Chapter 15 Toward Civil War
(1840-1861)
Section 3 Challenges to Slavery
Which political issue is most
important to you?
A. Foreign policy
B. Domestic policy
C. The economy
D. Government reform
A.
B.
C.
D.
A
B
C
D
n
What was the significance of the
Dred Scott decision?
A New Political Party
• After the KansasNebraska Act, the
Democratic Party
began to divide
among sectional lines
• Northern Democrats
left the party
• Differing views over
the slavery issue
destroyed the Whig
Party
• 1854- antislavery
Whigs and
Democrats joined
forces with the FreeSoilers to form the• Republican Party
Election of 1854
• The Republicans challenged
the pro-slavery Whigs and
Democrats
• Ran in state and
congressional elections of
1854
• Main message was that the
government should ban
slavery in NEW territories
• In the elections, the
Republicans took control of he
House of Representatives and
several state governments
• Almost all support was from
the North
• Almost ¾ of the Democratic
candidates from free states
lost in 1854
• Democrats were becoming a
Southern Party
House of Representatives 1854
Election of 1856
• The Republicans put a
candidate up for the
presidential election of 1856
• The Whigs fell apart and
had no candidate
• The Republicans chose
John C. Frémont of
California
• “Free soil, Free speech,
Frémont”
• The Democrats nominated
James Buchanan of
Pennsylvania
• Buchanan wanted to
appease the South in order
to save the Union
• Therefore, the Democrats
endorsed the idea of popular
sovereignty
The Election of 1856 Continued
• The American Party, or the
Know Nothing Party (Antiimmigration) nominated
former president Millard
Fillmore
• Most of the Northern
delegates walked out of the
convention when the party
refused to call for a repeal of
the Kansas-Nebraska Act
• The presidential vote divided
along rigid sectional lines
• Buchanan won- took all
Southern states except
Maryland
• John C. Frémont did not
receive a single electoral
vote south of the MasonDixon Line
• John C. Frémont carried 11
of the 16 Free States
What is popular sovereignty?
A. The idea that slaves
should be free
B. The idea that the popular
vote, not electoral votes,
should decide an election
C.
D.
A. A
The joining together of
members from different
B. B
political parties to form a new party
C. C
The idea that each state or territory should
decide on the issue of slavery independently
D. D
Dred Scott
• Dred Scott was a slave
living in Missouri with his
owner, a doctor
• In the 1830s the doctor
moved to Illinois and then
to Wisconsin Territory
• Both were free and slavery
was banned
• They then returned to
Missouri, where the doctor
died
• In 1846, with the help of
antislavery lawyer, sued
for his freedom
The Dred Scott Case
• Scott claimed he should
be free because he lived
where slavery was
prohibited (Illinois and
Wisconsin)
• 11 years later the case
hit the Supreme Court
• The Court’s decision
electrified the nation
• Chief Justice Roger B.
Taney said that Scott
was still an enslaved
person
• Since he was a slave,
he was not a citizen and
had no right bring a
lawsuit
Taney’s Decision
• Taney said that Scott’s
residence on free soil did not
make him free
• An enslaved person is property
• The 5th Amendment prohibits
taking away property without
“due process of law”
• Taney also said that Congress
had no power to prohibit slavery
in any territory
• The Missouri Compromise was
unconstitutional
• So was popular sovereignty
• The Constitution protects
property, so the Constitution
protected slavery
Reaction to the Dred Scott Decision
• This divided the country
even more
• Nothing could legally stop
the spread of slavery
• The Republicans’ main
issue (limiting the spread of
slavery) was
unconstitutional
• Republicans and other
antislavery groups called
the Dred Scott decision “a
wicked and false judgment”
• “The greatest crime” ever
committed in the nation’s
courts”
Dred Scott was freed 4 months
before his death.
