History Test 3- Why did the Republicans win

Question 1

The emerging notion of ‘slave power’

Answer 1

Consequent to Buchanan election sectional strife was moderately subsided as Buchanan represented both sides of the nation ie north and the south. At the time the democrats had majority in congress and in the Supreme Court which meant that law making was going to become cohesive and non strenuous. However this soon became far from the truth as Buchanan sided with pro southern policies. This strength the north belief of the slave power conspiracy and pushed more northerns onto the Republican Party. By 1857 America had reached an all time low on the divide between sections.

Question 2

The Dred Scott case

Answer 2

Dred scott was a slave who was owned by a southern military surgeon. During his ownership his master had moved to Illinois then onto Wisconsin and then he later moved back to Missouri. With the help of anti-slavery lawyers Dred Scott fought for his freedom in Missouri state court on the basis that the was a free man since he lived in a free state ( once a free man always a free man). His case,dragged on for long, by march 1857 had reached the Supreme Court which had 4 northern judges and 5 southern judges. This soon become the most followed case in 1857 America.

During Buchanan inaugural address he mentioned that the Supreme Court was about to come up with a decision concerning this case. He stated that he was will to abide (cheerfully submit) with the Supreme Courts judgment and he hope that Americans would also do the same.

Two day after this the Supreme Courts decision was announced by chief justices Roger Taney. He stated that:

1. Dred Scott had no right to sue his master for his freedom and that Black men whether slave or free did not have the rights which white men possessed.
2. That the Missouri compromise was illegal (unconstitutional) since it prevented slavery above the 36 30 line. This argument was backed with the question that people where allowed to carry their property anywhere.
3. Dred Scott’s stay in Illinois did not make him a free man.

Question 3

Northern reaction

Answer 3

Northerners where enraged with this decision. The decision further proved there suspicions on the slave power conspiracy. Many abolitionist were horrified that all their efforts where undermined by this on decision. The Missouri compromise which was already annulled by the Kansas Nebraska act was Furthur refuted. Although Dred Scott was later on freed by purchasing his freedom due to the help from abolitionist. His case further made many northerns to turn to the Republican Party.

Buchanan was further blamed for siding with the south. Many people also believe that during his inauguration when he was talking to chief justices Roger Taney he new the outcome of the decision and that’s why he urged citizens to submit to the Supreme Courts rule. This raised sectional tensions to an all time high.

Question 4

The Panic of 1857

Answer 4

A-

Question 5

Increasing confrontation within and between the North and South

Answer 5

A

Question 6

Problems in Kansas

Answer 6

A

Question 7

The Lecompton constitution

Answer 7

A

Question 8

Buchanan versus Douglas

Answer 8

A

Question 9

The 1858 Congressional elections

Answer 9

A

Question 10

Abraham Lincoln

Answer 10

A

Question 11

The Lincoln–Douglas debates

Answer 11

A

Question 12

The Illinois result

Answer 12

A

Question 13

The growing strength of abolitionism

Answer 13

A

Question 14

John Brown’s raid

Answer 14

A

Question 15

The results of Brown’s raid

Answer 15

A

Question 16

Sectional tension 1859–60

Answer 16

A

Question 17

The election campaign of 1860 and the divisions of the Democratic Party

Answer 17

A

Question 18

Democrat Party divisions

Answer 18

During the 1860 the Democratic Party had reach an all time low of division in all the time it had existed. This was because of the Kansas Nebraska act and the decision it had allowed to happen in Kansas. Stephen Douglas at the time who had quarrelled with buchanan run for president in the 1860 election. His supporters where from the north. Douglas’s opinions on the lecompton constitution alienated him from many southerners.

Question 19

The Democratic convention

Answer 19

At the time the Democratic convention met at Charleston to nominate a Democratic candidate. Although Douglas was able to acquire a lot Foods votes he unfortunately couldn’t acquire 2/3 of votes due to the resistance from southern delegates this therefore made the unsuccessful. Party then decided to meet at Baltimore for another convention during this time does Southern seats were replaced by northern delegates. This paved the way for Douglas top be nominated as the democratic candidate

Question 20

Douglas v Breckinridge

Answer 20

Douglas v Breckinridge
angered by the northern counterparts the south and Democrats met at their own convention to nominate on presidential candidate Breckenridge although he had support from pierce Buchanan and Cass (The three former US presidents).He was only able to acquire votes from the south hence making him a weak presidential candidate compared to Douglas. So with this the Democratic party votes when I split into two hence tipping the odds of winning the election towards the Republican party. However Douglas was at an advantage considering that now he did not have to try so hard to appease the south.

