Abolitionist Sentiment & Southern Backlash

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

• Harriet Beecher Stowe (Christian abolitionist).

• Serialized in National Era (June 1851–April 1852).

• 300,000 copies sold in 1852 (Queen Victoria owned a copy).

Lincoln (1862): "So this is the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."

Southern Reaction:

• 8 Anti-Tom books published in 1852.

  • The Sword and the Distaff – William G. Simms.

Aunt Phyllis' Cabin – Mary H. Eastman (sold 30,000 copies).

Democratic Convention (1852, Baltimore, MD)

• Franklin Pierce (New Hampshire) nominated on 49th ballot (over Cass).

• VP King called him "a Northern man with Southern principles."

• Platform:

  • 1850 Compromise

  • Popular Sovereignty

  • Avoiding slavery debate

Whig Convention (1852, Baltimore, MD)

• Winfield Scott nominated on 59th ballot (159-112).

• Platform: 1850 Compromise

Horace Greeley (NY Tribune):"We defy it, execrate it, spit on it."

Other Parties in 1852 Election

• Free Soil Party

• Union Party (Whig offshoot, nominated Webster).

• Know-Nothings (nativist, nominated Webster, but he died).

• Southern Rights Party

Election of 1852

• Democrat (Pierce): 254 ECs, 50.8%, 27 states.

• Whig (Scott): 42 ECs, 43.9%, 4 states.

• Pierce won in a landslide.

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

• Pierce, influenced by Jefferson Davis (MS), sent James Gadsden (SC) to buy land from Mexico.

• Originally negotiated 250,000 sq miles for $15M.

Senate passed a revised purchase in 1854: 54,000 sq miles for $10M.

Cuba & the Ostend Manifesto (1854)

• 1851: Failed Lopez expedition to take Cuba.

• 1853: Sen. Quitman (MS) proposed a filibuster to seize Cuba (Pierce initially supported).

• Ostend Manifesto (1854):

  • Pierce sent Soule (Spain) to negotiate.

  • Buchanan (Britain) & Mason (France) issued Ostend Manifesto.

  • Offered Spain $30M for Cuba.

  • Declared Cuba "necessary" to the U.S. and threatened force.

  • Horace Greeley called it the "Manifesto of the brigands".

Northern outrage: Seen as a pro-slavery expansionist plot.

lead up to kansas nebraska act Lead-Up to the Act

• 1853: House passed a bill to organize Nebraska Territory (107-49).

• Blocked in the Senate due to Sen. Atchison (MO) demanding slavery be allowed.

• South saw the Missouri Compromise as being "forced upon them" (Stephens).

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• January 23, 1854: Pierce supported repealing the Missouri Compromise.

• Washington Union: Called the bill "a test of party orthodoxy".

• Douglas’s motivations:

  • Believed slavery wouldn’t spread that far north anyway.

  • Strong supporter of Popular Sovereignty.

  • Wanted the Presidency.

  • Wanted a transcontinental railroad.

• March 4, 1854: Passed Senate (37-14).

• Passed House (110-95):

  • 90% of Southerners supported it.

  • 36% of Northerners supported it.

Attempts at Political Compromise

• Wilmot Proviso

• Key Figures: Zachary Taylor, Stephen Douglas, Henry Clay.

• Compromise of 1850

• Texas & California debates

• Fugitive Slave Law & reactions

Growth of Abolitionist Sentiment in the North

• Political Leaders: William Seward

• Activists: John Brown

• Popular Literature: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

European Immigrant Influence in the North (economic & cultural shift).

Southern Backlash Against Abolitionism

• Political Leaders: Jefferson Davis

• Southern Literature & Press: Anti-Tom novels

• Defending Slavery as a "positive good".