The Road to the

Civil War

Missouri Compromise�“Compromise of 1820”

• A request by slaveholding state Missouri to join the Union set off a debate.
• Many settlers had brought their slaves with them to this territory.
• The admission of this state would upset the Congressional balance between free and slave states.
• Henry Clay proposed prohibiting slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36° 30’ N latitude.

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Henry Clay

Compromise of 1820

• To maintain the balance of power in the Senate, Clay suggested:
• Add Missouri as a slave state
• Add Maine as free state
• This means there are now 12 free states and 12 slave states
• The power is balanced once again

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Looking at the 1820 US Map, why would there still be future debates over slavery even after the Missouri Compromise?

Compromise of 1850

• Issue of slavery was a heated debate in Congress through the 1840’s.
• The cause of dispute was slavery in the new territories of Texas, New Mexico and California.

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This was called the “final settlement” of the conflict between the North and �South… this soon proved to be wrong.

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How did the Mexican-American War create the need for another Congressional Compromise?�

Compromise of 1850 cont…

Henry Clay proposed a multi-part plan:

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1. California would be admitted as a free state.

2. New Mexico territory would have no restrictions on slavery.

3. Slave trade, but not slavery itself, would be abolished in the District of Columbia.

4. He pushed for a stronger fugitive slave law.

Compromise of 1850 [Map]

Fugitive Slave Act �1850

• This act required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves.
• Anyone who aided a fugitive could be fined or imprisoned.
• Southerners believed this would force Northerners to recognize their rights.
• The law led to anger in the North.

Resistance to the

Fugitive Slave Act

• The Underground Railroad helped rescue slaves.

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• People gave money to buy freedom for slaves.

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• Northern juries refused to convict runaway slaves.

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin�1852

• Anti-slavery writings were significant in the abolitionists' fight against slavery.

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• Using books, newspapers, pamphlets, poetry, published sermons, and other forms of literature, abolitionists spread their message.

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• Uncle Tom's Cabin had a tremendous impact by enraging and opening the eyes of Northerners who had not directly experience the evils of slavery. The book led to increased abolitionist activism.

Kansas/Nebraska Act

1854�

• The Nebraska Territory was to be divided into two units — Kansas and Nebraska.
• The question of slavery, which had seemingly been answered by the Missouri Compromise, was abandoned.
• Due to their locations, both states seemed likely to become free states.
• This would give the North an advantage in the Senate.

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Looking at this map, why would Kansas and Nebraska be admitted as free states?

Kansas/Nebraska Act

1854

• Popular Sovereignty- allowing the people to vote and decide, allowed settlers to determine the issue of slavery.

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• Stephen Douglas proposed to:
• Repeal (to cancel) the Missouri Compromise
• Let people living in the states decide if they want slavery or not (Popular Sovereignty)
• The Bill passed in Congress and was signed into law by the President Franklin Pierce

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Conflict in Kansas�1855-1856

• Remember: The people have been given the opportunity to vote on this issue in the territories.
• As a result, thousands of pro-slavery men crossed from Missouri into Kansas to vote on the issue of slavery.
• These men were called Border Ruffians.
• Although only 1,500 voters lived in Kansas at the time, more than 6,000 people cast ballots in the elections.

Conflict in Kansas�1855-1856

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• The pro-slavery government became in charge
• Anti-slavery men refused to accept it
• After elections in Kansas, new laws supporting slavery were passed
• Anti-slavery people refused to accept these laws
• Rival governments existed in Kansas, one for and one against slavery
• Both asked Congress for recognition.

Conflict in Kansas cont…

• Both sides began arming themselves and violence was inevitable.
• 800 slave supporters attacked Lawrence, the anti-slavery capital in Kansas.
• In response, abolitionist John Brown vowed to “strike terror into the hearts of the pro-slavery people.”
• He led his supporters to kill five pro-slavery people.
• Violence spread and newspapers began referring to their state as “Bleeding Kansas.”

Novel that sparked increased activism in the North

Missourians who went to Kansas to vote for slavery in the territory

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Violent abolitionist

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Admitted Maine to the US as a free state

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Whig senator who created the conditions of the Missouri Compromise

Angered Northern abolitionists

Draw lines to match the term to its definition:

John Brown

Border Ruffians

Fugitive Slave Act

Missouri Compromise

Henry Clay

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Violence in Congress�The Caning of Charles Sumner�May 21, 1856

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Charles Sumner Preston Brooks

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Violence in Congress cont…

• Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner, lashed out against slavery in a speech titled, “The Crime Against Kansas.”
• He criticized pro-slavery Senators.
• In response to his speech, pro-slavery Representative Preston Brooks walked into the Senate chamber.
• He repeatedly hit Sumner with a cane.
• All of the violence revealed the rising level of hostility between the North and South.

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Dred Scott Decision

• Dred Scott was born into slavery and was owned by a slave owner in St. Louis, Missouri.

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• His owner, a wealthy doctor, traveled the country with Scott.

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• When his owner died, Scott was sold to another owner and decided to sue for his freedom.

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Dred Scott Decision

• Scott’s claim was that he had traveled into Wisconsin and Illinois (free states) with the doctor.

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• Since he had entered states where slavery was legal, the doctor then had no right to keep him in slavery.

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• Scott’s case made it to the Supreme Court, but the court decided that Scott could not legally sue because slaves, and all African-Americans, were not United States citizens.

Dred Scott Decision

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• This ruling by the Supreme Court meant that the Constitution protected the institution of slavery.

