Sectionalism
The Comes Apart at the Seams
Sectional Issues
Missouri Compromise: 1820
• Missouri admitted as a slave state & Maine admitted as a free state to maintain the political balance in the Senate.
• Any states created out of Louisiana Purchase north of 36-30 to be free states
Moderate Abolitionism 1820-1850
• Promoted gradual, voluntary manumission
• American Colonization Society
– James Madison & Henry Clay were former presidents of society
– Local branches in every state
– Churches & state legislatures provided money to buy and transport slaves [approximately 6,000 from 1821-67] to Liberia which had been purchased by ACS in 1820’s
Radical Abolitionism : 1820-1850
• William Lloyd Garrison
• David Walker
• John Brown
Issue of Slavery In Mexican Cession
• The Wilmot Proviso, introduced by Representative David Wilmot, proposed to ban slavery from any territory acquired from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War
• Passed by the House twice, it was rejected by the Senate
• Expressed Northern Abolitionist position against extending slavery into any new territories
Compromise of 1850
• Discovery of gold in California 9 days before the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo led to the formation of a state government in November, 1849 and a demand for immediate admission to the Union as a free state
• This action precipitated a heated and sometimes bitter debate between Northern and Southern forces in Congress
• Settlement of the debate was referred to as the Compromise of 1850
• Was a package of 5 bills that provided:
• California was admitted as a free state [California Admission Act – Sept. 9,1850]
• The principle of popular sovereignty was applied to remainder of Mexican Cession
• Northern boundary of Texas fixed at 36-30’ and Texas compensated $10 million for territory ceded to U.S. Government
• The slave trade was abolished in D.C.
• A new and stronger fugitive slave law.
Fugitive Slave Act -1850
• Required that all persons charged with executing the law must enforce the act and cooperate with slave catchers
• Abolished the previous “safe” harbor of the northern states
• Forced many escaped slaves to flee to Canada
• Intensified the abolitionist movement by forcing many in the North to take a stand in opposition to slavery
• Led Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: 1852
• Originally serialized in the National Era
• 300,000 copies sold first year – more than 1 million by 1860
• Convinced thousands in north that slavery was an evil
Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1854
• Introduced by Sen. Stephen A. Douglas
• To promote western migration & building railroad to the west coast
• The Louisiana Territory between 37N & 49N was to be organized into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska
• The Missouri Compromise ban on slavery was repealed and replaced with the concept of “popular sovereignty”
• Bitter and protracted sectional debate in Congress
• Bill finally passed by Senate 37-14 and the House on May 22, 1854, 113-100
• President Pierce signed the bill into law
• Rancor over the act caused a split in and eventual dissolution of the Whig Party
• Led to the formation of the Republican Party
• Led to civil strife in Kansas
New Political Parties
• The issue of Slavery and Abolition led to the formation of new political parties in the West:
• Liberty Party [1840 & 1844] wanted immediate abolition of slavery
• Free Soil Party [1848] was opposed to extending slavery into new territories
• The Know-Nothing Party [1849] opposed to Catholics and immigrants
• Republican Party [1854] opposed to extending slavery into new territories
“Bleeding Kansas,” 1856
• Northerners wanting to win Kansas as a free state created aid societies such as the New England Emigrant Aid Society to offset efforts from Missouri
• Border Ruffians” from Missouri were bent on securing Kansas for slave block
• The situation spawned rival governments and constitutions
– Lecompton Constitution = pro-slavery
– Topeka Constitution = free state
• Brutality occurred on the floor of Congress when Preston Brooks (SC) beat Charles Sumner (Mass) with a
brass-headed cane
War in Kansas
• Free state settlers armed themselves with “Beecher’s Bibles”
• Border Ruffians sacked Lawrence, Kansas
• John Brown retaliated by attacking and killing 5 proslavery men at Pottawatomie Creek
• The four month civil war killed 200 people
Election of 1856
• The new Republican Party ran John C. Fremont of California fame for President
• He ran on a platform of excluding slavery from new territories
• Many Northerners could not bring themselves to vote for him
• Democrats won 174-114 electoral votes
“The Impending Crisis”
• A book by Hinton R. Helper, a non-slave owning southerner
• Argued that slavery had ruined the South economically
• Further inflamed sectional feelings
• Abolitionists used book to bolster their cause
• Was almost as influential as Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Dred Scott v Sanford (1857)
• The Case = Scott a slave from Missouri had lived for a time in Illinois. On his master’s death, abolitionists, on his behalf, sued for his freedom on grounds that his living in Illinois had made him a free man
• Missouri court ruled against him
• Sold to J.F.A. Sanford of New York to get the case into Supreme Court
• The Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (Md) and 4 of the 7 members of the Court had been appointed by Jackson and were from the South.
