Slavery, Sectionalism and Manifest Destiny

1
Slavery, Sectionalism and Manifest Destiny

• 1820-1860

2
The South and the Slavery Controversy

• Chapter 16

3
I. Cotton is King

• After Revolution slavery faced an uncertain
  future, it was logical to think slavery would
  fade away
• Invention of the cotton gin in 1793 changed that
• Cotton became dominant crop in the south, created
  demand for labor and land
• Quick profits from cotton drew planters to the
  Gulf South during this time
• Caused economic spiral more cotton more slaves,
  if you had more slaves you could buy more land
• Northern shippers profited from cotton trade
• They shipped it to England
• Largest American export after 1840 (1/2 of
  worlds supply)
• Southern leaders knew that cotton production was
  something they could hold over heads of British

4

• Cotton and Slaves 1820 and 1860

5
II. The Planter Aristocracy

• South was a society run be elite wealthy planters
• Very few owned large amount of slaves
• They had tremendous wealth, send children to
  schools outside of south (kept public education
  from gaining foothold)
• Had a sense of duty to the public
• Dominance by planters caused a huge gap between
  rich and poor
• Society almost feudal (lords, manors and serfs)
• Shaped the lives of women, they managed the house
  and the slave staff, most did not support
  abolition

6
III. Slaves and the Slave System

• Search for quick profit led to over cultivation
  and degradation of the environment
• Those that could not make it headed West and
  North (Butternuts)
• Economic structure became monopolistic, land
  owners concentrated their holdings and bought out
  small farmers
• Land hunger led to over speculation of lands,
  heavy investment in slaves caused crushing debt
  for many planters
• Dependence on one crop put South at the mercy of
  the world markets, caused lack of economic
  diversity that effect region well into the 20th
  century
• Resentment of the northern bankers, middlemen,
  businessmen intensified as they grew rich off
  Southern cotton and made profits selling
  manufactured goods to the South
• Slaves and high land prices kept out European
  immigrants, South had little ethnic diversity

7
IV. The White Majority

• 1/4 of families owned slaves
• Typically small farmers (more like Midwestern or
  Northern farmers)
• Many owned no slaves at all, they were
  subsistence farmers (raised corn, hogs) and lived
  isolated lives
• Had no direct stake in slave system but supported
  it because there was somebody on the social
  ladder lower than them
• Mountain whites in Appalachia disliked blacks and
  masters and provided strong Union support in the
  South during the Civil War

8
IV. Free Blacks Slaves Without Masters

• Free blacks in the Upper South (MD, VA, NC)
  traced origins to Revolution
• Lower South most free were mulattoes, some
  purchased freedom
• New Orleans had sizeable free, mulatto community
• Seen a third race, could not hold certain
  occupations, vote
• In the North some states would not let them live
  there, could not attend public schools, competed
  with Irish for menial jobs
• Spread of slavery in new territory grew out of
  prejudice not humanitarianism

9
V. Plantation Slavery

• Number of slaves grew during first half of 1800s
• King Cotton demanded tribute in slave labor
• Some smuggled into country (made illegal 1808),
  most growth due to natural increase
• Slaves planters biggest asset and they were
  treated like investments (for the most part)
• Cotton boom sucked slaves from Upper to Lower
  South
• Some states had majority African American
  populations
• Slaves sold at auction, sometimes for bankruptcy
• Led to breakup of families, became theme for
  Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Toms Cabin

10
VI. Life Under the Lash

• Conditions for slaves varied from region to
  region
• No slaves had civil or political rights, no labor
  rights
• Beatings and threat of beating substituted for
  wage-incentive system
• Masters were never too harsh because of
  investment
• 1860 most slaves concentrated in black belt
  across Deep South
• Region was southern frontier, life was rougher
  than Upper South
• Majority lived on plantations

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VI. Life Under the Lash

• Slaves managed to maintain family life
• Kept some African traditions in marriage,
  descent, religion
• Religion was mixture of Christian and African
  traditions
• Focused on themes of persecution in the Bible
• Call and response preaching adaptation of caller
  and dancers from West African traditions

