Political Realignment Deepens the Crisis 10.3

Objectives Analyze how deepening sectional distrust affected the nation’s politics. Compare the positions of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas on the issue of slavery Explain the effect of John Brown’s raid on the slavery debate.

Key Parts The Shifting Political Scene Sectional Divisions Intensify The Lincoln-Douglas Debates John Brown’s Raid

Introduction Read Section 10.3 Answer questions 4-6 on page 345

The Shifting Political Scene During the 1852 presidential election the Whigs searched unsuccessfully for a candidate and a platform to unite their members. With their two visionaries dead the party fell back on Winfield Scott. The Whigs lost to the Democrats because of being deeply divided over issues of slave and free states.

Cont. By the mid-1800s a growing immigrant population was changing the country. Many of the “nativists” of the United States didn’t like the immigrants because they were largely Catholic opposed to Protestants. This fueled the growth of an anti-immigrant movement that stemmed a new political party call the “know-nothings”

Cont.. As the old parties broke up, antislavery zeal gave rise to the new Republican Party in 1854. Opposition to slavery was the center of the Republican philosophy. The Republican Party grew rapidly in the North. By 1856 it was ready to challenge the older, established parties.

Sectional Divisions Intensify For many years the North and South tried to ignore or patch over their differences. For the election of 1856 the abolitionist John C. Fremont was the nominated by the Republicans. He lost to James Buchanan who promised that as President he would stop the agitation of the slavery issue.

Cont. The Dred Scott court case decision further caused separation between the north and the south. The court ruled against the suing slave, Dred Scott. Dred Scott sued for his freedom on the premise that his master had moved to the free state of Illinois where slavery was illegal and kept him as a slave. This alarmed the north and many northerners began to speak of secession.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates In 1858 Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln held a series of seven debates while competing for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Thousands of Americans attended the Lincoln- Douglas debates as the two candidates presented opposing views of slavery and its role in America. Douglas was pro popular sovereignty, and said it was the implied intent of the Constitution.

Cont. He also promoted the expansion of slavery in his support of the Kansas Nebraska Act. Lincoln on the other hand spoke of the eternal struggle of right and wrong and referred to the Dred Scott decision as wrong. He also spoke of popular sovereignty as being wrong and condemned slavery as a system whereby one person does the work and toil to earn bread and someone else does the eating.

Cot.. These debates lasted for weeks. When they were over Douglas won the election by a slim margin. Lincoln had not really lost; as a result of the debates he won a large following that would serve him well the next time he ran for national office.

John Brown’s Raid John Brown viewed himself as an angel of God avenging the evil of slavery. He had concluded that violence was the best way to reach his goal. He rallied 21 men and had an unsuccessful mission that ended in their arrest and hanging. This event further divided the nation.