Popular Sovereignty Settlers would determine status of slavery Provisions Organization of Nebraska and Kansas territories Popular sovereignty Repealed Missouri Compromise Expanded slavery beyond Southern states Reignites slavery debate
Realignment of Political Parties Demise of the Whigs Uncertainty on the issue of slavery Provided no alternative to the Democrats Know-Nothing Party did not last either Collapse of a viable two-party system made it more difficult for the political process to contain the explosive issue of slavery
Realignment of Political Parties Fracturing of the Democratic Party Split along North/South lines Emergence of the Republican Party Coalition of former Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Northern Democrats Diverse interests, but unified in that slavery should not expand Solely a Northern party
Rival State Governments Pro- and anti-slavery activists flocked to Kansas to vote on status of slavery Border ruffians and voter fraud vote early and vote often Pro-slavery government created Free-soil Kansans denounced illegitimate government and formed their own
Bleeding Kansas Eruption of guerilla war John Brown and Pottawatomie Creek 200+ deaths The Caning of Sumner
Lecompton Constitution State constitution permitting slavery Backed by President Buchanan, eager to avoid secession crisis Final decision Kansas cities reject slavery in fair election
Background Ruling Dred Scott a slave, not a citizen Not allowed to sue in court Court rules that slaves are property and thus cannot be excluded from any territory
Significance Invalidates Northwest Ordinance and Missouri Compromise Takes extreme Southern position Forces pro-slavery advocates to adopt position as well Northerners more convinced of pro-slavery conspiracy
Economic recession caused by overspeculation and faulty banking practices Northern region suffers most, giving the South proof that its slave system with superior economically
1858 Illinois Senate campaign Candidates Abraham Lincoln Republican Stephen A. Douglas Democrat Lincoln asserted that popular sovereignty failed to recognize slavery for the evil it was Douglas portrayed Lincoln as a radical abolitionist who opposed democracy Douglas victorious, but Lincoln thrown into national spotlight
John Brown assaults federal arsenal to incite a slave uprising Captured and executed as a martyr to abolitionists Southerners convinced themselves that the entire Northern public approved of Brown s actions Only security for the Southerners may lay in a separate Southern confederacy
Candidates Lincoln Republican Douglas N. Democrat Breckinridge S. Democrat Bell Constitution Union Party Results Lincoln electoral victory, but no popular majority Support came only from Northern states The South could not win through normal political process
Initial Secession South Carolina and the deep South seceded by February 1861 Crittenden Compromise Constitutional amendment to prohibit abolition of slavery where it existed Extension of Missouri Compromise line to Pacific Ocean Thwarted by Lincoln
Fort Sumter Lincoln resupplied federal fort in South Carolina Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered his army to force the Union troops to surrender Union would only surrender if unsupplied Confederacy opened fire Lincoln s declaration of insurrection Call for 75,000 troops to put down rebellion In response, Virginia and remainder of Confederacy seceded
Border States Slave states that remained loyal to the Union Delaware Few slaves No consideration of secession Kentucky Neutral Maryland Pro-slavery support crushed by Lincoln s imposition of martial law Missouri Occupied by Union troops