Click the mouse button to display the answer.

1
Political Developments

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act destroyed the Whig Party.
  ?

• Every Northern Whig in Congress had voted against
  the act. ?
• Most Southern Whigs had voted for the act. ?
• Former Whigs, Free-Soil Party members, and some
  antislavery Democrats formed new political
  parties with many names. ?
• The most popular name was the Republican Party.

Click the mouse button to display the answer.
2
Political Developments (cont.)

• This party was officially organized in July 1854.
  ?

• Members did not agree on whether slavery should
  be abolished in the Southern states, but they did
  agree that slavery should be kept out of the
  territories.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
3
Political Developments (cont.)

• At the same time, anger against the Northern
  Democrats helped the American Party, better known
  as the Know-Nothings, to make great gains. ?

• This party was anti-Catholic and nativist, and it
  hoped to weaken immigrant influence. ?
• This party split over the Kansas-Nebraska Act. ?
• The Northern Know-Nothings joined the Republican
  Party.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
4
Political Developments (cont.)

• The Republican candidate in the 1856 election was
  John C. Frémont. ?

• He had helped California become a free state and
  was in favor of Kansas becoming a free state.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
5
Political Developments (cont.)

• The Democratic candidate was Pennsylvanias James
  Buchanan. ?

• He was out of the country during debate on the
  Kansas-Nebraska Act and had not taken a stand on
  the issue. ?
• His record in Congress showed he would make
  concessions to the South to save the Union.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
6
Political Developments (cont.)

• The Northern delegates to the American Party
  convention walked out when the party refused to
  call for the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. ?

• The remaining delegates chose Millard Fillmore as
  the American Party candidate. ?
• The Democrats campaigned on the idea that only
  Buchanan could save the Union and that the
  election of Frémont would cause the South to
  secede. ?
• Buchanan won the election of 1856.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
7
Political Developments (cont.)
Why did James Buchanan win the election of 1856?
He had not been in the United States during the
debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, so he had
not taken a stand on the issue. Buchanan was a
Northerner, but he appealed to Southerners
because his record in Congress showed that he
would make concessions to the South to save the
Union. Democrats campaigned that electing
Buchanan would save the Union, and electing
Frémont would cause the South to secede.
Click the mouse button to display the answer.
8
Sectional Divisions Grow

• Dred Scott was an enslaved man whose Missouri
  slaveholder had taken him to live in free
  territory before returning to Missouri. ?

• Abolitionists helped Scott sue to end his
  slavery. ?
• Scott argued that the time he spent in free
  territory meant he was free.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
9
Sectional Divisions Grow (cont.)

• The Dred Scott v. Sandford case went to the
  Supreme Court. ?

• The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott
  because African Americans were not U.S. citizens
  and therefore Scott had no right to sue in
  federal courts. ?
• The Court went on to say that the Missouri
  Compromises ban on slavery was unconstitutional.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
10
Sectional Divisions Grow (cont.)

• Democrats liked the decision. ?

• Republicans said the decision was not binding. ?
• The Dred Scott ruling intensified sectional
  differences.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
11
Sectional Divisions Grow (cont.)

• In order to apply for statehood, Kansas needed a
  constitution. ?

• The pro-slavery legislature of Kansas held an
  election for delegates to a constitutional
  convention. ?
• Antislavery Kansans boycotted the election. ?
• The convention wrote the Lecompton constitution
  in which slavery was legalized.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
12
Sectional Divisions Grow (cont.)

• President Buchanan asked Congress to admit Kansas
  as a slave state. ?

• The Senate accepted the Lecompton constitution,
  but the House of Representatives did not. ?
• In 1858 the settlers in Kansas voted to reject
  the Lecompton constitution. ?
• Kansas did not become a state until 1861.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
13
Sectional Divisions Grow (cont.)
How did the Dred Scott decision and Kansass
Lecompton constitution increase sectional
divisions?
Click the mouse button to display the answer.
14
Sectional Divisions Grow (cont.)
The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott
because, in the opinion of the court, African
Americans were not U.S. citizens and could not
sue in federal courts. The Court went on to say
that the Missouri Compromises ban on slavery was
unconstitutional. Democrats liked the decision.
Republicans said the decision was not binding.
The Lecompton constitution was voted down by
antislavery forces and approved by pro-slavery
forces in a referendum held in Kansas. Buchanan
accepted the pro-slavery vote and asked Congress
to admit Kansas as a slave state. The Senate
accepted the constitution, but the House of
Representatives blocked it. Kansas held another
referendum in which Kansans voted to reject the
constitution.
15
Lincoln and Douglas

• In 1858 Abraham Lincoln was chosen by the
  Illinois Republicans to run for the Senate
  against the Democratic incumbent, Stephen A.
  Douglas. ?

• Lincoln and Douglas held a series of debates. ?
• Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the
  western territories. ?
• Douglas favored popular sovereignty.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
16
Lincoln and Douglas (cont.)

• In a debate in Freeport, Illinois, Douglas
  formulated the Freeport Doctrine. ?

• In this statement, Douglas accepted the Dred
  Scott ruling. ?
• But he also said that people could still keep
  slavery out of a territory by refusing to pass
  laws needed to regulate and enforce it. ?
• The Freeport Doctrine pleased Illinois voters but
  angered Southern voters.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
17
Lincoln and Douglas (cont.)

• Douglas was elected Senator. ?

• Lincoln used the debates to clarify the
  principles of the Republican Party. ?
• Lincoln also established a national reputation as
  a clear, insightful thinker and an eloquent
  debater.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
18
Lincoln and Douglas (cont.)
What were the outcomes of the Lincoln-Douglas
debates?
Douglas was elected Senator, but his Freeport
Doctrine angered Southerners. Lincoln clarified
the principles of the Republican Party and
established a national reputation as a clear,
insightful thinker and an eloquent debater.
Click the mouse button to display the answer.
19
John Browns Raid

• John Brown, a fervent abolitionist, planned to
  seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry,
  Virginia (today West Virginia). ?

• He would then free and arm the enslaved people in
  the area and begin an insurrection, or rebellion,
  against slaveholders.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
20
John Browns Raid (cont.)

• Brown and his followers seized the arsenal on
  October 16, 1859, but within 36 hours were
  captured by the U.S. Marines. ?

• Brown was tried, convicted, and sentenced to
  death.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
21
John Browns Raid (cont.)

• Many Northerners viewed Brown as a martyr for the
  slaves cause. ?

• Southerners viewed Browns raid as proof that
  Northerners were plotting the murder of
  slaveholders.

Click the mouse button to display the information.
22
John Browns Raid (cont.)
How did John Browns raid further sectional
divisions?
Many Northerners viewed Brown as a martyr for the
slaves cause. The raid strengthened abolitionist
feelings in the North. Southerners viewed Browns
raid as proof that Northerners were plotting the
murder of slaveholders.
Click the mouse button to display the answer.