Notes CH 19 Part 1pp 409 – 422

Opening Quote: “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” A. Lincoln, 1858, given as part of a speech to announce his candidacy for the Senate in the State of Illinois (versus Douglass)

Note: This idea is used before in a speech by Sam Houston, now Texas Governor (who is deposed because he does not support secession in 1860-1)

Intro

Temperatures (emotions) rose steadily during the 1850’s..the issue is “THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY INTO THE WESTERN TERRITORIES…AND EVENTUALLY SLAVERY ITSELF.” The new Fugitive Slave Law in 1850…has awoken many in the North to this issue…and they are beginning to change… “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” continues this change…as well as several issues discussed in this chapter…pay attention to how each section, North and South, reacts to the various events as the happen…

Bloody Kansas erupts … due to “popular sovereignty” that is used to determine slavery in that new territory created by Stephen Douglass’s Kansas-Nebraska Act…in 1855

In 1857, the Supreme Court, influenced by Douglass and Buchanon, among others…attempts to END THE CONFLICT OVER SLAVERY IN THE WEST…with their ruling in the DRED SCOTT CASE… (pay close attention to this ruling ****)

The Presidential Election of 1860 – is seen as the “SPARK” by many… all that was needed to begin the conflict… (remember that churches and political parties split first- then the Union) as it is described here it a PROCESS that brings the Nation to the fatal split…..

Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” is published in 1852. Influenced to write the book by the NEW FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW (bloodhound bill, 1850) & 2nd Great Awakening… “she was determined to awaken the North to the wickedness of slavery, by focusing on its inhumanity, especially the splitting of families.”

She said, “God wrote it.”

Lincoln, when he met her said, “so you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”

The book sold in the millions. Stage plays were made out of it… (one scene in “Gangs of NY)

-“NO OTHER NOVEL IN AMERICAN HISTORY CAN BE COMPARED WITH IT AS A POLITICAL FORCE.”

The South reacted predictably, already defensive (the last area in the modern western world with slavery)..they condemned her and pointed out that Mrs. Stowe “HAD NEVER WITNESSED SLAVERY FIRST HAND HERSELF.” (GRIMKE HAD THOUGH- her close friend)

The North was impacted as well… profoundly… personal liberty laws were strengthened in many areas to violate the NEW FSL, the youth of the day read this, future soldiers for the Union, and were committed to ending the inhumanity of slavery…

Britain and France were impacted…profoundly… (remember that the South expected Britain, at least, to come to their aid due to their dependence on cotton for their massive textile industry…it did not happen…one reason is this book) THE COMMON PEOPLE OF ENGLAND OPPOSED ANY AID TO THE SOUTH..the ARISTOCRATS IN ENGLAND SUPPORTED THE SOUTH but were prevented from giving direct aid or even “recognizing diplomatically” the South due to it being so unpopular to the masses.

Hinton R. Helper wrote, “The Impending Crisis of the South,” lived in Iredell and Davie Counties…NC.

In 1857, he attempted to prove using statistics that indirectly the nonslaveholding whites (75% of the pop) were the ones who suffered most from the system of slavery… his book is banned in the South…(so much for FREE SPEECH) … but had a huge influence in the North…and on Abraham Lincoln’s early war policies… the philosophy is called “Helperism,” and led to Lincoln taking it easy on civilians early in the WAR due to his belief that the 75% would eventually force the South to change and realize this was all a big mistake….eventually he loses faith in this idea…for good reason.

The North-South Contest for Kansas & Kansas in Cunvulsion

********Stephen Douglas lures, tricks, and manipulates Southern Congressman to abandon their TCRR for the HOPE OF ANOTHER SLAVE STATE IN KANSAS…. Douglass used the idea of POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY and the fact that Kansas bordered slave Missouri it was OBVIOUS that Kansas would vote to become a slave state…(chicanery-travishamockery) The Southerners believed him… (duh, and gave up control of the most significant economic effort in the Nation’s history)  OMG….