Illinois Senator Race
• 1858- Senate race
between Democrat
Stephen A. Douglas and• Republican Abraham
Lincoln
• Douglas was a likely
candidate for president in
1860
• Lincoln was unknown
• Douglas, a lawyer, was
short, stocky, and powerful
and was known as the
“Little Giant”
Lincoln and Douglas
• Douglas disliked slavery,
but thought the issue would
interfere with the nation’s
growth
• Douglas believed the issue
could be resolved through
popular sovereignty
• Lincoln was intelligent,
ambitious, and a successful
lawyer
• Lincoln had little formal
education, but excellent
political skills
• Lincoln saw slavery as
morally wrong, but admitted
there was no easy way to
end slavery where it existed
• Lincoln was certain the
spread of slavery should not
be allowed
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
• August, September, and
October 1858
• Lincoln and Douglas had 7
debates
• The main topic was slavery
• In Freeport, Lincoln asked –
Could people of a territory
legally exclude slavery before
becoming a state?
• Douglas replied- Yes, by
refusing to pass laws protecting
slaveholders’ rights
• This became known as the
Freeport Doctrine- Douglas won
support from antislavery
followers, but lost support from
the South
What is the Freeport Doctrine?
A. Lincoln’s idea that slavery
was morally wrong
B. John Brown’s speech
on the gallows
A. A
B. B
Douglas’s idea that slavery
C. C
could be excluded by refusing to pass laws
protecting slaveholders’ rights.
D. D
C. A series of debates held
leading up to an election
D.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates Continued
• Douglas claimed Lincoln wanted
African-Americans fully equal to
whites
• Lincoln denied this
• Still, Lincoln said, “in the right to
eat the bread… which his own
hand earns, [an AfricanAmerican] is my equal and the
equal of Douglas, and the equal
of every living man”
• Lincoln said the real problem is
between those that think slavery
is wrong and those that don’t
• “The Republican Party think it
wrong”
• In the end, Douglas won the
election
• Lincoln gained a national
reputation as a man of clear
thinking who could argue with
force a persuasion
The Raid on Harpers Ferry
• 1858- After the election,
Southerners felt
threatened by
Republicans
• October 16, 1859- John
Brown led a group on a
raid on Harpers Ferry,
Virginia
• Brown’s target was an
arsenal (Weapons)
• Brown wanted to arm
slaves and start a revolt
against slaveholders
• Abolitionists had paid
for the raid
Harper Ferry Continued
• Brown’s raid was defeated by
local citizens and federal
troops
• Brown was convicted of
treason and sentenced to be
hanged
• Some antislavery Northerners
denounced Brown’s use of
violence
• Other antislavery Northerners
saw Brown as a martyr
• John Brown’s death rallied
abolitionists
• When Southerners learned
about Brown’s abolitionist ties,
their fears of a great Northern
conspiracy seemed confirmed
• The nation was on the brink of
disaster
n
What was the significance of the
Dred Scott decision?
-It meant that the Constitution protected
slavery
-Neither Congress nor voters could ban
slavery
-Earlier compromises were meaningless
Chapter 15 Section 3 Quiz
The Whig Party selected Millard
Fillmore as its candidate for president.
1. True
2. False
The Know-Nothing Party was
concerned about immigrants.
1. True
2. False
Lincoln saw slavery as morally
right.
1. True
2. False
The federal arsenal held
weapons and ammunition.
1. True
2. False
A martyr is a person who dies
for a great cause.
1. True
2. False
Antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and
Free-Soilers joined together to form the
1.
2.
3.
4.
Northern Party.
Abolitionist Party.
Republican Party.
Antislavery
Society.
What Supreme Court decision meant
that the Constitution protected slavery?
1. Missouri
Compromise
2. Lincoln–Douglas
debates
3. the Dred Scott case
4. the raid on Harpers
Ferry
Who believed the conflict over slavery would
interfere with the nation’s growth?
1. Stephen A.
Douglas
2. Roger B. Taney
3. Dred Scott
4. Abraham Lincoln
Which man's death became a
rallying point for abolitionists?
1. John Brown
2. Stephen A.
Douglas
3. Dred Scott
4. Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln was relatively unknown
throughout the country before the
1. congressional
election of 1860.
2. congressional
election of 1858.
3. presidential election
of 1856.
4. presidential election
of 1860.