• The Court ruled that:
– Scott had no case as he was not a citizen – the Constitution did not consider Negroes citizens.
– Scott was still a slave – living in Illinois had not made him free because his stay did not affect Missouri law.
–
Taney’s Obiter Dictum
Taney, in a lengthy opinion (obiter dictum), went further, stating that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional as it violated the 5th Amendment.
• The Court, in effect, stated that Congress could not bar slavery from the territories.
• The South was jubilant over the ruling – they had won the slavery argument.
• The Northern Abolitionists were forced to rethink their position.
Illinois Senate Election, 1858
• Abraham Lincoln opposed Senator Stephen A. Douglas for the senate seat
• Lincoln-Douglas Debates
– Lincoln talked about slavery being regarded as an evil that had to be dealt with
– Freeport Debate and the Freeport Doctrine
• Lincoln lost the election
The “Freeport Doctrine”
• At Freeport, Lincoln asked Douglas if popular sovereignty was possible after the Dred Scott decision
• Douglas answered, “The people of a territory could keep slavery out by refusing to enact black codes or other laws necessary for its survival”
• Northern abolitionists and Democrats were pleased with this position and they reelected him
• Southern Democrats denounced it as it promised them less than Dred Scott
• Doomed Douglas’s chances of winning the Presidency
John Brown’s Raid- October, 1859
• Brown led an assault on the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry to get arms to arm the southern slaves
• Lacking support the “revolt” was quickly ended and Brown & his 22 followers were captured (17 were killed) by U.S. Marines under Robert E. Lee
• Brown was tried for treason and hanged on Dec. 2, 1859
• Brown became a martyr to the Northern Abolitionists
• Southerners viewed the raid as proof that the Republicans were bent on freeing the slaves
• Sidelight: Brown’s widow and family moved to Red Bluff, California. Citizens built her a house that still stands on Main Street.
Edmund Ruffin, Radical Secessionist
• Skilled agriculturist
• Believed increasing northern industrialism threatened the South. Began to advocate secession in 1840’s.
• 1855, turned over his plantations to his sons and daughters, in order to devote himself full-time to the cause of secession. Became “fire eater”
• Became an “honorary cadet” at VMI so he could attend John Brown’s hanging.
• Sent 15 of Brown’s spears to Southern legislators saying "Sample of the favors designed for us by our Northern brethren."
• Manipulated split in Democratic party to ensure Republican victory and Southern Secession
• Wrote anti-northern novel to counter Uncle Tom’s Cabin and advocate secession
Presidential Election of 1860
• The older party cohesion had broken down
The Democrats were divide
• Pro-Douglas Democrats forced a “Freeport Doctrine” Plank into party platform and nominated Douglas
• Southern Democrats left the convention and later nominated John C. Breckinridge (Kentucky) on a platform endorsing the “Dred Scott Doctrine”
Republicans, sensing victory, nominated Abraham Lincoln, who they viewed as a moderate.
• Republican Party platform crafted for broad appeal:
– Restrict slavery to those states where it currently existed
– Pass a homestead act
– Provide government support for a Pacific railroad
• The Constitutional Union Party was formed from old Whigs and Know-Nothings to attempt to preserve the Union by compromise.
• Nominated John Bell (Tennessee)
• Two separate contests
– Lincoln versus Douglas in the North
• Republicans = northern enforcement against slavery
• Northern Democrats = continuing compromise on slavery
– Breckinridge versus Bell in the South
• Southern Democrats = states rights even at cost of secession
• Constitutional Union the “Bell Ringers” = preserve the Union
• Virtually no interchange between northern campaigns and southern campaigns
• Lincoln won 180 electoral votes (only 47% of popular vote
• Douglas won 12 electoral votes
• Breckinridge won 72 electoral votes
• Bell won 39 electoral votes
Post November, 1860
• The south saw the handwriting on the wall
– Northern vote =192 electoral votes
– Southern vote = 111 electoral votes
• The South believed that the North was going to control the future of the country and, therefore, their destiny