The Sectional Crisis

1. 14 The Sectional Crisis

2. The Compromise of 1850 • North and South conflict violently over slavery’s extension into the territories • No Federal authority to regulate slavery limited what North could do • Professional politicians mediate conflict • Foreshadows what is to come – Preston Brooks vs. Charles Sumner

3. The Problem of Slaveryin the Mexican Cession • Congressional power over slavery includes: • Setting conditions to make territories states • Forbidding slavery in new states • Mexican Cession of 1848 puts status of slavery in new territory into question

4. The Wilmot Proviso Launches the Free-Soil Movement • Mexican War mobilizes antislavery groups • Wilmot Proviso – Ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico • Proviso passes in House, fails in Senate • Battle over the Proviso foreshadows sectional conflict of 1850s

5. Squatter Sovereignty andthe Election of 1848 • Democratic presidential candidate Lewis Cass proposes popular sovereignty • Congress allows territorial settlers to decide • Free-Soil party formed to limit extension of slavery – racial prejudice and fear of labor competition from slaves

6. Taylor Takes Charge • Taylor proposes admitting California and New Mexico as states immediately • South reacts angrily • Not enough time for planters to settle • Immediate admission would result in no slavery • Proposed Nashville convention prompts fears of Southern secession

7. Forging a Compromise • Henry Clay’s 1850 compromise package • California admitted as a free state • Slave trade prohibited in District of Columbia • Strong fugitive slave law • Enlarged New Mexico territory to be admitted on basis of popular sovereignty

8. Forging a Compromise • President Taylor opposes, VP Fillmore supports Clay’s compromise • July 1850, Taylor dies • Compromise passed as separate measures

9. The Compromise of 1850

10. Forging a Compromise:The Fugitive Slave Law • Part of Compromise of 1850 • Those accused of being fugitive slaves denied Constitution rights • Very unpopular in Abolitionist areas • Anthony Burns case in Boston 1854

11. Political Upheaval, 1852–1856 • Whigs and Democrats manage controversy in 1850 • Sectionalism destroys both parties in 1850s

12. The Party System in Crisis • Parties need new issues after 1850 • Democrats succeed: • Claim credit for the nation’s prosperity • Promise to defend the Compromise of 1850 • Whigs fail, become internally divided • 1852: Whig Winfield Scott loses in a landslide to Democrat Franklin Pierce

13. The Kansas-Nebraska ActRaises a Storm • Senator Stephen Douglas (D–IL) wants Kansas and Nebraska open to settlement to facilitate Transcontinental RR to Chicago and stimulate economy • 1854: Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska bill • Apply popular sovereignty to Kansas, Nebraska • Repeal Missouri Compromise line

14. The Kansas-Nebraska ActRaises a Storm • Act passes on sectional vote • Northerners outraged, Democratic party split • Act was catastrophe for sectional harmony

15. The Kansas-Nebraska Actof 1854

16. The Kansas-Nebraska ActRaises a Storm • KS-NE Act seen as North making concessions to South, but not getting anything in return • Whig indecision causes party to disintegrate • Mass defection among Northern Democrats

17. The Kansas-Nebraska ActRaises a Storm • “Anti-Nebraska” candidates sweep North in 1854 congressional elections • Democrats become sole Southern party • Free-Soil Party grows stronger and becomes Republicans • President Pierce’s effort to acquire Cuba provokes antislavery firestorm

18. An Appeal to Nativism:The Know-Nothing Episode • Know-Nothings (American Party) appeals to anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant sentiment – especially against Germans and Irish • 1854: American Party surges – popular issues of time but did not address slavery • Party fails: Probable cause: No response to slavery

19. Kansas and the Rise of the Republicans • As result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act the Republican party unites former Whigs, Know-Nothings, Free-Soilers, Northern Democrats • Defends West for white, small farmers from Slave Power – stop extension of slavery in territories • Civil War in Kansas is rehearsal for later

20. Kansas and the Rise of the Republicans • Republican Party a sectional party • “Bleeding Kansas” helps Republicans • Violent struggle between abolitionists and proslavery forces for control of Kansas territory creates a Civil War • Pro-slavery people come from MO to vote illegally in Kansas election (fraud election) • Popular Sovereignty failed