12
VII. The Burdens of Bondage

• Slavery denied education, did not want them to
  get new ideas, question position
• Slaves struck back by slowing the pace of work,
  sabotaging equipment, took goods they produced
• All wanted freedom, some ran away
• Armed rebellion never worked
• 1800 Gabriel Prosser(Richmond, VA), 1822 Denmark
  Vesey (Charleston, SC), 1831 Nat Turner
• All failed, all were hung or were killed
• White southerners felt like they were under siege
  (rebellions, abolitionist propaganda) developed
  theory of superiority over blacks
• American South was one of the worlds last
  bastions of slavery

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VIII. Early Abolitionism

• First anti slavery societies appeared after
  Revolution, main support among Quakers
• Earliest efforts were to send blacks back to
  Africa
• 1822- American Colonization Society, founded
  Liberia in West Africa- 15,000 went
• Most slaves did not see themselves as Africans
• 1830s slavery becomes moral crusade because of
  Second Great Awakening
• 1833 British abolish slavery in West Indies
• Slavery became a sin
• Theodore Weld and Lane Rebels preached
  anti-slavery gospel across Old Northwest

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IX. Radical Abolitionism

• 1831- William Lloyd Garrison publishes first
  issue of The Liberator, a militantly anti
  slavery newspaper based in Boston
• 1833- American Antislavery society founded
• Black Abolitionists David Walker (promoted
  bloody end to slavery), Sojourner Truth (advocate
  for emancipation and womens rights)
• Fredrick Douglass best known black
  abolitionist, escaped slave
• Wrote Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass,
  detailed his early life and escape

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IX. Radical Abolitionism

• Differences between Garrison and Douglass
• Garrison known as inflexible, self righteous,
  impractical
• Provided no alternative to country without
  slavery
• Denounced politics
• Many abolitionist questioned the role of women
  (Garrison supported women)
• Douglass- used politics to end slavery
• New political parties emerge in 1840s based on
  abolition of slavery
• Liberty Party (1840), Free Soil Party (1848),
  Republican Party (1850s)

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X. The South Lashes Back

• Before 1830s some antislavery sentiment in the
  south
• 1831 publication of Liberator, Nat Turner
  Rebellion, Nullification Crisis of 1832
• All turned tide in South
• White southerners saw threat to way of life,
  began to defend slavery
• Justifications- supported by Bible, good for
  civilization depraved Africans, master- slave
  relationship was like a family (contrasted with
  industrial wage earners in northern factories)
• 1836 Southerners in House pass Gag Resolution,
  tables all debate on slavery (defied by John
  Quincy Adams)
• Postmasters given permission to destroy
  abolitionist material across South
• Widened gap between north and south

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XI. Abolitionist Impact in the North

• Abolitionists unpopular in many parts of the
  north
• Seen as too radical
• Heavy economic stake in south cotton production
  for factories, money owed to northern banks
• Abolitionists seen as rocking the boat
• Mobs attacked abolitionists
• By 1850s issue of territorial expansion, other
  factors put many in north on side of abolitionists

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Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy

• Chapter 17

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Gone to Texas

• Americans want Texas, remote backwater of Spanish
  Empire
• US abandoned claim in 1819
• 1823- new Mexican government gives land to
  Stephen Austin to bring settlers
• 2 conditions settlers had to become Mexican
  citizens, become Catholic
• Ignored by settlers, annoyed by presence of
  Mexican soldiers and government
• Settlers typical American individualist, did not
  want to be pushed around
• Slavery an issue, outlawed in Mex., settlers
  brought slaves anyway
• 1836 Mex. Leader Santa Ana attempts to repress
  Texans independence

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The Lone Star Rebellion

• Early 1836 Texans declare independence
• Santa Anna attacks Alamo and Goliad become
  rallying cries for Texans, galvanized Americans
  behind Texas cause
• Gen. Sam Houston lures Mexicans east to San
  Jacinto (near present day Houston), and defeats
  Santa Anna
• Forces Santa Anna to sign treaty giving land to
  Rio Grande to Texas and removing troops from
  region
• Mex. Does not recognize agreement
• Texas becomes an independent republic but wanted
  to be part of the United States
• Refused admission, abolitionists did want new
  slave state
• Seen as a plot against slavery to Southerners

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I. The Accession of Tyler Too

• 1840s territorial expansion dominated politics,
  diplomacy
• War with Mexico, gained territory from Texas to
  California and questions of status of slavery
• 1841 William Henry Harrison (Whig) elected and
  died in office
• Real leaders of Whigs Clay, Webster tried to push
  agenda, thwarted by John Tyler (VP, now
  president)
• Tyler supporter of states rights
• Clay and others tried to push nationalistic
  political agenda
• Whigs pushed for new bank, tariffs all vetoed by
  Tyler

