1856 Presidential Election. James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Whig

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 19

2 Election of 1856 Old Buck v. The Pathfinder Democrats - James Buchanan someone untainted by the Kansas-Nebraska Act and a person with lots of political experience Popular sovereignty No Pierce too weak; No Douglas too confrontational Republican - John C. Fremont - Mex-American War Higher Law Seward most popular choice didn t think Republicans would win so he didn t want to run No slavery in new territories Know-Nothing Party (American Party)- Millard Fillmore

3 1856 Presidential Election James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Whig

4 1856 Election Results

5 Presidential Rankings: C-Span Survey, Abraham Lincoln 2. Franklin Roosevelt 3. George Washington 4. Theodore Roosevelt 5. Harry Truman 6. John Kennedy 7. Thomas Jefferson 8. Dwight Eisenhower 9. Woodrow Wilson 10. Ronald Reagan 11. Lyndon Johnson 12. James Polk 13. Andrew Jackson 14. James Monroe 15. Bill Clinton 16. William McKinley 17. John Adams 18. George H.W. Bush 19. John Quincy Adams 20. James Madison 21. Grover Cleveland 22. Gerald Ford 23. Ulysses Grant 24. William Taft 25. Jimmy Carter 26. Calvin Coolidge 27. Richard Nixon 28. James Garfield 29. Zachary Taylor 30. Benjamin Harrison 31. Martin Van Buren 32. Chester Arthur 33. Rutherford Hayes 34. Herbert Hoover 35. John Tyler 36. George W. Bush 37. Millard Fillmore 38. Warren Harding 39. William Harrison 40. Franklin Pierce 41. Andrew Johnson 42. James Buchanan

6 Mudslinging Buchanan was a bachelor We are Buck Hunting Fremont was hurt by illegitimate birth mom ran away with French adventurer Also a rumored Roman-Catholic

7 Election of 1856 Northerners voted for Buchanan out of fear that south would secede if a Republican won North still had business connections to the South Republican party had a good showing for only being a 2-year old party Fortunate that Buchanan won - Fremont couldn t have handled the situation if civil war broke out

8 Lecompton Constitution 1857 Kansas had enough people to apply for statehood based on popular sovereignty Legislature was mostly pro-slavery wrote the Lecompton Constitution people were to vote for the constitution with slavery or without slavery. If without, there was a provision that protected owners of slaves already in Kansas Whatever the outcome = slavery in Kansas Angry free-soilers boycotted the polls = Kansas approved the constitution with slavery.

9 Lecompton Constitution Buchanan (influenced by Southerners) supported this Constitution Douglas fought this lost support of the South Said it was a fraudulent vote not true popular sovereignty Democrats were divided between N and S Compromise submitted Constitution to a popular vote Voted down Kansas remains a territory until 1861 when Southern secessionists left Congress

10 Brooks v. Sumner in Congress Bleeding Kansas was an issue that spilled into Congress Senator Charles Sumner was a vocal abolitionist Cold, intolerant, egotistical hated in Senate Speech The Crime Against Kansas condemned proslavery men and states Congressmen Preston S. Brooks (SC) heard of this Sumner not good enough for a duel Approached Sumner at his Senate desk beat him with his cane until it broke Sumner bleeding and unconscious Sumner s The Crime Against Kansas speech was reprinted by the thousands - put Brooks and the South in the wrong

11 The Crime Against Kansas Sen. Charles Sumner (R-MA) Congr. Preston Brooks (D-SC)

12 Dred Scott

13 Helper s The Impending Crisis of the South (1857) Written by a non-aristocratic white North Carolinian hated slavery and blacks Used stats to show that the non-slaveholding Southern whites were really the ones most hurt by slavery Banned in the South afraid nonslaveholders would abandon southern cause Used by Republican party as campaign literature

14 Financial Crash of 1857 CAUSES: Over-speculation in land and railroads, California gold causing inflation, over-growth of grain 5000 businesses failed, unemployment, hunger North was hit hardest, South rode it out with favorable cotton prices Made South overconfident that they don t need the North

15 Financial Crash of Homestead Act was proposed 160 acres given to pioneers willing to risk lives to develop it 25 cents an acre Buchanan vetoed it East says no will take away factory workers South says no slavery can t flourish there so land would be free-soil People want higher tariffs Early in the year, tariff lowered 20% - blamed for crash Republicans will use both of these issues in the 1860 election: protective tariffs and free farms

16 Lincoln Emerges IL Senate Race claimed national spotlight Democrat Douglas v. Republican Lincoln Lincoln s early life: KY log cabin born, poor parents, self-educated, split logs for fence rails for work Married above his station Mary Todd Trial lawyer Honest Abe Upset by K-N Act joined Republicans Not a great orator high-pitched, nervous Received 110 votes for VP with Fremont in 1856

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18 House Divided Speech Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South. Danger of disunion due to slavery Spoken after nominated for Illinois Senator

19 The Great Debate: Lincoln vs. Douglas Lincoln challenges Douglas to 7 debates Lincoln held his own despite Douglas being a great debater Freeport, Illinois most famous debate Lincoln posed question: After Dred Scott, who should decide slavery? The Supreme Court or the People? Douglas response = Freeport Doctrine = people decide Can t enforce ruling if people don t want to follow Douglas wins Senate seat because IL likes popular sovereignty Southern Dems HATE Douglas Cost him the presidency

20 The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858 A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

21 Stephen Douglas & the Freeport Doctrine Popular Sovereignty

22 John Brown: Murderer or Martyr? John Brown had a plan to invade the South: seize its arms Slaves revolt take over the South and free it of slaves Got $1000s from N. Abolitionists and went to Harper s Ferry, VA Seized federal arsenal, killed 7 people and injured 10+ Slaves didn t know about plan and didn t revolt Brown captured by the U.S. Marines under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee Convicted of treason and sentenced to death 17 people signed affidavits of insanity to save him Brown knew he was helping the abolitionist cause with his death - hanged

23 John Brown s Raid on Harper s Ferry, 1859

24 Effects Effects: South how can we stay in the Union? Murderers were financed by the North, the whole North was behind this raid North MAD about execution, Brown called Saint John, Emerson compared him to Jesus

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