Road to War 1850-1860
Main Event #1 Compromise of 1850 California joins as free state New Mexico and Utah to be decided by popular sovereignty Texas border dispute settled Slave trade ended in D.C. (not slavery) Fugitive Slave Act
Main Event #2 Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe Anti-slavery book, stirred emotions on both sides 300,000 copies sold in first year; eventually millions sold
Stephen Douglas: The Little Giant wants to build the railroad
Main Event #3 Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 Senator Douglas wanted RR to start in Chicago going west Kansas and Nebraska to be decided by popular sovereignty Fierce bloodshed in Kansas resulted over slavery question
1856: Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks
1856
John Brown
“I think I’m a Whig; but others say there are not whigs, and that I’m an abolitionist…I now do no more than oppose the extension of slavery. I am not a Know Nothing…How could I be? How can anyone who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people?”
Main Event #4 Dred Scott Case 1857 Missouri slave who moved to free state sued for freedom Supreme Ct. ruled he was not a citizen and had no right to sue (considered property) Therefore, slavery is protected by Constitution
1858 Illinois
Main Event #5 John Brown’s Raid 1859 Harper’s Ferry, Virginia Brown and followers tried to capture a federal arsenal to start a slave uprising Caused panic in the South, seen as martyr in the North
“I believe that to have interfered as I have done, as I have always freely admitted I have done in behalf of (God’s) despised poor, I did no wrong, but right. Now if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice and mingle my blood…with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel and unjust enactments, I say, let it be done!”
John Brown
Republican Nomination 1860 William Seward Favorite to win But too closely allied with radical wing of party who were abolitionists Needed the west’s vote to win…chose Lincoln instead
1860 Presidential Candidates
Main Event #6 Election of 1860 Lincoln wins Southern states begin to secede Dec. 20th, 1860, South Carolina secede from Union, 6 more states soon follow New nation called the Confederate States of America
Jefferson Davis
April 1861
Does teaching the uglier aspects of American history make students hate their country? “America’s ugliness defines its beauty as silence defines sound and sorrow defines joy.” – Leonard Pitts, Jr.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
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Strategies and Technology
Jefferson Davis