1. Chapter 15
A Divided Nation

2. How did the issue of slavery affect politics in the United States?
Essential Question
How did the issue of slavery affect politics in the United States?

3. I. Debate over Slavery 1820 – Missouri Compromise – Henry Clay
Maine = Free State
Missouri = Slave State
Line at ’
North of the line = FREE
South of the Line = SLAVE

4. New Land Renews Slave Disputes
Additional lands from the Mexican American War cause bitter debate over slavery and keeping equal free and slave states
Popular Sovereignty: political power belongs to the people – let them decide slavery issue
Wilmont Proviso: document stating that slavery should not exist in lands obtained from Mexican American War – did not pass Senate

5. Sectionalism
Favoring the interests of one section or region over the interests of the entire country

6. The California Question
Gold rush caused huge population growth in California – applied for statehood
California opposes slavery – would upset balance of free and slave states

7. Compromise of 1850 3 Major Players: Henry Clay: John Calhoun:
Known as “The Great Compromiser”
John Calhoun:
Southerner who wanted slavery and threatened secession
Daniel Webster:
Northerner who pleaded for national unity

8. Compromise of 1850 1 – California would enter as a free state
2 – Popular sovereignty would be used to decide slavery in Mexican Cession land
3 – Texas gives up lands east of Rio Grande – receives money from federal government
4 – Slave trade abolished in Washington, D.C. (slavery still legal)
5 – Fugitive Slave Act

9. Fugitive Slave Act
1850
Denied escaped slaves to have a trial or testify
Helping a slave = $1000 fine and 6 months in jail
$10 for every African American “suspected of escape” in the North brought back to the South

10. Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Dramatic tale about a loyal slave beaten to death by his owner, Simon Legree
Presented slavery as a horrible evil and changed people’s views
Southerners felt it was full of lies

11. II. Trouble in Kansas Franklin Pierce elected President in 1852
From New Hampshire
Little known
Promised to support Compromise of 1850 and Fugitive Slave Act

12. Kansas – Nebraska Act
1854
Illinois senator, Stephen Douglas, wanted to organize Kansas and Nebraska territories in order to build a transcontinental railroad across the country
Needing southern support for the act, Douglas allowed Kansas and Nebraska to decide by popular sovereignty the issue of slavery

13. “Bleeding Kansas” Pro and Anti slavery supporters rush to Kansas
Pro-slavery Missourians illegally vote in Kansas for pro-slave government
“Sack of Lawrence” – an anti-slavery town burned by pro-slavery people in 1856

14. John Brown
John Brown, a radical anti-slavery settler, butchers five pro-slavery men at Pottowatomie Creek as a response to Lawrence
Called “Pottowatomie Massacre”
Civil war in Kansas

15. VIOLENCE IN THE SENATE
In May, 1856, Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner gives a speech attacking slave holders for the situation in Kansas
South Carolina representative Preston Brooks beat Sumner over the head with a cane – Sumner did not return to the Senate for two more years

16. III. Political Divisions
Republican Party: a political party united against the spread of slavery – 1854
Democrat James Buchanan elected President in 1856

17. Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was the slave of a Missouri army surgeon, who had taken him to Illinois and Wisconsin to live for a few years
In 1846, Scott claimed in court that since he lived on free soil, he should be a free man
What did the Court decide?
3 key issues:
Was Scott a citizen?
Does living on free soil make you free?
Is it constitutional to prohibit slavery in federal territories?

18. Dred Scott Decision Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney –
"It is difficult at this day to realize the state of public opinion in regard to that unfortunate race which prevailed in the civilized and enlightened portions of the world at the time of the Declaration of Independence, and when the Constitution of the United States was framed and adopted; but the public history of every European nation displays it in a manner too plain to be mistaken. They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far unfit that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

19. Lincoln Douglas Debates
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas for the Illinois Senate seat

20. Lincoln Douglas Debates
Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates – the issue of slavery, Dred Scott Decision, and condition of the country
Freeport Doctrine: Douglas believed the police would enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case
Results: Douglas narrowly defeats Lincoln, but Lincoln becomes a national figure and ready to run for President in 1860

21. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry
October 16, 1859, John Brown appeared in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with 21 followers to seize the military arsenal
Plan: To give weapons to escaped slaves to ignite a slave revolt

22. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry
Colonel Robert E. Lee led a force of Marines to capture Brown
Virginia convicts Brown of treason and hangs him 6 weeks later
Brown becomes a martyr to the abolitionist cause – South feels North will do anything to destroy slavery
“John Brown’s Body” becomes a song

23. Election of 1860 Candidates Republican: Abraham Lincoln
Northern Democrat: Stephen Douglas
Southern Democrat: John Breckinridge
Constitutional Union: John Bell
Lincoln wins with only 40% of the popular vote – becomes the first Republican president

24. The South Secedes
After Lincoln’s election, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas secede (break away) from the Union and form the Confederate States of America
Jefferson Davis, Senator from Mississippi, elected President of the Confederacy

25. Lincoln Takes Office
Lincoln pleads with the South to reunite the Union – no need for bloodshed or violence
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.”
Fort Sumter – a federal fort in South Carolina – was running short of supplies
Lincoln says that a ship coming down to the fort only has food – no weapons or soldiers!
Confederate President Jefferson Davis decides that fort protects Charleston (an important city) and must not stay in Northern/federal hands