Chapter 19 Notes In 1852 the world renowned book, Uncle Toms Cabin, was published by Harriet Beecher Stowe

who, due to her evangelical religious beliefs (popularized in the Second Great Awakening) wanted to awaken northerners to the cruelty of slavery (especially splitting of families) following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law. Within a few months several hundred thousand were published and the book was translated into several languages and began to sell in the millions and the political effects of the book were felt proportionally. The South condemned this book because of its views on slavery and denounced Stowe on the grounds that she had never seen true slavery (she had only had an isolated contact in Kentucky); however, thousands of Northerners decided to never uphold the fugitive slave law because of this book, regardless of its origins. The tale was also extremely popular in Britain and France and helped turn public opinion in favor of the North and helped prevent these governments from aiding the South during the Civil War. In 1857 the book The Impending Crisis in the South by Hinton R. Helper, a non-slave owning man from North Carolina, who hated both blacks and slavery and provided statistics to show that the institution of slavery hurt white people most by driving them out of business. Ironically, his book was banned in the South and so failed to reach the poorer white farmers to whom he had been writing; but, in the North thousands of copies (mostly abridged) were distributed by Republicans. This made Southerners increasingly unwilling to speak with their brethren in the North; such was the persecution of slavery. The issue of popular sovereignty was particularly messy in Kansas: man of those who moved into Kansas from the North didnt care about slavery, but a small portion of these people were die hard abolitionists. With these abolitionists came the New England Emigrant Aid Company, which had actually dispatched 2,000 of its members to make money there while preventing slavery from growing. The Southerners then cried foul play, asserting that there had been an unwritten understanding that Kansas would be a slave state and Nebraska a free state; a group of diehard slavers went to Kansas to assist the few slave owners there, but it was a bad economic decisions to move themselves (and sometimes their slaves) into this violent climate (their slaves could also be freed if the state became a free state). In 1860, however, there were only 2 slaves in Kansas and 15 in Nebraska, but when the first legislature elections took place in 1855 thousands came to Kansas from Missouri to vote in the elections. The southerners won the elections and established a pro-slavery government but the abolitionists, angered at this mistreatment of elections, established their own abolitionist government in the North of the state in Topeka (the pro-slavery government was in Shawnee Mission). In addition to this land disputes served to rapidly worsen tensions between the Northern and Southern parts of Kansas and in 1856 a gang of pro-slavery men (claiming they had been attacked) burned part of Lawrence, an abolitionist town. Into this fray stepped John Brown, a die hard abolitionist who was dedicated to the absolute eradication of slavery, and led a band of men against Pottawatomie Creek in May 1856 and hacked to pieces five men. This sparked what amounted to a civil war in Kansas beginning in mid-1856 and continuing until the end of the Civil War in 1865 and destroyed millions of dollars of property and paralyzed the economy is some areas. In 1857 there were enough people in Kansas to apply for statehood, during which the

