THE CRUMBLING OF THE UNION

Top 10 People, Ideas and Events Leading up to the Civil War

People:

• Harriet Beecher Stowe- author of Uncle Tom's Cabin which irritated sectional tension and enlightened people concerning the evils of slavery.

• Stephen A. Douglas- "Little Giant", Senator who promoted expansion and popular sovereignty, author of Kansas-Nebraska Act, responsible for the passing of the Compromise of 1850, lost the 1860

presidential election.

• President Buchanan- elected president in 1856 because of lack of involvement in the debate over Kansas, acted as a proslavery partisan, encouraged Lecompton Constitution.

• Abraham Lincoln- not an abolitionist, took a realistic view of slavery issue, elected president in 1860, thought secession by South Carolina a bluff.

Ideas:

• "Young America" Spirit- emotional, mindless confidence that democracy would triumph everywhere, "stronger than the Bayonet."

Acts:

• Kansas-Nebraska Act- (1854) territory divided into Kansas and Nebraska, repeal the part of Missouri Compromise excluding slavery from land north of 3630', and the popular sovereignty determines whether the new territories would be free or slave.

Events:

• Bleeding Kansas- (1854-1856) battlefield of slavery vs. free. The citizens of Kansas were supposed to decide if slavery was to be legal in the territory, but outsiders came in and voted. John Brown took matters into his own hands and brutally murdered six people which created a torrent of killings. "Kansas was in complete chaos."

• Lecompton Constitution- (1857) proslavery leaders in Kansas met and wrote the Lecompton Constitution, but the abolitionist leaders hadn't been a part of the convention. President Buchanan placed pressure on Congress, but Congress rejected it and a referendum was ordered and Kansas was not allowed to become a state until the population reached 90,000.

• Lincoln Douglas Debates- Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of seven debates. Douglas' strategy was to make Lincoln look like an abolitionist and Lincoln attempted to make Douglas appear as proslavery and a defender of the Dred Scott Case. These debates helped Lincoln's reputation to flourish.

Quotes:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." -Abraham Lincoln

"All men are created equal, except Negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." -Abraham Lincoln in reference to the philosophy of the Know-Nothing party

"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." -Abraham Lincoln

Summary:

The tension's between the North and the South grew to greater heights as northemers interfered with the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. Expansionists conjured up a distraction for the sectional tensions with the "Young America" spirit which believed that democracy would conquer the world. Stephen Douglas, the "Little Giant," was a spokesman for this movement. He also supported expansion and popular sovereignty. He successfully steered the Compromise of 1850 through Congress and then proceeded to write the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed the settlers in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to determine whether the territory was slave or free. Franklin Pierce was elected president in 1852 but proved to be a disappointment to the Democrats. New parties began to form, the Know-Nothings who were primarily Nativists and the Republicans who presented themselves as a party of freedom, though they were not abolitionists. The legal status of Kansas became the focal point of the conflicts and a battlefield was formed. Bleeding Kansas and hundreds of deaths were the outcome. The havoc was also mirrored in Congress, Senator Brooks was caned by Senator Sumner. Buchanan won the election of 1856 because of his absence during the Kansas controversy. He was an active partisan in the Lecompton Constitution issue. The country was then plunged into the Panic of 1857 and to many Stephen Douglas seemed to be the answer to the country's problems. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a seven series debates which heightened Lincoln's fame and marked Douglas' last victory and Lincoln's last defeat. In 1859, John Brown attacked Harper's Ferry with the intent of seizing federal arsenal and receiving support from the slaves.

The slaves did not come to his aid and Brown was captured and sentenced to death. Four candidates, including Lincoln and Douglas, ran for the presidential election in 1860. With the field split, it became obvious that Lincoln was going to be elected. Days after Lincoln's election, South Carolina seceded,

closely followed by six other southern states because of a desire for a balanced economy and the slavery issue. President-elect Lincoln considered the secession as a bluff. Buchanan considered the secession illegal, but felt the government did not have a legal method of intervening. The country hung suspended as Lincoln arranged his Cabinet.