Victory Leads to Disunion

The Problem of the Conquered Lands

Will they be Slave or Free?

• •

Wilmot Proviso Says no slave states from this conquered land South wants more slave states, though!

1848 Election: Lewis Cass vs. Zachary Taylor

1848 Election: Lewis Cass vs. Zachary Taylor • Democrat Lewis Cass (MI) –

Popular Sovereignty

to solve slavery or not in territories – 1,222,353 votes – 127 EV • Whig Zachary Taylor (LA) – Slave-owning War hero – 1,360,235 votes – 163 EV

Crises of 1850 • Gold Rush of 1848 → California applies for free state status • New Mexico wants to be a free territory • Texas wants eastern New Mexico • Mormons want a free Utah

Compromise of 1850 • •

Taylor’s Position

–

Pro-New Mexico

–

Pro-Popular Sovereignty Clay’s Compromise

• •

Admission of California as a Free State Popular Sovereignty for Utah and New Mexico

• • •

End Slave Trade in District of Columbia Pass a Fugitive Slave Law Pay Texas 10 million to give up its claims to land in New Mexico.

Compromise of 1850 • Calhoun opposes the compromise, so does Taylor • Clay is defeated, goes home exhausted.

• Taylor drops dead—death by cherries and milk inducing death by bloody diarrhea • Stephen Douglas moves in and gets the compromise passed in pieces.

Stephen Douglas of Illinois

The Fugitive Slave Act • • • • • Forces the North to help catch slaves Northern states can no longer free slaves!

Court system is rigged to send slaves back to slavery North freaks out, both white and black!

Yet it is hugely expensive to catch slaves, so South not so happy either.

Uncle Tom's Cabin • • • • Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1851 Based on actual slave accounts It is a melodrama of a slave family's sufferings under slavery First book to present normal slaves as

protagonists,

instead of just victims for heroic whites to save.

The Uncle Tom's Cabin Controversy, North vs South • • • •

The North

300,000 copies in 1851 3 million by 1861 An international hit Strengthens anti slavery • • •

The South

Southerners are outraged Lots of counter novels are written Heightens distrust of North

Eliza Crossing the Ohio River

The Election of 1852: Winfield Scott (Whig) vs. Franklin Pierce (Democrat)

The Election of 1852 • General Winfield Scott (Whig) – War Hero Appeal – Anti-Slavery, so many Southern Whigs = Angry –

Votes:

1,386,418 –

EV:

42 • Franklin Pierce (D) –

Doughface:

Pro slavery Northerner –

Dark Horse:

Previously unknown, no enemies –

Votes:

1,605,943 –

EV:

254

Election of 1852

The Pierce Administration • •

Wants to dodge slavery as an issue Pierce's Solution: National Expansionism!

–

Buys land from Mexico at ludicrous cost.

The Cuba Affair: Pierre Soule and James Buchanan

The Cuba Affair • Pierce wants Cuba – Ambassador Pierre Soule shoots the French Ambassador – Up to 120 million dollars for Cuba?

– Pierre Soule meets with James Buchanan (Ambassador to Britain) and James Mason (Ambassador to France) – They issue the

Ostend Manifesto

The Ostend Manifesto • • Offer 120 million dollars. If Spain says no, then the US will be justified by God and natural law in just TAKING it because if we don't have it, it somehow threatens us, no really, just give us Cuba NOW!

Spain, understandably is pretty angry over this.

• • • Consequences of Ostend Manifesto Utter failure of attempt to obtain Cuba All of Europe sees US as street thugs and bandits National Expansion efforts = Failure

Filibustering: Narciso Lopez • • • • Venezuelan Revolutionary in Cuba Popular in US Executed in 1851 Anti-Spanish Riots in USA ensue

William Walker

William Walker • • • Doctor / Lawyer / Newspaperman Republic of Sonora (1853-4) Takes over Nicaragua (1855-7) – Legalizes slavery; angers Cornelius Vanderbilt – Overthrown by revolt and invasion – Dies in a comeback attempt in 1860

