Hwvr, this idea opposed by:
E) Lincoln’s Rise in Politics
F) John Brown: Murderer or Martyr?
1. Brown schemed to secretly invade S w. followers, arm slaves, and est a black free state as sanctuary
2. He got $ for firearms from N’ern abol’ists & w. 20 men, seized fed arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA 1859
3. Killed 7 innocent ppl, including a free black & injured 10+
4. Hwvr, most blacks did not know of Brown’s strike, so he was convicted of murder & treasonà hanged
5. When he died, he lived on as a martyr to the cause, further polarized nation--> Civil War
G) Election of 1860
A) Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852) & Hinton R. Helper (1857)
1. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) helped start the war—and win it.
- Instant success at home & abroad; no other novel can be compared with it as a political force
- Left profound impression on North--> many swore to flout the Fug Slave Law & volunteer
- Eng & Fr govts wanted to intervene in behalf of S, but knew that their ppl would not support it.
- Helper was a NC nonaristocratic white who hated both slavery & blacks and attempted to prove that nonslaveholding whites were the ones who suffered most from slavery.
- Planters feared that nonslaveholding majority might abandon themà banned book
- Republicans used it as campaign literature--> embittered South
B) Bleeding Kansas (1854-1858)
1. The North-South Contest for Kansas
- Under KS-NE Act, KS was supposed to be slave state (voted by popular sovereignty)
- Hwvr, planting blacks on KS was impossible; slaves=valuable property, and only foolish owners would take them to dangerous KS (which might even be voted free)
- Most ppl who moved there just westward-moving pioneers, but some were financed by N abolitionist groups, such as New England Emigrant Aid Company, to forestall the S & make $
- When 1st territorial legislature to be elected (1855), many proslaveryites came in from slave- state MO to vote, enacting pro-slavery officialsà up their gov at Shawnee Mission
- Infuriated free-soilers then set up their own govt in Topeka--> KS territory has 2 govts
- Breaking pt: Gang of proslavery raiders shot up & burned up part of free-soil town of Lawrence
- John Brown led followers to Pottawatomie Creek & hacked 5 proslavery men to pieces
- Civil war in KS erupted in 1856 & continued intermittently until it merged w. large-scale Civ War
- By 1857, KS had enough ppl (mostly freesoilers) to apply for statehood on pop sovereignty
- Proslavery politicians devised Lecompton Constitution: ppl not allowed to vote for/agst const as a whole, but for the const either w. or w. no slavery. If they voted w. no, one of the remaining provisions would protect owners of slaves already in KS. Either ways, slavery to continue in KS.
- Many free-soilers boycotted--> proslaverites approved const w. slavery in late 1857
- President James Buchanan, under strong S influence, threw support behind Lecompton Const, but Senator Douglas campaigned agst it--> compromise: Lecompton Const submitted to pop vote
- Free-soil voters revoked it, but KS remained territory until 1861 when S states seceded.
- Douglas split Dem party by outraging N dems--> split only remaining nat’l party & thus the Union
- MA Senator Charles Sumner’s intense speech “The Crime Agst KS” condemned proslaveryites
- He also insulted SC & its senator Andrew Butler--> Butler beat Sumner to unconsciousness
- N freesoilers distributed copies of speech, angering the South
- clash revealed how dangerously inflamed passions were becoming. Thoughts--> Emotions
C) Election of 1856: Neither Dem & Rep Candidates Tarred by the Kansas Brush
1. Republicans lost b/c:
- Ppl doubted Fremont’s honesty, capacity, and sound judgment
- S’ers declared that Pres Fremont=secession--> N’ers, eager to save profits & Union, voted Dem
- Hwvr, Reps could claim “victorious defeat” as the new 2-yr-old party put up a fight for the Dems
- In 1856, the N was more willing to let S depart in peace than in 1860
- Dramatic events from 1856-60 were to arouse most of still-apathetic N’ers to fighting pitch
- Fremont, ill-balanced & 2nd rate figure, was no Abe Lincoln
D) The Dred Scott Bombshell (March 6, 1857) & the Financial Crisis of 1857
1. Scott: slave who lived w. master for 5yrs on IL-WI--> sued for freedom on basis of residence on free soil
2 .Sup Ct, w. Chief Justice Taney (from MD) ruled that:
- Scott = black --> not a citizen à could not sue in federal courts
- Slave = priv prop --> could be taken into any territory & legally held there in slavery (V Amdmt)
- Comp of 1820 (repealed by KS-NE Act) unconst all along: Cong had no power to ban slavery
3. Reps were infuriated by Dred Scott setback while S’ers were inflamed by all this defiance to the law
4. Bitterness caused by Dred Scott decision deepened by hard times
5. N hardest hit while S rode out the storm w. flying colors--> gave S’ers overconfidence in econ
6. N’ers came up w. idea for free farms of 150 acres from public domain. Hwvr, this idea opposed by:
- Eastern industrialists: feared that underpaid wage slaves would be drained off to the West
- S’ers: slave labor could not flourish on mere 160 acresà free farms would create new free soil
- Cong passed Homestead Act 1860: public lands available for $0.25/acre, but Buchanan vetoed.