21. “Bleeding Kansas”

22. Sectional Division in the Election of 1856 • Republican John C. Frémont seeks votes only in free states • Know-Nothing Millard Fillmore champions sectional compromise • Democrat James Buchanan defends the Compromise of 1850, carries election

23. Sectional Division in the Election of 1856 • Election really two elections: • North: Freemont vs. Buchanan • South: Fillmore vs. Buchanan • Republicans make clear gains in North • End of two party system

24. The House Divided, 1857–1860 • Sectional quarrel becomes virtually irreconcilable under Buchanan • Growing sense of deep cultural differences, opposing interests between North and South • Division was increasing seen in cultural and intellectual terms

25. Cultural Sectionalism • Major Protestant denominations divide into Northern and Southern entities over slavery • Southern literature romanticizes plantation life • South seeks intellectual, economic independence

26. Cultural Sectionalism • Northern intellectuals condemn slavery • Uncle Tom’s Cabin an immense success in North • Harriet Beecher Stowe author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Most important example of literary abolitionism

27. The Dred Scott Case • Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857): Supreme Court can decide on slavery in the territories • Court refuses narrow determination of case

28. The Dred Scott Case • Major arguments: • Scott has no right to sue because neither he nor any other black, slave or free, is a citizen • Congress has no authority to prohibit slavery in territories, Missouri Compromise unconstitutional • Ruling supports Republican claim that an aggressive slave power dominated all branches of federal government • South likes decision

29. The Lecompton Controversy • After fraud election, two capitals set up in Kansas – slavery capital at Lecompton – free capital at Lawrence • 1857: Rigged Lecompton convention drafts constitution to make Kansas a slave state • Congress has bitter debates and rejects Lecompton Constitution • People of Kansas repudiate Lecompton Constitution by 6 to 1 margin in 1858

30. The Lecompton Controversy • Lecompton incident more evidence to Republicans of slave power conspiracy • Lecompton and Dred Scott case destroy Stephen Douglas’s hopes of unified Democratic party protecting popular sovereignty

31. Debating the Morality of Slavery • Lincoln • Decries “Southern plot” to extend slavery • Promises to work for slavery’s extinction • Casts slavery as a moral problem • Defends white supremacy in response to Douglas

32. Debating the Morality of Slavery • Douglas accuses Lincoln of favoring equality • Lincoln loses election, gains national reputation

33. The South’s Crisis of Fear • October, 1859: John Brown raids Harper’s Ferry • Robert E. Lee sent to defeat Brown • Brown executed, many Northerners see him as martyr • Event increased southern fears of northern hostility

34. The South’s Crisis of Fear • Hinton Helper’s Impending Crisis of the South asked poor white Southerners to overthrow planter dominance and abolish slavery • Endorsed by House Republican leader John Sherman

35. The South’s Crisis of Fear • To Southerners, Republicans seen as radical abolitionists • Southerners convinced they must secede on election of Republican president

36. The Election of 1860: Republicans • Abraham Lincoln nominated • Home state of Illinois crucial to election • Seen as moderate • Platform to widen party’s appeal • High tariffs for industry • Free homesteads for small farmers • Government aid for internal improvements • Lincoln wins by carrying North

37. The Election of 1860: Democrats • Party splits • Northern Democrats • Stephen Douglas • Continued support for popular sovereignty • Southern Democrats • John Breckenridge • Federal protection of slavery in territories

38. The Election of 1860: Constitutional Union Party • Candidate John Bell • Promises compromise between North and South

39. Election of 1860: Outcome • 2 contests • North: Lincoln vs. Douglas • South: Bell vs. Breckenridge • Republicans get electoral majority with all but 3 Northern electoral votes, although only 40% of popular vote nationwide

40. Election of 1860: Outcome • South sees this as beginning of permanent minority status in American politics • Deep South political leaders launch secession movements

42. Explaining the Crisis • Republicans a strict sectional party • Fundamental conflict of ideals • Southern ideals • Paternalism, generosity, prosperity • Slavery defended on the grounds of race

43. Explaining the Crisis • Northern ideals • Inspired by evangelical Protestantism • Each person free and responsible • Slavery tyrannical and immoral