1. 1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Is published
Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin to show the evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive Slave Law
Harriet Beecher Stowe

2. Tom is bought by a plantation owner named Simon Legree who treats his slaves brutally.
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold very well in the North. The first 5,000 copies sold in only two days. In the first year it was published it sold 300,000 copies. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible.
Simon Legree orders Tom to whip another slave. When Tom refuses, Legree whips Tom to death.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin tells the story of Uncle Tom, who is a kind slave known for his devotion to his Christian religion.
Uncle Tom is sold because his owner, who is kind, is in too much debt and can no longer afford to keep him.

3. Stowe had seen little of slavery firsthand
THE NATIONWIDE REACTION
THE NORTH
THE SOUTH
People realized that they could no longer ignore the issue of slavery
They objected to the book
Claimed that it did not give an accurate description of slave life
Stowe had seen little of slavery firsthand
Many now saw slavery as a moral issue

4. Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to enter the Union as a slave state in 1819
This would have disrupted the balance of power in the Senate between free and slave states
As a compromise Maine was added as a free state and Missouri as a slave state.

5. The Compromise of 1850
California was admitted to the Union as a free state.
Slavery in the territories would have no limits on slavery, only that it would be decided by popular sovereignty.
Utah and New Mexico territories were created.
The slave trade, but not slavery itself would be banned in Washington D.C.
A new Fugitive Slave law was passed, which required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves.

6. . . . but in 1854 the issue of slavery in the territories came back
Remember
the Compromise of 1850?
Nebraska
Kansas
In 1854 Senator Stephen Douglas proposed that a government be created for the Nebraska Territory
Senator Douglas proposed that the Nebraska Territory be divided into two territories: Kansas and Nebraska
Slavery in the two territories would be decided by popular sovereignty – the settlers would vote.
Most Americans had hoped that this would end the slavery debate in the West . . .
. . . but in 1854 the issue of slavery in the territories came back

7. Kansas became a testing ground for popular sovereignty
Pro-
Slavery
Anti-
Slavery
KANSAS
On election day . . .
Kansas became known as “Bleeding Kansas” as both pro and anti-slavery forces attacked each other.
Each side hoped to create a Kansas government that supported their views.
. . . pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in.

8. What would you decide if you were on the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott could not even file a lawsuit because as a slave, he was not even a citizen – instead, he was property. The court also said that Congress could not make slavery illegal in a territory – this made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
Dred Scott lived for many years in Missouri. He then moved with his owner to Illinois, and then to the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was not allowed.
Dred Scott and his owner returned to Missouri where his owner died. A lawyer argued that Dred Scott should be a free man because he had lived in a free territory.
Southern Whites rejoiced at the Dred Scott decision.
African Americans were angry.
Northern Whites were shocked at the ruling.
In 1857 the United States Supreme Court ruled on a case involving a slave named Dred Scott.
What would you decide if you were on the Supreme Court?
Dred Scott

9. Americans who opposed slavery needed a new political voice
Northern
Democrats
The Republican
Party
Free Soilers
The main goal of the Republican Party was to keep slavery out of the Western Territories
Antislavery
Whigs

10. The Presidential Election of 1856
The first test for the Republican Party
The Presidential Election of 1856
Democrats
James Buchanan
Republicans
John C. Fremont

11. The Illinois Senate Election of 1858
The second test for the Republican Party
The Illinois Senate Election of 1858
Democrats
Stephen Douglas
Republicans
Abraham Lincoln

12. The two debated seven times and slavery was the important issue.
Lincoln believed that slavery was a “moral, social, and political wrong.” He was totally opposed to the spread of slavery into the territories, but he didn’t feel that he could stop it where it already existed.
Douglas wanted to settle the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty. He didn’t like slavery, but he felt that the people in the territories should be able to vote for it or against it and decide for themselves.
During the election, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates.
The two debated seven times and slavery was the important issue.

13. “A house divided against itself cannot stand
“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”
-June 16, 1858
In the end, Stephen Douglas won by a narrow margin, but they would face each other again in two years as they campaigned against each other for the presidency.
Lincoln believed that the nation could not survive if it remained divided by slavery.

14. There was a Federal arsenal, or gun warehouse, located here
This is Harpers Ferry, Virginia
John Brown planned to attack the arsenal. He thought that slaves would come to him at the arsenal – he planned to give them guns and lead them in revolt
US troops led by Robert E Lee arrived. They killed 10 of the raiders and captured John Brown
John Brown and his group of followers quickly gained control of the arsenal but no slaves ever came in revolt
Some people in the North, however, viewed John Brown as a martyr for the anti-slavery cause and mourned his death by hanging.
There was a Federal arsenal, or gun warehouse, located here
Many in the South were outraged that some Northerners would celebrate what John Brown did. They became convinced that the North would try to destroy slavery.
Most people in America thought that John Brown’s plan was insane. There were never that many slaves in Harpers Ferry.