Dividing Nation Notes

Introduction

  • In 1860, Abraham Lincoln's election as president heightened national divisions.
  • The core issue was whether states could continue enslavement.
  • The conflict stemmed from the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia in 1619.

Confronting the Issue of Slavery

  • The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 banned enslavement north of the Ohio River.
  • In 1819, Missouri's application for statehood as a state with slavery raised concerns about the expansion of enslavement.
  • The Tallmadge Amendment proposed to admit Missouri only as a free state sparking controversy about Congress's power over new states.

The Missouri Compromise

  • The Missouri Compromise of 1820 admitted Missouri as a state with slavery and Maine as a state without slavery, maintaining the balance of power.
  • Congress drew a line at latitude 36°30′36°30', banning slavery north of it except in Missouri.

The Missouri Compromise Unravels

  • The Second Great Awakening fueled abolitionism.
  • Congress passed a "gag rule" in 1836 to table antislavery petitions.
  • The Wilmot Proviso in 1846 proposed banning slavery in territories acquired from Mexico but was rejected by the Senate.

The Compromise of 1850

  • The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state and allowed New Mexico and Utah territories to decide on slavery.
  • It ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and introduced a strict Fugitive Slave Act.

The Compromise of 1850 Fails

  • The Fugitive Slave Act faced opposition in the North, as Northerners resisted enforcing it.
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin intensified anti-slavery sentiments in the North.
  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise.

The Dred Scott Decision

  • In 1857, the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision denied citizenship to enslaved people and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
  • Chief Justice Taney argued that enslaved people were property and could not be taken from enslavers without due process.

From Compromise to Crisis

  • The Republican Party emerged, opposing the expansion of slavery.
  • The Lincoln-Douglas debates highlighted the moral issue of slavery.
  • John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 aimed to arm enslaved people for a rebellion.

The Election of 1860 and Secession

  • Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 led to the secession of South Carolina and other Southern states.
  • Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861, initiating the Civil War.