Bell Work 032615 Finally in the summer of
Bell Work 03/26/15 Finally, in the summer of 1842, after seven years of desperate warfare, an agreement was reached with the few hundred remaining Seminoles, allowing them to live in southwest Florida. — John and Mary Lou Missall, A Short History of the Seminole Wars, 2006 What led to the conflict referred to in this excerpt? A. The passage of the Dawes Act B. The Louisiana Purchase C. The adoption of Indian removal policies D. The Battle of Tippecanoe
Free-Soil Party • Members of both the northern Democrat and Whig opposed the spread of slavery • Formed Free-Soil Party to ban slavery in the western territories
Popular Sovereignty • The right of people to create their own government • 1849: California voters approved a state constitution banning slavery
Compromise of 1850 • 1849 - 15 free states & 15 slave states. • 1850 - California wants to join the Union as a free state. • Balance of power in Senate is threatened. • Debate rages in Senate • • Clay pleaded for an agreement - gives 70+ speeches • • Calhoun refused to compromise - too sick to speak
Compromise of 1850 • Webster wanted to avoid the breakup of the Union & he greed to support southern demands for return of fugitive slaves • Debate continues from Jan to Sept - deaths of Calhoun & Pres Taylor & replacement by Millard Fillmore. • Fear of the breakup of the United States and Civil War was real. • The Compromise defused an explosive situation and postponed Civil War and secession for 10 years. • Dealt mainly with lands that were part of the Mexican Cession.
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act strengthens power of slave catchers - tempted to catch free AA no jury trial for alleged fugitives citizens expected to help judges paid $10 to send the accused south but only $5 to set them free $1000 fine for helping fugitives escape deepened anti-slavery feelings in the North
Fugitive Slave Act Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin to highlight the evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive Slave Act
Compromise of 1850 Map • Free States and territories • Slave states • Open to slavery by popular vote- Compromise of 1850 • Open to slavery by popular vote- Kansas. Nebraska Act
The Crisis Deepens • What was the goal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? • Why did violence erupt in Kansas and in the Senate? • What impact did the Dred Scott case have on the nation?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act The Problem The Compromise of 1850 dealt mainly with the Mexican Cession, and not with the lands that were part of the Louisiana Purchase. Provisions of the Kansas -Nebraska Act • Nebraska Territory was to be divided into two territories—Kansas and Nebraska. • The settlers in each territory would decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty. The argument for the act • Many people thought the act was fair because the Compromise of 1850 had applied popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah. • Southerners hoped slave owners from Missouri would move into Kansas and make Kansas a slave state. The argument against the act • The Missouri Compromise already banned slavery in Kansas and Nebraska. In effect, the Kansas-Nebraska Act would overturn the Missouri Compromise. • Northerners protested by challenging the Fugitive Slave Act.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Violence Erupts in Kansas • Kansas settlers were to settle the slavery issue by popular sovereignty. Proslavery and antislavery settlers fought for control of Kansas. Abolitionists brought in settlers from New England. Proslavery settlers also moved into Kansas, and proslavery bands from Missouri—Border Ruffians— often rode across the border into Kansas. • In 1855, Kansas held elections. Border Ruffians voted illegally, helping to elect a proslavery legislature. Antislavery settlers refused to accept the legislature and elected their own governor and legislature. Kansas had two governments. • A band of proslavery men raided the town of Lawrence, destroying homes and smashing the press of a Free-Soil newspaper.
Violence Erupts in Kansas (continued) • Abolitionist John Brown led a band to the town of Pottawatomie Creek and killed five proslavery settlers there. • The killings at Pottawatomie Creek led to more violence. Both sides engaged in guerrilla warfare, or the use of hit-and-run tactics. Newspapers started calling the territory “Bleeding Kansas. ”
Violence Erupts in the Senate • Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was the leading abolitionist senator. In one speech he denounced the proslavery legislature of Kansas and viciously criticized his southern foes, especially Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. • A few days later Butler’s nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks, marched into the Senate chamber and with his cane beat Sumner until he was unconscious.
The Dred Scott Case What was the Dred Scott Case? Dred Scott filed a lawsuit, that is, a legal case brought to settle a dispute between people or groups. Dred Scott had been enslaved in Missouri. He moved with his owner to Illinois and then to the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was not allowed. Scott with his owner returned to Missouri. When his owner died, Scott claimed that because he had lived in a free territory, he had become a free man. The case reached the Supreme Court as Dred Scott v. Sandford. What did the Supreme Court decide? • Scott could not file a lawsuit because, as an enslaved person, he was not a citizen. • Slaves were considered to be property. • Congress did not have the power to outlaw slavery in any territory. This decision meant the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
What impact did the Dred Scott Case have? The Dred Scott Case White southerners were overjoyed. The decision meant that slavery was legal in all territories. African American northerners Northern African Americans condemned the ruling and asked whites to join their efforts to end slavery. White northerners were shocked. They had hoped that if slavery were kept to the South, it would eventually just die out. Now, slavery could spread.
The Republican Party Emerges • Why did the Republican party come into being in the mid-1850 s? • What events lay behind the rapid emergence of Abraham Lincoln as a Republican leader? • How did Americans react to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry?
The Republican Party Emerges • Who formed the Republican Party? • A group of Free-Soilers, northern Democrats, and antislavery Whigs • Why did they form a new party? • • They believed that neither the Whigs nor the Democrats would take a strong enough stand against slavery. • What was the goal of the party? • Its main goal was to keep slavery out of the western territories. A few Republicans hoped to end slavery in the South as well.
How Abraham Lincoln Became Leader of the Republican Party • Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. Later, he lived in Indiana and Illinois. • • Lincoln opened a store in Illinois. He studied law and entered politics. • • He served eight years in the state legislature and one term in Congress. • • He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, so he ran for the Senate in 1858. • • During the Senate campaign, he debated Stephen Douglas seven times.
How Abraham Lincoln Became Leader of the Republican Party • • Lincoln: Slavery is wrong. African Americans are entitled to all the natural rights in the Declaration of Independence, so slavery should not extend to the territories. However, it can remain in the states where it already exists. • • Douglas: The slavery question should be settled by popular sovereignty. • • Douglas narrowly won the election. However, during the campaign, Lincoln became known throughout the country.
The Impact of John Brown’s Raid • • In 1859, John Brown led followers, including five African Americans, to Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He planned to raid a federal arsenal, or gun warehouse. • • Brown took over the arsenal. He expected that would inspire a slave uprising, but none took place. • • Troops killed ten raiders and captured Brown. He was tried for murder and treason, or actions against one’s country.
The Impact of John Brown’s Raid • Brown gave a moving defense of his actions. Nevertheless he was found guilty and sentenced to death. John Brown was hanged. • To many northerners, John Brown became a martyr because he was willing to give up his life for his beliefs. • White southerners were outraged at the northern response. Many southerners became convinced that the North wanted to destroy slavery and the South along with it.
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