Slavery in the 1850s: Changing National Politics

Chapter 10 Section 3

• Analyze how deepening sectional distrust affected the nation’s politics.

• Compare the positions of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas on the issue of slavery.

• Explain the effect of John Brown’s raid on the slavery debate.

Objectives

The Republican Party

• Formed by a group of anti-slavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free-Soilers

• Opposed the expansion of slavery so whites could work the land.

The Election of 1856

• Candidates PartySlavery

• John Fremont Republican Free-Soil

• James Buchanan Democrat Supports

• Millard Fillmore American Split• James Buchanan won the election

The Dred Scott decision

Dred Scott

• Dred Scott was a former slave who attempted to sue for his freedom

• His owner was an army surgeon who frequently moved around

• After his owner’s death, Scott sued for his freedom

• Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney wrote the decision:

• Dred Scott was not a citizen, so he had no right to sue

• Slaves were property, so the US gov’t had no right to take him away from his owners

• The Dred Scott decision outraged abolitionists

Lincoln and Douglas

• Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had a series of debates for an Illinois senate seat

• Douglas supported popular sovereignty, Lincoln was a free-soiler

• Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” speech against popular sovereignty

• Lincoln asked Douglas how could people bring slaves to a state that doesn’t allow slavery?

• The Dred-Scott Decision killed popular sovereignty and the Missouri Compromise.

Freeport Doctrine

• Douglas response- if the people of a territory refused to pass laws to make the slave system work, they could keep slavery out

• Douglas narrowly defeated Lincoln for the Senate seat.

John Brown’s Raid

• Brown fled east following his role in the Pottawatomie Massacre

• He armed a small group of men to help him end slavery

• He attacked Harper’s Ferry in Virginia to seize the federal arsenal

• He failed and was hung on December 2, 1859.

The possibility of war between the North and South grew stronger.

By the end of the 1850s, attempts at compromise over slavery had failed.