Ch' 17 The Road to the Civil War

1
Ch. 17 The Road to the Civil War

• 1850-1860

2
Regions Grow Further Apart

• In the mid-1800s the United States gained vast
  new territories in the West.
• Eventually those territories would become
  states, would they become slave states or free
  states?
• The issue of slavery in the West would set the
  North against the South.

3
The Election of 1848

• In the election of 1848, both northerners and
  southerners tried to play in a discussion of
  slavery.
• The Wigs who enjoyed strong support in the
  North, nominated Zachary Taylor a hero of the
  Mexican War who owned a plantation and owned over
  1,000 slaves.

4
The California Question

• The California gold rush in 1848 intensified
  questions about slavery in the new territory.
• President Taylor believed statehood could become
  a solution to the issue of slavery in the
  territories.
• Admission of California would tip the balance of
  power in the senate in favor of free states.

5
Threats to the Union

• And January 1849, South Carolina senator John C.
  Calhoun acted against to what he saw as a threat
  to the southern way of life.
• Calhouns views were seen as too extreme.
• In congress debate over Californias statehood
  dragged on for a year.

6
Compromise of 1850

• To resolve this crisis congress turned to senator
  Henry Clay.
• Clay had earned the nickname the Great
  Compromiser for working out the details to the
  Missouri compromise.
• In January 1850, Clay presented a bill to
  congress with 5 previsions for the bill for
  Californias statehood.

7
Election of 1856

• The new Republican party nominated a new
  presidential candidate, John C. Fremont.
• The Democratic party nominated a new
  presidential candidate James Buchanan.

8
The Lincoln-Douglas Campaign

• The next month Douglas kicked off his campaign
  in Chicago.
• Lincoln denied Douglass charge of wanting war.
• Douglas won the 185 8 election by a narrow
  margin and kept his place in the Senate.

9
An Uneasy Decade

• The united states had littler to celebrate
  during the 1850s.
• Year after year relations between the North and
  South grew worse.
• Northerners pressed for higher tariffs and free
  land.
• Southerners in congress would not act to raise
  tariffs however congress passed a homestead act
  offering free land to settlers.

10
Moving Toward Succession

• Southerners reacted differently to Lincolns
  election.
• Not all Southerners seemed so eager to leave the
  Union as the people in
  Charleston.
• On February 4, delegates met in Alabama to form
  a new Nation where the confederacy spread fast.