The Civil War Lesson 2 Violence Escalates

The Civil War Lesson 2 Violence Escalates

Learning Objectives

Assess how the Kansas-Nebraska Act was seen differently by the

North and South.
Explain why fighting broke out in Kansas and the effects of that
conflict.
Analyze how deepening sectional distrust affected the nations
politics.
Compare the positions of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas on
the issue of slavery.
Explain the effect of John Browns raid on the slavery debate.

The Civil War Lesson 2 Violence Escalates

Key Terms

Kansas-Nebraska Act
John Brown
Bleeding Kansas
nativists
Know-Nothings
Republican Party
Dred Scott
Roger B. Taney
Abraham Lincoln
Stephen A. Douglas
Harpers Ferry

The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding

Kansas
Although Congress meant well, its repeated attempts to resolve the
question of slavery resulted in a jumble of contradictory, and often
unenforceable, policies. The Missouri Compromise, the Wilmot Proviso,
the Compromise of 1850 each seemed to offer the solution. But, in
reality, the issue lay beyond the ability of patchwork legislation to
resolve.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding

Kansas

Popular Sovereignty in the Nebraska Territory

Stephen Douglas- 1854 introduced a bill to set up a government
in the Nebraska territory
Proposed Popular Sovereignty
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act- Divided the territory in two- thinking
Nebraska would end up free and Kansas would end up slave
Nullified the Missouri compromise
Bitter Disputes in Kansas
Most people that came to Kansas were farmers, but some came
with political motives
Border Ruffians- proslavery residents from Missouri
Passed proslavery laws and within two years called a
convention and developed a constitution- Lecompton
Abolitionists raised money to send people to establish an
antislavery town of Lawrence next to Lecomptonestablished an antislavery government in Topeka and
petitioned Congress for admittance into the union

The Kansas-Nebraska Act and

Bleeding Kansas
'Bleeding Kansas

May 21, 1856- Border Ruffians attacked Lawrence

John Brown retaliated and executed 5 proslavery settlers
Violence characterized the territory as bleeding Kansas
Kansas finally entered as a free state in 1861 after the
Civil War was already going on

Violence in the Senate

Canning of Charles Sumner on the senate floor by Preston
Brooks
Brooks was reelected by South Caroline afterwards
Sumner was reelected even though he couldnt return to the
senate for years

The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding

Kansas

Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas

The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding

Kansas

Analyze Maps Which region of Kansas experienced the most conflicts? What
explains that pattern?

Regional Tension Affects National Politics

Americans had always lived with sectional differences, but they
temporarily resolved those differences through negotiation and
compromise. By the mid-1850s, however, the battle over slavery
threatened to tear the nation apart.

Regional Tension Affects National Politics

Decline of the Whig Party

Millard Fillmore- last Whig president
Nominated Winfield Scott for the election of 1852- last
presidential candidate of a united Whig party
The Know-Nothings- American Party
Nativist party
Responded with I know Nothing when questioned about
their nativist policies
Soon divided over the issue of Slavery
Birth of the Republican Party
Formed in 1854
Because other parties were breaking up
Became the Antislavery party and became popular in the north
By 1856 was a major political party

Regional Tension Affects National Politics

Analyze InformationWhich party was strongest during the 1850s? Justify your
answer with details from the infographic.

Regional Tension Affects National Politics

A Know-Nothing party ribbon used in the campaign of 1844 Analyze Primary

Sources According to the Know-Nothings, who were the native Americans?

Sectional Divisions Split the Country

For many years, the North and South tried to ignore or patch over their
differences. But by the mid-1850s, the dispute over slavery caused
sectional differences to intensify.

Sectional Divisions Split the Country

The Election of 1856

Republicans- John C. Fremont (won 11 Northern States)
Free Soil, Free labor, Free Men, Fremont
Democrats- James Buchanan (won)
VP- John C. Breckinridge
Know-Nothings- Millard Fillmore
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott- sued for his freedom
Master had taken him to Illinois and Wisconsin
Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney
Decided slaves and their descendants were property,
not citizens, and therefor didn't have the right to sue in
court
Also said Missouri compromise was unconstitutional
because they couldnt deprive people or property

Sectional Divisions Split the Country

Analyze Maps How closely did the election results of 1856 follow sectional lines?

