2/10-2/13 Notes: AH (Test on Friday, 2/14)

The Possible Causes of the Civil War (Different Viewpoints)

Academics - Puts Slavery in the Right Context - More in Depth

#1 - The question of slavery out west

#2 - The death of the Whigs party (1854)

#3 - Return of the Republicans (1856)

#4 Abraham Lincoln becomes president (1860)

Events of 1848 to 1852

1848 - People start to move out west to take part in the gold rush, causing the population in California to grow immensely

1849 - The growth of California population (now 100,00 citizens) puts pressure on congress because of the imbalance of slave and anti-slave states

1850 - President Zachery dies and his vice president, Millard Fillmore, replaces him.

• Nobody knew who Fillmore was.

• So, Henry Clay and John Calhoun, who are congressmen, make a decision with Filmore to make a deal.

  Compromise of 1850 (Tried to appeal to all sides)

• Took 9 months

• This included….

  #1 - Making California a free state and Texas a slave state (Appealing to the North)

  #2 - Making Utah and New Mexico follow popular sovereignty / Let the people choose whether they have slaves or not (Neutral)

• #3 - Ending the slave trade in Washington D.C (Neutral)

• #4 - The Fugitive Slave Act (Appealing to the South)

  • Northerns would be jailed for assisting a runaway slave.

  • A huge deal. Lead to “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

Spring 1852 - Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.

• It was a dramatization of what it was like as a slave that told the truth about the sex, whippings, and punishments that slaves dealt with that people would refuse to talk about.

• It was written because of the Fugitive Slave Act

Fall 1852 - The Election of 1852 (Weak Candidates)

• Democrats elected Franklin Pierce

  • Pierce was a “good-looking” man.

  • Born in New Hampshire and was pro-slavery

• Whigs elected Winfield Scott

  • War Hero

  • Went on tour and ONLY spoke about war stories from the Mexican-American war

• Pierce won with 254 electoral college votes and by 27 states

• Winfield Scott lost with 42 electoral college votes and with 4 states.

• Pierce’s kid was killed by a train right before his presidency, causing him to be depressed throughout the whole thing.

The Transition from the 2nd to the 3rd Party System.

• Democrates —> Democrates

  • #2 System: Both the north and south, poor and wealthy people supported

  • #3 System: Was the Party of the South

• Whigs —> Republicans

  • System #2: Both north, south, poor, wealthy, voted together

  • System #3: Was the Party of the North

• 3rd Parties

  • System #2: 1844: The Liberty Party / 1848: Free-Soil Party

  • System #3: 1856: Anti-Immigrant American Party (aka the know nothing party)

1854 - New Gen in Congress

• Stephen Douglas (Manifest Destiney)

  • A democrat from Illinois

  • Nicknamed “The Little Giant” (Because he was 5’4)

• Stephen Douglas wanted to build the transcontinental railroad that would stretch from the Atlantic to Pacific across America.

• He signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act

  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the states of Kansas and Nebraska and put them under popular sovereignty, allowing the people to decide whether the territory will be pro or anti slavery.

• The Whigs were divided between these two territories.

  • Northern Whigs - Conscious Whigs

  • Southern Whigs - Cotton Whigs

• This division that occurs due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act is what killed the Whigs.

1855 - The transition period as the 2nd party system dies and the 3rd party system begins. (Realignment Period)

April 1856 - People from both the north and the south move into Kansas

• The Northerns are mostly abolitionist

• The Southerners want to fight to make Kansas a slave state

  • Called themselves the “Boarder Ruffians”

• This conflict causes small fights to break out that were collectively named “Bleeding Kansas.”

  • These small battles were the predictor of the civil war

Fall 1856 - Election of 1856

• Democrats elect James Buchanan

  • From Pennsylvania

  • Another northern pro-slave candidate

• Republicans elect John Fremont

  • Explored California

  • Doesn’t want slavery out west

• Third Party - No Knowing Party elect Millard Fillmore

  • Recognizable name

• James Buchanan won with 174 electoral college votes and was top in 18 states

• John Fremont received 114 electoral college votes and was top in 13 states

• Millard Fillmore got 8 electoral college votes

  • Millard Fillmore was the first 3rd party candidate to break through in an election

The Intensity Pick Up - 1857 - 1859

3/4/1857 - James Buchanan announced that the question of slavery out west would be solved.

3/6/1857 - The Supreme Court made the Dred Scott Decision

• #1 - Dred Scott was was born in Virginia as a slave that would travel to states like Missouri with his owner

• #2 - In the 1840s, Dred Scott and his owner visit Illinois and Wisconsin / “Free States” which causes him to questions if he was also considered free in these states

• #3 - In 1846, Dred Scott sued for his freedom

• #4 - Over 10 years later in 1857, the Supreme Court takes up the case and made two new statements

  • a. African Americans are not protected by the Constitution

  • b. That slaves aren’t considered people, instead they are property that can be brought anywhere by slave owners without consequences, including free states.