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II. War of Words with Britain

• British looked down on Americans, increased
  tension with America
• Americans borrowed extensively from British banks
  (many defaulted on loans during Panic of 1837)
• 1837 Caroline incident with Canada, 1841 slaves
  offered asylum in Bahamas (southern fear of
  Caribbean becoming haven for escaped slaves),
  1842 border disputes in Maine (settled by
  Webster- Ashburton Treaty)

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III. Texas and Oregon

• 1836- Texas achieves independence, not recognized
  by Mexico
• Britain, France interested in Texas as place for
  cotton production, check American power
• Texas as independent nation threatened US
• Presidential campaign 1844 issue of expansion
• Texas annexed by joint resolution of Congress
  1844
• James K. Polk won election on expansion platform
• Texas became state 1845
• Oregon country enormous wilderness
• Claimed by many different countries until 1825,
  then only US and Britain
• British claims based on occupation
• American claims based on exploration and
  occupation
• 1830s American missionaries settle Willamette
  Valley, stimulates interest of Americans
• 1840s number of Americans increases, came over
  Oregon Trail
• British had few settlers, weaker claim than
  Americans

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IV. Manifest Destiny and the Election of 1844

• Election of 1844 between Henry Clay and James
  Polk
• Major election issue Manifest Destiny
• Feeling that Americas duty was to spread ideals
  of democracy across continent (idea of expansion
  and liberty)
• Expansion ignored national boundaries, came at
  the expense of others
• Expansionist Democrats won election felt they had
  a mandate to take Texas and Oregon
• New President James K. Polk had 4 point program
  lower tariff, create independent treasury,
  acquire Oregon and California
• 1846 US and Britain compromise on Oregon
  territory border (dying fur trade made British
  lose interest in Oregon)

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V. War with Mexico

• Americans wanted San Francisco and San Diego Bays
  as ports on Pacific and to expand American trade
  to Asia
• Americans saw weakness in Mexican control of
  borderlands
• Polk eager to buy California, Mexicans would not
  sell
• Wanted California to balance admission of Texas
  with a free state
• US/Mexico issues over boundary of Texas
• Mexican claim was boundary at Nueces River,
  American claim was Rio Grande
• Rumors of British wanting to purchase California,
  could not be tolerated under Monroe doctrine
• 1846 Polk sends troops to Texas, march from
  Nueces River to Rio Grande
• April 1846 US soldiers killed and Polk asks for
  war, Congress overwhelmingly supports it

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V. War with Mexico

• Many northerners and Whigs saw this as a land
  grab and war for extension of slavery
• Lincoln (then Rep. from Illinois) pushes spot
  resolutions to show where blood was shed on
  American soil
• Both sides wanted war, America to teach Mexicans
  a lesson, Mexicans saw US a bully to the north
• South and West supported war
• The US unprepared for the war. Ill equipped
  volunteers filled the American army
• Advantages over the Mexican military that had
  outdated equipment and little motivation to
  fight.
• American industrial base to prepare and equip an
  army, superior leadership
• United States won easily over the Mexican forces
  in 1847
• California- John Fremont led a revolt against
  Mexican rule and declared the state The Bear
  Flag Republic

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V. War with Mexico

• 1848- War ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
• Gave US vast new territory, paid Mexico 15
  million dollars for land
• Many Americans thought that US should not stop
  with Mexico
• European countries had new respect for American
  military
• The Mexican American War was a blatant war of
  conquest that would have occurred through
  migration eventually
• The war also trained the next generation of
  generals (Lee, Grant) to fight Americas next war
  the Civil War
• Turning point in US relations with Latin America,
  became suspicious of Colossus of the North
• War aroused issue of slavery and its expansion
• 1846- David Wilmot tries to introduce amendment
  that slavery should not exist in new territory,
  never passed the Senate but symbolized issue of
  slavery in territories (Wilmot Proviso)

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Renewing the Sectional Struggle1848-1854

• Chapter 18

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Differences between the North and South
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I. Popular Sovereignty Panacea