*******Kansas did not follow the expected path… Douglass’s promises to the South were eventually proven to be LIES… and with each subsequent event that moves Kansas closer to its ultimate choice of FREEDOM… The South begins to realize they have been HOODWINKED…THIS CAUSES LATER THE SPLIT OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN 1860 AND LINCOLN’S ELECTION AND THE SECESSION OF 7 STATES AND THE FORMING OF THE CSA AND THEN THE WAR….

KANSAS develops into “Bleeding Kansas,” due to a contest forming between pro-freedom settlers from the North and Pro-Slavery settlers from the South… The New England Emigrant Aid Company, funded by Henry Ward Beecher- pastor of the 1stMegachurch in America-Brooklyn, funds sending “Bibles,” (actually RIFLES) *** NOTE: WHITTIER’S POEM THAT FREE SETTLERS SANG… 

*****Southerners raised cries of BETRAYAL… they thought Kansas becoming a slave state was a done deal…BUT IT WAS NOT “there are 1100 men coming over from [slave Missouri] to vote, and if that ain’t enough we can send 5000 – enough to kill EVERY GODDAMNED abolitionist in the Territory.”

Slaveowners were nervous about bringing slaves to a WAR ZONE…and that might be not allowed depending on a VOTE.. in 1860, there were only 2 slaves in all of Kansas…

2 Two Separate Governments are created in Kansas…the PRO-SLAVE GOVT IN SHAWNEE MISSION AND THE FREE GOVT IN TOPEKA….. VIOLENCE ENSUES – pro-slavery forces shoot up and burn down Lawrence …and pro-free forces, led by the enigmatic JOHN BROWNhacked to pieces with broadswords proslavery people in Pottawatomie creek…. *****THE CIVIL WAR (UNOFFICIALLY BUT IN REALITY) BEGINS IN “BLOODY” KANSAS IN 1856 and merges with the actual war which begins in April of 1861, when SC troops fire on Union held Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor…. and lasts until April 1865.

In 1857- *****THE LECOMPTON CONSITITUION is created using more chicanery and trickeration….it was a document that regardless of the vote would have allowed for slavery in Kansas and made Kansas a slave state…..THIS IS THEN SENT TO DC… as Kansas’s application for statehood as a Slave State. UH OH ***THIS IS WHERE DOUGLASS BEGINS TO APPEAR AS A FAKIR TO THE SOUTH*****Pres. Buchanan, another Doughface Democrat from Pennsylvania who is elected Pres. in 1856….STRONGLY SUPPORTS THIS TRAVISHAMOCKERY OF A CONSTITUTION…but Douglass opposes the LC…because of the fraudulent nature of the voting in Kansas (explained above) ****this is huge*** it is due to this and later the “freeport doctrine” that the South sees the true nature of the “LIAR DOULASS” and the South believes that Douglass…BETRAYED HIS PROMISE ABOUT KANSAS !!!!

The Lecompton Constitution, due to Douglass’s opposition is sent back to Kansas for a new vote and the pro-free force swamp the polls and DEFEAT THE LECOMPTON CONSTITUITION… and in the middle of the Civil War Kansas becomes a FREE STATE …

The CONSEQUENCES OF DOUGLASS’S ACTIONS LEADS TO THE SPLIT OF THE National DEMOCRATIC PARTY…AND WAR (explained above) this is a fractioning of one of the last strands of a rope that held the Union together.

“Bully” Brooks and His Bludgeon - “EMOTION DISPLACES THOUGHT”***

THE SUMNER-BROOKS INCIDENT – In 1856, Mass. Senator, Charles Sumner, a leading abolitionist, gives a speech entitled, “THE CRIME AGAINST KANSAS,” in the Senate..he calls pro-slavery people, “hirelings picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy civilization.” and insults Sen. Andrew Butler from SC.

Obviously this did not go over well with Southerners who believed their HONOR had been violated…so Congressman PRESTON S. BROOKS of SC…, Butler’s son-in-law, THE CODE OF HONOR CALLED FOR A DUEL  but… you only fought a duel between equals and Brooks considered Sumner not an equal… so…

HE PROCEEDS, ON May 22, 1856, TO COME TO THE SENATE AND WHILE SUMNER WAS TRAPPED IN HIS DESK….AND BROOKS PROCEEDED TO BEAT SUMNER WITH A CANE UNTIL IT BROKE… Sumer was left bloody and helplessly unconscious on the Senate floor. OMG***see quote above*** NO ONE INTERFERED WITH BROOKS…NO ONE.