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• Abolitionists throughout the North were outraged, leading to more regional tension and an intensified debate over the issue of slavery.

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Predict: What effect will the Scott decision have long-term?

The decision will lead to the expansion of slavery

The decision will lead to the downfall of slavery

Lincoln/Douglas Debates

1858�

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Abraham U.S. Senate Stephen A.

Lincoln Race Douglas

Lincoln/Douglas Debates

1858�

• The Senate Race in Illinois was center of national attention.

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• Douglas, a Democrat, was a likely candidate for President.
• Successful lawyer
• Disliked slavery but thought that controversy over it interfered with the nation’s growth
• He believed in Popular Sovereignty to solve the issue of slavery

Abraham Lincoln Enters the Picture…

• Republican Lincoln had excellent political instincts.
• Little formal education (less than 1 total year of school)
• Was nearly an “unknown” (this was actually beneficial)
• Successful lawyer (constantly traveled the state for years)
• Saw slavery as morally wrong but admitted there was no easy way to eliminate slavery where it already existed
• Believed slavery should not be allowed to spread

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How might Lincoln’s career as a traveling lawyer have helped him as a politician?�

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• Lincoln challenged the Senator Douglas to a series of debates.
• The main topic was slavery.
• Douglas claimed Lincoln wanted African Americans to be fully equally to whites, Lincoln denied this.
• Douglas won by a narrow victory in the election.
• Lincoln lost but gained a national reputation.

In these public debates, Lincoln denied wanting equal rights for African-Americans.

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Does this surprise you?

Explain why or why not.�

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry�Oct. 16, 1859

John Brown

• Abolitionist John Brown led 18 men, whites and African Americans, to raid an arsenal (a place to store weapons).
• They hoped to help slaves gain freedom by arming them with weapons to kill local slaveowners.
• They were quickly defeated by local citizens and federal troops, no slaves were freed, and half of Brown’s men died.
• Brown was convicted of treason (betraying his country) and hanged.

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John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

• His death caused an uproar in the North, further intensifying tensions surrounding the slavery debate.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson called Brown a martyr.
• a person who dies for a great cause.

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• During the trial for his involvement in the raid on Harpers Ferry, abolitionist John Brown declared:

"If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice and mingle my blood with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say let it be done."

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“I said John Brown was an idealist. He believed in his ideas to that extent that he existed to put them all into action; he said, “he did not believe in moral suasion, he believed in putting the thing through.” He saw how deceptive the forms are. We fancy, in Massachusetts, that we are free; yet it seems the Government is quite unreliable...”

• Ralph Waldo Emerson (11/18/1859)

Two weeks before Brown’s hanging

How would you describe John Brown?

American Hero

Criminal

The Presidential Election of 1860

The 3 Candidates

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Abraham Stephen A. John C.

Lincoln Douglas Breckinridge

Presidential Election of 1860

• Many were afraid the Union would break up as a result of the election.

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• The Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln
• Slavery should be left undisturbed in areas it existed, but it should be excluded from the territories�

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Presidential Election of 1860

The Democratic Party splits over the issue of how slavery should be handled and chooses two candidates.

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• Democratic Party nominated Stephen Douglas
• Supported popular sovereignty

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• Southern Democrats nominated John Breckinridge
• Support Dred Scott Decision and the expansion of slavery into new territories/states

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Who do you think won the most votes in North Carolina?

Lincoln

Douglas

Breckinridge

Presidential Election of 1860 cont…

• With the Democrats divided, Lincoln won a clearly won the election with only 40 percent of the popular vote

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• The vote was purely along sectional lines

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• The nation soon began to disintegrate after the election

Election of 1860 Results

Election Results by State

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The South Secedes -1860

• Many people in the South did not trust Lincoln or the Republicans.

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• They feared that their Southern states’ rights would not be protected.
• They felt they had voluntarily chosen to enter the Union and were justified in leaving the Union.

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• The South’s long outstanding threat to secede (to leave), the Union became a reality.

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• South Carolina held a special convention and voted to leave the Union.

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The Confederacy

1861

• Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia joined S. Carolina and seceded the Union.
• Delegates from these states met to form a new nation and government.
• They called themselves “The Confederate States of America.”
• They chose Jefferson Davis as their president.

Firing on Fort Sumter�April 12-14, 1861

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• Once Lincoln became president, he said that secession would not be permitted.

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• He vowed to hold federal property in the South and to enforce the laws of the United States.

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• The South tested Lincoln’s words about federal property by holding onto United States forts.

Firing on Fort Sumter cont…

• Lincoln received a message that Fort Sumter’s supplies were low and Confederates were demanding its surrender.
• Lincoln sent an unarmed expedition to the Fort.
• Davis ordered his forces to attack Fort Sumter.
• They open fired for hours but no one died.
• The Confederates hoisted their flag over the fort.

The Effect of Firing on Fort Sumter…

• Congress declared war against the C.S.A
• Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 troops to fight to save the Union.

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• Meanwhile, the Confederacy began calling up for volunteers to fight.

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The Civil War had begun.

Abolished the Compromise of 1820 and allowed popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in two new territories

Slave whose lawsuit was denied but sparked increased abolitionist activism

Southern Democrat who won the votes of Southern states in the 1860 election

First military action of the war

Democrat who famously defeated Lincoln in the 1858 US Senate race

President of the Confederate States of America

Draw lines to match the image to the answer:

Fort Sumter

Stephen A. Douglas

John Breckinridge

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Kansas- Nebraska Act

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Jefferson Davis

Dred Scott