Chapter 19: Drifting Toward Disunion (1854-1861)

Bleeding Kansas

Bleeding Kansas

period of intense violence and conflict in the Kansas Territory over the legality of slavery following the Kansas-Nebraska Act

• many pro-slave and anti-slave settlers flooded into the new territory

ideological, sectional

Bleeding Kansas was, quite literally, a battleground for America’s ? divide

• symbolized mounting ? tensions

Lecompton Constitution

controversial pro-slavery document proposed in Kansas in 1857

• intended to establish Kansas as a slave state entirely

  • Buchanan endorsed it

  • Douglas opposed it in the terms of fair popular sovereignty

exacerbated

Even though the Lecompton Constitution would just be voted off by the people, it just ? sectional tensions

Charles Sumner

An anti-slavery Kansas senator who gave the famous speech “The Crime Against Kansas,” condemning the violence pro-slavery forces have brought to Kansas

• was quite literally beat to a pulp by Preston Brooks, a pro-slave representative

reelected, inspire

Charles Sumner would keep getting ? by the people of Kansas due to his anti-slavery beliefs and was heavily supported

• John Brown was so outraged by Brook’s assault on Sumner that it would ? his crusade on slavery

Election of 1856

Pivotal election where James Buchanan would win

• Buchanan supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty

  • both of those things ended up terribly increasing the sectional tensions in America

• Buchanan ran against

  • John C. Fremont of the Republican Party

  • Millard Fillmore of the Know-Nothing Party

Bleeding Kansas, Republican

Buchanan’s victory in the Election of 1856 indirectly led to ?

• the election, in general, revealed the growing strength of the anti-slavery ? Party

Dred Scot vs Sanford

a landmark Supreme Court case that led to the Supreme Court declaring that African Americans weren’t citizens and had no right to sue in federal court

• Dred Scott was an enslaved man who tried suing his master after he brought Scott into a free state

sectional, no

the Dred Scott case severely deepened ? divisions

• Congress ruled that it had ? authority to regulate slavery

Lincoln-Douglas Senatorial Debates

series of seven debates between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas as they competed for the US Senate seat for Illinois

• Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery

• Douglas defended popular sovereignty

Freeport Doctrine

a doctrine made by Stephen A. Douglas that asserted territories could just exclude slavery by refusing laws that allow it if they see it fit

• Lincoln challenge this using Bleeding Kansas as a prime example of the dangers of popular sovereignty

Democratic, slavery

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates underscored the widening rift in the ? Party

• highlighted existing national divisions over ?

John Brown

a radical abolitionist who took violent measures in his crusade against slavery

• Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas

• Raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia

abolitionist, polarizing

John Brown’s execution stirred ? sentiments, ? the nation

• he became a martyr for the abolitionist cause

Constitutional Union Party

a party formed in 1860 by former Whigs and moderates from the South who sought to avoid a civil war

• made of mostly conservative Southerners concerned about growing tensions within the country

  • they feared the victory of a Republican president would provoke the union into disunion

border, neutral

The Constitutional Union Party gained support in ? states

• represented a ? stance on slavery

Election of 1860

a critical election that set the stage for the Civil War due to Republican Abraham Lincoln’s presidential victory

• Lincoln ran on an anti-slavery platform

• Lincoln ended up beating

  • Northern Democrat Stephen A. Douglas

  • Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge

  • Constitutional Unionist John Bell

South Carolina, secession

Lincoln’s victory in the election of 1860 pushed ? to the edge, leading to the final step towards ?

Crittenden Compromise

Compromise proposed in 1860 by Senator J. Crittenden of Kentucky

• attempt to prevent Civil War by addressing Southern concerns over slavery

• proposed a series of amendments to the Constitution including the PERMANENT PROTECTION OF SLAVERY in states with slavery

  • ultimately rejected by Congress

secession

The Crittenden Compromise’s failure represented one of the final steps towards the ultimate ? of the South

• if there was any last connections between the South and North, this burned that bridge 💀

Confederate States of America

Formed in 1861 by Southern states shortly after they seceded from the United States of America

• their president was Jefferson Davis

grievances, secede, Civil War

The Confederate States of America represented the Southern states’ ? with the Union

• solidified the determination to ?

• marked the official beginning of the ?