THE IMPENDING CRISIS 1850 1860 APUSH Lecture 4

THE IMPENDING CRISIS, 1850 -1860 APUSH Lecture 4 B (covers Ch. 13) Mrs. Kray Some slides taken from Susan Pojer

The Sectional Debate

The Wilmot Proviso, 1846 � Called for the prohibition of slavery in lands acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War � Never became law �Southern senators blocked passage � Endorsed by all but one of the free states � Came to symbolize the polarizing issue of extending slavery into the territories

Positions of Slavery: The Southern Position � Radicals viewed any attempt to limit the spread of slavery in the territories as a violation of their constitutional-held property rights � Moderates proposed extending the Missouri Compromise line to the west coast

Positions of Slavery: Free-Soilers � Sought to prevent the expansion of slavery into the territories �NOT ABOLITIONISTS � Also advocated free homestead and internal improvements �Racist component to the organization � Made up of anti-slavery Democrats & “conscience” Whigs “Free soil, free labor, and free men!”

Positions of Slavery: Popular Sovereignty � Compromise position between Southerners and Northern free -soilers �Popular with moderates � The settlers of a given territory would have the sole right to decide whether or not slavery would be permitted there �Developed by Lewis Cass �Sen. Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat) was a leading proponent of this idea

Dems nominated Cass on platform of popular sovereignty Whigs nominated war hero Gen. Zachary Taylor who took no position Free Soil Party nominated former president Martin Van Buren

Slave Debate is Tearing the Whig Party Apart

Election Results � Taylor narrowly defeated Cass in part because of the vote given to the Free-Soil Party in key states like NY & PA � Strong performance of the Free Soilers signaled the inability of the existing parties to contain the political passions the slave debate was creating

The California Gold Rush, 1849 � 1848: Gold is discovered at Sutter’s Mill �Hundreds of thousands of Forty- niners rush to California � 30% of them were Chinese � 1849: California applied for statehood �It’s constitution banned slavery �President Taylor favored admitting CA and New Mexico

Rising Sectional Tensions � Southern frustrations � Angered at anti-slavery efforts to ban slavery in Washington D. C. � Felt Northerners were aiding fugitive slaves ○ Underground Railroad ○ Personal liberty laws ○ Prigg v. Pennsylvania � 1850: Southern fire eaters meet in Nashville � Secession is discussed � Sectional tensions threaten to explode � The Great Compromiser to the rescue? � Henry Clay drafts an omnibus bill � Daniel Webster supports compromise � It fails to pass

Getting the Compromise of 1850 Passed � New Leadership �William H. Seward �Jefferson Davis �Stephen A. Douglas � Pres. Taylor died � Temporary Compromise �Douglas broke up Clay’s “omnibus bill” �Unlike Missouri Compromise, this one was not a product of wide spread agreement on common national ideals but rather a victory of self-interest

� Admission of California as a free state � Abolition of the slave trade in D. C. but permitted whites to hold slaves as before (therefore slavery not abolished) � Passage of a new fugitive slave law with vigorous enforcement � Establishment of territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah, without an immediate decision on the status of slavery �Popular sovereignty would be used to decide the slave issue there

� Bought time for the nation � Added to the North’s political power � Deepened the commitment of many northerners to saving the Union from secession � Signaled the beginning of the end for the Whigs � Parts of the compromise became sources of controversy � New Fugitive Slave law � the provision for popular sovereignty

The Crises of the 1950 s

Opposition to the New Fugitive Slave Law Only reason many southerners had accepted the loss of CA Enforcement in the North was bitterly & sometimes forcibly resisted by abolitionists Led to aggrieved feelings on both sides

The Election of 1852 � Democrat Franklin Pierce won mainly because anti-slavery Whigs defected to the Free Soil Party � Break up of the 2 national political parties mirrors the break-up of the nation � Pierce tried to avoid slavery issues while in office

Sectional Tensions Grow � Young America Movement � Attempt by Pierce and other Democrats to divert attention from domestic controversy and expand American ideals abroad � Southern Expansionist Desires � Hoped to acquire new lands to expand slavery – targeted Latin America � William Walker ○ 1853: Tried to take Baja California from Mexico ○ 1855: Briefly took control of Nicaragua

Ostend Manifesto, 1854 � Failed Attempts to Gain Cuba � Polk had tried to buy Cuba from Spain for $100 million � Several Southern expeditions tried to take Cuba by force � Ostend Manifesto � President Pierce secretly sends 3 diplomats to negotiate the purchase of Cuba from Spain � Meeting was leaked to the press � Anti-slavery forces react angrily ○ Evidence of a “slave power conspiracy”?

Even Transcontinental Railroads Are Controversial � U. S. wanted to build a transcontinental RR but where – North or South? �Shows sectional tensions again � Gadsen Purchase, 1853: Purchased land from Mexico for $10 million for Southern RR

� Douglas wanted the RR to go through Chicago � Desired western expansion & incr. value of his own real estate holding in Chicago � Needed southern approval � Proposed Nebraska Territory be divided into Kansas Territory & Nebraska territory � Settlers would use popular sovereignty to decide slavery issue

These territories were located north of the 36 o 30’ line est. by the Missouri Compromise

� Renewed the sectional controversy � Essentially repealed Missouri Compromise � Northern Democrats condemned as a surrender to the “slave power” � Whig Party divided and destroyed � Republican Party created to stop spread of slavery to territories � Led to a blood contest for control over Kansas

� Leadership composed of mostly northern and western moderates who opposed spread of slavery � Northern Whigs � Northern Democrats � Free-Soilers � Know-Nothings � And other miscellaneous opponents of Kansas-Nebraska Act � 1 st Platform called for repeal of Kansas-Nebraska Act and Fugitive Slave Law � Not against slavery, although abolitionists did join!!!