• 1848 war with Mexico ends, issue of extending
  slavery opened up, split politics along sectional
  lines, North and South
• Political parties had appealed to people across
  sectional lines, during this period it was split
  by northern abolitionists and southern
  fire-eaters
• Election of 1848- Democrats turn to Lewis Cass,
  war hero, Democratic platform was silent on the
  issue of slavery
• Lewis Cass was not, he supported popular
  sovereignty to determine status of slavery
• Idea took question of slavery out of national
  politics and made it a series of local issues
  followed democratic ideal of self determination

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II. Political Triumphs of General Taylor

• Whigs nominate Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor
  (Clay was old, had too many enemies)
• Pushed personality of candidate
• Anti slavery people not satisfied with either
  candidate, establish own party Free Soil Party
• Free Soil Party- for Wilmot Proviso, broadened
  appeal by advocating federal aid for internal
  improvements, free government homesteads for
  settlers in new territory
• Party attracted industrialists from North, those
  who wanted cheap land in west to allow free white
  workers a chance to make money
• Nominate Van Buren as candidate
• Foreshadowed emergence of Republican party

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III. Californy Gold

• 1848 gold discovered in California, Americans
  flock to region to strike it rich
• 300,000 go to CA (forty-niners)
• Most money made by those that provided services
  to miners
• Influx of settlers overwhelm territorial
  government, to bring order they draft a
  constitution in 1849 (it excluded slavery), and
  tried to bypass territorial stage, Taylor saw it
  as a way to end stalemate over slavery
• He felt slavery could be permitted where it
  existed but not expanded
• Supported by free soilers appalled Southern
  politicians, knew it would upset balance of slave
  and free states

33
IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• 1850- South relatively well off, cotton prices
  high, political sentiment was in their favor,
  president was southern, political sectional
  balance was well maintained
• South worried that new territory would be free
  and upset the sectional political balance
  (California, New Mexico, Utah)
• Texas and New Mexico dispute over border, Texas
  threatened to send troops to take Santa Fe in
  defiance of federal government

34
IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad

• Southerners angered by runaway slaves and
  assistance of Underground Railroad
• Assisted by abolitionists it was a series of
  stations where slaves were safe during their
  escape to freedom
• Southerners upset at prospect of abolition of
  slavery in the District of Columbia
• Southerners wanted stronger fugitive slave laws,
  free states refused to cooperate to capture
  slaves
• Upset with moral righteousness of abolitionists
• Said Constitution protected slavery and laws that
  Congress passed to provide for slave catching

35
V. Twilight for the Senatorial Giants

• 1850- Congress needed to act decisively on issue
  of slavery before country fell apart
• Last of second generation statesmen- Webster,
  Calhoun, Clay were at center of fixing issue (or
  arguing against it)
• Clay and Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced a
  series of compromises to solve problem
• Wanted north and south to make concessions
• Calhoun upheld Southern position of states rights
  and political balance, argued that slaves were
  property and protected by 5th Amendment and
  Article IV of Constitution
• March 7th speech- Webster gave impassioned
  speech about compromise and was accused as being
  a traitor to the north, speech helped turn tide
  for compromise in north
• These politicians were the last of a generation
  to support union at all costs ,new breed more
  sectional in outlook

36
VI. Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill

• Young Guard from north led by William Seward of
  NY argued sections could no longer compromise
• Said the was a higher law to be followed
• President Taylor also believed in higher law and
  was bent on vetoing any action by Congress
• Taylor dies suddenly in 1850 and new president
  Millard Fillmore signed series of compromise
  measures known as Compromise of 1850
• Many eager to compromise because of prosperity
  brought by gold riches from California and
  growing spirit of goodwill
• Southern extremists still opposed to concessions
  and planned to meet in Nashville to secede from
  Union

37
VII. Balancing the Compromise Scales

• Compromise 1850- series of bills passed to end
  slavery question, for the most part it favored
  the North
• California admitted as a free state
• New Mexico, Utah organized a territories, open to
  slavery on basis of popular sovereignty (not
  going to be slave)
• Land dispute between Texas and NM settled, NM
  given land, TX receives 10m to pay off
  government debt
• Slave trade outlawed in D.C.
• Most controversial part was Fugitive Slave law
• Escaped slaves could not testify on their behalf
  or given a trial by jury, bounty paid to federal
  commissioners, people found aiding slaves were
  subject to criminal penalties

