America in Turmoil: The 1850s Sectional Changes and Crisis

1. Chapter 15: The Union Broken Preview:“During the 1850s the building of a vast railroad network and a rising tide of immigration benefited the North in terms of both economic and political power. As a result, sectional tensions grew. But it was the debate over slavery in the territories—especially in Kansas—that brought the crisis to a head.” The Highlights: Sectional Changes in American Society The Political Realignment of the 1850s The Worsening Crisis The Road to War

2. 15-2 Sectional Changes in American Society • The Growth of a Railroad Economy • In the 1840s, the railroad replaced cotton as the driving force of the economy • Impact of railroads on the economy was dramatic • Reorientation of western trade from southern to northern cities • New commercial agriculture McGraw-Hill

3. 15-3 McGraw-Hill

4. 15-4 • Railroads and the Prairie Environment • Prairie lands transformed into fertile farmland • Technology was instrumental • Dramatic changes in the landscape • Railroads and the Urban Environment • Influence on location of towns hinged on railroad passing through • Rising Industrialization • Growing percentage of American workers labored in industry, esp. in the North McGraw-Hill

5. 15-5 • Immigration • Industrial growth relied on large factory labor force • Influx of immigrants fed labor demand • New sources of immigration because of conditions in Europe • Irish potato blight (1846) pushed one million to the United States • Revolutions of 1848 prompted many to leave, esp. the Germans • Large immigration strained urban resources McGraw-Hill

6. 15-6 “With British and northern factories buying cotton in unprecedented quantities, southern planters prospered in the 1850s”(465). • Southern Complaints • Some southerners pressed for greater industrialization in the region • Southern economic dependence on the North concerned many southerners • Large immigration, which was primarily to the North, exacerbated southern fears about fast-paced northern population growth McGraw-Hill

7. 15-7 The Political Realignment of the 1850s • The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Brainchild of Sen. Stephen Douglas, who wanted a northern route for the transcontinental railroad • Missouri Compromise repealed • Concept of popular sovereignty applied to Kansas and Nebraska Territories McGraw-Hill

8. 15-8 • The Collapse of the Second American Party System • Political realignment sparked by sectional tensions of the 1850s • Disillusionment with the parties was rampant • The Know-Nothings • Independent parties flourished because of disaffection with major parties • Nativist impulse fed the growth of the anti-immigrant American, or “Know-Nothing,” party • Party declined in 1856 McGraw-Hill

9. 15-9 • The Republicans and Bleeding Kansas • Republican party founded in 1854 as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act • Turmoil in Kansas fueled its growth in the North • The Caning of Charles Sumner • May 22, 1856: Rep. Preston Brooks caned Sen. Sumner in reaction to the latter’s slander of a relative of Brooks’ • Significance of the caning was in its imagery of the South gone wild over slavery McGraw-Hill

10. “Given the storm that had arisen over Kansas, Democrats concluded that no candidate associated with the repeal of the Missouri Compromise had a chance to win. So the Democrats turned to James Buchanan of Pennsylvania as their presidential nominee”(471). 15-10 • The Election of 1856 • American party nominated Fillmore; Republicans nominated Frémont • Ideology of the Republican party rested on belief in free labor • Concept of the Slave Power, the influence of the planter class • Heritage of republicanism important • Buchanan won McGraw-Hill

11. 15-11 The Worsening Crisis • The Dred Scott Decision • Lawsuit filed by a slave, Dred Scott, for his freedom rejected by the Supreme Court • Protection of slavery guaranteed by the Court • Reaction to the decision further split the sections • The Panic of 1857 • Relatively mild economic downturn caused severe psychological impact McGraw-Hill

12. 15-12 • The Lecompton Constitution • Proslavery forces in Kansas crafted constitution to protect slavery • Congress returned the constitution to Kansas for another vote, in which it failed “The attempt to force slavery on the people of Kansas drove many conservative northerners into the Republican party”(474). McGraw-Hill

13. 15-13 • The Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Lincoln challenged Douglas’ re-election to the Senate in 1858 • Lincoln’s view of the sectional crisis not optimistic • Lincoln’s character was appealing • Candidates split on the slavery issue • Douglas’ Freeport Doctrine a key part of the debates • The Beleaguered South • Failed solutions produced considerable frustration in the late 1850s McGraw-Hill

14. 15-14 McGraw-Hill

15. 15-15 The Road to War • A Sectional Election • Disruption of the Democratic party in 1860 produced two candidates, Douglas and Breckenridge • Republicans nominated Lincoln, who won “For the first time, the nation had elected a president who headed a completely sectional party and who was committed to stopping the expansion of slavery”(480). McGraw-Hill

16. 15-16 McGraw-Hill

17. 15-17 • Secession • Southern fears of Lincoln prompted seven states to secede by Feb. 1861 • Created the Confederate States of America • Crittenden Compromise failed • The Outbreak of War • Lincoln’s approach to the crisis was cautious, and focused on preserving the Union • Fort Sumter (April 1861) started the war • Upper South seceded McGraw-Hill

18. 15-18 • The Roots of a Divided Society • Diverging economies produced many differences between North and South • Weakness of the political system did not prevent secession and war • Belief in conspiracies against liberty ran rampant in the North and South McGraw-Hill