Brooks resigned from the House of Representatives…then in 1860 re-elected …and Southern Admirers meanwhile purchased him a new cane to replace the one that was broken over Sumner’s head…with a GOLD HEAD.

Charles Sumner, injuries were serious, had to go to doctors in Europe to recover for 31/2 years…. But..Massachusetts re-elected him also.

The North’s reaction was horror…and called Brooks actions, “Cowardly and Uncouth.” Copies of Sumner’s speech was sold by the tens of thousands…

The South, not unanimous in approving of Brook’s actions, nevertheless thought the action honorable and the North’s positive view of Sumner’s speech appalling…

PASSIONS WERE INFLAMED AND “EMOTION WAS DISPLACING THOUGHT.”

“Old Buck” Versus “The Pathfinder” – The Election of 1856 – Dem. Buchanan v. Rep. Fremont

James Buchanan is the Democratic nominee… from Pennsylvania (he wins as you know from the discussion on the Lecompton Constitution) “Old Buck” is unique in history as the only “bachelor President” (he lived with Alabama rep. Rufus King for 30 years)

The Republicans now a major force, after only a few years since forming, nominate John C. Fremont as their 1st Presidential candidate ever… (he was a Mexican war hero-Bear Flag Revolt) called the “pathfinder of the West.”

The Democrats support popular sovereignty the Republicans support no extension of slavery into the west. Other issues ESPECIALLY IMMIGRATION… (remember the large influx of Irish and Germans) alarmed NATIVISTs.. and they CREATE THE “AMERICAN PARTY,” (KNOW-NOTHINGS BECAUSE OF ITS SECRETIVENESS) and they nominate MILLARD FILLMORE, former President when Taylor died…their slogan was, “ Americans Must Rule America,”

*****Buchanan wins mainly due to the THREATS OF SOUTHERN FIRE-EATERS…that the election of a “black republican,” would a DECLARATION OF WAR ON THE SOUTH AND FORCE THEM TO SECEDE…

But the Republicans could claim a kind of victory…after only 2 years of existence…they had done very well and even elect the speaker of the House of Representatives.

THE THREAT OF THE SOUTHERN FIRE-EATERS WOULD BE TESTED IN 4 YEARS 

The Dred Scott Bombshell*****huge****

Note: ******There is a lot to this event beyond the decision itself which is significant enough….it is claimed by many historians, and Lincoln himself and others at this time.. that Buchanan, Douglass, and the Democratic leaders had the Supreme Court postpone announcing their decision until after the election of 1856…AND THAT THE JUSTICES ALONG WITH BUCHANAN AND DOUGLASS ALL HAD A PART IN WRITING THE DECSION…for the PURPOSE OF ENDING THE SLAVERY DEBATE WHICH WAS TEARING APART THE NATION….. This conspiracy theory was claiming something never done before and probably not done since… that there was collusion between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches to affect the outcome of a case a set policy with this decision….a remarkable story, if true…

The case: Dred Scott was a slave, owned by an army officer, who was taken into FREE Illinois and Wisconsin Territories by his owner while he was serving at forts in those FREE AREAS… HE SUES FOR HIS FREEDOM BASED ON HIS LONG RESIDENCE ON FREE SOIL.

******** huge*****The Decision:1) Dred Scott was a black slave and not a citizen of the United States, therefore, had no standing to sue in any court, being a non-citizen…it went further to state that NO BLACK PERSON FREE OR SLAVE WAS A CITIZEN OF THE USA. [citizenship, for everyone, would be defined legally for the 1st time after the civil war in the 14th amendment to the constitution] 2) That slavery was legal everywhere in the USA. (based on the 5th Amendment…which clearly forbids Congress from depriving people of property without the due process of law. 3) the court also declares that the Missouri Compromise of 1820, 36-30 line, had been unconstitutional from its inception…Congress, the court declared, had no power to ban slavery anywhere…and neither does any state anywhere.