    • Pro-Southern Victory

    • Considered the worst decision in US history

    • 5 out of 9 Supreme Court members were slave owners

      • The decision was biased

8/21-10/15 1858 - The Lincoln - Douglas Debates

• Illinois has an open Senate seat

  • Democrats elect Stephan Douglas (Believes in popular sovereignty)

  • Republicans elect Abraham Lincoln (Anti-slavery out west)

• There were 7 debates between August and October

  • Last for 3 hours / 2:00 to 5:00pm

  • They are scheduled that way so the debate can be put into the next days newspapers on time.

• In the 2nd debate in Freeport Illinois, Abraham Lincoln asked Scott Douglas if was for popular sovereignty or for the Dred Scott decisions

  • Douglas answered that he was for popular sovereignty

    • This answer made the south MAD.

    • Freeport Doctrine

• Scott Douglas won the senator seat

• Abraham Lincoln gained popularity from the debates and was recognized by Republicans as a possible candidate for the election of 1860

October, November, and December 1859 - John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

• John Brown was a strange man who is typically seen as insane/strange

1856 - John Brown went to Kansas and killed multiple plantation owners and border ruffians, kicking off Bleeding Kansas

• He put the dead/dying bodies of the soldiers on the front porch for their wifes and families to see.

1859 - John Brown starts to plan a raid of an arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (Poorly Planned)

• He thought that if he arms the slaves with the weapons from the arsenal, a spontaneous insurrection would start

10/16 - 10/18 1859 - The raid of Harper’s Ferry takes place.

• The raid lasted for 48 hours

• All of the people John Brown brought were killed and Brown was captured

Late October - John Brown was put on trial and was sentenced to death

12/2/1859 - John Brown was hung

• The aftermath lead to national attention to be brought to the situation

  • The story was in north and south newspapers immediately

The Election of 1860

1859 - The Democrats need to deicide if they like Scott Douglas

• Scott Douglas was sent onto a speaking tour in Ohio and Indiana

  • He spoke on popular sovereignty.

• While he’s on tour, the Republicans sent Abraham Lincoln on shadow tours, following Scott Douglas and giving speeches in attempt to draw the attention from Scott Douglas to Abraham Lincoln.

10/16 - 10/18 1859 - The two party leaders make a statement on their opinion of John Brown’s raid.

• Scott Douglas completely condemned it.

• Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, condemned it, but stated that he understood John Brown’s motives

After the raid, America soon realized how important the election of 1860 (is) will be with the South threatening to secede and the possibility of insurrection.

• “Paranoid Politics”

  • Fear of overthrow

Leading up to 2/27/1860 during the holidays, Abraham Lincoln spends 2-3 months writing the speech for NYC

2/27/1860 - Abraham spoke the Cooper Union Address (Lincoln’s introduction to the other parts of the government)

• The speech was in N.Y.C where a lot of elite Republican leaders resided

• The speech was an hour long and it showed the Republicans he was serious about his position

  • Lincolns the real deal.

March 1860 - Abraham Lincoln went on tour in New England

• During this tour, he gain a lot of popularity and trust from the elite Republicans

  • He was funny, a good storyteller, intelligent… all traits they admired.

Summer 1860 - Leading up to the Election

• The Republicans had four meetings in which they voted on who their candidate would be.

  • In the end, Abraham Lincoln is nominated.

• The Democrats on the other hand, were split into two.

  • The Northern Democrats loved Scott Douglas and nominated him as a candidate

  • The Southern Democrats hated Scott Douglas and decided to nominate their own candidate separate from the north…

    • The Southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge

      • John Breckenridge is a young slave-owner from Kentucky that is pro-Dred Scott decision

• The border states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and Virginia) get scared of the possibility of a war and form their own party.

  • The Constitution Party

    • The Constitution Party never speaks about slavery / vague on their opinion on the topic of slaves

    • If asked about slavery, they say “Refer to the Constitution”

    • They elect John Bell, a man from Tennessee that wants to do everything in his power to avoid the war

November 1860 - The Results of the Election of 1860

• Lincoln won with 1.8 million popular votes, 170 Electoral College Votes, and was top in 18 states (Republican)

• Douglas received 1.3 million popular votes, 12 Electoral College Votes and was top in 1 state (Northern Democrats)

• John Breckenridge received 848,000 popular votes, 72 Electoral College Votes and was top in 10 states (Southern Democrats)

• John Bell received 590,000 popular votes, 39 Electoral College Votes and was top in 3 states