1. The 1850s:
Road to
Secession

2. Problems of Sectional Balance in 1850
Wilmot proviso– stated that slavery would be banned in any territory gotten from the war with Mexico
Free soil
California statehood.
South threatening secession.
Underground RR & fugitive slave issues

3. Compromise of 1850

4. Compromise of 1850
Written by Henry Clay in hopes of appeasing northerners and Southerners.
Terms:
CA enters Union as a free state
New and more effective fugitive slave laws
New territories had right to popular sovereignty- right to vote for or against slavery (power of the people to rule)
Paid TX $10 million for New Mexico

5. Harriet Beecher Stowe abolitionist
Uncle Tom’s Cabin provoked sympathy for slaves and anger over the Fugitive slave laws
So this is the lady who started the Civil War Abraham Lincoln

6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Sold 300,000 copies in the first year.
2 million in a decade!

7. Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
A bill to divide the land into 2 territories: Kansas and Nebraska
If passed would repeal the Missouri Compromise and set up popular sovereignty for each area.
It was able to pass even though there was much controversy.

8. Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)
“Bleeding Kansas”
Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)
Settlers from the North and South poured into Kansas .
Kansas soon had enough people to an election.
Border ruffians came from Missouri to put in pro-slavery candidates.
Violence erupted and the territory became known as Bleeding Kansas.

9. John Brown: Madman, Hero or Martyr?
Mural in the Kansas Capitol building by John Steuart Curry (20c)

10. “The Crime Against Kansas”
The political parties were dividing over issues of slavery and territories thus leading to the formation of new political parties.
Sen. Charles Sumner (R-MA)
Congr. Preston Brooks (D-SC)

11. The “Know-Nothings” [The American Party]
Nativists- favored native born Americans over immigrants
Anti-Catholics.
Divided over issue of slavery

12. The Free Soilers Party
Founded to limit the expansion of slavery in the territories
Many Northerners were free-soilers but NOT abolitionists.
They opposed the expansion of slavery because it would hurt free white workers.
They did not promote African-American rights.

13. Birth of the Republican Party, 1854
Northern Whigs.
Northern anti-slavery Democrats.
Free-Soilers.
Know-Nothings.
Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

14. Dred Scott

15. Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857 Dred Scott was a slave from MO.
His owner had taken him to IL for 4 years and then they returned to MO where Scott’s owner died.
D. Scott decided to sue for his freedom on the basis that he had lived in free territory.
Court ruled:
That slaves did NOT have the rights of US citizens
MO compromise was unconstitutional, congress could not forbid slavery in territories
Cleared way for extension of slavery, which scared the northerners!

16. John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, 1859
John Brown was the most infamous abolitionist.
He led 21 men (black and white) into Harper’s Ferry in VA in hopes of taking over the federal arsenal, distributing the weapons to slaves and led a slave uprising.
His plan failed but it did scare Southerners who became more determined to protect slavery.

17. Republican Party Platform in 1860
Non-extension of slavery [for the Free-Soilers].
Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists].
No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”].
Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest].
Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense.
Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].

18. 1860 Presidential Election
√ Abraham Lincoln Republican
John Bell Constitutional Union
1860 Presidential Election
Stephen A. Douglas Northern Democrat
John C. Breckinridge Southern Democrat

19. 1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!

20. 1860
Election
Results

21. The Confederacy is formed!!
After Lincoln's election the Southern states met and passed articles of secession saying that their rights as states were being violated.
Because disagreement over slavery in the territories, the South felt this violation.
They believed that slavery would not be allowed and that they would be outnumbered in Congress and then Congress would abolish slavery.
Formed the Confederate States of America which focused on the protection of slavery and states’ sovereign rights.

22. Secession!: SC Dec. 20, 1860

23. The Leaders of the Confederacy
Pres. Jefferson Davis
VP Alexander Stevens

24. Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861
Confederate troops fire shots at the Union-held Ft. Sumter.
The Civil War has begun!!!