1.
1860 Election: Republican Lincoln won the election. Northern Democrats supported popular sovereignty and nominated Douglas. Southern Democrats demanded the enforcement of the Dred Scott decision and nominated John Breckinridge. Lincoln though he won only 40% of the popular vote, and was not on the ballot in the South, still swept the North and won the election. This convinced the South that it was time to act.
2.
Bleeding Kansas: The status of slavery in Kansas was to be determined by popular sovereignty. However, this didn't work well because abolitionists and pro-slavery men poured into the state to influence the vote - often using violence.
Each side also established a government of questionable legality.
In this miniature civil war, over 200 were killed until it was overtaken by the national conflict of 1871.
3.
Crittenden Proposal: A last minute attempt to save the Union, this called for: 1) No slavery in the territories above 36° 30'; permitted below the line. 2) Federal government forbidden to interfere with slavery in the South. 3) New states could choose to enter the union free or slave. 4) Owners of runaway slaves could be compensated. 5) Repeal of personal liberty Laws.
Lincoln rejected, and it collapsed.
4.
Freeport Doctrine: Lincoln asked Douglas to state his view on slavery in the territories. Douglas replied the Dred Scott decision made slavery legal in the territories in theory, but the people of a territory could keep slaves out in practice (by simply refusing to enact the laws necessary for slavery to function).
While Douglas was narrowly reelected to the Senate, this cost him Southern support for his presidency in 1600.
5.
John Brown's Raid: This person and a small group of followers attacked the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in an attempt to spark a slave rebellion. This failed, and the leader was hanged for treason.
Northerners applauded the person's devotion to the cause of freedom. Southerners viewed this as evidence of the North's unstinting efforts to abolish slavery.
6.
Lecompton Constitution: Pro-slavery forces in Kansas applied for statehood and wrote this. It protected the rights of the slaveholders already in Kansas, allowing them to keep slave property.
The vote on this permitted two choices: a pro-slavery constitution permitting more slave importation, or a pro-slavery constitution banning the import of more slaves.
Endorsed by President Buchanan; Sen. Douglas opposed it. In the end, voters rejected it.
7.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates: • Incumbent Democratic Douglas and Republican Lincoln were running for a Senate election in Illinois. They engaged in a series of these, making Lincoln famous across the country, despite the fact that Douglas won the election.
• Douglas and Lincoln opposed the extension of slavery into the territories; however, Lincoln stated Congress couldn't abolish slavery in the South, and argued against black equality. Douglas argued for popular sovereignty.
8.
Sumner/Brooks Affair: • A senator leading abolitionist from MA gave a speech in which he insulted South Carolina and a South Carolina senator.
• Another South Carolina senator resented these insults to his state and a fellow senator. He beat the MA senator with a cane at the senator's desk. The senator fell to the floor unconscious - and bleeding - with serious injuries.
• the senator that attacked was a hero in South; his supporters sent canes.
9.
The CSA: South Carolina seceded in Dec. 1860, followed by Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Following Fort Sumter, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee followed.
The South was tired of Northern interference with slavery. They also felt they had a constitutional right to secede, forming this.
10.
The Dred Scott Case: • A Missouri slave sued for his freedom, claiming his five year stay in the northern portion of the Louisiana Territory made him a free man through the Missouri Compromise.
• Chief Justice Taney stated that because the slave was property, he couldn't sue in federal courts. Taney said blacks were not citizens, and the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, because it deprived slave owners of their right to take property into federal territories - a violation of the Fifth amendment.
