Topic 17 Coming of the Civil War - PowerPoint Presentation

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Topic 17

Coming of the

Civil WarSlide2

Who were the abolitionists and what did they believe?Slide3

While many people n the northern states did not like slavery and wanted to prevent its spread, only a minority wanted to eliminate it where it already existed. These activists were known as

abolitionists,

and most others considered them extremists who would lead the United States into a war. The Second Great Awakening boosted abolitionismSlide4

William Lloyd GarrisonSlide5
Slide6

Theodore Dwight WeldSlide7

American Anti-slavery SocietySlide8

Frederick

DouglassSlide9

While most abolitionists lobbied and protested, some actively sought to help slaves escape. They coordinated the so-called “Underground Railroad.”Slide10

The Underground Railroad revolved around secret “conductors” and established routesSlide11

Harriet TubmanSlide12

As the 1850s began, what did the two established political parties believe about the issue of slavery, and how did slavery affect the Second Political Party System?Slide13

Since most people in the South supported slavery and most in the North did not, both the Whigs and Democrats tried to avoid the issue initially. To take a strong stand was to risk losing a national constituency.Slide14

With abolitionism growing, some supported the

American Colonization Society

, which hoped to resettle blacks back to AfricaSlide15

LiberiaSlide16

In the North many people began to call for a prohibition against slavery in any new territories. This began to weaken the Whig Party, which was stronger in the North. Finally some Whigs split and formed a third party, the Free-Soil Party.

Free-Soil PartySlide17

As the 1850s continued, the Free Soil Party began to adopt a platform broader than just slavery and incorporated much of the Whig economic agenda. They then called their party the

Republican Party

. This weakened the Whig Party furtherSlide18

Also weakening the Whig Party was an anti-immigrant third party known as the

American Party

, commonly called the

Know-Nothing Party

. Since most of the anti-immigrant sentiment was aimed at new Catholic arrivals, which tended to settle in the North, the Know-Nothing Party further weakened the Whig PartySlide19

As the Whig Party disintegrated and the Democratic Party tried to remain silent on the issue of slavery, many pro-slavery southerners took a more ardent stance for slavery. To allow slavery to extend westward, they insisted, was to end slavery everywhere. If slavery could not extend into the new territories as the new Republican party insisted, then the new states there would all be “free” and could vote out slavery everywhere, even where it already existed. Slide20

Southern Arguments in defense of slavery:

Slavery in Bible

Slaves weren’t ready for independence. They would be uncontrollable and hurt each other

Slaves were better off than northern free white laborers

Slaves supported Southern society, which was more refined and better (think chivalry) than cheap, dirty, anything-goes Northern societySlide21

To try to stave off the disintegration of the Democratic Party, Democratic Illinois Senator

Stephen Douglas

pushed the idea of

Popular Sovereignty

. This would let the people in the new territories themselves decide whether to have slavery or notSlide22

When, as we will see, Popular Sovereignty did not work, the Democratic Party was left as mostly a Southern party while the North became mostly Republican. The Second Political Party System had effectively devolved into two regional parties and the stage was set for a war between the two regions.Slide23

As the 1850s progressed, what attempts at compromise were made in regard to the issue of slavery and how and why did they fail?Slide24

As noted previously, the issue of slavery and the western territories had first arisen as early as 1820 with the Missouri Compromise. This kept the issue at bay until the United States won the Mexican American War in 1848 and gained all the Southwestern territoriesSlide25

David Wilmot

proposed the

Wilmot Proviso

, prohibiting slavery in any of the new territories Southerners were outraged.Slide26

California could become a free state but in the other territories there would be popular sovereignty or no federal prohibition against slaverySlide27

The Compromise of 1850, the last of Henry Clay’s compromises, also prohibited slavery in the nation’s capital in exchange for a stronger fugitive slave law. It finally paid off Texas’ debt in exchange for Texas ceding some of its western land claims to New Mexico Territory. Slide28

Kansas-Nebraska ActSlide29

Pottawatomie MassacreSlide30

John BrownSlide31

“Bleeding Kansas”Slide32

In 1856, South Carolinian Congressman

Preston Brooks

attacked Massachusetts Senator

Charles Sumner

after Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech.Slide33

Dred ScottSlide34

Roger TaneySlide35

Dred Scott CaseSlide36

Abraham LincolnSlide37

Lincoln-Douglas DebatesSlide38

Harriet Beecher StoweSlide39
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Harper’s Ferry VirginiaSlide41

John BrownSlide42

Firehouse where Brown was capturedSlide43

John Brown’s hangingSlide44

Robert E. LeeSlide45

Stephen Douglas

(northern Democrats)

JC Breckinridge

(southern Democrats)

Abraham Lincoln

(Republicans)

1860

ElectionSlide46
Slide47

South Carolina’s secession conventionSlide48

Six deep South states then voted to join South Carolina and secede from the United StatesSlide49

They formed the

Confederate States of America

with its capital in Montgomery, AlabamaSlide50

Fort SumterSlide51

Fort Sumter after shellingSlide52

Fort Sumter todaySlide53

After Ft. Sumter, Lincoln called for troops and the four upper South states seceded and joined the Confederacy. The capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia. Five states remained in the union allowing slavery.