History Lecture 11 12 2013 Prelude to the Civil War Key Terms Kansas Nebraska Act Dred Scott Decision Harper s Ferry The Age of Jackson s two party system 1820 1830s Jackson s time in power Democrats o Supported State s rights o Limited government s involvement in the economy Whigs o The American System the idea that imagined the government s role in bolstering the economy A protective tariff a national bank and federal money to improve roads and canals o Supported by established business owners farmers near canals and large slave owners 1848 The Free Soil Party One of the first third parties No slavery in the territories Wanted federal aid for internal improvements free homesteads and tariffs to bolster US manufacturing Similar to Whigs except for a solid position on slavery issue Support from Easterners who hoped westward expansion would combat unemployment and low wages Launch a national candidate in 1848 election Martin Van Buren o Got around 10 of popular vote Election of 1848 Compromise of 1850 Whig candidate Zachary Taylor wins Offered as a solution to the question of should slavery be allowed in territories acquired after the Mexican American war Designed by Henry Clay Four major provisions to appease each faction in Congress o California would be admitted as a free state o The slave trade was abolished in Washington D C o The Fugitive Slave Law If a slave escaped and made it to a free state it was up to Federal authorities to determine the fate of said slave Upset many people in the North They felt that it was a dissertation of state s rights Also upset abolitionists who thought the North should be a haven to anti slavery o The issue of slavery within the Utah and New Mexico territories would be determined by local white inhabitants Controversial in part because it reopened the extension of slavery in a clear way ignoring the Missouri Compromise s northern boundary against slavery The issue of slavery is really heating up The Whig party is also unravelling The election of 1852 Democratic candidate Franklin Pierce from Vermont wins by a landslide The election of 1852 would be the Whig Party s swan song Their final large political race The Know Nothing Party Between 1846 and 1855 more than 3 million immigrants arrived in the US o Many were Irish who were not considered fully white By the mid 1850s immigrants outnumber native whites Rise of nativism the prejudice of immigrants Nativism was the central political ideology of the Know Nothing party Founded in 1854 By 1856 there were 5 senators and 43 congressmen elected from the Know Nothing Party within two years of its founding By 1855 they replaced the Whigs as the second largest party Begins to decline in 1856 o After 1856 many Americans were not satisfied by a political party that did not address the issue of slavery Significant because their dissolving of the Whig party and people s allegiance to major parties Kansas Nebraska Act 1854 Resolved that the inhabitants of Kansas and Nebraska territories would determine whether they would be free or slave states Popular sovereignty the people decided for themselves Controversial because it contradicted the Missouri Compromise of 1820 Significant because it shatters all illusions of sectional peace Also significant because the controversy surrounding act leads to the formation of the Republican Party o They were united in their opposition to the Kansas Nebraska act The Republican Party Free labour ideology keep slavery out of the territories Federal money for internal improvements roads and canals Appealed to Northern Democrats angry at the Fugitive Slave Act Slogan o Free labour free soil free men Bleeding Kansas Popular sovereignty soon turned to violence By fall of 1855 Kansas had two territorial legislatures o Each ruled by pro and anti slavery The Sack of Lawrence o In May of 1856 800 pro slavery men start a riot in Lawrence Two days before the Sack of Lawrence Senator Charles Sumner denounced The Crime Against Kansas o Refers to the crime as the potential introduction of slavery into Kansas because it is a violation of the Missouri Compromise Bleeding Sumner Happened within the halls of the Senate 2 days after his speech and personal attacks against another senator he s in his office when the nephew of the abused senator proceeds to beat Sumner with a cane within an inch of his life Significant because he used a cane the same way a slave would be punished Sumner was seen as a martyr for the anti slavery movement The man who attacked him was celebrated as someone who acted in support of the institution of slavery by the other side First presidential election wherein the Republicans had a national candidate John C Fremont Election of 1856 o Free speech free soil and Fremont James Buchanan Democrat from Pennsylvania wins Dred Scott Decision 1857 Supreme Court decision The result of the actions taken by Dred Scott who was born a slave and brought to a free state by his owners He sues the government arguing that once brought to free soil he was no longer a slave Supreme Court decides that he is not free even if in a Free State Really angers abolitionists since they see it indicates that slavery will have a long future in the United States o An extension of slavery Increased tensions regarding slavery Harper s Ferry By the mid and late 1850s abolitionists begin to get violent Believed that slavery could only be ended by violence In October 1859 Abolitionist John Brown led a raiding party of approximately 21 men toward Harper s Ferry Virginia where the federal arsenal was located o They planned to arm themselves using the weapons taken from the federal arsenal Brown s plan was to arm slaves and drive southward He wanted to spur slave insurrections across the South Insurrection was unsuccessful and put down by US Marines commanded by Colonel Robert E Lee Brown is arrested and put on trial During the trial his popularity skyrockets in the North a hero in the South a hated individual Significant because of the differences in opinion about the trial depending on location o Southerners increasingly believed that secession and creation of a slaveholding confederacy were the South s only option o A tipping point Lincoln won only 39 of the popular vote but had the majority of electoral votes without any southern support This really pisses the South off The Election of 1860 Conclusion Prior to the 1850s there were two national parties Democrats and Whigs that helped hold the country