ssahna_irnsg_units_AC.book Page 221 Thursday, December 8, 2005 12:19 PM
Section 3
The Crisis Deepens
Section 3 Focus Question
Why did the Lincoln-Douglas debates and John Brown’s
raid increase tensions between the North and South? To
begin answering this question,
• Learn how a new antislavery party came to be.
• Explore the impact of the Dred Scott decision.
• Find out about the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
• Learn about John Brown’s raid.
Key Events
1852
Harriet Beecher
Stowe publishes
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin.
1857
Supreme Court
ruling in Dred
Scott case declares Missouri
Compromise
unconstitutional.
1861
The Civil War
begins with
Confederate
bombardment
of Fort Sumter.
Section 3 Summary
The Lincoln-Douglas debates and John Brown’s raid caused
more controversy and anger over slavery.
© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All Rights Reserved.
A New Antislavery Party
The Whig Party split apart in 1854. Whigs who took a strong
antislavery stand joined the new Republican Party. Its main
platform was to stop slavery from spreading to the western
territories. Northern Democrats and Free-Soilers also joined
the Republican Party. It quickly became powerful. In the 1856
presidential election, the first Republican candidate, John C.
Frémont, won 11 of the 16 free states. Still, the Democratic
candidate, James Buchanan, won the presidential election. ✓
The Dred Scott Decision
In 1857, the Supreme Court decided the case of Dred Scott v.
Sandford. Dred Scott was an enslaved person who sued for
his freedom because he had lived with his master in states
where slavery was illegal.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that
Scott had no right to sue in federal court because African
Americans were not citizens. Taney also declared that living
in a free state did not make enslaved people free. They were
property, and the property rights of their owners were
protected in all states.
This meant that Congress did not have the power to
prohibit slavery in any territory, and that the Missouri
Compromise was unconstitutional. Slavery was legal again
in all territories. Supporters of slavery rejoiced at this
ruling. Northerners, however, were stunned. ✓
✓ Checkpoint
List three groups that joined the
Republican Party.
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
✓ Checkpoint
Name the kind of right that protected slavery in all states, according to the Dred Scott decision.
______________________________
Unit 5
Chapter 14
Section 3
221
ssahna_irnsg_units_AC.book Page 222 Thursday, December 8, 2005 12:19 PM
Reading Strategy
Complete the following cause-andeffect pair:
Cause: _______________________
______________________________
Effect: Lincoln ran for the Illinois
Senate seat.
Vocabulary Builder
Entitle, in the underlined sentence,
means “to give a right to something.” What does this tell you
about the way Lincoln felt about the
rights of African Americans?
______________________________
______________________________
✓ Checkpoint
List two points Lincoln made in the
debates about slavery and African
Americans.
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
✓ Checkpoint
Name the part of the country in
which John Brown was considered
a hero.
______________________________
John Brown’s Raid
John Brown was an abolitionist. He had been driven out of
Kansas after the Pottawatomie Massacre. He returned to New
England and hatched a plot to raise an army to free people in
the South who were enslaved. In 1859, Brown attacked
Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He hoped to take control of the guns
stored there by the U.S. Army. He would give the arms to
enslaved African Americans and lead them in a revolt.
Brown and his men were captured. Brown was executed,
but his cause was celebrated in the North. Many people there
considered him a hero. More than ever, southerners thought
that the North wanted to destroy their way of life. ✓
Check Your Progress
1. Why was the Republican Party formed?
________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ___________ ______ ______ ___________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ________ ___ ____________ ____________ ___________ ____________ __________ ______________ ____________ ___________ ____________ ____________ __ _________
________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ___________ ______ ______ ___________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ________ ___ ____________ ____________ ___________ ____________ __________ ______________ ____________ ___________ ____________ ____________ __ _________
222
Unit 5
Chapter 14
Section 3
2. Why did John Brown attack Harpers Ferry?
________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ___________ ______ ______ ___________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ________ ___ ____________ ____________ ___________ ____________ __________ ______________ ____________ ___________ ____________ ____________ __ _________
________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ___________ ______ ______ ___________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ________ ___ ____________ ____________ ___________ ____________ __________ ______________ ____________ ___________ ____________ ____________ __ _________
© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All Rights Reserved.
______________________________
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Abraham Lincoln, an Illinois attorney, was elected to the
House as a Whig. He voted for the Wilmot Proviso. After
one term, he returned to his Springfield law practice.
Lincoln’s opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act
brought him back into politics. In 1858, Lincoln ran for the
Illinois Senate seat against Stephen Douglas, the author of
the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Lincoln accepted the Republican
nomination in 1858. Many southerners believed that Lincoln
was an abolitionist. Lincoln then challenged Douglas to a
series of public debates.
Douglas strongly defended popular sovereignty. He said
people in each state could decide the slavery issue for
themselves. He accused Lincoln of being an abolitionist who
wanted equality for African Americans.
Lincoln took a stand against slavery. He stated that
slavery was wrong and would die on its own. In the meantime, slavery had to be kept out of the West. While Lincoln
did not promote equal rights for African Americans, he stated
that there was no reason they should not be “entitled to all the
rights” in the Declaration of Independence.
Douglas won the Senate election, but the debates made
Lincoln nationally known. Two years later, the men would
be rivals again for the presidency. ✓