In summary: Unbelievable…. Blacks, now free or slave, are not citizens…. That it was legal to take slavers anywhere in the USA…and that Congress has no right to ban slavery anywhere….WOW !!! a bombshell

THE SUPREME COURT (AND OTHERS POSSIBLY) HAD ATTEMPTED TO END THIS DEBATE…ARE THEY SUCCESSFUL? WE WILL SEE 

Reactions******

Southern Reaction: obviously happy…

Supporters of Popular Sovereignty: HUH,,,, are you serious…. Splits the Democrats even more…

Republicans/Northerners: ANGRY…defiant… THEY SUGGEST THAT “IT WAS MERELY AN OPINION,” NOT A DECISION THAT WAS ANY MORE BINDING THAN ANY OTHER OPINION…. A view of the Southern Debating Society (the Supreme Court was dominated by slaveholders)

******Southern Reaction to the North’s reaction: THEY WONDERED HOW MUCH LONGER COULD THEY REMAIN JOINED TO A SECTION, (NORTH), THAT REFUSED TO HONOR THE SUPREME COURT (and the legislatures Fugitive Slave Law- remember the Personal Liberty Laws passed in many northern states) AND FOLLOW THE CONSITUTION.

The Financial Crash of 1857

Causes: OVERSPECULATION IN LAND AND RAILROADS…and inflation from California Gold and OVERPRODUCTION of agricultural goods, grain esp., due to demands from European countries involved in the Crimean War.

The North was hit the hardest….. The South, seemingly, was not affected…

Consequences… The South interpreted this as a validation of the Cotton Kingdom and that they were impervious… to any economic problems… built on false confidence, “THIS FATAL DELUSION HELPED DRIVE SOUTHERNERS CLOSER TO A SHOOTING SHOWDOWN.”

In the North it led to a call for FREE HOMESTEADS, public lands given away for free instead of for sale…

They also call for HIGHER TARIFF RATES..

*****THE PANIC OF 1857 GAVE THE REPUBLICANS TWO (2) SURE FIRE ECONOMIC ISSUES FOR THE ELECTION OF 1860: PROTECTION FOR THE UNPROTECTED INDUSTRIES (HIGHER TARIFFS) AND FREE FARMS FOR THE FARMLESS (HOMESTEAD ACT)

An Illinois Rail-Splitter Emerges-Lincoln v. Douglass in 1858, for the Illinois Senate

The Great Debate: Lincoln versus Douglas

Lincoln, Republican, challenges Douglass, Democrat, to a series of debates.

Douglass was considered the nation’s most devastating debater, finest orator… it could be a slaughter 

******The most famous debate occurs in Freeport, Illinois… Here Lincoln skewers Douglass with a dilemma….Douglass’s response is called the Freeport Doctrine.. and it is this response that finally skewers Douglass with all Southerners and leads to the split of the Democratic Party in 1860.

*******Lincoln asks Douglass, “Suppose, the people of a territory should vote slavery down? [Douglass still supported pop. sov.] … Could they legally, due to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dred Scott which clearly stated that they could not? Lincoln asks Douglass, “ Who would prevail, the Court or the People?

*******Douglass’s Reply/The Freeport Doctrine – No matter how the Supreme Court ruled the people of a territory could still vote it down by not passing “slave codes,” or laws to protect slavery in that territory… and if they did not pass those laws- slavery would die in those territories due to an absence of popular support.

********Effects: Douglass wins the Senate seat…[Senators are chosen by state legislators not voters until the 20th century] and the Democrats won a majority in the election…HOWEVER… Lincoln is thrust into the national limelight with his amazing debates… newspapers publish detailed accounts of the debates..and this carries Lincoln to the Republican Nomination in 1860…

Douglass’s Freeport Doctrine actually crushes the last national party… How could the South support a candidate that lied about Kansas and then states that you did not have to obey the supreme court…THIS RESPONSE SPLITS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN 1860, ALLOWING LINCOLN TO BECOME PRESIDENT, WHICH CAUSES THE SOUTH TO SECEDE, AND WAR TO BEGIN.