National Expansion, Sectional Divisions, and Slavery

1
National Expansion, Sectional Divisions, and
Slavery

• The Tensions that led to
• the Civil War

2
Growth of the Continental Nation
3
Growth of Slavery
Both Kentucky and Tennessee adopted slavery as
part of their agricultural economy. The creation
of Mississippi Territory in 1804 was another
advance for slavery. The Missouri Compromise
opened the southern parts of Louisiana to slavery
4
King Cotton
Cotton was the key to slavery expansion. Worth
millions of dollars, cotton plants required large
tracts of land, and quickly used up the nutrients
in the soil. Thousands of Southern planters
sought new land in the west for cotton
agriculture. This only increased the slavery
debates.
5
Slavery and Progress
Despite laws that prevented slaves from becoming
educated, southerners still claimed that slavery
was a civilizing institution. John C. Calhoun
(left), former vice-president, long-serving
Senator foe South Carolina, wrote essays arguing
that slavery was indispensable to progress. He
further argued that slavery would slowly bring
advances to the black race so that they could
in some future century -- take their place among
civilized peoples of the world. Anti-slavery
groups called Calhouns defense of slavery
nothing more than a sad attempt to defend an
immoral institution.
6
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was a slave whose master
taught him to read. When the local law made it
illegal for him for have any books, he decided to
run away and succeeded to reaching
Massachusetts on his third attempt. After
receiving further education, he became a major
speaker against slavery in the U.S. His
Autobiography was widely sold and quoted in
anti-slavery publications. Douglass later
organized voters for the Free Soil and Republican
Parties among free Blacks living in northern
states.
7
Texas Troubles
Large numbers of Americans from Missouri,
Kentucky and Tennessee, in search of better land
for cotton planting, immigrated to Texas, part
of the Mexican nation. When the Mexican
government decided to outlaw slavery, many of the
American-Texans (known as Texicans), resented
the decision and began to talk of revolting
against Mexican rule. Sympathetic U.S. leaders,
including Andrew Jackson, encouraged their
designs.
Stephen Austin was among the first American
colonists in Texas, his father having led a large
group there from Missouri. Austin was one of the
most outspoken advocates of Texas independence
from Mexico.
8
Texas Republic
After winning independence from Mexico, the new
republic of Texas immediately asked to become
part of the United States. Northern Senators and
Congressman opposed this, because the addition of
another slave state would upset the delicate
balance between slave and free states
(established by the Missouri Compromise). Texas
would remain an independent republic until 1845.
9
Manifest Destiny
By the early 1830s, statesmen, editors, and land
speculators were saying that it was the manifest
destiny (obvious fate) of America to take
possession of North America. Even painters made
use of the image of American destiny (like
William Ranneys Advice on the Prairie -- 1853).
10
Oregon Country
In the northwest, Americans claimed the basin of
the Columbia River because of the voyage of one
American sea captain. The British claimed the
same region because of the voyage of a British
sea captain. As more and more American settlers
crossed the Oregon Trail and established farms
in the Willamette Valley, tensions with Great
Britain grew.
11
Slavery The Growing Dispute
As the nations desire for new land grew, so too
did the arguments over slavery. Northern
abolitionists cast copper tokens (used as
pennies) that called for the end of slavery.
Southerners accused the northern states of
harboring runaway slaves. Compromises became
more unlikely.
12
Polks Platform

• The Election of James K. Polk as president in
  1844 opened a new phase in both national
  expansion and the arguments over slavery. As
  president, Polk (a old friend of Andrew Jackson)
  had 3 major goals
• Bringing Texas into the U.S.
• Obtaining Americas clear claim to the Oregon
  region.
• Creating a Federal Treasury to handle the
  governments money.

