lincoln douglas debates, dred scott, john brown, 1860 election

douglas re-election attempt 1858

seeks re-election as senator for illinois in 1858, cant lose because would damage possibility of presedency, buchannon attempt to undermine his attempt

opposition to douglas

abraham lincoln leader of republican party in illinois, had 1 term in 1847-49 as congressman, only wins local elections and in douglas’s shadow politically

3 sections of illinois

north with german/swedish immigrants and free soilers from new england, south with democrats, middle becoming hostile to slavery but no definitive group

douglas lincoln debates

agreed to debate in 7 towns, both tailor their points to where they are debating, lincoln expects support from own party but seward rooting for Douglas so personally upset but would also result in end of republican party if all republicans supporting douglas

lincoln arguments

emphasised moral iniquity of slavery and attacked popular sovereignty for the bloody results it produced in kansas

douglas arguments

painted lincoln as dangerous radical who advocated for racial equality and disruption of the union

winner of debates

douglas since won senator seat as state legislature voted 54 to 46 in his favour

dred scott

grew up in virginia and sold to army surgeon emerson, travelled with surgeon from enslaved state of missouri to free state of illinois then back to missouri in 1843

dred scott claim

sued for his freedom under missouri precedent of ‘once free, always free’, since was in free state cant be enslaved again when enter slave state

dred scott result 1

won freedom for his family in 1850 with state court of st louis, however when appealed to missouri supreme court they voided the lower courts decision, scott sent back into slavery

dred scott supreme court result

reached supreme court and in 1857 decided scott was not free, stated that enslaved african americans were not citizens of the united states and went on to say that even free black people in the north could not be considered citizens, said that neither Congress nor the territorial governments had the power to ban slavery

dred scott supreme court response

infuriated abolitionists and saw it as an attempt to silence discussions about expansion of slavery, furthered tensions around issue, idea that slave power taking over

dred scott decision significance

idea of popular sovereignty invalidated, set precedent

john brown

abolitionist, led Potawatomie massacre

Potawatomie massacre

may 1856 john brown led a nighttime retaliatory raid after sack of lawrence on a proslavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek, in which five men were dragged out of their cabins and hacked to death.

john brown plan 1859

head south and trigger slave rebellion

john brown in virginia

virginia has highest number of slaves in any state, goes to town of harpers ferry takes over arsenal and gives slaves weapons but alarm raised and many of group killed and brown arrested

browns arrest

dont know where to try brown as harpers ferry owned by fed gov, governor wise of virginia is up for re election and wants brown to be tried in virginia to show that slave power is being protected and people of virginia are protected

browns trial

tried in charleston virginia and hanged

result of browns death

gave him a platform and northern politicians start to see him as a martyr, brings anxieties to highest point theyve reached, south think brown assisted by ‘the secret 6’ or ‘black republicanism’

result of brown raid for republican party

poses challenge because people could connect them and see republicans as pro abolition/willing to indulge in violence, however just because against slavery expansion doesnt mean want abolition, threatens to divide republican party and could be capitalised by democrats

1859 congressional elections

house of reps need new speaker, john sherman picked by republicans but switched to william penington who was elected

john sherman

endorsed hinton helper’s ‘the impending crisis’ which says slavery holding south back and is bad for whites, south see helper as a traitor, suggests south losing its cohesion as places such as maryland becoming more industrial with slavery dying

william penington

conservative republican, neede to appeal to more of the south

republican options 1860 election

william seward and lincoln

william seward campaign trail

1858 irrepressible conflict speech which argues slavery and free labour are 2 systems and at some point past must give way to future, appears he believes in some inevitable violent conflict, Thurlow Weed his political manager and sends him to Europe to keep him quiet so opportunity opens for Lincoln

lincoln campaign trail

made name for himself during debates, was invited to speak at a church in Brooklyn and in feb 1860 has speech at Cooper’s Union instead of church, speaking to republican party members and needs to win lower north such as Pennsylvania to win big so must appeal to poor whites, wants to win moderate republicans

coopers union speech summary

founding fathers said federal gov have power to control slavery in territories, says john brown wasnt a republican and what he did was wrong even if with the right intentions, says slavery morally wrong, does not endorse expansion of slavery but respects rights of slaveholders

republican nominee elections

convention held in illinois, front runners william seward and edward bates, in first ballot seward wins but short of a majority, on second vote drop out votes go for lincon and on third ballot lincoln wins

democrat nominee 1860

buchannon, john c brekamige, stephen douglas

buchannon campaign trail

involved in corruption scandals, alienated 2 closest advisors, alienates northern voters in panic of 1857, divided over lecompton

douglas campaign trail

south want constitutional amendment to protect their property in the territories but douglas does not agree because ignores popular sovereignty, has support of northern dems

democrat nominee elections

douglas wins more votes than breckinridge, but doesnt get 2/3 majority as southeners dont vote for him, he wins most votes in baltimore so becomes nominee but southeners walk out so dems become split and southern democratic party put forward breckinridge for nominee

constituional union party 1860 election

nominee john bell from tennessee, got votes from former whigs, nativists, upper south/lower north, unionist and want some degree of compromise

1860 election results

nov 1860 lincoln wins 40% popular vote with 180 electoral votes, douglas 29.5% with 29, breckinridge 18.2% with 72, bell 12.8% with 39

southeners response to lincoln win

see election as illegitimate since almost no southeners voted for him, virginia votes for bell (largest slave owning state voting for the union)

south carolina response to election

governor calls for a secession convention, meets in december and unanimously votes in favour for south carolina to leave the union

result of south carolina seceeding

proves its possible and creates momentum, by feb 1861 all 7 deep south states have seceded, south carolina sends officials to all souhern states to promote secession

failure to seceed other southern states

secession convention called in other states but upper sotuh eg virginia and tennessee etc dont want to seceed, south not united, sam houston doesnt want seccesion in texas

southern justification for secession

exercising their rights under constitution, to join union had to surrender some of their sovereignty done so on condition that their interests could be better served, if condition broken have the right to leave

secesssion convention corruption

planters have disproportionate number of votes at conventions is more likely to seceed, corruption and vote rigging at convention seg georgia with large cooperationist population but governor brown rigs the votes and they leave the union

opposition to secession

opposed in washington, eg j.j crittenden from kentucy tried to find cmopromise in his crittenden compromise dec 1860

response to compromise

dec 1860 deep south senators/reps left congress, republican party not able to support compromise because would be accepting slavery and its expansion, lincoln puts party unity above union

lincoln framing republican as national party

blames plantocrisy in south and calls on common southeners to realise theyve been used by the elite for power/wealth

southern states seceeding upper

arkansas, tennessee, north carolina, virginia seceed between april and may 1861 inst, done later so could see what happens