unit10-moc

us-history

unit10-pt1

Americans in the Mexican Cession

The Mormons

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Created during second great awakening
• Founded by Joseph Smith
  • Has vision of Polygamy
  • Eventually killed by a mob
• Brigham Young leads mormons to Utah
  • Creates rift between rest of United States
  • Congress requires them to ban polygamy in order to be accepted as a state
    • Doesn’t happen until 1896
• Suffered from persecution
• Practiced tithing
  • Church provides services in exchange for them showing up and helping out
• Voted in blocs
  • Now centered in Salt Lake City
• Brigham Young led them northwest to utah to found utah mormon yeah

California Gold Rush

• Sutter discovers gold
  • Tries to keep it a secret but word spreads and men poured into California
• New towns sprang up and founded settled california
  • San Francisco became a wild town with people from all around the world
    • Anything goes attitude
  • Real people that made money weren’t the miners, they were the ones who sold things to the miners
• People squatted on lands and ignored Mexican land grants

Slavery in the West

• Mexican War divides the nation after it is found out it is being used to spread slavery into the west and southwest
  • Whigs took control of Congress
• Wilmot Proviso: Tried to ban the spread of slavery into any new lands acquired from Mexico
• Free Soil Party: Third party that opposed the of slavery into western territories
  • Free Soil Free Speech Free Labor Free Men
  • Whig party split
    • Cotton Whigs: pro slavery
    • Conscience Whigs: anti slavery
• Popular sovereignty: each territory should decide for themselves if they want slavery

Election of 1848

• Democrats: Lewis cass, expansionisty who wants to buy Cuba
  • Promoted popular sovereignty as answer to slavery in western territories
• Whigs: Zachary Taylor,
  • Defended spread of slavery but not into the territories
• Free Soil: Martin Van buren, barnburners
  • Chooses Whig as running mate
• Zachary Taylor wins
  • Van Buren wins 10% of popular vote and draws enough away from Cass
• Slavery is now an important factor and can sway the outcome of an election

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unit10-pt2

California joins as a free state

• Moderate bills passed in order to stop a civil war happening
• Popular sovereignty bills passed to please and appease
• Northern democratrs called for the missouri compromise line to be etxended to the pacific
• South gets desperate and signs the Compromise of 1850

For the North	For the South
California joins as a free state	Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which was done under the threat of secession - Turn in slaves or face a fine - suspends habeus corpus - sets up rigged courts in favor of the south, you could be jailed just for being black - get sent back into slavery
Abolished slave trade in DC	Popular Sovereignty determines issue of slavery in Utah and New Mexico
Resolved border dispute in favor of New Mexico
The north becomes involved in slavery even though slavery only happens in the south

Zach taylor dies and Filmore goes into office and signs the bill into law

• Fire eaters hold conventions in the deep south to prepare for southern secession if slavery is threatened

Response to Fugitive Slave Act

Election of 1852

• Pierce wins, doesn’t touch slavery

Some used violence to stop slave catchers

• uncle toms cabin was nonviolent, but provocative
  • Common sense of civil war
• Personal Liberty Laws restart habeus corpus
  • guarantee personal rights

Pierce makes the gadsden purchasr from mexico to make a transcontinental railroad

• pierce supported takeover of cuba also but abandoned it when ueurope issued the ostand manifesto

Political parties are institutions that hold sections together because it forces people to choose a package deal of beliefs, if one doesn’t agree they don’t support the party.

Kansas Nebraska Act

• Interest in builidng a transcontinental railroad was peaking
• Norhterners wanted it to be connected to Chicago, while southern wanted New Orleans or St. Lous
• Creates Nebraska and Kansas as popular sovereignty states
  • Goes against Missouri Compromise but passes as both are north of the line
  • Caused the whig party to become anti slavery
• Causes Whig party and second party system to dissolve

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unit10-pt2-brus

California Joins as a Free State

• The huge influx of settlers in California caused by the Gold Rush qualified it for admission to the Union.  In November 1849, Californians ratified its state constitution banning slavery, prompting a passionate national debate.

• California’s admission would lead to more free states than slave states and an imbalance in the Senate in favor of the North.