Stephen Douglas and the Transcontinental Railroad

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

• • • Bleeding Kansas “Beecher's Bibles” = Guns raised by Henry Beecher, Unitarian Minister Fraudulent 1855 election → Separate Free and Slave state governments Civil War ensues – Sack of Lawrence – Pottawotamie Massacre (John Brown)

The Caning of Sumner Preston Brooks (D, House—SC) canes Charles Sumner (R, Senate—MA)

The Know-Nothing / American Party

• The Know-Nothing Party Immigration surges in 1840s and 50s – Irish and Germans – Urban Workers and others resent them • • • • • 1843—New York 1845-- “Native American Party” Big Wins in 1854 But they schism over slavery in 1856 Absorbed by Republicans

The Republican Party •

The Republican Party

–

A party of the NORTH only

–

Anti-Expansion of Slavery

–

Pro-Wage Labor

–

Pro-Free Farmers

–

Pro-Economic Development

1856: Fremont (R) vs. Buchanan (D)

• • • • Election of 1856 James Buchanan (D) Experienced Politician Firmly PRO SOUTH Wins a solid victory based on sweeping the South • • • • John Fremont ® War Hero Staunchly Anti Slavery Takes 10 of 15 Northern states!

Election of 1856—Electoral College

James Buchanan (1857-61) • • • Pennsylvania Democrat

“Doughface”

: Pro-Southern Northerner Mostly appointed Southerners

The Dred Scott Decision • • • Former slave, sues for freedom in 1857 Supreme Court rules all blacks can't be citizens Slavery can't be banned in territories by Feds

The Lecompton Constitution • • • Fraudulent Pro-Slavery Constitution for Kansas Buchanan tries to ram it through Congress rejects it; Kansas keeps bleeding.

Panic of 1857 • • • • 1848-1856: California Gold fuels growth Insurance Company failure and loss of 30,000 pounds of gold in a storm and falling grain costs creates panic North suffers a lot; the South does not Republicans call for stronger government action

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Abraham Lincoln (R) vs. Stephen Douglas (D) in 1858 for Senator from Illinois –

Douglas (Freeport Doctrine):

Slavery can't exist unless settlers support it, despite Dred Scott decision. Slavery is a question of taste, not morality –

Lincoln:

Slavery is a moral wrong. Its expansion must be stopped. Dred Scott is not a correct Supreme Court decision

Douglas wins election

The North-South Divide • • • •

The North

Growing Industry Three Class System Public education and social reform No Slavery • • • •

The South

An Agricultural Society Aristocracy of slave owners Honor and Violence Slavery

• • • John Brown Abolitonist Farmer and maniac Committed Pottawotamie Massacre in Kansas Abolitionist Lecture Circuit ensues

John Brown’s Raid • • • • • • Sponsored by the Secret Six Brown and 23 seize Harper's Ferry Slaves don't revolt Colonel Robert E. Lee + Marines shut him down Trial becomes a showcase for him to preach abolition North treats him as a martyr; South now fears all Republicans want a bloody slave revolt.

Election of 1860 (UL Breckinridge, UR-Lincoln, LL Stephen Douglas, LR—John Bell

1860 Election • • •

Democrats Split

– –

Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrats) John C. Breckinridge (Southern D.) “Constitutional Union” Party—John Bell Republicans

– – –

Dark Horse: Abraham Lincoln “Wide Awakes”--Youth Clubs North + Border States, ONLY

1860 Presidential Election

Lincoln's Victory • • • Lincoln takes 40% of the vote... but 58% of Electoral votes by sweeping the North The South is now basically irrelevant to elections if the North stays united Many Southerners panic

Secession Begins • •

South Carolina Secedes First First Wave

– By Feb. 1, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia had held conventions and seceded.

– February 18, 1861: Jefferson Davis Inaugurated •

Presidential Inaction (Buchanan)

Compromises • Crittenden Plan – Extend Missouri Compromise Line; protect slavery and improve fugitive slave enforcement.

• John Tyler – Virginia Peace Conference (14 states) • Plan similar to Crittenden • Lincoln and Republicans reject both plans as protecting slavery too much

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter • • • • • •

Fort Sumter holds out Major Anderson—send reinforcements or I must evacuate Lincoln tries to send help April 12-13, 1861: Sumter Falls Northerners = WAR NOW Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas = now secede