Question 21

The Republican convention

Answer 21

The Republican convention
The republican party at the time standard form
1. Free 160 acre homestead land to be given to western settlers
2. The construction of a northern trans continental railway road
3. High protective tariffs.

The Republican Party aim was not to abolish slavery it only wanted to contain the institution of slavery. Although many in the south thought that the Republican Party supported john brown raid the did not in fact the republicans denounced the raid as ‘the gravest of crimes’

Question 22

Lincoln becomes the Republican candidate

Answer 22

Lincoln becomes the Republican candidate
Lincoln at the time was competing with William seaward he was the governor of New York. He had a huge history on politics although this may seem as an advantage it was in fact a disadvantage to him this is because this meant that William had many enemies. At the Republican convention although there were many people competing with William ,Lincoln seemed like the only threat. This was because:
1. He’s a debate with Douglas in 1858 had made Lincoln very popular
2. The fact that He didn’t have a long political career made Lincoln the optimal candidate. this lowered Lincoln’s number of enemies.
3. Nobody also knew about Lincoln so this meant that the party could create a narrative that many voters liked this meant that Lincoln was portrayed as a benevolent man with integrity and honesty.
4. He had made a series of speeches across America between 1858 to 1860 which made him grow his popularity
5. He was from Illinois also added an advantage to him since Illinois was a key state

Although Seward at the beginning had more votes compared to Lincoln it was not enough to win the candidacy through the help of his campaign managers Lincoln was able to struck a deal with Simon from Pennsylvania and Caleb from Indiana who would vote for him as long as Lincoln would add him to his cabinet

Question 23

The Constitutional Unionist Party

Answer 23

The Constitutional Unionist Party
This was a fairly new party which consisted of X southern whigs Are they nominated John Bell a senator from Tennessee to be there presidential candidate. They had the shortest a platform in US history which was a constitutional country, are united union of states, and the enforcement of law in United States This basically meant that there are a group of people that wanted a strong and united union and they wanted to abolish parties such as Lincolns Republican party and Breckenridge Democratic party for their extremist approaches and division in section between north and south

Question 24

The campaign

Answer 24

The campaign
During the campaign Douglas was the only one out of the 4 candidates that went out to campaign. He even went to the south even though it was dangerous, he tried to convince them on the dangers of secession. As for bell, Lincoln and Breckinridge they followed the old fashion way of stay at home and letting ur supporters visit. However Lincoln may have curbed sectional tensions if he spoke up actively on not try to stop slavery although it is debatable whether this would had curbed sectional tensions considering that southerners hate the sole reason on why the Republican Party existed.

As for Breckinridge his platform was centred on condemning the north as abolitionist who wanted to i stop slavery.

Question 25

The election results

Answer 25

The election results
Joh bell won over - Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky
Douglas won over - two states Missouri and New Jersey’s
Breckinridge won over - 11 out of 15 slave states
Lincoln- 40 % of the votes and almost all northern states and 180 Electoral college votes

Question 26

Why did northerners vote Republican?

Answer 26

Why did northerners vote Republican?
At the time the Republican Party represented the belief of many northerns to stop the grow of the slave power and to stop the expansion of slavery. The north didn’t want to stop the institution of slavery as a whole it however to didn’t want it to spread into new territories. Similarly the issue of nativism was also addressed by republicans in terms of the Democratic Party was the home the Irish and German immigrants hence the party played as the alternative.

Similarly at the time the House of Representatives that was packed with majorly republicans had investigated and found corruption in Buchanan’s government this acted positively on the Republican Party image and they represented integrity and honesty.