38
VII. Balancing the Compromise Scales

• Northerners became galvanized around issue of
  slavery and many states passed personal liberty
  laws
• Many would not support law, further turned tide
  against south it became a moral issue
• Sectional balance would favor north and growing
  population would insure it
• North was more industrial and wealthy
• Through the 1850s they gained moral and material
  strength
• South dug in their heels to protect their way of
  life

39
Uncle Toms Cabin

• Published in 1852, written by Harriet Beecher
  Stowe (daughter of anti slavery minister) united
  northerners against slavery
• Made slavery seem real, not removed from
  everyday life
• Showed indignity of slavery from cruel masters to
  the ripping apart of slave families
• Best selling novel of the 1800s

40
VIII. Defeat and Doom for the Whigs

• 1852- Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire nominated
  by Democrats, held pro southern views, wanted
  territorial expansion, endorsed Compromise of
  1850, seen as compromise candidate
• Took votes away from southern Whigs, also he was
  a weak and indecisive man
• Whigs nominate another war hero Winfield Scott
• Campaign based on personality and Pierce wins
• Spelled the end of the Whig party, end of
  national politics
• Legacy was it was the party of union and great
  leaders (Clay and Webster)

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IX. Expansionist Stirrings South of the Border

• Expansionist impulses of the late 1840s led to
  the Young America movement
• Thought they could transform world through
  spreading of American institutions (democracy,
  capitalism part of reforming impulse of
  antebellum America)
• Latin America- Clayton- Bulwer Treaty of 1850
  with British to secure right of transit across
  isthmus of Panama (later used to justify land
  grab for Panama Canal)
• Southerners wanted new slave territory, looked to
  Central America
• William Walker briefly was president of Nicaragua
  and made slavery legal (he was eventually
  executed)
• Cuba had a large population of slaves but it was
  controlled by Spain
• 1850, 1851 two filibustering expeditions sent to
  Cuba but were repelled and tension escalated
  between Spain and US
• Secretly US, France and Britain draft Olmsted
  Manifesto that recommended US could take Cuba if
  certain conditions met
• Northern free soilers protested and the Pierce
  administration backed off of plans

42
X. The Allure of Asia

• West coast possessions made US Pacific power
• Americans wanted to enter Asian markets
• 1844 Americans gain entry to Chinese trade and
  missionaries (compromised cultural integrity of
  China in the long run)
• 1852 Millard Fillmore sends US navy under
  leadership of Matthew Perry to open trade with
  Japan
• Japan had been closed off from the rest of the
  world for 200 years but show of American military
  forced open society, within a decade the Meiji
  Restoration would modernize Japan

43
XI. Pacific Railroad Promoters and the Gadsden
Purchase

• New western territory needed to be connected to
  rest of country, transcontinental railroad was a
  necessity
• Northern and southern sections competed to see
  would have the railroad and the wealth that went
  with it
• James Gadsden purchased piece of desert from
  Mexico in 1853 for 10 million
• Purpose was for southern rail route that would
  have been easier to build and it went through
  already organized territory, easier to protect
  with US military

44
XII. Douglass Kansas-Nebraska Scheme

• 1854- Stepen Douglas The Little Giant, sought
  to break the deadlock of western expansion
• Called the Kansas-Nebraska Act
• He proposed a northern route for the railroad, it
  would begin in Chicago and spread a string of
  settlements to the Pacific
• To gain southern support he split the Nebraska
  Territory into two parts-Kansas and Nebraska,
  their status regarding slavery would be decided
  by popular sovereignty
• Problems- it contradicted the Missouri
  Compromise, a sacred sectional pact
• President Pierce supported the plan
• Douglas also had other motives- he owned land
  along the proposed route and he wanted to be
  president
• Douglas defeated the free soil group in Congress
  and pushed the bill through

45
XIII. Congress Legislates a Civil War

• Kansas-Nebraska Act greased the slope to the
  Civil War
• Northerners saw the events of the previous decade
  as a southern conspiracy (popular theme in
  American history)
• Compromise was harder to come by , each side
  would not give in to the other
• Democrats torn apart by the Kansas-Nebraska Act
  and would not put another president into the
  White House for 28 years
• Caused the Republican party to emerge, it
  consisted of anti-slavery groups, Know-Nothings,
  Free-Soilers
• It quickly gathered strength in the years leading
  up to 1860, the party was supported only in the
  north

