U.S. History: Sectional Conflict, Kansas, and Slavery (1852–1860)

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), which exposed the horrors of slavery and increased Northern opposition to it.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that helped turn Northern public opinion against slavery and increased sectional tensions.

Hinton R. Helper

Non-aristocratic North Carolinian who wrote The Impending Crisis of the South, arguing that slavery economically harmed nonslaveholding whites.

The Impending Crisis of the South (1857)

Book by Hinton R. Helper that used statistics to argue slavery hurt nonslaveholding Southern whites the most.

New England Emigrant Aid Company

Abolitionist organization that paid settlers to move to Kansas to help establish it as a free state.

Popular Sovereignty

Principle allowing settlers in a territory to decide whether to permit slavery.

Bleeding Kansas (1855-1856)

Violent conflict between proslavery and antislavery settlers fighting to determine whether Kansas would permit slavery.

Election Fraud in Kansas (1855)

Proslavery Missourians illegally crossed into Kansas to vote, helping elect a proslavery legislature.

Shawnee Mission

Location of the proslavery government's headquarters in Kansas.

Topeka

Location where antislavery settlers established their rival government in Kansas.

Lawrence (1856)

Antislavery town attacked and partially burned by proslavery forces, escalating violence in Kansas.

John Brown

Fanatical abolitionist who murdered five presumed proslavery men at Pottawatomie Creek in 1856.

Pottawatomie Creek Massacre (1856)

John Brown's murder of five proslavery settlers in retaliation for violence against antislavery settlers.

Lecompton Constitution (1857)

Proslavery Kansas constitution designed to guarantee slavery while limiting voters' ability to reject it.

Lecompton Constitution Voting

Voters could choose between slavery and no slavery, but even rejecting slavery would protect existing slaveholders' property rights.

James Buchanan

Democratic president elected in 1856 who supported the Lecompton Constitution, further dividing the Democratic Party.

Stephen Douglas and Lecompton

Douglas opposed the Lecompton Constitution because he believed Kansas voters should decide the issue themselves.

Outcome of the Lecompton Controversy

Douglas helped secure a compromise allowing Kansas voters to reject the constitution; Kansas remained a territory until 1861.

Effect of Buchanan's Presidency

Buchanan's support for the Lecompton Constitution divided Northern and Southern Democrats, weakening national unity.

Charles Sumner

Massachusetts abolitionist senator who delivered an antislavery speech insulting Senator Andrew Butler.

Preston Brooks

South Carolina congressman who caned Charles Sumner unconscious on May 22, 1856.

Caning of Charles Sumner (1856)

Preston Brooks's brutal attack on Sumner, demonstrating the growing sectional hatred between North and South.

Election of 1856: Democrats

Nominated James Buchanan and supported popular sovereignty.

Election of 1856:

Republicans Nominated John C. Fremont and opposed the extension of slavery into the territories.

American Party (Know-Nothings)

Nativist political party opposed to increasing Irish and German immigration; nominated Millard Fillmore in 1856.

Election of 1856: Outcome

James Buchanan defeated John C. Fremont and Millard Fillmore, although the young Republican Party demonstrated significant strength.

Dred Scott

Enslaved man who sued for freedom after living with his master in free Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Supreme Court decision ruling that African Americans were not citizens, slaves were property, and Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

Dred Scott: Citizenship

The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court.

Dred Scott: Fifth Amendment

The Court argued that the Fifth Amendment protected slaveholders' property rights against congressional interference without due process.

Dred Scott: Missouri Compromise

The Court declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional because Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

Effects of Dred Scott

Delighted Southerners but angered Northerners and undermined popular sovereignty by limiting territorial opposition to slavery.

Panic of 1857

Financial crisis caused by Western over-speculation and inflation from the influx of California gold; the North suffered more than the South.

Homestead Proposal

Proposal to give pioneers free 160-acre plots of public land to encourage Western settlement.

Opposition to Free Homesteads

Eastern industrialists feared losing workers, while Southerners feared new free-soil states would upset the Senate's balance.

