The+1850s


 * THE 1850S**


 * Learning Objectives**:

Explain how acquisition of new territories turned slavery into a major constitutional standoff between 1848-1861.

Debate. As a citizen of a slave state: arguments for/against leaving the Union. As a northern politician: what response to take to the threat of secession, to separation itself, and to the creation of the Confederacy.


 * Put these in below where appropriate**

Use this Library of Congress exhibition for this entire module African American Odyssey: Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy [2 parts] http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart3.html http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart3b.html

How best to make use of this EDSITEment lesson plan: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America: A House Dividing http://edsitement.neh.gov/curriculum-unit/growing-crisis-sectionalism-antebellum-america-house-dividing#sect-thelessons

The Long History of Political Idiocy http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/opinion/the-long-history-of-political-idiocy.html

Shifting Political Landscape Three great maps: Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/lincolns-political-landscape/

Missouri Compromise (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=518&nm=Missouri-Compromise

Missouri Compromise interactive http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/sectionalism/lesson1/sectionalism.swf

Do more with "The Great Triumvirate"

Stephen Douglas (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr23.html

Henry Clay (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun29.html

John C. Calhoun (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar18.html


 * Crucial interplay of several factors**

Slavery's existence and territorial expansion []

Should new states be slave or free? "If slavery was the sore spot in the body politic, territorial disputes were salt rubbed into the wound."


 * Frames of reference** of North and South toward each other:

Northerners: feared an evil Southern Slave Power wanting to take over U.S. Southerners: felt that northerners were all abolitionists--wanting to oppress the South

A North–South division was deepening Slavery in the territories colored every other national issue The first sectional battle of the decade involved California California's request to enter Union as free state caused political conflict Compromise of 1850 became a temporary armistice in the slavery issue


 * Compromise of 1850**

[|The Compromise of 1850 for Dummies - YouTube]

Major provisions of the Compromise of 1850:

Compromise of 1850 (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar07.html

Compromise of 1850 (Sound Smart) http://youtu.be/j_Bra5yBh6M

Struggles over Slavery: The Compromise of 1850 []

a. California entered the Union as a free state

California becomes the 31st state in record time (History.com This Day in History | 9/9/1850) http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/california-becomes-the-31st-state-in-record-time

b. Popular sovereignty allowed in Utah & New Mexico Territories []

Popular Sovereignty (US History.org) http://www.ushistory.org/us/30b.asp

Popular Sovereignty (EDSITEment) http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/kansas-nebraska-act-1854-popular-sovereignty-and-political-polarization-over-slavery

c. Trading and auction of slaves abolished in Washington, D.C.

Slavery itself was still permitted

d. Fugitive Slave Act

Stronger than past ones Citizens must help capture and return runaway slaves Suspected runaways denied trial by jury

Results of the Fugitive Slave Act []

Anthony Burns http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burns_Anthony_The_Trial_of_1854 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2915.html

African American Odyssey: Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy (Part 2) Fugitive Slave Act https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart3b.html

Fugitive Slave Mentality (New York Times) []

Daniel Webster Endorses Compromise of 1850 (Finding Dulcinea, On This Day) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March/Daniel-Webster-Endorses-Compromise-of-1850-in-3-Hour-Speech.html

Compromise of 1850 (Primary Documents in American History) http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Compromise1850.html

Compromise of 1850 (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=492&nm=Compromise-of-1850

Fugitive Slave Law (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1483

The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act (Africans in America) []

Professor Eric Foner discusses the Fugitive Slave Act (Africans in America) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4i3094.html

Prior Compromise on slavery issue: Missouri Compromise []

Interactive Map The Missouri Compromise, 1820-1821 []


 * Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)**

Uncle Tom's Cabin (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun05.html

Harriet Beecher Stowe's portrait of slave suffering made southerners mad

Video: [this is good; use it] Who is Harriet Beecher Stowe? http://youtu.be/ijFy4RjYGbQ

Harriet Beecher Stowe (God in America) []

Slave narratives and Uncle Tom's Cabin []

The Underground Railroad []

Harriet Beecher Stowe obituary (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0614.html