46
Drifting Toward DisunionThe 1850s

• Chapter 19

47
I. Stowe and Helper Literary Incendiaries

• Hope for compromise and keeping Union together
  fell apart in the last half of the 1850s
• Kansas erupted into violence, the Supreme Court
  in the Dred Scott decision validated feeling of a
  Southern conspiracy
• Attitudes on both sides hardened
• 1852 Uncle Toms Cabin published, novel had great
  political force- no Northerner wanted to support
  peculiar institution also popular across
  Europe
• 1857 Impending Crisis of the South by Hinton
  Helper tried to prove that non-slave holders in
  South suffered the most from slavery (poor whites
  could not get ahead)
• Planter elite feel attacked from all sides

48
II. The North-South Contest for Kansas

• Kansas issue on popular sovereignty came to a
  head
• Various groups came to Kansas- regular pioneers,
  groups financed by northern abolitionists (some
  armed by New England Emigrant Aid Company)
• Southern spokesmen under the impression Kansas
  would be slave, Nebraska free and began to
  sponsor slave owning families to move to Kansas
  (risky to take slaves to region)
• 1855- crisis in Kansas blows up (Bleeding Kansas)
• Elections for first territorial legislature, many
  came over border from slave state Missouri to
  vote (early and often)
• Slavery forces won election, free soilers see
  this as an illegal conspiracy and set up own
  government
• State home to two separate governments
• Tension increased when proslavery raiders
  attacked free town of Lawrence

49
III. Kansas in Convulsion

• 1856- John Brown, insanely dedicated
  abolitionist, moved to Kansas
• Led a band of abolitionist to a pro slavery
  settlement on Pottawatomie Creek and hacked to
  death a group of five proslaveryites and brought
  swift retaliation from proslavery forces
• Civil war erupted in Kansas after this attack
• 1857 Kansas applies for admission to US with
  proslavery constitution (Lecompton Constitution)
  approved in 1857
• Constitution supported by President Buchanan,
  many saw this a popular fraudulency
• Issue divided Democratic party along north-south
  lines and broke last strands that kept Union
  together

50
IV. Bully Brooks and His Bludgeon

• 1856- US Senator Charles Sumner (MA) and
  Congressman Preston Brooks (SC) demonstrated how
  inflamed the political passions had become
• Sumner gave a two day long speech on slavery and
  the Kansas issue
• During the speech he insulted a relative of
  Brooks and he attacked and beat Sumner with a
  cane on the Senate floor
• Brooks resigned and was reelected, Sumner had to
  leave office because of his injuries and his
  Senate seat remained empty

51
V. Old Buck Versus The Pathfinder

• 1856 presidential election Democrats nominate
  James Buchanan a Pennsylvania lawyer not tainted
  by Kansas controversy
• Republicans nominate John Fremont who had little
  political experience, also not part of Kansas
  dispute
• Republican platform against extension of slavery
  under any circumstances
• Democrats supported popular sovereignty
• Know Nothings and their stand against foreigners
  also nominated Millard Fillmore, party cut into
  Republican strength

52
VI. The Electoral Fruits of 1856

• Buchanan won easily
• Democrats won because of threats of secession if
  anybody else elected
• Many northerners wanted to preserve Union and
  keep business connections with South
• Events had not gotten bad enough to see no chance
  for reconciliation (KS trouble had yet to
  explode)
• Democrats were losing strength as evidenced by
  election of 1854

53
VII. The Dred Scott Bombshell

• Dred Scott lived with master in Illinois and
  free territory of Wisconsin, master died and he
  sued for his freedom on basis of his residency on
  free soil
• Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)
• Pro southern Supreme Court said he could not sue
  in federal court because he was a black slave and
  not a citizen
• Said slaves were private property and they could
  be taken to any territory (free or slave) and
  they were still slaves
• Basis was the 5th Amendment, it protected private
  property from the government
• Southerners happy with decision, further drove a
  wedge between north and south
• Used as a rallying cry for anti slavery forces,
  refused to follow decision
• South wondered how they could exist with a group
  willing to defy the Supreme Court

54
VIII. The Financial Crash of 1857

• 1857 economic panic
• CA gold had artificially inflated currency
• Over production of grain to feed Europeans
  (Crimean War over and it was no longer needed),
  grain prices dropped
• Over-speculation in land and railroads
• Hit north harder than south, Southerners saw this
  as proof cotton was king