Homestead Act (1860)

Congressional legislation offering public land for 25 cents per acre; vetoed by President Buchanan.

Tariff of 1857

Reduced import taxes to approximately 20%, angering Northerners who wanted greater protection for American industry.

Republican Economic Platform (1860)

Promised protective tariffs and free homesteads, appealing to Northern manufacturers and Western farmers.

Abraham Lincoln

Republican politician from Illinois who served in the state legislature and one term in Congress before challenging Stephen Douglas in 1858.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

Seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over slavery and its expansion into the territories.

Freeport Doctrine (1858)

Douglas's argument that territories could effectively prevent slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting it, regardless of the Dred Scott decision.

Freeport Debate

Most famous Lincoln-Douglas debate, where Lincoln questioned Douglas about whether territories could reject slavery.

Outcome of the 1858 Senate Election

Douglas won the Illinois Senate election, although Lincoln received more popular votes.

John Brown's Raid (1859)

John Brown's attempt to seize a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry and arm enslaved people to start a rebellion.

Harpers Ferry (October 1859)

Federal arsenal seized by John Brown in an unsuccessful attempt to launch a slave uprising.

John Brown: Martyrdom

Brown was captured and hanged after his raid; many Northerners viewed him as a martyr for abolition.

Democratic Party Split (1860)

Northern and Southern Democrats disagreed over slavery's expansion, splitting the party into separate presidential campaigns.

Fire-Eaters

Radical Southern secessionists who demanded strong protections for slavery and opposed Stephen Douglas.

Democratic Convention of 1860

Democrats met in Charleston and Baltimore; after Southern delegates walked out, Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas.

Northern Democrats (1860)

Nominated Stephen Douglas and supported popular sovereignty.

Southern Democrats (1860)

Nominated John C. Breckinridge and supported the extension of slavery into the territories and annexation of Cuba.

Constitutional Union Party

Party formed by former Whigs and Know-Nothings that nominated John Bell and attempted to avoid the slavery controversy.

Republican Nomination (1860)

Republicans met in Chicago and nominated Abraham Lincoln for president.

Republican Platform (1860)

Supported stopping slavery's expansion, protective tariffs, immigrant rights, a Pacific railroad, internal improvements, and free homesteads.

Republican Coalition

Lincoln's platform appealed to free-soilers, Northern manufacturers, immigrants, Western settlers, and farmers.

Election of 1860: Outcome

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency without winning the popular vote; approximately 60% of voters supported other candidates.

Election of 1860: Southern Reaction

Ten Southern states did not even include Lincoln on their ballots, and many Southerners threatened secession if he won.

Republican Political Power (1860)

Republicans won the presidency but did not control the House, Senate, or Supreme Court.

South Carolina Secession (December 1860)

South Carolina unanimously voted to secede from the Union following Lincoln's election.

Seven Seceding States

South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

Confederate States of America (1861)

Government formed by the first seven seceding states in February 1861 at Montgomery, Alabama.

Jefferson Davis

Former U.S. senator from Mississippi chosen as president of the Confederate States of America.

Buchanan's Lame-Duck Presidency

Buchanan remained president between Lincoln's election and inauguration but failed to prevent Southern secession.

Buchanan's Response to Secession

Buchanan refused to use military force against seceding states, citing constitutional uncertainty, Southern influence in his administration, and the risk of provoking war.

Crittenden Compromise (1860-1861)

Proposed constitutional amendments allowing slavery south of the 36°30′ line while prohibiting it north of the line.

Lincoln's Position on Crittenden Compromise

Lincoln rejected the compromise because it would allow slavery to expand into additional territories.

Causes of Southern Secession

Southerners feared Republican opposition to slavery's expansion would eventually threaten slavery and their political and economic interests.

Southern Expectations of Secession

Many Southerners believed the North would avoid opposing secession because Northern manufacturers and bankers depended on Southern cotton and markets.