Bleeding Kansas, 1855 -1861 � Most expected slavery issue to be decided peacefully � Pro-slavery Border Ruffians from Missouri pour into Kansas to vote in the election � Northerners respond in kind � Rival governments set up � Pro-slavery in Lecompton; Anti- Slavery in Topeka � Civil War in Kansas � 1856: Pro-slavery forces attack & kill 2 in anti-slavery town of Lawrence � 1856: Fanatical Abolitionist John Brown retaliated by killing 5 proslavery forces in Pottawatomie Massacre

Senator Charles Sumner (MA) Congressman Preston Brooks (SC)

Free-Soil Ideology –free-soil & free labor • Owning property & opportunities for advancement at heart of our democracy. Slavery made southern society closed & static. • “Slave power conspiracy” South was engaged in a conspiracy to extend slavery & destroy the openness of Northern capitalism Pro-Slavery Argument – no apologies, slavery is a “positive good” • Attitude hardened b/c of slave rebellions, profitability of cotton, abolitionist movement • Southern way of life better than all others & it was based on slavery. Justifications for slavery: paternalism, religious justifications, better off than Northern “wage slaves”

Uncle Tom‘s Cabin, 1852 � Literature like Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin made Northerners, who were previously scornful of the abolitionist movement, view slavery more and more as a moral issue. �“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war” - Abraham Lincoln � Southerners felt sure that Northerners’ attempts to remove slavery was an attack on their very way of life.

John C. Fremont (R) James Buchanan (D) Platform: no expansion of slavery, free homesteads, & protective tariff Expected to win b/c last national political party. Can’t nominate Pierce or Douglas b/c of Kansas. Nebraska Act Millard Fillmore (Know-Nothing) Made a strong showing, earned 20% of the vote

� Buchanan wins � But Southerners realize it is now possible for Republicans could win the White House without a single vote from the South

“Run on the Seaman’s Savings Bank in NY” � Ended economic boom � Serious drop in prices – especially for Midwestern farmers � Increased unemployment in northern cities � South largely unaffected � Gave them false sense of superiority & invincibility; “King Cotton” � They don’t need the North

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857 � Missouri slave taken to live with his master in a free state for 2 years �Master dies, Dred Scott sues for freedom � The Dred Scott decision �Taney court decided blacks are NOT citizens, thus have no right to sue �Under the Constitution, slaves were private property and thus could be taken into any territory ○ Therefore any Congressional ban on slavery was unconstitutional

Effects of the Dred Scott Decision � Southerners delighted �Missouri Compromise declared unconstitutional �Slavery now open in all territories � Northerners outraged �“Greatest crimes in the annals of the republic” �Seemed to confirm “slave power conspiracy” fears �Turned many Northern Democrats Republican

Kansas Continues to Simmer: The Lecompton Constitution, 1857 � Pro-slavery government in Lecompton applied for statehood � Did not have support of most of the Kansas settlers (Topeka) � President Buchanan asked Congress to accept the pro-slavery constitution any way � Congress is outraged � Sen. Stephen Douglas and other Democrats join forces � Send the constitution back to Kansas for a vote of the people � 1858: Lecompton Constitution rejected by the people of Kansas

� Pro-slavery Lecompton legislature applied for statehood �Didn’t have support of most Kansas settlers (Topeka) �Buchanan asked Congress to accept constitution � Congressional outrage �Stephen Douglas & many Dems join forces w/Republicans �Send constitution back for state vote � 1858 constitution defeated

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858 � Sen. Stephen Douglas (D) must run for re-election to the Senate � Meets with his Republican opponent Abraham Lincoln for a series of debates � Debates Alienate Douglas & Lincoln from Southerners � Although NOT an abolitionist, Lincoln questioned the morality of slavery – sought to limit its spread to the territories (freesoiler) ○ “This government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. . . a house divided against itself cannot stand. ” ○ South sees Lincoln as a radical � Douglas’ Freeport Doctrine – continued to defend popular sovereignty in spite of Dred Scott ruling

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry, 1859 � Hardened lines between the sections to the breaking point � Fanatical abolitionist John Brown tried to seize an arsenal � Planned to arm slaves and lead a rebellion ○ Plan was thwarted by a troop under the command of Robert E. Lee � Brown along with six of his followers executed for treason � Event seemed to prove the South’s worst fears that there was a Northern conspiracy to end slavery and destroy their way of life

The Election of 1860

Deadlock at Charleston Convention. Hold 2 nd convention in Baltimore, but delegates from slave states walk out. Last national party is gone! � Northern Democrats • Nominated Stephen Douglas • Platform: popular sovereignty, enforcement of fugitive slave law Southern Democrats • Nominated John C. Breckinridge • Platform: Unrestricted extension of slavery into territories, annexation of Cuba

� Met in Chicago, hoped for easy win over divided Democrats � Nominated moderate, Lincoln over more radical Seward � Platform: �No extension of slavery (for Free-Soilers) �Protective tariff (for Industrialists) �No abridgement of rights for immigrants (for Know. Nothings) �Gov’t aid to build a Pacific RR (for Northwest) �Internal improvements (for West) �Free homesteads (for farmers)

� Nominated John Bell of TN � Made up of former Whigs, Know-Knothings and Moderate Dems � Platform: �Enforcement of the laws and the Constitution �Preserving the Union

� Lincoln carried every free northern state (59% of electoral vote) � Only received 39. 5% of the pop vote �minority president � Final signal to white southerners their position in the Union was hopeless