Whatissues
divided the
nationin 1860?
Missouri
Compromise
of
Compromise
FugitiveSlaveLaw
Kansas-Nebraska
Act
DredScott
Decision
seceoe
Confederacy
states'rights
PEOPLE
HenryClay
AbrahamLincoln
JohnBrown
JeffersonDavis
READING
STRATEGY
a (hartlikethe
Use
to listthe
onebelow
sequen(e
ofevents
leading
tosecession.
LessonOutline
. A Nation Divided
. TheConflictSpreads
. Election
of 1860
BUITDBACKGROUND
triedto endthe quarrelsover
In l82o Congress
The
slaveryby passingthe MissouriComplomise.
createdan imaginaryIinethrough
compromise
states
Territory.
Exceptfor Missouri,
the Louisiana
north of the line would be free states.statesto
Thiscompromise
itssouthwouldallowslavery.
askedto join the
workeduntil1850,whenCalifornia
UnitedStates.A newcompromisewasmade,but
the conflictoverslaverygrew.In 1858,Abraham
for the
thena candidate
Lincoln,
Senatesaid,"A housedivided
againstitselfcannotstand.I
cannot
believethisgovernment
endurehalfslaveandhalffree."
YouAreHere
rtitlir
A NATIONDIVIDED
The compromise over which statesdid
and did not allou, slaveryworked as long
asthe balance between them held. In
1850the united stateshad 15 slavestates
and 15 ftee states.Then California asked
to join the United Statesas a free state.
Ihis would tip the balance in Congressin
favor ofthe ftee statesand might cause
rhe United Statest0 break apart.
Senator Henry Clay of Kentuch/ was a
slaveholder but believed strongly in the
llt.lli
Union.He cameup with a solution,
kno\,\'nasthe Comprondseof 1850.It
allowedCaliforniainto the Union asa
freestate.In return,the North agreedto
allowthe terdtodesofNew Mexicoand
whether
Utah to decidefor themselves
or not to allowslavery.TheNorth also
agreedto the FugitiveSlaveLaw of 1850,
which requiredpolicein freestatesto
AfricanAmericans.
helpcaprureescaping
6rNG
-
*d"ffi)
&lt+
tfie"
painting
senate
onpage424showsthe
The
(ompromise
of1850.
the
debating
!
J
-J
i How many stateswere free states?slavestates?
Slave
WhatwastheFugitive
Lawof 18s0?
.
i]t::j
llLe.rlOl\ .:f_iiCrr 5tr[dLF,ili
Many people u,ereagainstthe Compromise of I850. Among them \4'eleabolitioDists.The-vargued that the Fugiti\re
S lir cr L a wc l a s l re dn i rh rl reB i l lo f R i g ht - .
Under the law a free Aliican American
could be captured and sold into slave4'.
Act
Kansas-Nebraska
ID 1854Congresspassedthe KansasNebraskaAct This law allolved the
Kansasand Nebraskaterritories to decide
for themsclvesu'hether to allo\^/slavcry.
The act angeredabolitionist groups
becauseboth territories were nortll of the
Missouri Compromjse Linc. Groups t'cre
aftaid planters would wiD enough votes
for the territories to alb\'v slaveryto begin
moving into the territories. People\qho
\\'crc committed to making the teritorie.
hee r'r,erccalled "free soilers."
In 1856,violcnce broke out bctween
supporters of slaverl,and the "free soil
ers."Hundrcds ofpeople n'ere killed. The
neltspapels referredto the territory as
"Bleeding l(ansas."
A New Political Party
A new poljtical parqt the Republicar
Pait\',took a stand or'rthe slaveryissue.
oppo.edallor ring .lr r re11
Repr r blicanr
the territolies. Onc membel ofthe nen'
partyuras Abraham Lincoln, a la\wer
from Illinois.Mor. ly opposedto slaven.
he also llas firn y againstthe extens()n
of slaverl into the lerfitories.
MINNESOTA
TE
OREGON
TERRITOR
CT
NJ
"o.L*")
j )A t : I I I C
()CllAr\
NC
sc
NEWMEXTCq''
i
TERRITORY
..-.-l
:,
L fl.AN'l?c
al( it.1N
I
Freesloiesond r€trLrrles
dnd te lories
--.j 5 ove siir,er
. j Decisionon slovery
i-!
.--
Niissori Conp.omiseLine
and Nebraska
line,how shouldKansas
!. Accordingto the MissouriCompromise
be admittedto the Union?
2. Whichterritorieswereallowedto decidewhetheror not to allowslaveryin 1854?
Party,
symbol
0ftheDemocratic
Thedonkey,
Parly,
oftheRepubli(an
andtheelephant
(ampaigns.
politi(al
in
the
1850s
often
appeared
Dred Scott
In 1857the SupremeCourtaddedto
the conflictoverslaverywhen it madeits
Dred ScottDecision.Dred Scott,an
enslavedman,had askedthe Courtfor
his freedombecausehe had livedwith his
ownerin a freetellitory. The Supreme
Sc ol t.Thedec i s i on
C ourtrul e da Sa i n sl
statedthat enslavedpeoplewereproperty.TheConstilulionprotectstheright
of citizensin our nation to taketheir
The SupremeCourt
propertyanl''where.
alsosaidthat the Missoudcompromise
did
had not beenconstitutional.Congress
not havethe right to makecertaintefiitories"free"becausethat would keepslave
holdersfrom movingtheir properry
SeveralNorthernstatelegislatures
passedresolutionsstatingthat the Dred
ScottDecision"wasnot binding in law
Sorneleaders,including
and conscience."