55
VIII. The Financial Crash of 1857

• Northerners called for free land to help out
  (provide employment), met opposition from
  industrialists because it would drain away people
  needed for factories
• Opposed in the South because plantation
  agriculture could not flourish on small
  homesteads and if territories filled up it would
  further tip sectional balance
• 1860- Congress does pass Homestead Act, public
  lands available for 25 cents an acre
• Panic caused clamor for higher tariff rates,
  surplus funds caused Treasury to lower tariff
  rates and panic wiped out surplus
• North wanted higher tariffs, Southern politicians
  blocked tariff increases
• Events gave Republicans two issues to focus on in
  election of 1860 that were not slavery, tariff
  protections and farms for farmless

56
IX. An Illinois Rail-splitter Emerges

• 1858 Senatorial election takes national spotlight
• Abraham Lincoln (R) and Stephen Douglas (D)
  running for Senate seat in Illinois
• Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of
  debates, Douglas was known a great debater and
  Lincoln was expected to fall
• Freeport, IL major debate
• Lincoln questioned how could popular sovereignty
  survive with Dread Scott decision
• Douglas reply became known a Freeport Doctrine,
  where public opinion does not support law it is
  almost impossible to enforce (slavery would stay
  down if it was voted down)
• Douglas defeats Lincoln but Lincoln becomes a
  national figure
• Douglas and his support for popular sovereignty
  splinters Democrats- How could they vote for him
  if he supported what they opposed?

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X. John Brown Murderer or Martyr?

• John Brown hatches scheme to invade south, cause
  slave rebellion and arm them
• 1859- Invaded a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
  VA and failed
• Quickly captured and hanged
• South viewed him as a murderer and guilty of
  treason, , moderate northerners agreed
• Abolitionists were upset by his execution and
  viewed him as a martyr for their cause
• How can a barbarous community and a civilized
  community constitute one state. We must either
  get rid of slavery, or get rid of freedom Ralph
  Waldo Emerson

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XI. Disruption for the Democrats

• Election of 1860 hung on issue of peace or war
• Democrats divided could not choose presidential
  nominee
• Southern states would not support Douglas and
  they nominated their own candidate John C.
  Breckinridge
• Middle of the road group wanted compromise
  candidate to keep country together nominated John
  Bell from Tennessee
• Northern Democrats platform for popular
  sovereignty, and supported Fugitive Slave Law
• Southern Democrat platform foe extension of
  slavery into territories and annexation of Cuba

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XII. Rail-Splitter Splits Union

• Republican choice between William Seward and
  Lincoln
• Seward seen as too radical, Lincoln had fewer
  enemies
• Republican platform for non-extension of slavery,
  higher tariffs, free homesteads and internal
  improvements at federal expense
• Southern secessionists said if Lincoln elected
  they would leave Union, thought federal
  government would get rid of slavery
• Lincoln elected as a minority president, was not
  even on the ballot in 10 states
• Election of 1860 essentially two elections- North
  and South

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XIII. The Secessionist Exodus

• Chain of secession began to erupt
• Dec. 1860 SC calls special convention and
  unanimously votes to secede from Union
• Over the next 6 weeks six other states follow
• Feb. 1861 meet in Montgomery, AL to establish
  government and choose former Senator Jefferson
  Davis from MS as president
• Buchanan, did nothing
• He was surrounded by pro-southern advisers and he
  could find no authority in Constitution to keep
  states in Union
• Public opinion in North not for fighting to keep
  Union together, so there was still hope for
  reconciliation
• Ideas proposed by James Crittenden (KY)
• Crittenden Compromise proposed Constitutional
  Amendments designed to appease South
• Slavery permitted south of Missouri Compromise
  line and open to popular sovereignty in all other
  territory
• Lincoln rejected plan and hope of compromise
  evaporated

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XIV. Farewell to Union

• South left for a variety of reasons
• Slavery, loosing sectional balance that was a
  threat to slaveholding minority
• They though departure would be unopposed
• Northern economic interests would not put up a
  fight to maintain business relations
• South had a different culture and they could form
  a country that fit their ideas
• Develop own economic relations with Europe, keep
  tariffs low
• Felt it was their destiny and they were not doing
  anything immoral or wrong

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