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actual alignment of the state on slavery would be decided, and the abolitionists hoped to triumph; but the pro-slavery government passed the Lecompton Constitution which allowed the people to vote for or against slavery, but would preserve existing slavery in the state if the state became free. This prompted many abolitionists to boycott the polls and actually allowed the pro-slavery elements of the state to fairly win the vote and approve a constitution allowing slavery. President Pierce, along with James Buchanan, supported this act but Stephen Douglas (who truly advocated popular sovereignty) disregarded this as a sham and sacrificed his southern support for a bid at the presidency to fight for equality. In the end the Lecompton Constitution was submitted for a vote by the people of Kansas who voted against it in droves. Kansas remained a territory until 1861 when it left the Union as a secessionist state. The Democratic Party was also now divided with some democrats in the North advocated true popular sovereignty and lost its advantage as the only true national party of the time (the Whigs were dying out) further decreasing ties holding the now fragile Union together. In 1856 Senator Charles Summer from Massachusetts, a leading national abolitionist but disliked by much of Congress because of his attitude, delivered a speech entitled The Crime against Kansas that deplored slavery and all men who supported it; Congressman Preston S. Brooks, from South Carolina, resented his state and its senator (a cousin of his) being insulted and assaulted Summer with his cane until it broke (normally he would have called for a duel but did not consider Summer his social equal). The House of Representatives did not expel Brooks but he resigned, although he was promptly reelected by his state: many of the men in his state appreciated his defense of the state and sent him replacement canes. Summer, on the other hand, was forced to go to Europe for treatment for his injuries for three and a half years, although the people of Massachusetts reelected him anyway (leaving his seat empty while he was gone). This fight brought Summers speech into the mainstream and thousands of copies of it were sold, which served to only further agitate the already furious south. This was an excellent example of how emotion was beginning to replace rational thought, even at the highest levels of the government. In 1856 the Democratic National Convention convened in Cincinnati to nominate a new candidate, unable to decide on Pierce or Douglas (they were both too closely connected with the Kansas-Nebraska Act) they chose James Buchannan of Pennsylvania. The Republican National Convention met, for the first time, in Philadelphia would have nominated Seward (who was almost certain to win but felt unsure of himself) but instead chose Captain John C. Fremont when Seward refused nomination. Fremont had no political experience but was not associated with the Kansas-Nebraska Act and had a platform that vigorously opposed the expansion of slavery. The campaign also became profoundly anti-foriegner as more Germans and Irishmen poured into the country, greatly alarming nativists who organized the American Party (the Know Nothing Party because of its tendency towards secrecy) and nominated Millard Fillmore. Fillmore was anti-foreign and anti-Catholic and was supported by many elements of the dying Whig party. Both the candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties were personally attacked in the campaign, Buchanan because he was unmarried and Fremont because he was an illegitimate child (and accused of being Catholic which alienated many potential supporters).

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Buchanan won the majority of the electoral votes and was elected President in 1857, although this was mostly because southerners threatened to secede if he was elected (there were also doubts about his competency and honesty); many northerners voted for Buchanan as much to preserve business ties with the South as to prevent a secession. However, this election was a major victory for the Republican Party which, despite its very young age, had almost gotten its candidate elected as President. On March 6, 1860 the Supreme Court issued its famous ruling on the Dred Scott v Sanford case which stated that blacks were not citizens of the U.S. and could not sue in courts and that, because slaves were private property, slaves could be taken to any state from a slave owning state and legally be kept. Additionally, the Supreme Court ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional (although it had been repealed 3 days later it still remained in force in spirit) and that Congress had no right to ban slavery in any state (despite the decisions of state legislatures themselves to allow it to do so). The Democratic Party was greatly separated by this ruling and the North and the South were further divided as Northerners became extremely angry, going so far as to call the ruling as a mere opinion; furthermore, it was noted that the majority of the justices were from the South and widely believed that the court had been sullied by its interference into politics. Southerners were also angered by this defiance of the courts ruling, asking how they could remain part of a Union that did not obey its own Supreme Court. In 1857 an economic panic ensued (although it was not as bad as that of 1837) because the Crimean War and gold pouring in from California had caused over speculation as to the value of gains, land, and railroads. The North was hard hit (5,000 businesses closed in the first year) while the South was able to favorably export its cotton to other countries and remain relatively unaffected. Many grain farmers went out of business and this caused many to clamor for free farms of 160 acres to be given out by the government. This was countered by industrialists who feared that their underpaid workers might leave their factories and head west for free land and Southerners because a cotton plantation could not flourish on a mere 160 acres so the land would all go to free farms that would drive cotton prices down. Instead the Homestead Act was passed in 1860 which authorized government land to be sold for 25cents per acre, but was vetoed by Buchanan because of his southern sympathies. The economic panic also lead to calls for a higher protective tariff rate, to protect businesses, in the face of the new Tariff of 1857 which had been encouraged by the South so as to reduce taxes on imported and exported goods; many manufacturers blamed the low tariff for the hard times they were undergoing and reminded the government that this would harm its ability to earn a surplus and increase its need to borrow money. These two issues provided the Republicans with two platform positions that would be crucial in the election of 1860: more protective tariffs and land for those without it. In 1858 Stephen Douglas position as Illinois Senator was about to expire and the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was running against him. Lincoln had no formal education, although he had become one of the better lawyers in Illinois, but had married above himself socially into the influential Todd family of Kentucky. Lincoln

