Did westward expansion cause the Civil War?

1. Did westward expansion cause the Civil War?

2. Know-Nothing Party • Nativism – policy of accepting natural born Americans over immigrants • Claimed they would “Americanize Americans” • Did well in local elections in the North • Died out after 1856 – Republican party leaders pushed their overall program further • Immigrants offered economic, religious, political, and social/cultural threats – what were they?

3. Political Cartoons Group Activity • What is this cartoon saying about immigrants? • What symbols are present? What do they mean? • What is the first thing that stands out when you look at the cartoon? • Who do you think the audience was? • What characteristics of nativism are present? • Add anything else you think would be important to understanding your cartoon. Be prepared to explain to the class - appoint a speaker.

8. Questions • How did immigrants affect national identity? • How can we apply nativism in the 1840s and 50s to anti-immigration sentiments in the U.S. today? • Do you think today’s sentiments will reach political party status again?

9. Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852

10. Compromise of 1850

11. Fugitive Slave Act • All citizens North and South ordered to assist in the return of escaped slaves • Escaped slaves denied a jury trial • Brought slavery to the forefront- those who had been passive about the issue took a side • South thinks it will help • North does not enforce

12. The Issue of Slavery in the Territories • Wilmot Proviso – 1846 Free Soilers: • Liberty Party joined forces in 1848 with anti-slavery Democrats and Conscience Whigs to form a new political party. • What was their agenda

13. Opposition • John C. Calhoun, Senator from S.C. • States’ rights theory • Congress did not have the constitutional right to prohibit slavery in the territories

14. Stephen Douglas • Was out for personal political gain - wants to be president • Wanted Chicago to benefit from western development • Needed support from Southern Democrats

15. Kansas-Nebraska Act - 1854 • Land designated as non-slavery by Missouri Compromise 1820. • Dividing the region into two territories. • -Kansas: Popular Sovereignty would decide the slave status • -Nebraska: Slavery was prohibited

16. Formation of the Republican Party • North protested the Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1854 • Supported by: • Antislavery democrats • Former Whigs (who split over the issue of slavery) • Free Soilers from the North • Farmers, professionals small business owners, craftsman • Know-Nothings – branch of Republican Party

17. “Bleeding Kansas” • Many Americans emigrated to Kansas in order to affect the vote on slavery. • A Congressional committee was established in 1856 to deal with the problems in Kansas. • Lecompton Constitution

18. John Brown

19. Tragic Prelude - John Steuart Curry, 1937–39

20. Young America Movement • Americans inspired by 1848 European republican revolutions, connected to Manifest Destiny, too • Want to keep adding territory – spread of slavery • William Walker • Ostend Manifesto – 1854 • Weakening of Democratic Party

21. Lincoln/Douglas Debates - 1858 • Ran for a hotly contested Illinois Senate seat • Lincoln lost but recognized nationally • House Divided Speech • Opposed to Dred Scott Decision • Believed in Blacks having natural rights, economic rights • Believed in white superiority • Opposed equal civil rights to free blacks • Believed separation in Liberia or Central America was the solution

22. More political events • To be covered in detail tomorrow: • Dred Scott Decision • Sumner/Brooks Incident • John Brown and his hanging • Crittenden Compromise • Split of the Democratic Party/Election of Lincoln in 1860 • Secession of South Carolina

23. Questions • How can we attribute westward expansion to increased sectionalism? • Would the Civil War have been inevitable without westward expansion that occurred in the 1840s/50s? • Why do you think it was so difficult for the issue of slavery to be resolved?

24. Did westward expansion cause the Civil War?