Harriet Beecher Stowe https://www.learner.org/series/amerpass/unit07/authors-10.html

Harriet Beecher Stowe (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=360

Harriet Beecher Stowe (Finding Dulcinea) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/profiles/s/harriet-beecher-stowe.html

Her book a reaction to Fugitive Slave Act (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1405&nm=Uncle-Toms-Cabin

Influence of Uncle Tom's Cabin (History Now) []


 * Website Spotlight: Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture (University of Virginia)**

Church & Camp Meeting Hymns http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/christn/chsohp.html

Uncle Tom's Cabin Movies http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/onstage/films/fihp.html

Songs http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/songs/sohp.html

Hymns for Infant Minds http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/christn/chhymnshp.html

Hymns in Uncle Tom's Cabin website http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/christn/chsohp.html http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/christn/chhymnshp.html

Minstrel Playbills http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/minstrel/mibillshp.html

Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture (University of Virginia) http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/sitemap.html My Website Spotlight blog post http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2012/06/website-spotlight-uncle-toms-cabin.html


 * Southern defense of slavery:**


 * George Fitzhugh**

Southern slaves better off than northern workers Northern workers were "wage" slaves Worked harder than Southern slaves Were laid off if they got sick or too old

George Fitzhugh (Africans in America) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3141.html

George Fitzhugh (Documenting the American South) http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/fitzhughcan/summary.html

Excerpts from Fitzhugh's Slaves without Masters (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/lincolns-fitzhugh/


 * Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)**

Provisions []

The Kansas-Nebraska Act Explained: US History Review Keith Hughes []

Kansas-Nebraska Act http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Kansas-Nebraska_Act

Interactive Map The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854 [] Kansas-Nebraska Act interactive http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/sectionalism/lesson3/lesson.swf

Kansas-Nebraska Act (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1476&nm=Kansas-Nebraska-Act

Kansas-Nebraska Act (EDSITEment) http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/kansas-nebraska-act-1854-popular-sovereignty-and-political-polarization-over-slavery

Lesson 3: The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery | EDSITEment https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/kansas-nebraska-act-1854-popular-sovereignty-and- political-polarization-over-slavery#sect-background

Parts of this essay on Westward Expansion (Africans in America) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4narr4.html


 * Bleeding Kansas**

[]

Bleeding Kansas (Africans in America) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html

Bleeding Kansas (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=484&nm=Bleeding-Kansas

Bleeding Kansas []

Bleeding Kansas (Sound Smart) []

Pottowatomie massacre John Brown []


 * Republican party** (1854)

New party—not connected to the earlier Jeffersonian Republican party A purely sectional third party based in the North Dedicated to keeping slavery out of the territories

The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Rise of the Republican Party [find a good source for this]

Nativism American Party Know Nothings

Know-Nothing Party http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Know-Nothing_Party


 * Sumner–Brooks incident** (1856)

The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner (US Senate) http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm

Canefight (US History.org) http://www.ushistory.org/us/31e.asp

Charles Sumner (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/grant-sumner/

Sen. Charles Sumner (Mass.) an abolitionist His antislavery remarks an insult to Rep. Preston Brooks (S.C.) Brooks beat Sumner with a cane—in Senate chamber

South seemed to condone violence to have its way South sent Brooks more canes Northerners shocked at this southern assault on free speech


 * Dred Scott decision (1857)**

Dred Scott decision by the United States Supreme Court (1857) (New York Times) http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/march-6-1857-supreme-court-issues-dred-scott-decision/#more-103815

Dred Scott decision (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0306.html#article

Supreme Court attempted to decide issue of slavery in the territories Five of the nine Supreme Court justices were southerners

The case ruled as follows:
 * Blacks could not be U.S. citizens
 * Congress could not prohibit slavery in a territory
 * This implied a repeal of the Missouri Compromise
 * South delighted; North outraged

Compare to Supreme Court involvement in 2000 presidential election

See also:

Dred Scott case (Sound Smart) http://youtu.be/J0OW18pIo8c

Dred Scott (D'Army Bailey) http://youtu.be/5SnNuFykpZg

Supreme Court Rules Against Dred Scott (Finding Dulcinea, On This Day) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March/Supreme-Court-Rules-Against-Dred-Scott.html