• Staunch protectors of slavery in the South, led by Calhoun, feared the northern controlled Federal government would ban slavery.   Calhoun claimed that since slaves were property, Congress had no constitutional authority to regulate slavery in the territories (even though they have been doing it since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787).  Some threatened secession.

• Other southerners and some Northern Democrats called for a more moderate position: extend the Missouri Compromise Line to the Pacific.  

• Another moderate position was popular sovereignty, taking the power away from Congress.  Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL) became this position’s champion.

• Anti-slavery advocates called for Federal legislation limiting slavery to existing boundaries and thus sending it on the road to extinction.

The Compromise of 1850

• Whigs and Democrats worked on a compromise that would try to stave off southern secession. 

• Henry Clay (W-KY) created a compromise and with Daniel Webster (W-MA) and Stephen Douglas (D-IL) secured the passage of a series of bills known collectively as the Compromise of 1850.

• For the North:

• California joins as a free state.

• Abolished the slave trade, but not slavery, in the District of Columbia

• Resolved a border dispute between Texas (slave state) and the New Mexico Territory (not determined) in favor of New Mexico.

For the South:

• The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: penalized officials who did not arrest a suspected runaway slave with a 1,000 dollar fine.  Any person providing food and shelter to a suspected fugitive slave could be fined 1,000 dollars and imprisoned for 6 months.  African Americans could be determined to be a fugitive slave with as little as a claimant’s sworn testimony of ownership.  Habeas Corpus was suspended for suspected fugitive slaves.  Since slaves had no trial rights in court, cases were heard by judges that were paid 10 dollars for determining that the person should be returned to slavery and 5 for ruling there was insufficient evidence.  

• Popular Sovereignty would determine the issue of slavery in Utah and New Mexico.

President Zachary Taylor was opposed to the compromise but died suddenly and Millard Fillmore became president in 1850.  Fillmore signed the bill into law.
Militant pro-slavery southern nationalists known as Fire-Eaters, held conventions in states in the Deep South to prepare for southern secession if slavery is threatened.

The Response to the Fugitive Slave Act

• Election of 1852: Franklin Pierce (D-NH) defeated Winfield Scott (W-NJ) 254-42.  Pierce was a northerner who was sympathetic to the southern cause.  

• Northern Reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act

• Despite the threat of penalties, northern abolitionists continued their work on the Underground Railroad, now helping runaway slaves reach freedom in Canada.

• Some used violence to stop southern slave catchers when they ventured into the North.

• In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published the bestselling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, conveying the moral principles of abolition.

• Claiming states’ rights, northern states passed Personal Liberty Laws guaranteeing all residents, including slaves, the right to trial by jury.

Southerners Sought to Expand Slavery’s Territory

• Franklin Pierce was an expansionist and sought to expand south into Latin America.  In 1853, he made the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in what is today southern Arizona and New Mexico in order to build a transcontinental railroad.

• Pierce threatened war with Spain to acquire Cuba, which still imported slaves and covertly supported filibustering (private military) expeditions.  When American diplomats in Europe issued the Ostend Manifesto, encouraging the seizing of Cuba, northern Democrats denounced the plan and ended the idea.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

• With Americans on the West Coast, there was interest in building a transcontinental railroad but the question was where it should connect to the eastern rail network.  Northerners wanted it to connect to Chicago while Southerners wanted New Orleans, Memphis, or St. Louis.  
• Being a Senator from Illinois, Stephen Douglas wanted Chicago to be chosen.  In 1854, to get southern support for the bill, he proposed organizing the Nebraska (necessary to build the railroad through the territory) and Kansas Territories with popular sovereignty determining their slave status.  Such a move that would repeal the Missouri Compromise.  
• The bill narrowly passed and caused the Whig party to become ardently anti-slavery, to the point that the lack of a stance on the issue caused it and the Second Party System to dissolve.

Reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act

• The Republican Party: In 1854, ex-Whigs, Free-Soilers, abolitionists, and northern Know-Nothings (who initially did well politically but split along sectional lines) formed a new major party.  Their platform was opposition to slavery, specifically in regards to the western territories, because it drove down wages and was a threat to the middle class.  They also supported Whig policies such as an active Federal government in economic matters like subsidizing the transcontinental railroad. This begins the Third Party System.