Question 27

The results of the 1860 presidential election

Answer 27

The result of Lincoln becoming president alarmed many southerners however was this enough for them to seceded from the union:

1. Lincoln had promised that he wouldn’t interfere with slavery
2. He had no power to interfere with slavery considering how the president had limited power due to checks and balances
3. He’s party didn’t have overwhelming majority in the Supreme Court or congress hence he couldn’t abolish slavery using the legal way
4. Leaving the union would mean they would stop raking the benefits of the fugitive slave act.

Question 28

Southern fears

Answer 28

However southerns had a right to be scared considering that a president who’s platform was centred on anti-slavery measures wouldn’t be great for them. Especially if they admitted new states into the union which would tip the balance between slave and free states. Eventually this may have led to the north being able to amend the constitution in order to fit with their ant-slavery demands.

In this case the south felt that they where the innocent minority that was being exploited and overlooked by the north. In order to protect there honour as proud southerners they had to secede from the union.

Question 29

Problems for the secessionists

Answer 29

Secessionist at the time wanted to capitalised with the new mainstream focus on secession from major politicians and citizens. Beforehand they had been a group of extremists according to onlookers however now they were considering knowledgeable men. They need to act fast before this wave of secession ended however they also needed to wait until tensions escalate in order to make a move.

Another problem for secessionist was that many where not sure on how to approach this matter if they made secession an individual state issue there was a risk of not acquiring support from other southern states ie the nullification crisis of 1828. While trying to organise a mass meeting might ensure that nothing occurred ie the meetings between 1849-1850*

Although many supported secession there where still people who had a unionist mentality and wanted to wait till Lincoln actively threatened the south.

Question 30

South Carolina secedes

Answer 30

South Carolina called a meeting on 10 November 1860 which would occur on 17 December. This meeting was in place to discuss on whether they would secede or not.

This move was then followed by many southern states ie Alabama, Florida, Mississippi etc. Texas’s meeting was delayed by a few weeks since the governor Sam Houston’s was opposed to leaving the union. Seeing this South Carolina called for a unification of states into one government

When congress met in December 30 delegates from this states presented a document that states the south out of honour would secede from the union and form their own government the confederates states of America. On 20th december South Carolina voted for secession with 169 out of 0 . After this South Carolina sent representatives to each of the nine states to call for a meeting in Alabama on 4 February where they would come up with their own constitution.

Question 31

Secession spreads

Answer 31

During the winter of 1860-61 a series of meetings where held to decide on whether states would secede form the union. Contrary to popular belief not everybody in this meeting where fanatic abolitionist such as the late Calhoun. Instead it was a mixture of cooperationists who thought that the states should secede but not at that particular time and unionists who didn’t want the states to secede from the union.

Question 32

A Slave Power conspiracy?

Answer 32

Republicans, including Abraham Lincoln at the time believed that the series of meetings was a result of the slave power conspiracy. That a small group of planter aristocrats rigid the votes for secession in order to tip the balance on their favour. This however wasn’t true considering that the south held fair elections and the people attending this meetings where not all slave owners.

Question 33

The aims of Lincoln and Davis

Answer 33

During this time many northerns thoughts the south was bluffing and the south would be back into the union soon. However this was not the case the south in fact was serious on leaving the union and where wait for the north to enact force on them. They tried desperately to acquire the border states who would help them fight the battle within the north.

The border states however where confident that a compromise between the south the north would on the way and the issue would be resolved.

Question 34

The Confederacy

Answer 34

In 4 February 1861 the 9 secede states met to form their own constitution/government. The constitution was very similar to that of the USA however it protected slavery and state rights.the meeting was attended by 50 delegates. More than half of the delegates where cooperationists.

1. 49 delegates where slave owners with 21 have at least 20 slaves
2. 60% i of them where ex-democrats and 40% of them where ex- southerner whigs
3. Most of the delegates where either lawyers and planters.

Question 35

Jefferson Davis

Answer 35

In 9 February the seceding states met and appointed Jefferson Davis from Mississippi as the president of the confederate states of America. He was a well educated man who had studied at West Point, had served in the Mexican war and acquired distinction and he was also the former minister of war. His Vice President was Alexander Stephens who was anti-secessionist which ment that the government could immerse some supports from cooperationists. In his inaugural speech Jefferson Davi’s urged the union to leave the confederacy alone in order for them to build a viable country.

