(Class 9) Prelude to the Civil War Flashcards
1
Q
David Wilmot
A
- Pennsylvania Rep
- Proposed that Congress ban slavery from all lands (territories) acquired in the war with Mexico
- Reasoning: Mexico had abolished slavery so how could the United States reinstate it
2
Q
Doctrine of “Popular Sovereignty” - Lewis Cass
A
- Proposed allowing voters in the United States territories to determine whether to allow slavery in each jurisdiction rather than having Congress decide
- Policy of “Self Determination”
3
Q
Wilmot Proviso
A
- Free soil territory - Free labor for hard working self reliant free men
- Supported by northerners and “anti-south”
- Aimed to reduce the power of slaveholders in the federal government
- Anti-slave and anti-black
- Viewed slavery as a disgrace to the white man
- “White man’s proviso”
- Southerners outraged that slavery might be excluded from new territories
4
Q
Compromise of 1850
A
- Calhoun from South Carolina (architect of nullification) had objected to Clay’s plan and in February 1850 said that “the south cannot with safety remain in the Union”
- Calhoun dies in March 1850
- Free soilers and pro-slavery southerners battled it out
- Compromise was reached – exactly what Clay had advocated – ushered in by Democrat Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois
- California entered as free slave
- New Mexico and Utah became territories where popular sovereignty would decide on slavery
- Texas boundary was finally set with New Mexico
- Congress ended slave trade in DC and enacted a stringent fugitive slave law
5
Q
Fugitive Slave Act
A
- Runaway slaves caused compromise of 1850 to come apart
- Congress had to agree to strict return of runaway slaves
- To seize a runaway slave: slave owner had to appear before a commissioner and argue runaway was his, Commissioner got $10 for every person returned to slavery, $5 if slave set free, Northerners became “slave catchers”
- Northerners against slavery and did not want to reinforce it by being “slave catchers”
- Southerners believed the continuation of the United States as one nation depended on compliance with the Fugitive Slave Act
6
Q
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
A
- Harriet Beecher Stowe - white northerner
- Despised the idea of slave catchers
- Wanted to expose the sins of slavery
- Published in 1852
- Sold 300,000 copies first year, 2 million within 10 years
- Exposed destructive impact on slavery
- North called it truth, South called it slander
7
Q
Franklin Pierce and the Gadsden Purchase
A
- Franklin - 14th President
- Northern Democrat who saw abolitionist movement as threat to unity
- Avoided sectional conflict, believed in Manifest Destiny
- James Gadsden - appointed Minister to Mexico by President Pierce
- Negotiated $10 million purchase of 30,000 square miles of land in president day Arizona and New Mexico
- Purchase made possible the dream of a transcontinental railroad
8
Q
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A
- Stephen Douglas (Illinois Senator) wanted a transcontinental railroad to run through Chicago
- Area west of Chicago was designated as a permanent Indian reserve by Congress in 1830
- Douglas proposed calling the area by the Indian name of Nebraska
- Deal struck: Southerners would help Douglas if Congress made the area one of popular sovereignty giving slavery a chance; 1854 Missouri Compromise repealed
- Territory divided into Nebraska and Kansas making way for Railroad through Chicago to California
9
Q
Whigs Party
A
- Whigs disintegrate
- Mid 1840s Whigs clashed within their party over future of slavery
- 1852 Whigs had 2 distinct sectional parties and could not please both
- 1856 Whig Party in decline
10
Q
The Know-Nothings
A
- Result of backlash against Catholic Immigrants coming to America
- Nativists organized into political party
- Members swore to never vote for foreigners or Roman Catholics and not reveal anything (”I know nothing”)
Officially the “American Party”
11
Q
Dred Scott Decision
A
- Dred Scott vs Sandford (1857 Supreme Court Case)
- Dred Scott sued that he and his family were entitled to freedom, argued that living in Illinois (free state) and Wisconsin (Free territory) made him free even after returning to Missouri (slave state)
12
Q
Abraham Lincoln
A
- Living in Illinois, working as a lawyer
- Had been a Whig in Illinois state house
- Then a Whig in House of Representatives
- Out of public office since 1849
- Called slavery “monstrous injustice”
- Condemned Kansas-Nebraska Act
- In 1856 joins new Republican Party
- Believed Congress could contain Slavery
13
Q
Stephen A. Douglas
A
- Senator from Illinois
- Architect of Kansas-Nebraska Act
- “Little Giant” stood only 5 foot 4 inches
- 1843-1847 in House of Representatives
- 1847-1861 in Senate
- Up for re-election to Senate in 1858
- Rejected Lecompton bill making Kansas slave state
- Challenger for his Senate seat was Abraham Lincoln, nominee of the Republican Party
14
Q
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A
- Senate election 1858
- Lincoln, underdog, challenged Douglas to debate
- In 7 communities they debated
- Debated the crucial issues of the day
- Major issue of debate was the morality and future of slavery
- Lincoln said “slavery is wrong” but defended white rule and inequality of races
- At the time the state legislatures selected U.S. Senators (until 17th amendment)
- Democrats had slight majority in the Illinois state legislature
- They returned Douglas to the Senate
- But the debates thrust Lincoln - the Republican - into the National spotlight
- Lincoln and Douglas would face each other again two years later for the Presidency with opposite results
- Douglas would die in 1861 (a few months after Lincoln inaugurated President) of typhoid fever
15
Q
John Brown
A
- Abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States
- In 1859, Brown led an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry that ended with the group’s capture.
- Brown’s trial resulted in his conviction and a sentence of death by hanging.
- Became Martyr for abolitionist movement
