Chapter 19 Drifting Toward Disunion SLAVE REVOLT REVIEW

Chapter 19 Drifting Toward Disunion

SLAVE REVOLT REVIEW • When reading about the slave revolts, think about how they are altering the mindset of the South, and as we continue in Chapter 19, think about why John Brown scares them so much after you review the slave revolts

• Slaves resorted to revolts in the 13 colonies and later in the southern U. S. • 250 insurrections have been documented; between 1780 and 1864. • 91 African-Americans were convicted of insurrection in Virginia alone. • First revolt in what became the United States took place in 1526 at a Spanish settlement near the mouth of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina.

Stono County Rebellion • September 9, 1739 twenty black Carolinians met near the Stono River, approximately twenty miles southwest of Charleston. They took guns and powder from a store and killed the two storekeepers they found there. • "With cries of 'Liberty' and beating of drums, " drums "the rebels raised a standard and headed south toward Spanish St. Augustine. Burned houses, and killed white opponents. • Largest slave uprising in the 13 colonies prior to the American Revolution. • Slaveowners caught up with the band of 60 to 100 slaves. 20 white Carolinians and 40 black Carolinians were killed before the rebellion was suppressed.

• Slaves resorted to revolts in the 13 colonies and later in the southern U. S. • Gabriel Prosser • Denmark Vessey • Nat Turner

Gabriel Prosser, Prosser (1776 -1800), American leader of an aborted slave uprising, whose intention was to create a free black state in Virginia. Born near Richmond, he was the son of an African mother who instilled in him the love of freedom. Inspired perhaps by the success of the black revolutionaries of Haiti, he plotted with other slaves, notably Jack Bowler, in the spring of 1800 to seize the arsenal at Richmond and kill whites. On August 30, 1800 as many as 1000 armed slaves gathered outside Richmond ready for action. A torrential downpour and thunderstorm, however, washed away a bridge vital to the insurrectionists' march; at the same time Governor James Monroe, Monroe the future president, was informed of the plot and dispatched the state militia against them. Prosser and some 35 of his young comrades were captured and hanged.

The leader of an American slave revolt in Charleston, S. C. , Denmark Vesey, b. Africa, 1767, d. July 2, 1822, had been owned by a slave-ship captain before he purchased his freedom (1800) with $600 won in a street lottery. As a freedman in Charleston, he worked at carpentry, became a leader of his church, and read antislavery literature. Determined to strike a blow against the institution that had victimized him, he devised an intricate conspiracy for an uprising in Charleston and vicinity during the summer of 1822. Informers divulged the plot, however, and 35 blacks, including Vesey, were executed.

Nat Turner Rebellion Nat Turner, a slave owned by Joseph Travis of Southampton, Virginia, believed that he had been chosen by God to lead a slave rebellion. On 21 st August, 1831, Turner and seven fellow slaves, murdered Travis and his family. Over the next two days and nights, Turner's band killed around 60 white people in Virginia. Turner had hoped that this action would cause a massive slave uprising but only 75 joined his rebellion. Over 3, 000 members of the state militia were sent to deal with Turner's gang, and they were soon defeated. In retaliation, more than a hundred innocent slaves were killed. Turner went into hiding but was captured six weeks later. Nat Turner was executed on 11 th November, 1831.

Arrest of Nat Turner Rebellion Tree Nat Turner was hung on

Slave Revolts

Besides slave revolts, slaves resorted to other ways to revolt…. . • Wouldn’t work hard. • Would sabotage equipment or break tools. • Sometimes poisoned their master’s food. • Tried to escape

Books Inflame Passions • Uncle Tom’s Cabin: The 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe dramatized the slave conditions – Based on limited factual observation but fired by anger over the new Fugitive Slave Law, Stowe’s book was melodramatic and filled with stereotypes – It was a success both as a book and as a stage drama – It heightened emotional tension in the North and the South • The Impending Crisis of the South: By Hinton Helper of North Carolina, published in 1857 – It attempted to prove that non-slave-holding poor whites were hurt most by slavery – Published in the North, it stirred emotions in both sections

“Bleeding Kansas” Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)

Bleeding Kansas • Northern free-soilers and abolitionists and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri flooded into Kansas – In a disputed election, pro-slavery forces won control of the territorial legislature, which enacted a severe slave code. – Free-soilers, in a clear majority, drew up a rival Topeka Constitution, which provided for ending slavery – Supporters of the rival governments fought pitched battles • Proslavery raiders burn part of a free-soil town, Lawrence. • Abolitionist John Brown retaliates by leading a vicious attack on a settlement at Pottawatomie Creek

The Lecompton Constitution • Created by proslavery forces- said people could vote for the Constitution with slavery or with no slavery, not on the whole thing • If they vote against slavery, a provision would protect the owners of slaves already in Kansas. • Proslavery advocates approve the Constitution in 1857 when the free-soilers boycott the polls • New president James Buchanan supports the L. C. , but Stephen Douglas throws away any support he has in the South and pushes for true popular sovereignty • Compromise is entire Lecompton Constitution is put to a vote, and the free-soil voters shoot it down • Kansas stays a territory until 1861.