Question 36

The upper South

Answer 36

Consequent to the Deep South’s session the upper southern states had their own conventions in the individual states. All of the states in the upper south had little numbers of secessionist hence no decision in any of the conventions pointed towards seceding from the union. The reason why the upper south was opposed to secession was mostly because they had clause ties with the north in terms of leaving the union would mean an economic crisis.

Similarly the upper south had a large number unionist considering that most of Douglas and bells supporters where from their.

Question 37

Congressional efforts

Answer 37

Congress met in December 1860 to try and come up within a compromise that would stop the south from seceding the upper south and democrats where optimistic that this would happen. However during the conference most deep southern congress men didn’t show up and the once that did left the meeting before it began.

During this time john crittenden came up with a compromise which stated.

1. The 36 30 parallel line would be extended to the pacific coast and any state under the line would become a slave state. This was placed in order to offer the south prospects on the expansion of slavery
2. A constitution amendment would be in place- it protected slavery
3. Congress wouldn’t be allowed to abolish slavery ever.

Considering that most southern delegates had left this meant that the Republican Party had power in congress. They voted against this compromise as they consider it more of a defeat or surrender rather than a compromise.

Question 38

The search for compromise

Answer 38

Lincoln didn’t become president till march of 1861 which meant that Buchanan was still president when the secession began. Buchanan blamed the republicans for causing this sectional divide between the north and the south. Arguably he could have stopped the civil war form starting considering that he did north when the Deep South seized federal forts.

On the other hand this isn’t true considering that the south was so hell bent on secession.

Question 39

The Virginia Peace Convention

Answer 39

Similarly they met at Virginia to discuss on a compromise. All of America’s top politicians attended the peace conference was a failure as many people (republicans) saw it as a surrender rather than a compromise. This was because the discussed terms resembled this of the crittenden compromise

Question 40

Lincoln’s position

Answer 40

At the time some people in the north thought that the south should be allowed to leave the union. Similar to this there some who thought it was pure tyranny for the southern states to secede considering that this would dissolve the government.

Lincoln at the time remain silent before his inauguration. And just like many northerns he believed this was the work the slave power.it is argued on whether things would have changed if Lincoln addressed the south before his inaugural address and whether the south would be convinced by Lincoln and they would join the union again.

Question 41

Lincoln’s inauguration

Answer 41

In march 4 1861 Lincoln become president. In his inaugural address he remained diplomatic where he promised to not interfere with slavery in the places it existed and that leaving the union was illegal. He also made a firm remark that the federal government would gather or take back their property in the south and the would use force where necessary.

Many northerns,democrats and upper southerners thought that the speech was great and they agreed that it would led to peace. However the Deep South wasn’t faced with the speech.

Question 42

Fort Sumter and its impact

Answer 42

At the time the south had captured most of the forts except fort picket in Florida and fort Sumter in Charleston South Carolina. This was because this forts where in islands especially fort picket which would be easy fir the federal navy to access as it was of the shore of Florida.

As for fort Sumter things where a bit complicated in terms of the fort was just in the middle of Charleston harbour. The south ought to possess it as they thought it was a show of the foreign sovereignty and they couldn’t have a foreign controlled fort in the middle of a major harbour. Fort Sumter at the time was led by major Robert an ex Kentucky slave owner who had less that 100 slaves.

This issue quickly become the most known problem in the media.

Question 43

Lincoln’s position in March 1861

Answer 43

Hours after his inaugural address Lincoln received notice that fort Sumter would run out of food in 6 weeks. This brought crisis. Lincoln asked winfield Scott for advice on how to proceed he though that action needed to be taken and that a troop of 25000 men would be required for this however the federal government didn’t have 25000 men.

Lincoln the consulted with his cabinet on 15 march most of the people there favoured withdrawal however Lincoln put of making a decision. He then sent out his trusted observer to Charleston.
By late march he called another cabinet meeting the observers Had already returned and they reported that the area had no since of unionist which meant the luxury of waiting for unionist to strike was overthrown. The cabinet decided to re-supply the fort.

This decision may have been slightly influenced by northern paper which demand for Sumter to be reclaimed.

Question 44

Lincoln acts

Answer 44

A

Question 45

The first shots of the war

Answer 45

A

Question 46

Secession: the second wave

Answer 46

A