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A Nation Divided- 2021 W A Nation Divided Binder Page 85 Name ______________________________________________________ Per ______________ “A Nation Divided” Date ___________________ A Nation Divided- The Coming of the Civil War “’A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall— but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all of one thing or all the other.” … Abraham Lincoln 1858 I. The Missouri Compromise (1820) Devised by Henry Clay in order to keep the number of free and slave states equal. It had three parts: A. Missouri would be admitted as a slave state. B. Maine would be broken off from Massachusetts and admitted as a free state to keep the balance in the Senate. C. A line would be drawn through the Louisiana Purchase. North of that line, slavery would not be allowed. South of that line, it would be. The main reason that this compromise was only a temporary solution was because: Manifest Destiny. New land would be added that wasn’t part of the United States when the Missouri Compromise was passed. A Nation Divided II. The Compromise of 1850. In the year 1850, California requested to enter the Union as a free state, and for the first time the Missouri Compromise of 1820 did not help to keep the states balanced. Henry Clay came up with a more complicated compromise this time. It had four parts. For the 1. California would be 2. The rest of the Mexican admitted as a free state. Cession would use “popular North: sovereignty” to decide if they were slave or free, meaning that when it was time for them to 3a. The slave trade would become states, the people end in Washington, DC. ... actually living there would vote. For the 3b. … but slavery itself 4. A strong federal fugitive slave would continue in law would force authorities in South: Washington. Northern states to help return runaway slaves to the owners in the South. A Nation Divided III. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 ● Part of the Compromise of 1850 ● John C. Calhoud insisted on it. He threatened that South Carolina and other Southern states would leave the Union (secede) if they did not get this part of the compromise. ● Judges in special courts received $10 for sending an accused runaway t the South. They only received $5 for setting someone free. ● This law forced runaways to flee to Canada instead of stopping in the North. What would these two people be likely to be saying about the Fugitive Slave Law? This Fugitive Slave Law is horrible. It This law was necessary. All Southern makes us Northerners part of your states have fugitive slave laws, and our slave system in the South. property (the slaves) needs to be protected by the government and returned to us. A Nation Divided IV. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe What was the book about? It is a fictional story about how terrible life was for slaves and what a terrible thing slavery was. What would these two people be likely to be saying about the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin? Wow, this is a great book! I never It's all lies and exaggerations! The realized how bad slavery was before, author has no idea what she’s talking but now I really care about the about! problems of those people. A Nation Divided V. Kansas-Nebraska Act In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced the idea of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. His idea was to let the people who live there to vote if they want slavery or not. (“Popular Sovereignty”) The big problem with the Kansas-Nebraska Act is the Missouri Compromise already said that there would be no slave territory above the Missouri Compromise line. The Act broke that compromise. What would these two people be likely to be saying about the Kansas-Nebraska Act? This makes me so angry. Kansas was This makes me so happy! Kansas was supposed to always be free, but now it supposed to always be free, but now it might end up as a slave state! might end up as a free state! VI. Bleeding Kansas After the Kansas-Nebraska Act, three kinds of people moved to Kansas: 1. Farmers looking for cheap land. 2. Pro-slavery people looking to vote for slavery. 3. Anti-slavery people looking to vote against slavery. The pro-slavery group included “Border Ruffians”. They were pro-slavery people from Missouri who would intimidate and battle anti-slavery people. Both the anti- and pro-slavery groups elected their own government and refused to accept the other's. The violence that broke out because of that situation became known as Bleeding Kansas. As the fighting escalated, pro-slavery border ruffians attacked the capital of the anti-slavery government at the town of Lawrence, Kansas. Much of the town was burned. A Nation Divided The violence even spilled onto the floors of Congress. After the attack on Lawrence, one northern Senator, Charles Sumner (Whig-MA) was beaten with a walking stick by a southern Congressman, Preston Brooks (D-SC). In Kansas, one abolitionist named John Brown killed five slavery supporters. He went on to bigger plans. VII. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry Define: Arsenal a storehouse for weapons John Brown’s plan was to attack the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia) then distribute the weapons to slaves to fight for their freedom. How did the North see John Brown? How did the South see John Brown? Some are saying that John Brown was a How can you possibly praise this man? hero and a saint. I’m singing, “John He wanted us murdered in our sleep! Brown’s body lies a mouldering in the He’s a crazed devil- a psychopath and a grave, but his soul is marching on!” terrorist! A Nation Divided VIII. The Dred Scott Case (Dred Scott v. Sanford) Who was Dred Scott? Scott was a slave who was owned in Missouri. His master took him into the Wisconsin Territory , where slavery was supposed to have been banned by Congress. What did he sue for? He sued for his freedom based on the fact that his master had taken him into territories that the Missouri Compromise had said would be free. What was the final decision of the Supreme Court? ● First, the court said that African Americans were not citizens and could not sue. Also, it said that slaves were property. ● Second, the court said that Congress could not stop people from taking property into the territories, and therefore the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. What would these two people be likely to be saying about the Kansas-Nebraska Act? This is terrible! What’s next? Will This ruling is fair. We believe slaves are free states be forced to become slave our property, and the government should states? be protecting our property, not taking it away. This decision was a big blow to abolitionists. Remember what had Lincoln said about the “House Divided?” It looked like we were one step closer to the country being entirely slave states. A Nation Divided The first Republican candidate for President was John C. Fremont. In 1856. His campaign slogan was “\Free Speech, Free Press, Free Soil, Free Men, Fremont!” He lost. James Buchanan, a member of the Democratic Party, won, while the Whig Party was rapidly losing members. A new Republican candidate was found named Abraham Lincoln He had first gained national attention by debating Stephen Douglas, who had supported “Popular Sovereignty” in the territories. Lincoln believed, “If slavery isn’t wrong, then nothing is wrong.” Lincoln called for stopping the expansion of slavery into the territories (NOT abolition) and ran for President in 1860. The Democrats split, and supported two different candidates who had different views on the issue of slavery A small fourth party was formed to try to find a way to save the country from splitting. They were called the Constitutional Union Party. How many Northern states supported Breckenridge? none How many Southern states supported Lincoln? none The vote was completely sectional, but Lincoln won. What does this map say about the political voice of the voters in the South? It looked like they had no voice in the federal government at all. They could win in the House of Representatives because the North had such a large population. They were behind in the Senate ever since the Compromise of 1850. Now the North could elect a President even when the entire South was against him. A Nation Divided Since their views were no longer represented, Southerners began to talk seriously about secession or seceding, which means breaking away from the United States. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, but before he was inaugurated as President, the state of South Carolina voted to secede. In the weeks before the inauguration, while Buchanan was still President, a total of 7 states voted to leave the Union. They met in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America. These states were: ● South Carolina, ● Georgia , ● Alabama , ● Mississippi, ● Louisiana, ● Texas, ● and Florida What generalizations can be made about these states? They were the states that were the furthest South. They were also the states that had the most slaves because they made up the “Cotton Belt.” If slavery was going to be threatened, these were the states that had the most to lose. During his inaugural address, Lincoln said that the Union of the states could never be broken.
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