Sectional Divisions Split the Country

Dred Scotts attempt to claim freedom via the courts ended in a decision denying
African Americans the basic guarantee of citizenship.

Lincoln and Douglas Debate Slavery

Throughout the 1850s, American attention was riveted on westward
expansion. But no discussion of expansion, or any aspect of the nations
future, could get beyond the issue of slavery. In 1858, Stephen Douglas
and Abraham Lincoln held a series of seven debates while competing for
a seat in the U.S. Senate. Thousands of Americans attended the LincolnDouglas debates and listened raptly as the two candidates presented
opposing views of slavery and its role in America.

Lincoln and Douglas Debate Slavery

Honest Abe and The Little Giant

Lincolns national political career began in his opposition to
popular sovereignty and the Kansas-Nebraska Act against
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Douglas came off with more energy but less trustworthy
(part of the reason he supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act was to
settle the territory so he could build a railroad)
Douglas's Position
Sympathetic to slavery
Popular Sovereignty advocate
Lincoln's Position
Against Dred Scott and popular sovereignty
Douglas won the election but by a slim margin and it set Lincoln
up to run for President in 1860

Lincoln and Douglas Debate Slavery

Abraham Lincoln photographed during his senatorial campaign in 1858

Lincoln and Douglas Debate Slavery

Analyze Charts On which issues were Douglas and Lincoln most in agreement? On
which did they most disagree?

The Raid on Harpers Ferry

Both Lincoln and Douglas believed that the slavery crisis had to be
resolved within the framework of the nations laws. Abolitionist John
Brown felt no such constraints. Brown viewed himself as an angel of
God, avenging the evil of slavery. Even before one of his sons was killed
in Bleeding Kansas, he had concluded that violence was the best way to
reach his goal. By late 1857, Brown had begun planning his attack. For
many months, he crisscrossed New England, the Midwest, and Canada,
soliciting recruits and funds to mount an armed assault on slavery.

The Raid on Harpers Ferry

Capture at the Arsenal

John Brown tried to seize a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry,
Virginia (now West Virginia)
Hoped local slaves would join him
Failed
Browns Execution

Brown was viewed as a martyr to the North and a crazy person

to the South

The Raid on Harpers Ferry

This illustration shows a federal militia attacking John Brown and his raid party at
Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

Quiz: The Kansas-Nebraska Act and

Bleeding Kansas'
Why did the Kansas-Nebraska Act end in bloodshed?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Pro- and antislavery forces each sent settlers to compete for control.
Proslavery Kansas chose to secede from the Union.
Residents fought to keep the Nebraska Territory unified.
Voters protested the popular sovereignty provisions.

Quiz: Regional Tension Affects National

Politics
Which political party represented a convergence of antislavery forces?
A.
B.
C.
D.

American Party
Know-Nothing Party
Republican Party
Whig Party

Quiz: Sectional Divisions Split the Country

In the Dred Scott case, the U.S. Supreme Court
A.
B.
C.
D.

declared that slaves must leave the country to gain freedom.

made Illinois and Missouri slave states.
stated that Congress could not ban slavery in territories.
upheld the Missouri Compromise.

Quiz: Lincoln and Douglas Debate Slavery

What position did Abraham Lincoln take on slavery and popular
sovereignty?
A.
B.
C.
D.

against slavery and popular sovereignty

against slavery but for popular sovereignty
for slavery but against popular sovereignty
for slavery and popular sovereignty

Quiz: The Raid on Harpers Ferry

Why did John Brown lead a raid on Harpers Ferry?
A.
B.
C.
D.

to destroy the arsenals of the South

to free enslaved people in the town
to launch a rebellion against slavery
to overthrow the government