13
Settlement in Oregon
Many Americans, led by Michigan politician Lewis
Cass (left) and others who were deeply invested
in Oregon land, wanted Britain to cede the rights
to Oregon as far north as Alaska. But, facing
the likelihood of war with Mexico, Polk reached a
compromise that placed the border between Oregon
and Canada at its current location the 48th
parallel, north latitude. As the population of a
new U.S. territory, Oregons inhabitants voted
to outlaw slavery.
14
War with Mexico
Ignoring warnings from the government of Mexico,
which had yet to acknowledge the independence of
Texas, Polk persuaded Congress to admit Texas as
a new state. In 1846, Mexican troops and
American cavalry exchanged shots along the Rio
Grande River, which led Congress to declare war.
15
Completing the Continental Map
Victory in the Mexican War added enormous new
lands to the United States. Coastal California
and the lands near Santa Fe were already well
populated, much of the rest was desolate but had
potential mineral wealth. The big issue was how
would territories be organized and would the
territories permit slavery?
16
The War and Slavery
Many northerners saw the war with Mexico as an
unnecessary war that was initiated by southerners
to expand the lands open to slavery. Soon after
the fighting began, David Wilmot (left) a
relatively unknown Congressman from Pennsylvania,
brought the slavery debate into the war. He
proposed an amendment to a bill that would pay
for the war the amendment stated that no lands
obtained from Mexico as a result of the war would
be open to slavery.
17
The Wilmot Proviso
Wilmots amendment the Wilmot Proviso
opened bitter debate over the war and the
expansion of slavery. While leading Senators and
Congressman argued over the Proviso, a young
Congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, said
nothing on the issue. By the end of the Mexican
War, however, Lincoln was in agreement with the
Free Soil movement which wanted no more
territories open to slavery.
18
The 1848 Election
Slavery lurked in the background during the 1848
election. The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor,
one of the victorious Mexican War generals, while
the Democrats ran Lewis Cass. Taylor avoided the
slavery question, while Cass said the choice
should be decided by the locals living in a
territory. But a third party the Free Soil
Party nominated former president Martin Van
Buren, who called for an end to the Missouri
Compromise no more territories with
slavery. Taylor (right) won the election, but
soon had to take a stand on slavery, when
California asked for admission as a state in
1850.
19
Gold in California
As one of the spoils won from Mexico, California
should have been organized as a territory. But
the discovery of large deposits in 1848 ignited a
massive migration to the area 300,000 people
rushed to California within 18 months. Faced with
the need to organize California quickly, the
Congress took up a bill to admit it at once as a
state. Most in California opposed slavery, and
there was no slave-practicing territory available
to also admit and preserve -- the balance (in
the US Senate) between slave and free
states. Southern senators refused to vote for
California statehood without some concession for
slavery.
20
Compromise of 1850
After considerable debate (and threats of civil
war) the Congress, led by Henry Clay (KY) and
Stephen Douglas (IL), fashioned a compromise
California was admitted as a state the Congress
passed a much tougher fugitive slave law to
return escaped slaves to the South Texas debts
were assumed by the Federal government, and the
sale of slaves in Washington DC was ended. These
actions passed only because President Taylor, who
planned to veto them, died from a sudden illness.
21
Know-Nothing Movement
For a time, the slavery issue was quiet. The
Know-Nothings, an anti-immigrant political
movement, tried to unite the nation with cartoons
depicting Irish and German immigrants as a danger
to the country. Their name (in the press) was
due to habitually answering I know nothing if
asked about the activities of the movement.
22
Looking for New Slavery Land
The Compromise of 1850 did not settle the slave
issue for long slaveholders still wanted land
for cotton expansion. Schemes were proposed to
seize land in Central America or the Pacific for
new cotton (and slave) lands. The most ambitious
proposal to buy Cuba from Spain (or seize it in
a war if Spain refused to sell) --created a
scandal in 1854.
23
Kansas Territory
In January 1854, Stephen Douglas (Senator for
Illinois) proposed to create a territory in the
west Kansas. His bill provided that the
inhabitants of Kansas would decide for themselves
whether to have slavery by popular
sovereignty, or the choice of the people.
Douglas said his bill was for the purpose of
helping Chicagos railroads extend toward
California. His enemies said the bill was
designed to get Douglas support in the south for
a presidential run in 1856. Either way, the
Kansas bill once again put slavery on the
nations front page and accelerated bitter
debates over slavery.
24
Violence in Kansas
Both pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates
rushed to claim land in Kansas while Douglass
bill was debated. Anti-slavery abolitionists
charged that border ruffians from Missouri (a
slave state) used violence to frighten others
into accepting slavery.
25
Counter Violence
Some abolitionists also promised to use violence
to keep Kansas free. Henry Ward Beecher, a
prominent minister and abolitionist in
Massachusetts, raised money to buy rifles for
free soilers in Kansas. These rifles
Beechers Bibles were smuggled into Kansas
from Iowa. Meanwhile, with the collapse of the
Whig Party, a new political party was being
created in the Midwest The Republican Party.
The Republican party platform took a strong stand
for the growth of industry, the granting of land
to farmers, and prohibition of any in any future
territories. Southern leaders warned that, if
the Republican Party ever gained power in
Washington, the slave states would form a new
nation.
26
A New Party
In 1856 the Presidential election was won by
Democratic candidate James Buchanan of
Pennsylvania, who was widely perceived to be a
northerner with southern principles a man
committed to supporting slavery in order to win
votes. Buchanans main opponent was John C.
Fremont, a hero of the Mexican War. Fremont was
the candidate of the newly organized Republican
Party, which was dedicated to the policy of
allowing no further expansion of slavery.
27