Dred Scott's fight for freedom (Africans in America) [] Portrait of Dred Scott [] Dred Scott case: the Supreme Court decision []

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug24.html
 * Panic of 1857** (Today in History, Library of Congress)


 * Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858**

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates Begin (Finding Dulcinea, On This Day) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day--The-Lincoln-Douglas-Debates-Begin.html

Lincoln-Douglass Debates http://www.history.com/topics/lincoln-douglas-debates

Map of debate locations [] Text of Debates: from Teaching American History.org [] Re-enactments from C-SPAN []

Lincoln-Douglas https://www.c-span.org/video/?59824-1/lincolndouglas-galesburg-debate

See also:

Stephen Douglas bio sketch (Ohio History online) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=110

Stephen Douglas (Today in History, Library of Congress) []

Stephen Douglas obituary (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/1861/06/04/news/death-of-stephen-a-douglas.html?pagewanted=all


 * John Brown at Harpers Ferry** (1859)

Harper's Ferry (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct16.html

John Brown had slain proslavery settlers in Bleeding Kansas Using both whites & blacks, John Brown attacked federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry Brown hoped to arm slaves and trigger a slave rebellion Brown failed: captured, tried, and executed Northern abolitionists saw him as a Jesus figure South bothered by this adulation; thought all northerners endorsed him

See also:

John Brown Bio Sketch (Encyclopedia of Virginia) http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Brown_John_1800-1859

"He Knew How to Die": John Brown on the Gallows, December 2, 1859 Article from History News Network: []

John Brown (Africans in America) [] The raid on Harpers Ferry [] John Brown's black raiders [] "Harpers Ferry" headline [] John Brown's address to the court []

John Brown and the Underground Railroad (National Geographic) http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/17/g912/undergroundrail.html

John Brown: America's First Terrorist? (National Archives magazine) http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2011/spring/brown.html

John Brown's Holy War (American Experience) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/ My Website Spotlight blog post http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-john-brown-ae.html

John Brown's Holy War []

Selected Images Relating to the the Trial of John Brown http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/johnbrown/brownimages.html

John Brown Trial (Famous Trials) http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/johnbrown/brownhome.html My Website Spotlight blog post http://thelearningprofessor.blogspot.com/2011/12/website-spotlight-john-brown-trial.html


 * Election of 1860**

Abraham Lincoln Elected President (Finding Dulcinea, On This Day) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/November/Abraham-Lincoln-Elected-President.html

United States presidential election, 1860 []

Lincoln got no southern electoral votes but still won the election. []

Lincoln got no southern electoral votes (split between Douglas, Breckenridge, and Bell) but still won the election. He was only on the ballot in Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri

Lincoln's analysis "You in the south think slavery is right and ought to be expanded. We think it is wrong and ought to be restricted."


 * Precedents to the notion of secession**

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Nullification Controversy

Nullification Crisis (Today in History, LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan13.html

Nullification Proclamation http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Nullification.html


 * Secession**

Interactive Map: America on the Eve of the Civil War []

Map of secession: []

Secession of South Carolina (December 20, 1860)

The secession of South Carolina led other southern states to secede

Distinguish the two waves of secession

a) Deep South: Miss., Fla., Ala., Ga., La., Tx.

b) Upper South: Ark., Tn., N.C., Va.

Several slave states remained committed to the North: Mo., Ky., Md., Del.


 * Confederate States of America**

Confederacy was a separate country Problems similar to those of the Articles of Confederation


 * Jefferson Davis** chosen as President

Jefferson Davis Elected (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov06.html

Jefferson Davis bio sketch (Encyclopedia of Virginia) http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Davis_Jefferson_1808-1889

Capital of the Confederacy was initially in Montgomery, Alabama Capital for remainder of war in Richmond, Virginia Each side tried to take the enemy's capital city


 * Fort Sumter (South Carolina)**

Lincoln decided to resupply the federal fort in Charleston harbor Confederates fired on the fort and thereby began the Civil War