- Several mo’s b4, Cong enacted 1857 Tariff: reduced duties to 20% (lowest pt since War of 1812)
- N’ers blamed this for the crash b/c they wanted more protection
E) Lincoln’s Rise in Politics
- Served in IL legislature as Whig politician and one undistinguished term in Congress
- Inflamed by KS-NE Act, he joined Rep party & became one of foremost politicians & orators of NW
- Lincoln (Rep) - Douglas (Dem) debates for IL Senate seat
- Lincoln: ‘if ppl of territory vote slavery down, even tho Sup Ct ruled that they couldn’t, who should prevail?’ He tried to force SDoug to choose b/w SC (Dred Scott) & pop sov (KS-NE Act)
- Douglas’s answer (Freeport Doctrine): ‘no matter how Sup Ct ruled, slavery would stay down if the ppl voted it down. Laws to protect slavery could be passed by terr legis. Hwvr, these would not appear w/o popular approval--> slavery would soon disappear
- Indirect answer satisfied IL legis, which reelected SDoug over ALinc, but further alienated Southern Dems, who preferred strict adherence to Dred Scottà SDoug loses 1860 election
- Lincoln’s indirect success: won popular vote (tho lost electn) & became prominent
F) John Brown: Murderer or Martyr?
1. Brown schemed to secretly invade S w. followers, arm slaves, and est a black free state as sanctuary
2. He got $ for firearms from N’ern abol’ists & w. 20 men, seized fed arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA 1859
3. Killed 7 innocent ppl, including a free black & injured 10+
4. Hwvr, most blacks did not know of Brown’s strike, so he was convicted of murder & treasonà hanged
5. When he died, he lived on as a martyr to the cause, further polarized nation--> Civil War
G) Election of 1860
- Dems split into N & S, b/c S’ers felt Douglas betrayed them w. Freeport & Lecompton & walked out.
- S secessionists declared that election of Lincoln would split the Union
- 60% of voters preferred another candidate & Lincoln polled no votes in South.
H) The Secessionist Exodus & the Collapse of Compromise
- S advantages: 5-4 majority in Sup Ct, Reps didn’t control Cong, fed govt couldn’t touch slav in states where it existed exc. by amendmt (which could be defeated by ¼ states), & 15 slave states = nearly ½
- Nvtl, S’ers rejoiced at Lincoln’s victory since they now had reason to secede.
- SC, AL, MS, FL, GA, LA, TX formed Confederate States of America- President Jefferson Davis (MS)
- S states seceded b/c they felt that Rep Party would threaten their rights to own slaves. They felt that they would leave unopposed since N’ers depended on S cotton for profit.
- During this lame duck period, Buchanan was still Pres, but he didn’t stop seceders by force b/c:
Couldn’t find authority in Const to stop them with force
Tiny Union army of 15,000 men needed to control the Indians of the West.
6. James Henry Crittenden (KY Senator) proposed Crittenden amendments to appease South:
Slavery in territories prohibited N of 36°30’, but S of that line it was to be given fed protection
Future states could come into Union (n/s of 36°30’) w. or w/o slavery as they should choose
7. Lincoln flatly rejected Crittenden scheme, which offered slight prospect of success.
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