• Popular Sovereignty Vote in Kansas: In 1855, Kansas was the first state to vote on the slave issue.  Anti-slavery settlers with the help of the abolitionist New England Emigrant Aid Company, flocked to the territory.  Senator David Atchison from nearby Missouri encouraged Missourians to cross the border and vote (Border Ruffians).  The pro-slavery forces won and the Pierce administration accepted the legitimacy of the pro-slavery legislature and their Lecompton Constitution (legalized slavery).  In Topeka, Kansas; anti-slavery settlers drafted their own constitution (Topeka Constitution) which banned slavery.  

• Bleeding Kansas:  By 1856, Kansas had two governments and became the scene of a territorial civil war between anti and pro slavery forces.  Each side attacked the other, causing about 200 deaths and significant property damage.  Notable events:  Border Ruffians sacked the town of Lawrence and abolitionist John Brown massacred 5 pro-slavery settlers at Pottawattomie.

• The Caning of Charles Sumner - On the floor of the Senate, Charles Sumner (R-MA) gave a speech on the topic of Kansas and blamed “Slave Power” for the violence.  He particularly singled out Senator Andrew Butler (D-SC) and Stephen Douglas (D-IL).  In retribution, Butler’s nephew, Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC), entered into the Senate Chamber and beat Sumner with a cane until Sumner fell unconscious.  Senators and Representatives attempted to intervene but were blocked by Representative Henry A. Edmundson (D-VA).  Sumner’s injuries were so severe that he would not return to the Senate for three years.  He was deemed a martyr by northerners.  Brooks resigned his House seat and was celebrated in the South.

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unit10-pt3

Reaction to the Kansas Nebraska Act

Birth of Republican Party

• Formed out of the demise of the Whigs due to their loss in the election
  • Had inability to do anything about the kansas nebraska act
• Say that slavery should not spread to the west

Kansas Vote

• People emigrate into Kansas just to vote on the issue of slavery
  • This causes more votes than settlers to be cast
• Slavery side ends up winning and apply to congress with a constitution that protects slavery
  • Anti cries foul and forms their own govt and apply for their own statehood
• 2 constitutions and applications and they start killing eahc other

Bleeding Kansas

• Caused a lot of property damage
• John Brown shows up to potowatame and kills some pro slavery guys
• Charles Summer is caned on the Senate floor
  • Slavery is always followed by violence (essay idea)

James Buchanan’s Presidency

• Wins because of 3rd party interference
• Largely called the worst president and doesn’t do anything to stop the divides in the country
  • Says things about abolitionists
  • In favor of dredd scott, wants Kansas as a slave state.

Dredd Scott vs Sandford

• Dredd Scott was a slave
  • Moves into a free state and lives there, should have been free
  • Goes to supreme court
• Was rejected because “Slaves were not allowed to sue in courts”
  • Due process is needed to take away property as there was no crime
  • Ban of slavery is now right to property

Rise of Abraham Lincoln

• His election causes Civil War
• Launches campaign with House Divided Speech
• Debated Douglas in the Lincoln-Douglas debates where they went back and forth
  • Attracted national attention
• Says slavery should be halted but not banned yet
• Douglas says Lincoln is actually an abolitionist
• Lincoln says racist things trying to win the election

John Brown’s Raid

• Fire eaters promoted secession and southerners relied on constitutional protections for slavery
• John Brown plans to attack a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia in an attempt to seize weapons and slaves
• Captured by Robert E Lee, found guilty of treason and killed
• Abolitionists called him a martyr, southerners saw it as proof that their demise was being plotted on
• Southerners began to question whether the Democrats would protect their interests
• Democrat party is split over slavery and nominates 2 candidates

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unit10-pt4

The Election of Abraham Lincoln

• Beats Breckenridge, Bell, and Douglas
• Lincoln wins every single free state except new jersey
  • Won the presidency without a single electoral vote from the south and less than 1% of the popular vote
• South Carolina immediately secedes from the union, and so do other states
• This is important because the North can outvote the entire South
  • Lincoln wasn’t on the ballot in most Southern states
• Free states will always win as the Republican party doesn’t care about their interests and can win without them

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