The Emergence of Lincoln Notes

The Dred Scott Decision

  • James Buchanan's presidency is remembered for the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which he hoped would resolve the slavery debate.

  • Dred Scott's Background:

    • In the 1830s, Dred Scott traveled with his owner, Dr. John Emerson, from Missouri to Illinois (where slavery was illegal under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787) and to Wisconsin Territory (where slavery was banned by the Missouri Compromise).
    • Upon returning to Missouri, Scott sued for his freedom, arguing that his time spent on free soil should make him a free man.

  • Key Questions Before the Supreme Court:

    • Could a Black person be a U.S. citizen and sue in federal court?
    • Did living in a free state make Scott free?
    • Did Congress have the power to ban slavery in the territories?

  • Supreme Court Ruling (March 1857):

    • The Court split 6-3, with Justice Robert C. Grier joining the southern majority at Buchanan's urging.
    • Chief Justice Roger B. Taney declared that only white people could be U.S. citizens.
    • Taney argued that the Founding Fathers believed Black people had no rights that white men were bound to respect and could never be part of the country's "political family."
    • Missouri laws applied to Scott once he returned and he remained a slave.
    • The Court further stated that Congress had no constitutional power to ban slavery in a territory.
    • The Missouri Compromise, already repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, was declared unconstitutional.
    • Any law restricting slavery in western territories was deemed unconstitutional.

  • Impact of the Decision:

    • The Republican platform, which opposed the expansion of slavery, was effectively declared unconstitutional.
    • Stephen Douglas's idea of popular sovereignty was undermined.

The Decision's Aftermath

  • Immediate Effects:

    • Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, were freed by a new owner shortly after the decision.
    • Both died just before the Civil War, having enjoyed freedom for only a few years.

  • Political Consequences:

    • The Dred Scott ruling damaged the reputation of the Supreme Court, particularly in the North.
    • Republicans viewed the Court as being under the control of the "Slave Power."
    • President Buchanan declared that slavery now existed in all U.S. territories "by virtue of the Constitution."

  • Lecompton Constitution:

    • Buchanan's administration attempted to admit Kansas as a slave state under the Lecompton Constitution, which was written by a pro-slavery group and was never put to a popular vote.
    • This move outraged many, including Stephen Douglas, who joined forces with Republicans to block the attempt.
    • Kansas remained a territory and eventually joined the Union as a free state.
    • The Lecompton fight led many southern Democrats to lose trust in Douglas.

Lincoln and Slavery

  • Lincoln's Return to Politics:

    • Abraham Lincoln re-entered politics in 1854 due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
    • He opposed the expansion of slavery but was willing to compromise to preserve the Union.

  • Lincoln's Stance on Slavery:

    • He opposed the spread of slavery because of its injustice.
    • He believed it weakened America's example of freedom, allowing critics of democracy to call the country hypocritical.
    • He warned that the "love of liberty" would be destroyed if slavery spread.

  • Lincoln's Defense of Northern Society:

    • He believed every man should have a chance to improve their lives.
    • He insisted that black people deserved the "natural right" to the fruits of their labor.

The Lincoln-Douglas Campaign

  • 1858 Illinois Senate Race:

    • Lincoln, nominated by the Republican Party, ran against Stephen Douglas.
    • The campaign helped Lincoln gain national attention.

  • Key Differences in Positions:

    • Lincoln: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free."
      • He believed the country had to choose to either support or oppose slavery.
      • He criticized Douglas's popular sovereignty as morally indifferent.
    • Douglas:
      • Argued for local self-government and individual self-determination.
      • Believed the United States could only survive by respecting each region's right to decide its own laws and policies.

  • Lincoln-Douglas Debates:

    • Differing Views on Freedom:
      • Lincoln: Freedom meant opposing slavery and reviving the ideals of the founding fathers to eventually end slavery.
      • Douglas: Freedom meant allowing local self-government.