Violence in the Senate • Senator Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) in 1856 delivered a fiery anti-slavery speech, The Crime Against Kansas, including condemnation of Senator Andrew Butler (South Carolina). • Butler’s cousin, Congressman Preston (“Bully”) Brooks, beats Sumner with a cane at his Senate desk • House of Representatives doesn’t get enough votes to expel Brooks, but he resigns and then gets overwhelmingly reelected • Passions in both the North and South are getting VERY dangerous

“The Crime Against Kansas” Sen. Charles Sumner (R-MA) Congr. Preston Brooks (D-SC)

1856 Presidential Election √ James Buchanan Millard Fillmore Democrat John C. Frémont Republican

1856 Presidential Election • • • American Party (Know Nothings): a nativist third party that relied upon “xenophobia” (fear of foreigners) and on the temperance movement – In 1856 former president Millard Fillmore, the Know-Nothing candidate, won over 21% of the popular vote and Maryland’s 8 electoral votes – The American Party was absorbed by the Republicans after 1856 Republican Party: Formed as a coalition in 1854 – At Ripon, Wisconsin and Jackson, Michigan, Independent Democrats, Free Soilers, and Conscience Whigs untied in opposition to the Kansas Nebraska bill – This third party stressed free labor and opposed the extension of slavery into the territories (“Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men”) – In Illinois, Abraham Lincoln returned to politics as a Whig but cooperated with Republicans – John C. Fremont, a military hero, was the first Republican presidential candidate in 1856 To maintain unity, the Democrats nominated James Buchanan, who won the 1856 election partly by sweeping the South

Dred Scott v. Sandford • The Supreme Court: With a pro-South majority, it became a bulwark for the defense of slavery • Dred Scott: This test case was promoted by anti-slavery groups • Scott’s owner, an army surgeon, had taken him to posts in a free state in in free territory • His suit for freedom passed though the Missouri (slave state) courts • Since his new owner lived in New York, the case could be appealed to the federal courts • The U. S. Supreme Court heard the case in 1856 but delayed decision because of the presidential election (Buchanan was aware of the outcome; suspicions of a “slave power conspiracy” were revived)

Dred Scott v. Sandford • • Decision: Chief Justice Taney’s 1857 decision spoke for a 6 -3 majority (though others wrote opinions). Two Northern Republicans wrote strong dissents. Taney wrote: – Scott was not a citizen and had no standing in court. (Taney’s racism was revealed when he referred to Negroes as “an inferior order”) – Scott’s residence in a free state and territory had not made him free since he returned to Missouri Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in a territory. – The Fifth Amendment says Congress cannot deprive people of their property without due process of law This voided an act of Congress (Missouri Compromise) for only the second time

Panic of 1857 • • • California gold inflates currency Overproduction of grain because of Crimean War Overspeculation in land railroads The Northeast was hardest hit by the resultant two-year depression (further intensifying sectionalism) South does fairly well due to high cotton prices overseas Push by the North for a homestead act (give settlers 160 acres of land for free if willing to risk their own life and health to develop it (Passes Congress at 25 cents per acre of land in 1860; Buchanan vetoes) Eastern businessmen fear it will drain away their workforce, and Southerners oppose because the land will fill up with free-soilers Panic also coincides with decreased tariff rate in Tariff of 1857. Eastern workers and Western farmers were attracted to the new Republican party Two economic issues for Republicans in 1860: protection for the unprotected and farms for the farmless

The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858

Stephen Douglas & the Freeport Doctrine Popular Sovereignt y?

Lincoln-Douglas Debates • In Illinois Abraham Lincoln and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas campaigned for the Senate with a series of debates in 1858 • Lincoln tried to focus on the Dred Scott decision’s impact on popular sovereignty • In the Freeport Doctrine, Douglas responded that anti-slavery territories could refuse to enact slave codes, no matter what the Supreme Court says • Douglas wins the Senate seat, but at a great cost– Opposes Lecompton, defies the Supreme Court at Freeport—causes the southern Democrats to split the party rather than support him. • Lincoln becomes an overnight celebrity, even being mentioned as a possible Republican nominee for president in 1860

Harper’s Ferry • John Brown performed the most incendiary deed in 1859 • With a small following he occupied the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, hoping to set off a slave rebellion. • He had the financial backing of prominent abolitionist (the Secret Six) • Brown was wounded, taken prisoner, quickly tried for treason against the state, and hanged at Charlestown (Dec. 2, 1859) • Rumors of insurrection terrified the South • Viewed as a martyr by Northern abolitionists • Problem is that moderate Northerners openly speak out against Brown’s exploits, but the South concluded that the violent abolitionist view was wide-spread in the North

The 1860 Election: Democrats • Finally split at its 1860 convention in Charleston, South Carolina • When a proposed platform defending slavery was defeated, Deep South delegates walked out • Reassembling in Baltimore in June, the convention nominated Stephen Douglas for president with a platform of popular sovereignty and against obstruction of the Fugitive Slave Law • The Southerners then met and nominated John Breckenridge of KY with a pro-slavery platform, extending slavery to the territories and annexing Cuba

The 1860 Election: Constitutional Union Party • A convention dominated by moderates from border states, nominated John Bell of Tennessee with a reconciliation platform • “The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of Laws”

The 1860 Election: Republicans • Republican Party: Met in Chicago, Illinois • Local supporters in the galleries helped Abraham Lincoln secure the nomination on the third ballot • The platform opposed the extension of slavery but defended the right of states to control their own “domestic institutions” • Broad support was gained through planks favoring a homestead act, a protective tariff, and transportation improvements (Pacific railroad paid for by the federal government)

1860 John Bell Constitutional Presiden Union tial Election Abraham Lincoln Republican Stephen A. Douglas John C. Breckinridge

1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart? !

• 303 total electoral votes and 152 to win. Election of 1860

Secession

Compromise one more time? • Senator James Henry Crittenden of Kentucky proposes amendments to the Constitution that would prohibit slavery north of 36° 30’, but protecting it south of that line in all territories, including ones that would be acquired • Lincoln rejects this scheme, because he opposes the expansion of slavery • By February 1861, the Confederate States of America is created with seven states and Jefferson Davis as president