Violence in Congress
The issue of slavery in the territories raised
tempers in Congress. After Massachusetts Senator
Charles Sumner denounced slaveholders in a
speech, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks
attacked Sumner in the Senate chamber, beating
him severely. Several southern Congressmen
challenged northern leaders to duels and many
began carrying pistols and knives in the Capitol.
28
Controversy at Lecompton
In 1857, pro-slavery advocates met at the town of
Lecompton Kansas, and wrote a draft constitution
for the future state the draft protected
slavery as an institution in Kansas. There was a
great deal of evidence to show that most of the
population of Kansas opposed slavery, and that
the organizers of the Lecompton meeting had used
violence and secrecy to prevent anti-slavery
representatives from attending the meeting. Even
so, President James Buchanan tried to get
Congress to accept the document and grant
statehood to Kansas.
29
The Supreme Court enters the debate
In a misguided effort to put an end to the
slavery debate, Chief Justice Roger Taney
convinced the Supreme Court to make a statement
on the issue. Using the case of Dred Scott, a
slave who was suing for his freedom, Taney stated
1) Africans were not citizens 2) slavery had a
right, under the U.S. Constitution to exist in
any Federal territory. Only a state government
could prohibit slavery. Northerners denounced
this opinion. Some predicted that enforcing it
would trigger a civil war.
30
Popularizing Abolition
Harriet Beecher Stowes short novel, Uncle Toms
Cabin, was the sensation of the 1850s. Turned
into stage plays, even musicals, its portrayal of
slaveholders as vicious brutes did much to
improve the image of the abolitionists. The book
was banned in the slave states. Vigilantes in
the South threatened to hang anyone who was found
with a copy of Stowes work or other abolitionist
literature.
31
Douglas Vs. Lincoln
As an obvious candidate for the Presidency and a
leader of the Democrats in Congress, Stephen
Douglass view of the Lecompton Constitution and
the Dred Scott opinion was of vital importance.
He opposed the entry of Kansas under the
Lecompton Constitution, dividing his party and
clashing with Buchanan. Running again for the
Senate in 1858 (against Lincoln), Douglas argued
at Freeport Illinois that voters would inevitably
ignore an unpopular law including a law that
permitted slavery where it was not wanted. This
Freeport Doctrine broke the Democratic Party
into northern and southern wings.
The debates between Lincoln and Douglas during
the 1858 Senate contest became the subject of
national attention. Lincoln lost the election
but became a presidential contender with the new
Republican Party.
32
Disruption of the American Democracy
William Yancey of Alabama (left) and Jefferson
Davis of Mississippi (right) planned to support a
third-party candidate if Stephen Douglas won the
Democratic nomination.
As the 1860 election approached, the Democratic
Party (which party members often called the
American Democracy) was badly divided. Buchanan
could not hope to be nominated for a second term.
Douglas had more support than any other
potential candidate, but because his Freeport
doctrine implied that he would not protect
slavery in the territories, southern leaders from
Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama
vowed to keep him from being nominated.
33
Uncertainty among the Republicans
Most observers expected the Republican nominee to
be either William H. Seward of New York (left) or
Salmon Chase of Ohio (right), both well known in
the nation. But each had powerful enemies within
the party. Other candidates, Like Edward Bates
of Missouri, were considered too weak to win
enough votes in the vital midwest states.
Slowly, important Republican state leaders began
to consider Lincoln the least objectionable
choice.
34
The spark to the powder keg
In October 1859, John Brown, a violent
abolitionist who was wanted for murders in
Kansas, led a raid on the U.S. Army arsenal at
Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan, to arms
slaves and lead a massive slave revolt in the
south, came to nothing when Federal troops
attacked the arsenal and captured Brown.
35
Brown the martyr
Brown's attack on Federal property could have
allowed for his trial in a Federal court, but
Buchanan permitted Brown to be convicted in state
court for treason against Virginia. He was
hanged in December 1859. Brown portrayed himself
as a martyr for slavery, saying if it be deemed
necessary that I should forfeit my life for the
furtherance of the ends of justice ending
slavery let it be done. The South resented it
when northern newspapers portrayed Brown as a
friend of freedom.
36
1860 in Baltimore
Democrats had hoped that the John Brown incident
would produce unity in the party, for the peace
of America. That hope died when no nominee
could be chosen in Charleston. Douglas refused
to accept a platform that firmly promised the
expansion of slavery. Seven southern state
delegations then walked out. The party then held
a second convention in Baltimore and Douglas was
nominated. The deep south put up their own
candidate, John Breckinridge of Kentucky.
37
Lincoln Elected
With the Democrats deeply divided, Lincoln,
having won the Republican nomination, was elected
president in 1860 his name had not been placed
on the ballot in most southern states and many
southerners had sworn that their states would
secede from the Union if an anti-slavery
candidate was elected. Several southern states
held special conventions and announced secession
before Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861.
38
A Final Attempt at Peace
In February 1861, elder statesmen, including
former president John Tyler (left), met in
Washington at a peace conference where it was
hoped some kind of compromise solution could be
created to avoid war. Although the conference
proposed several ideas for laws to protect
slavery, nothing came of these before violence in
South Carolina sparked civil war. As president,
Lincoln stated he would not try to interfere
with slavery where it exists. The South
ignored his promise.
39
First Shot
South Carolina, Florida, and other seceded states
formed a new Confederate government, and then
began to take control of Federal armories and
forts along the Atlantic and Gulf. In April,
1861, the commander of Fort Sumter, in Charleston
harbor, refused to surrender the fort. South
Carolina militia troops bombarded and seized
it. Lincoln then called for troops to suppress
the rebellion.