Sectionalism
1844-1860
I. The Mexican Cession 
•	Wilmot Proviso
•	“Popular Sovereignty”
•	Election of 1848: 
•	Whigs: Zachary Taylor
•	Democrats: Lewis Cass
•	Free-soil: martin van Buren
•	Taylor 163 to Cass 127

How does this lead to war?
II. Sectional issues by 1850 deeply divided the nation. 
•	California
•	New Mexico and Utah: lean free
•	The Underground Railroad and the fugitive slave 
•	Texas and its big claims
•	Northerners demand change in DC
•	The Nashville Convention
III. Compromise of 1850  
•	Henry Clay
•	The threat persisted
•	The compromise:
	1. California was admitted as a free state. 
	 2.  The slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia. 
	3.  Popular sovereignty was applied to the Mexican Cession: New Mexico and Utah territories. 
	 4.  A more stringent Fugitive Slave Law was passed. 
	5.  Texas received $10 million from the federal gov’t for surrendering its claim to the disputed territory in New Mexico. 
D. Results: Fugitive slave law, “personal liberty laws”, overall win for the north

IV.  Election of 1852 
•	Democrats: Franklin Pierse (new Hampshire)
•	Whigs: Gen. Winfield Scott
•	Pierse wins 254-42
•	Effectively ends the Whigs
V.  Expansionism under President Pierce 
•	“young America”
•	Asia:

What is the problem
VI. The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
•	Gadsden Purchase (1853) 
•	Stephen Douglas
•	Repeal of the Missouri compromise of 1820
•	Birth of the Republican Party

VII. "Bleeding Kansas" 
•	New England Emigrant Aid Company 
•	South Furious
•	In 1855, an election was held in Kansas for its first territorial legislature. 
•	In 1856, a proslavery gang attacked and burned part of the free-soil town of Lawrence, Kansas. 
•	The caning of Charles Sumner (May 22, 1856) 

John Brown: Madman, Hero or Martyr?

VII. "Bleeding Kansas" 
F. Pottawatomie Massacre , May 24-25, 1856
G. Lecompton Constitution (1857) 
H. The Kansas issue shattered the Democratic Party.
VIII. Antislavery literature 
•	Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) 
•	Hinton R. Helper: The Impending Crisis of the South (1857) 
IX. Election of 1856 
•	Democrats: James Buchanan
•	Republicans: Captain John C. Fremont
•	American Party ("Know-Nothings"): Millard Fillmore 
•	Buchanan wins 174-114
X. The Dred Scott case (March 6, 1857) 
•	Dred Scott had lived with his master for five years in Illinois and Wisconsin territories.
•	Chief Justice Roger B. Taney 
•	Decision: Blacks not citizens, slaves private property(5th amendment), Missouri compromise illegal
•	Impact: split democratic party, leads to further disunion

XI . Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)
•	Republican Abraham Lincoln challenged Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas for the Illinois senate seat in 1858.
•	Lincoln challenged Douglas to seven debates in Illinois
•	“Freeport Doctrine” 
•	Result: “popular sovereignty” prevails, Lincoln now a national figure

XII. John Brown attacks Harper’s Ferry 
•	Secretly invades the south
•	Captures the arsenal at Harpers ferry
•	Becomes an martyr in the north

XIII. Election of 1860 
•	Democrats split: Stephen Douglas and Breckinridge
•	The constitutional union party: John Bell
•	The republicans: Abraham Lincoln
•	Lincoln wins 180-123

XIV. Southern states secede
•	December 1860, South Carolina
•	Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas next
•	Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee  once the war starts
•	The Confederate States of America: president Jefferson Davis
•	Buchanan didn’t do anything
•	Reasons: political balance seemed to favor the north, hatred of republican party, perception of northern interference

XV. Crittenden amendments -- final attempt at compromise 
A. Proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky
B. These proposed laws were designed to appease the South. 
C. Provisions 
        1. Slavery in the territories would be prohibited north of 36’30˚ but given full federal protection south of that line, even if new  territories were acquired (e.g. Cuba).
        2. Popular sovereignty for future states 
D. It was rejected by Lincoln; all hope of compromise was gone. 
•	Lincoln saw himself elected on the principle of non-extension of slavery.