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had first served as a Whig representative in the Illinois legislature and had been spurred on to the state scale by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and had actually received many nominations for the vice-presidency in the election of 1856. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of statewide debates which Douglas promptly accepted (being widely acknowledged as one of the best debaters in the country at the time). They held seven debates from August to October 1858 although the most famous of these was in Freeport, Illinois in which Lincoln asked Douglas whose decision should stand on popular sovereignty, the people or the Supreme Court? Douglas argued that slavery would be contained if the people wished it so, no matter what the Supreme Court ordered and stated that State legislatures would promptly pass their own laws regarding abolition. Douglas ended up winning the election, most likely because of his stance on popular sovereignty which made him popular with the state legislature (who elected Senators at the time), although Lincoln had the support of more people (disproportionate population distribution). Lincoln, however, became a nationwide figure and emerged as a potential Republican nominee for the Presidency, while Douglas ideology simply split the Democratic Party further and lost him any possibility of becoming President (his refusal to accept the Lecompton Constitution and the Supreme Courts Dred Scott decision). John Brown now reappeared, planning to invade the south, free and arm local slaves, and then establish a black free state as a haven for runaways. Brown had several thousand dollars worth of firearms, and then attempted to invade Virginia with twenty men at Harpers Ferry. Brown seized a federal arsenal and killed seven innocent people and the slaves, failing to hear about Browns cause, failed to rise against their masters as he had intended; Brown was quickly captured by U.S. marines under the command of Robert E. Lee. Brown was convicted of murder and treason and was summarily sentenced to death, despite an insanity plea supported by 17 close family and friend members attempting to save his life. Brown, realizing that he would better serve the abolitionist cause as a martyr proceeded through his trial in a dignified fashion (although he was arguably insane) and with his extraordinary conduct during his final days became legendary despite his past. In the eyes of the South Brown was a murderer with treasonous intentions and they were angered by the support Brown had enjoyed among Northern abolitionists. Moderate Republicans likewise condemned Browns actions but the widespread sentiment in the South was that the North unilaterally supported Brown. Abolitionists were greatly angered by Browns execution, despite his bloody record, and on the day of his execution many of them rallied, lowered flags, fired guns, and even spoke of Brown as a saint. Brown would prove to be a point of immense conflict between those of the South and those of the South. The Democratic Party met in Charlestown for their national convention in 1860 with Douglas the clear candidate for the Northern Democrats; however, the Southern Democrats regarded him as a traitor because of his stand on the Lecompton Constitution and the Freeport Doctrine. The Democratic Party was unable to choose a candidate and dissolved promptly only to meet again in Baltimore where the Southern Democrats stepped aside and allowed Douglas to be nominated as the Democratic candidate. In order to conform to the ideologies of both sides Douglas made his running platform both popular sovereignty and against the obstruction of the Fugitive Slave Law. But the Southern Democrats were not satisfied and organized a rival convention

