A Dividing Nation
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Transcript A Dividing Nation
A Dividing Nation
Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state.
Northerners opposed this because it would upset the balance of free and slave
states in the Senate.
Southerners favored Missouri being admitted as a slave state because there
would be more slave states than free states in Senate.
The Tallmadge Amendment proposed that Missouri be admitted as a
free state.
Northerners favored this because it would stop the spread of slavery into the
Louisiana Territory.
Southerners opposed this because if Missouri were admitted as a free state, the
North would have the votes in Congress to end slavery.
What actually happened?
• Missouri entered the Union as a slave state.
• Maine entered the Union as a free state.
• Congress drew a line at 36°30' across the Louisiana Territory. Slavery
was permitted south of that line and prohibited north of it.
Abolitionists wanted to stop slavery in Washington,
D.C., but Congress refused to consider anti-slavery
petitions.
Northern abolitionists were angered because they wanted
Congress to outlaw slavery in the capital.
Southerners were pleased because the South wanted no
limitations placed on slavery.
Some northerners assisted fugitive slaves.
Northerners tolerated this practice because they felt slavery
was wrong.
Southerners condemned this practice because they felt a
runaway slave was lost property.
What actually happened?
• The slave trade was ended in Washington, D.C.
• A strong fugitive slave law was passed.
The Wilmot Proviso stated slavery would not be allowed in the
Mexican Cession.
Northerners favored this amendment because they wanted to prevent the
expansion of slavery into territories.
Southerners opposed this amendment because they felt Congress had no
right to tell slaveholders where they could take their property.
California applied for admission as a free state.
Northerners favored admitting California as a free state because it would
create more free states than slave states in Congress.
Southerners opposed admitting California as a free state because it would
make the slaves states a minority in Congress.
What Actually Happened?
California was admitted as a free state. New Mexico and Utah
were organized as territories open to slavery.
The Fugitive Slave Law caused bitterness between the North and the
South.
Northerners were dissatisfied because they were asked to help slave catchers.
Southerners were dissatisfied because northerners refused to obey it.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe) told the story of a slave and
his master. The book was popular in the North because it aroused powerful
emotions against slavery.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that the issue of slavery in the territories
would be decided by popular sovereignty. Both pro-slavery and antislavery forces rushed to the territories to vote.
Northerners were unhappy about the act because it overturned the Missouri
Compromise and allowed slavery north of 36°30’ in the Louisiana Territory.
What actually happened?
Pro-slavery settlers burn buildings, loot homes, and destroy newspaper
presses in Kansas. John Brown and 7 men responded by killing 5 proslavery men.
SC representative attacks Senator Sumner after bloodshed in Kansas is
blamed on the South
Dred Scott was a slave who believed his trip to Wisconsin (where
slavery was banned) made him a free man. Took it to court when
returned to Missouri.
What actually happened?
• Scott could not sue for his freedom in a federal
court because he was not a citizen, nor could
any African American ever become an
American citizen.
• Scott’s stay in Wisconsin did not make him
a free man because the Missouri Compromise
was unconstitutional.
• Congress cannot ban slavery in the territories.
During the Lincoln-Douglas debates, positions regarding slavery
were made clear.
John Brown attacked the arsenal at Harpers Ferry to get weapons for
a slave rebellion.
Lincoln, representing the opinion of the North, felt slavery was a moral issue.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Douglas, representing the opinion of the South, felt slavery was a legal issue
and was settled through the Dred Scott decision.
Northerners considered Brown a hero.
Southerners feared slave rebellions might spread throughout the South.
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president.
Northerners were happy because Lincoln was opposed to the spread of slavery.
Southerners were unhappy because they had lost most of their political power.
What actually happened?
• SC and six other states seceded from the Union. (Lincoln states is
unconstitutional)
• SC fired on Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861) starting the Civil War.