AbmhamLincoln,saidthat the Dred
ScottDecisiondid not haveto be obeyed.
The otherbmnchesof governmenthad
not supportedthe Court'sdecision.
John Brown'sRaid
An abolilionistnamedJohnBrown
and his followershopedto stafi a rebellion that would end slaveryAt dawnon
October16,1859,theytook controlof a
building in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, where
the federalgovemmentstoredweapons.
Brownand his men werearrested.
JohnBro$'n'sraid addedto Southemers'fealsthat Northernercwould stopat
nothingto abolishslaveryNortherners
weredivided.AbolitionistTheodore
Parkercalled Bro\'\Tr"asalnt." TheLiberaror called Brorvn'splan "insane."
AbrahamLincoln
ln lB5BAbmhamLincolnran for senator asa memberofthe RepublicanParty,
His opponentwasthe authorof the
Act, SenatorStephen
Kansas-Nebraska
A. Douglas,a Democrat.Douglaswas
knownasthe "Litde Giant."Although
During
short,he wasa powerfulspeaker.
the campaign,Lincolnwasfirmly against
.,laver1
<preading
to any newterritories.
Douglas,on the otherhand,supported
popularsovereignty.
He believedeach
tedtory shouldbe allowedto makeits
o$.ndecisionabout issuessuch as
slavery.Lincoln lost the election,but
the debateoverslaverymade him
well-known acrossthe country.
.frllb
€filHf
SC
worsened
the
wtricnissues
division between the North
andSouthfrom1854to1859?
427
To secedemeant that the
stateswor d leavethe
Union. Lincoln calledtalk of
leavingthe Union "humbug-
Et-ECTION
OF 1860
In l860 Lincolnfaced
threecandidatesin the race
Oneof
for the Presidency.
them wasDouglas,Of the
four, Lincoln was the only
candidatefirmly against
the spreadof slavery.
To preservethe Union,
Lincoln saidhe would leave
slaveryalonewhereit
aheadyexisted.However,
if no new slavestateswere
admittedto the Union,the freestates
would keeptheir majodty in Congress,
and the Southcouldnevergainpolitical
power. SomeSouthemstatestalked
about secedingifLincoln wereelected.
The First StateSecedes
Lincolnwon the electionWould someof the Southern statesleavethe Union?
In December1B60,the state
of SouthCarolinavotedto
secede.By the following
March,Mississippi,Florida.
A.labama,
Georgia,
Louisiana,Texas,and SouthCarolinahai
formeda new country the Confererate
Statesof America, or Confederacy.The,r'
and nameda presi
drafleda constiturion
dent.ThevchoseIeffersonDavis,a
Southern
Afterlinrclnwontheeledion0f1860(below),
president.
(hos€
(above)
t0betheil
Davis
slates Jefferson
428
IT TOGETHER
PUTTING
SenatorfromMississippi
UnitedStates
and a planterwho had foughtin the Mexicanwar The Union was now split.
The Dred ScottDecision,the KansasNebraskaAct of 1854,and JohnBroum's
raid in 1859deepenedconflictsbetween
the states.Dudng his presidentialcampaign,AbrahamLincolndid not oppose
slaverywhere it existed,but he did
opposeits spreadto other states.Southerners supported states rlglits. They
believedeachstateshouldbe allowedto
makeits oiarldecisionsaboutmost
issues.For many Southemers,t}le only
courseof actionleft seemedto be to
To Uncoln, secedingfrom the
secede.
Union was illegalbecausethe Constitution dMded powerbetweenthe federal
governmentand the states.A statethat
secededwas claimingto havesupreme
authority.The conflictbetweenNofih
ald Southwasaboutto becomea war.
"w
Why did Southernstates
secedefrom the Union?
his
S(ott(left)wasdenied
Dred
Coun.
bytheSuplerne
freedom
for eachvocabulary
1. Writeonesentence
term.
DredScottDecision
Act
Kansas-Nebraska
secede
2. Howdid the Southernstatesrespondto
Lincolnlelection?
r!':i ri 'ni :
425and
LookatthemaPson Pages
howtheUnitedStates
426.Describe
changedbetween1820andl854.Then
on
prepare
an outlinefor a documentary
the changes.
3. Whateventsofthe 18505causedthe
countryto pullapart?
undidthe
actions
4. Whattwo government
Compromise?
Missouri
aboutJohn
opinions
thevarious
5. Compare
Brown!raid.
Write an editorialin a Northernnewspaperprotestingthe DredscottDecision.
a9