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in Baltimore and nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge, a moderate from Kentucky, for the Presidency because his platform was pro-annexation of Cuba and expansion of slavery into the territories. Meanwhile a moderate group of Democrats, the remnants of the Whig Party and the Know Nothing Party organized their own convention and nominated John Bell from Tennessee. The Republican Party felt sure of victory with the Democrats so divided and met in Chicago in that same year. Although Seward was clearly the most popular candidate his immoderate views on slavery made him to inflammatory a candidate so they chose nominated Lincoln who was more moderate and almost equally well liked. Lincolns platform appealed to many Northerners advocating the containment of slavery, a protective tariff, no limits on immigration, a Pacific railroad, internal improvements at government expense, and free land for those in the territories. The Southerners promptly responded by saying that if Lincoln was elected they would secede from the Union, despite the fact that Lincoln was not an abolitionist but favored paying slave owners if their slaves were freed. Lincoln did not issue any statements regarding this and his campaign, as well as that of Douglas, preceded with Douglas dominating the South and Lincoln the North. The election of 1860 was a largely sectional election, with Lincoln unable to even be placed on the voting ballots of 10 southern states, and although he only won 40% of the popular votes he won enough electoral votes (Douglas only won 12 electoral votes despite winning 365,000 more popular votes). There had been a debate raging for years as to whether or not Douglas would have won if the Democrats untied behind him, and there will likely never be a universally accepted answer. Despite this loss in the election the South still retained a five-four majority on the Supreme Court and it is interesting to note that the South did not favor secession as very few of the votes were for the fiery Breckinridge (who did not advocate secession); additionally, slavery could not be harmed as the Southern states still retained more than the minimum one fourth minority necessary to prevent the constitutional amendment that would be required to put an end to slavery. Four days after the election of Lincoln the South Carolina legislature voted unanimously for a convention to decide the question of secession; the convention, meeting in Charleston in December 1860, voted unanimously in favor of secession. Over a period of 6 week Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed suit although there were always internal groups opposed to secession. These seven states met in Alabama in February 1861 created the Confederate States of America choosing Jefferson Davis as their president, as man with a long military and political history to back him up. Although elected President, Lincoln was unable to do anything until he took office four months later in March 1861, President Buchanan who was surrounded by his advisers did nothing about the secessionist states (despite being pro-Union); Buchanan decided that he could find no constitutional authority to use the military to stop the Southern states from seceding. Additionally, the then small army of 15,000 was needed to control the Indians in the West, and public opinion was widely against war. Before war was started there was still a hope of coming to an amicable agreement, a policy that Lincoln continued at the beginning of his presidency.

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The most promising attempt at compromise was led by James Henry Crittenden of Kentucky who proposed the Crittenden amendment to the Constitution which would allow slavery in all territories under 36 degrees 30 minutes (under federal protection), states north of the line and new territories acquired (such as Cuba) would be given the chance to decide whether or not they wanted slavery. Lincoln completely opposed the Crittenden scheme (because he had been elected on a platform that oppo-sed the expansion of slavery, despite thinking that the compromise might succeed) and with his opposition all hope of its success evaporated. Meanwhile, if President Buchanan had attacked the Southern states it would have been much less prepared and the Border States would likely have been driven to the Confederacy. The secessionists left for a number of reasons, many of them related to slavery. The North was simply too populated for the South to overwhelm in the Senate or House of Representatives and with the Republican party was the popular party in the North, southerners felt threatened. The raid of John Brown had also made them extremely wary of the abolitionist movement. Many southerners also believed that their secessionist movement would not be opposed militarily and believed that the northern dependency on cotton and the debts of southerners to northern banks would keep the north from declaring war. Southerners also wanted to establish their own trade relations with Europe and the rest of the world, fearing the protective tariff that the Republicans wanted to pass in order to appease the northern industrialists (the difference between agriculture and industry simply made their interests seem impossible to align). Various freedom movements (in Italy, Germany, Poland, and other countries) around the world also appealed to the South, which was more of a sub nation, which did not want to be controlled by an oppressive northern presidency. The southern states also believed in the principal of Self Determination, feeling that the original states had voluntarily entered the Union and thus they had the right to leave as they saw fit. Moreover they drew parallels between the American Revolution and their own movement, seeing themselves as peacefully deciding not to bow to Lincoln as a northern king. Many southerners simply saw this as the most equitable solution and decided to leave the Union believing they were doing nothing wrong.

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