Bitter Conflict

Bitter Conflict

1856-1860

Open Ended

Are the Good Ol' Days really the Good Ol' Days? Or, did we just forget the bad stuff?

The Great Compromisers

• Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, and Henry Clay were dead

• They were replaced by extremists on both sides

The Extremists

• Reduced the influence of moderates

• destroyed the spirit of reconciliation

• Slavery was front and center

• What would the future hold?

Past Failures

• Congress and the President failed to determine the status of slavery in the territories

• The decision was left up to the Supreme Court with the Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott Decision

• Scott was a slave living in a free territory

• Supreme Court Decision determined he was still as slave and not a citizen

• Not state nor Congress could outlaw slavery

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• Lincoln would return to politics

• debated Stephen A. Douglas

• Foreshadowing of the Election of 1860

Raid on Harper's Ferry

• John Brown returned

• Attempt to cause a slave uprising

• failed and lost his life

Election and Secession

• Abraham Lincoln won the Election of 1860

• Within weeks of the election, 7 southern states secede from the union

Dred Scott Decision

Supreme Court Case to Change History

Open Ended

Was Dred Scott considered a citizen of the United States?

Why or Why not?

Slavery Throughout American History

• Since the formation of the Constitution and beyond, slavery threatened the Union

• Several Compromises created

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Dred Scott vs. Sandford

• slave of an army surgeon, John Emerson

• Missouri to Illinois

• Missouri Compromise

• Scott sued because he lived

• 11 years before a decision was made

Verdict Part 1

The Court ruled that Scott's "sojourn" of two years to Illinois and the Northwest Territory did not make him free once he returned to Missouri.

Verdict Part 2

The Court further ruled that as a black man Scott was excluded from United States citizenship and could not, therefore, bring suit. According to the opinion of the Court, African-Americans had not been part of the "SOVEREIGN PEOPLE" who made the Constitution.

Verdict Part 3

The Court also ruled that Congress never had the right to prohibit slavery in any territory. Any ban on slavery was a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which prohibited denying property rights without due process of law.

Verdict Part 4

The Missouri Compromise was therefore unconstitutional

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

• A former slave owner

• 4 other justices on the court

• The only two dissenting judges were Republicans

Open Ended

Good judges are non-biased. Did the supreme court let their biases get in their way?

The Northern Response

• the court dominated by "Southern fire-eaters"

• Many, including Abraham Lincoln feared the future

The state of the federal government

• The Congress and the President failed to resolve the issue of slavery

• Supreme Court made a decision that would fail half the nation

• Democratic Party ready to split in half

• The future of America seemed hopeless

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Lincoln Steps Up

The Debates

• The nation was becoming more and more divided

• they were united in their interest in the debates

• August 21 until October 15

• Campaigning for a seat in the Senate

The Spectators

• Mainly from Illinois

• Attracted groups from other states

• train, canal, wagon, horse

• shouted questions, cheered on their candidate

• Newspapers from all over the nation wrote on the subject

Douglas' view

• popular sovereignty

• in support the Dred Scott Decision

Freeport Doctrine

• Douglas argued that the actions of the people outweighed the actions of the Supreme Court

• A territory that chose not to have slavery would be safe from any laws

• Southerners felt betrayed

Open Ended

What makes a change in society, the law or the thoughts and actions of the people?

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand

• The country would not survive if it was half slave and half free

• Douglas refuted, "left each state perfectly free to do as it pleased on the subject." 

• Lincoln felt that blacks were entitled to "Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Election Results

• Neither won the popular vote

• local legislators voted for Senator

• Douglas won

• The people did not forget Lincoln

Harper's Ferry

John Brown's Raid

The Plan

• October 16 1859 John Brown lead 18 men to Harper's Ferry

• wanted to instigate a major slave rebellion

• seize the arms and ammunition in the federal arsenal

• arm the slaves

• move south along the Appalachian Mountains

Multiple Choice

This plan might be just crazy enough to...

• work!

• get us all killed!

The Plan's Faults

• too many people were in on the plan

• no rations

• No escape route

• only further divided the nation

Open Ended

Why weren't more slaves willing to join in the fight with John Brown?

The Counter Attack

• Local Militia surrounded John Brown and his men

• Were attacked by an army under the command of Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

• Northern Virginia

• strange view of slavery and its status in the country

• arrested John Brown

Execution of John Brown

• sentenced to hang on December 2

Multiple Select

Check all that apply: What themes do you get from the song

• happy

• sad

• folksy

• religious

• heroic

Views on John Brown

• Views were mixed throughout

• Some thought he was a hero

• Some thought he was a mad man

Lincoln's Victory

The Election of 1860

Open Ended

Do you make better choices if you have many options or only a few?

The Democratic Party Splits

• National Convention meets in Charleston South Carolina in April 1860

• Northern Democrats felt Douglas was the best choice

• Southerners did not approve of the "traitor"

• Southerners abandoned the convention

John C. Breckinridge

• Southern Democrats nominate then Vice President

• Would later fight in the Civil War for the Confederacy

The Republican National Convention

• Met in Chicago in May

• New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania were essential states

• Abraham Lincoln chosen

• Lincoln was a symbol of the frontier, hard work, and entrepreneurship

The Constitutional Union Party

• nominated John Bell

• Bell was a Tennessee slave owner

• Moderates dominated the party

• 
  

Open Ended

Would the Democrats have won if they stayed together?

The Election Results

The Election Results

• Lincoln received only 40% of the popular vote

• Lincoln won the election with 180 electoral votes

• 60% of voters voted for someone other than Lincoln

• Weeks after the outcome South Carolina seceded from the Union

Poll

Should We Stick with the Electoral Vote or Change to the Popular Vote

• Electoral Vote

• Popular Vote

The South Secedes

Open Ended

What states are most likely to leave the Union nowadays?

Lincoln's Election

• The South reacted immediately

• South Carolina called for a convention to secede

• The domino effect took place, eventually the Confederacy was formed

Lincoln's Election (cont.)

• Within three months of the election seven states seceded

• Springfield was celebrating

• Charleston was celebrating (not a single vote was cast for Lincoln in SC)

The Charleston Mercury

The tea has been thrown overboard, the revolution of 1860 has been initiated

Open Ended

What historic event was the Charleston Mercury referencing?

Leaving the Union

• Senators from South Carolina submitted their resignations

• "the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of 'The United States of America,' is hereby dissolved."

More States Secede

• Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all left the Union by February 1

• On February 4, delegates from all these states except Texas met in Montgomery, Alabama

President Jefferson Davis

• Chosen in Mobile Alabama

• Would be the first and only President

• Was previously a Senator for Mississippi and Secretary of War

Last Ditch Effort

• Senator John Jordan Crittenden proposed to restore the Missouri Compromise

• Extend the line all the way to the Pacific

• Republicans reject the idea

Corwin Amendment

• Introduced by William H. Seward of New York and Thomas Corwin of Ohio

• "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State."

• Attempted to appease the Southern states

Lincoln's view of the Corwin Amendment

"I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution — which amendment, however, I have not seen — has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service ... holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable. "

Open Ended

Why was Lincoln in favor of the amendment if he was anti-slavery?