Unit 5.6 - Failure of Compromise

key terms/events and significance

Election of 1852 (PCE/ARC)

• Whig Party nominated Winfield Scott / attempted to ignore slavery & concentrated on improving roads & harbors → sectional issues continued & the antislavery & Southern factions of the party quarrel → weakened & about to split

• Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce / he supported the Fugitive Slave Law / a Northerner that was acceptable to the South → Pierce & Democrats won all but four states in the Electoral College → the Whig Party days were numbered

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) & Bleeding Kansas (PCE)

• Senator Stephen A. Douglass of Illinois proposed building a transcontinental railroad through the center of the country with a major terminus in Chicago (benefitted his estate) to promote Western settlement

• Douglass introduced a bill to divide each territory decide slavery issue / gave Southerners a chance to expand slavery into the lands closed by Missouri Compromise of 1820 (the 2 territories were located north of the 36°30′) / Northern Democrats condemned it as a surrender to “slave-power” → Pierce signed it

The Sumner-Brooks Incident (PCE)

• The violence Kansas spilled over into the hall of the US Congress / 1856 MA, Senator Charles Sumner attacked the Democratic administration with a vitriolic speech (The Crime Against Kansas) / his remarks included personal charges against South Carolina senator Andrew Butler → Butler’s nephew Preston Brooks defended his uncle honor by walking into the Senate chamber & beat Sumner’s head repeatedly with a cane → outraged the North / praised by the South / sign of growing passions on both sides

The Birth of the Republican Party (PCE)

• Increased tension divided N & S Democrats & broke the Whig Party → ex-Whigs joined Know-Nothing Party (scared of immigration) / Democrats (supported slavery)

• Ex-Whigs opposed to slavery from the Republican Party (Wincousin 1854) / free-soilers & antislavery Whigs & Democrats / opposed to the spread of slavery not end it / Kansas violence increased → more people joined → 2nd largest party in the nation / strictly northern party → its success threatened & alienated the South

The Election of 1856 (ARC)

• R: nominated John C. Fremont, no slavery expansion, free homesteads, & business protective tariff

• K-N: former president Millard Fillmore / 20% popular vote

• D: James Buchanan / rejected Pierce & Douglass because they were closely associated with the Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Foreshadowed the emergence of a powerful political party

Lecompton Constitution (MIG/PCE)

• Buchanan’s first challenge as a president in 1857 / decide whether to accept or reject slavery for Kansas submitted by the Southern legislature at Lecompton → he knew it didn’t have much support / asked the Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state nonetheless

• Congress did not do it because many Democrats joined the Republicans in rejecting the constitution / the document was rejected by Kansas settlers (most were antislavery Republicans)

Dred Scott vs. Sandford (1857) (PCE/ARC)

• The Supreme Court infuriated the North with their decision against Scott in a proslavery case / Roger Taney presided the case

• Scott was held in slavery in Missouri, freed in Wincousin, & returned to Missouri where he sued for his freedom by arguing living in free-soil makes him a free citizen → Court ruled that he can’t sue federal court because African Americans are not US citizens / Congress can’t exclude slavery in any federal territory / Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional

• Led to suspicion, Republicans’ increased power, & lower Douglass hope for presidency

Lincoln-Douglass Debate (PCE/ARC)

• Lincoln & Douglass debated over slavery issue (Lincoln is not an abolitionist but spoke for it as a moral issue & attacked Douglass for his indifference) — house-divided speech

• Freeport Doctrine - Lincoln challenged Douglass to reconcile popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision → his response angered the South because he did not go far enough in supporting the South / won his reelection to the US Senate

• Lost his ground in his own party by alienating (S) Democrats (Douglass) while Lincoln emerged as a national figure → nomination for presidency in 1860

Explain the political causes of the Civil War.

The issue of slavery became increasing heated, causing sectional division that worsened the tension between the North and the South. The South’s increase in power distressed and infuriated the North, especially when they forced the slavery issue upon the North.