A Union in Peril: The Sectional Crisis of the Early Nineteenth Century, 1820-1861

1. A Union in Peril: The Sectional Crisis of the Early Nineteenth Century, 1820-1861

2. Key Events: The Sectional Crisis • Missouri Compromise of 1820

3. Missouri Compromise of 1820

4. Key Events: The Sectional Crisis • Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Mexican War (1846-1848)

5. James K. PolkPresident from 1845-1849

6. Mexican War, 1846-1848

7. Results of the Mexican War

8. Key Events: The Sectional Crisis • Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Mexican War (1846-1848) • Compromise of 1850

9. Compromise of 1850

10. Key Events: The Sectional Crisis • Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Mexican War (1846-1848) • Compromise of 1850 • Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

11. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

12. Key Events: The Sectional Crisis • Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Mexican War (1846-1848) • Compromise of 1850 • Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 • DredScott Decision (1857)

13. Dred Scott and Family

14. Key Events: The Sectional Crisis • Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Mexican War (1846-1848) • Compromise of 1850 • Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 • DredScott Decision (1858) • Raid on Harper’s Ferry (1859)

15. John BrownRadical Abolitionist

16. Harper’s Ferry, Virginia

17. Brown’s Martyrdom “If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments,--I submit, so let it be done!” John Brown, 1859

18. Summary • Expansionist ambition and Manifest Destiny re-energized the debate over slavery’s expansion • Maintaining a balance between free states and slave states was seen as one way to keep the Union together • These compromises resolved the issue temporarily, not permanently