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The Union in Peril: Sectional Issues. An analogy. You are a high school gym teacher. Your class is playing tug-a-war today and you want to divide the teams evenly. In the next few minutes, divide your class into two “fair” teams… Juliana – 5’9 female, volleyball player, 145lbs.
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An analogy You are a high school gym teacher. Your class is playing tug-a-war today and you want to divide the teams evenly. In the next few minutes, divide your class into two “fair” teams… Juliana – 5’9 female, volleyball player, 145lbs. Erwin– 6’0 male, wrestler, 160lbs. Cam – 6’3” male, linebacker on the football team, 215 lbs. Carl – 5’6” male, captain of the chess club, 150 lbs Tami – 5’2 female, cheerleader, 115lbs. Mike – 5’9” male, skateboarder, 135 lbs. • As the US pushes westward, slavery is the key issue. The battle between North and South becomes like a “tug-a-war”. As each side adds another player (state) the other side is upset until something is done to even the teams…
The Missouri Compromise • Background info: • Northwest Ordinance (passed in 1787) forbade slavery in Midwest. (unsettled territory north of the Ohio River.) • Southwest Ordinance (passed in 1790) permitted slavery south of the Ohio. Why not a permanent solution? • Missouri applies for statehood, 1819. • Tallmadge Amendment, • part of Missouri’s admission for statehood. • a ban on future slave imports and a gradual emancipation of slaves • What problem does this create?
Missouri Compromise, 1820 • Statehood passed in the House, but failed in the Senate. Why? • 1820 – Henry Clay authors “Missouri Compromise” • Missouri becomes a slave state. • Maine enters as a free state. • No slavery within the Louisiana Purchase above 36’30
The Wilmot Proviso The year is now 1848… What do we do with all of the land we just won in the Mexican-American War?
The Wilmot Proviso • Wilmot Proviso • Essential Info… • “Any land gained from the War with Mexico must become free states.” • Northern lawmakers in the House pass more than 50 versions of the bill between 1846 and 1850 • Voted down every time in the Senate. • Outcome • What are southerners going to begin to think about the government? David Wilmot, Representative from Penn.
The Compromise of 1850 • Problem = California wants to join the Union as a free state. • Large population influx from Gold Rush • New Mexico, Utah also. • Why is this a problem? • Union is balanced 15 free, 15 slave states • The Solution = The Compromise of 1850 • California, New Mexico, and Utah get “popular sovereignty.” • Can choose slavery status. • End slave trade in District of Columbia • Pass the Fugitive Slave Act. • Made helping a slave escape to North/Canada a punishable offense. • Underground Railroad? • Who got the better end of the deal, North or South? Why?
The Kansas/Nebraska Act • Senator Stephen Douglas (IL) wants to pass legislation to build a transcontinental railroad westward from Chicago through Nebraska. As a result of the railroad, people will move to these territories, meaning they will soon become states. • According to the Missouri Compromise, should they become free or slave states? • Why will Southerners still oppose this?
Kansas/Nebraska Act • Kansas/Nebraska Act. • The Act • Kansas and Nebraska are given “popular sovereignty.” • Northerners outraged because this went against the Missouri Compromise under which both states should be free. • Result? • Pro-slavery southerners from Missouri move to Kansas hoping to sway the vote to become a slave state. • Abolitionists from Illinois, Iowa move to Kansas hoping to sway the vote to become a free state. • Sets the stage for fight called “Bleeding Kansas”
Uncle Tom’s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852 • Story • A Kentucky slave owner is forced by financial ruin to sell three of his slaves. • George and Eliza run away, escape with baby across the Ohio but are run down by bloodhounds. • Tom submits to sale to a New Orleans master, then sold to Simon Legree – a vicious and sadistic master… • Effects • Gave slavery a “face” • Had real characters who were sinful (extra-marital sex, broken family), yet constructed in a way that their sins were trumped by the cruelty of slavery. • Changed people’s perceptions of the institution of slavery as immoral. • Reactions • North • Frederick Douglass – “A work plainly marked by the finger of God.” • Brings abolitionism into the mainstream, relates it to Christian morals. • South • See it as an attack on their way of life.
Bleeding Kansas • Background • Recall that the Kansas-Nebraska Act declared that the slavery status of these two territories would be ruled by popular sovereignty.
“Bleeding Kansas” • Battle over Kansas • Both anti-slave northerners and pro-slavery southerners start a drive to recruit settlers and establish a majority. • A type of “Civil War” • March 1855 – Pro-slavery forces elect a territorial legislature. • Their Constitution: • Death penalty for aiding a fugitive slave. • Felony to question slaveholding. • Anti-slavery forces elect their own government. • Civil War develops between the two forces in Fall 1855 and Spring 1856. • On May 21st, a group of proslavery officials attacks a free state strong hold of Lawrence. • John Brown leads a raid in response on Potawatomie Creek. They split the skulls and hacked the bodies of five men. • Seen as a preview of the Civil War!
Violence in the Senate • Sumner beating • In Senate, Charles Sumner delivers speech “The Crime Against Kansas,” which personally insults many southerners. • Preston Brooks enters Senate chamber and beats Sumner with a Cane. • Uncle is a southern senator . • It is three years before Sumner can return to the legislature. • South hails Brooks as a hero, many send him canes!
Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Election of 1858 • Abraham Lincoln challenges IL Senator Stephen Douglas. • 7 debates across IL before election. • Outcome / Importance • Lincoln losses. • However, Lincoln is recognized as one of the up and coming leaders of the new Republican party.
The Raid on Harper’s Ferry • Harper’s Ferry • John Brown (violent abolitionist from Bleeding Kansas!) decides that he wants to attack and capture the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia and arm slaves in a massive slave revolt. • The attack • In 1859, Brown and 22 followers successfully raid armory • However, few slaves revolt. • Robert E. Lee is called in. • His regimen wounds Brown, kills three • Results • Plays on southerners worse fear of mass slave rebellion, and growing suspicions of the North • John Brown is sentenced to hang • North mourns his loss as a martyr • South thinks of this as the final insult • White man trying to use violence against slavery! • Its one thing to be against slavery in the territories, but completely another to attack it where it already exists.