  • Douglas's Response to the Dred Scott Decision:

    • Argued that popular sovereignty was still possible.
    • Territorial legislatures could prevent slavery by not providing legal protections for slaveholders.

  • Douglas's Criticism of the Antislavery Movement:

    • He believed it came from religious revivalism and moral reformers who had no right to impose their views.
    • He argued that communities should have the right to own slaves if they chose to.
    • He stated that the U.S. government was created "by white men for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever."

  • Lincoln's Views on Race:

    • He believed black people were entitled to the inalienable rights declared in the Declaration of Independence.

  • Outcome of the Election:

    • Stephen Douglas won the Senate seat in a sharply divided Illinois.
    • The Republican Party won big in other parts of the North.
    • The split in the Democratic Party helped Republicans win in states like Indiana and Pennsylvania.

John Brown at Harpers Ferry

  • John Brown's Background:

    • He helped fugitive slaves and contributed to funding antislavery publications.
    • He believed in a vengeful, Old Testament God.
    • In May 1856, he and his followers killed five pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek.
    • He raised money and gathered followers for a war against slavery.

  • Attack on Harpers Ferry (October 16, 1859):

    • Brown and twenty-one men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
    • The plan was poorly executed, and Brown's group was quickly surrounded and captured by federal soldiers led by Colonel Robert E. Lee.

  • Brown's Trial and Execution:

    • Brown was tried for treason against the state of Virginia.
    • He showed dignity and courage during his trial, earning admiration from many Northerners.
    • Virginia's governor, Henry A. Wise, rejected calls for clemency and ordered Brown's execution.
    • His execution turned him into a martyr for many in the North.

  • Impact of Brown's Actions:

    • His raid and execution deepened the division between the North and South.
    • Brown's final letter stated: "I, John Brown, am quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."

The Rise of Southern Nationalism

  • Growing Belief in Secession:

    • A large group of southerners began to believe that the South would be better off outside the Union.

  • Reasons for Secessionist Sentiment:

    • The high price of slaves made it difficult for young planters and small farmers to become wealthy landowners.
    • Southerners felt that the North benefited from the cotton trade, while the South became more and more in debt.
    • They claimed that remaining in the Union would mean accepting "bondage" to the North.

  • Vision of an Independent South:

    • An independent South could create a slave empire stretching from the Caribbean to Cuba, other West Indian islands, Mexico, and parts of Central America.
    • More southerners openly supported southward expansion.

  • Efforts to Protect Slavery:

    • Southern leaders worked to protect and strengthen slavery.
    • A politician from South Carolina declared in 1860, "Slavery is our king, slavery is our truth, slavery is our divine right."
    • New state laws were passed to make it harder to free slaves.
    • Some southerners called for reopening the African slave trade.

  • Southern Demands on the Democratic Party:

    • Seven states from the Deep South demanded that the Democratic Party platform promise to protect slavery in all territories.
    • This demand was unacceptable to almost all northern politicians.
    • Southern nationalists, known as "fire-eaters," hoped to divide the party and the country, eventually forming an independent Southern Confederacy.

The Democratic Split

  • 1860 Presidential Election:

    • When the Democratic convention met in April 1860, Stephen Douglas's supporters had the most votes but lacked the two-thirds majority needed to nominate a candidate.
    • Douglas was unacceptable to leaders from the Deep South because of his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and his refusal to support laws allowing slavery in all territories.
    • When the convention adopted a platform supporting popular sovereignty, delegates from the seven southern slave states walked out, and the convention ended in confusion.

  • Nomination of Douglas and Breckinridge:

    • The convention reconvened, replaced the walkout delegates with Douglas supporters, and nominated him for president.
    • Southern Democrats created their own ticket, led by John C. Breckinridge, who argued that slavery must be protected in the western territories.

  • Consequences of the Split:

    • By 1860, the Democratic Party, once a unifying force, was shattered.
    • Neither northern nor southern Democrats were interested in compromise.