Jump Start Read the following quote by Abraham Lincoln and based on your knowledge of history thus far, explain what you think he means. ‘A house divided against itself can not stand. ’
Poisonous Slavery Infects Kansas, Congress and all the Political Parties
Stephen A. Douglas’ Influence • Pushes to organize remaining piece of the Louisiana Purchase territory in 1854. Best for nation & growth of the Union – Economic Best for his party to ‘git ‘er done’ – Political Best for himself (Railroad Interests) • Supports ‘Popular Sovereignty’ concept in place in Utah & New Mexico. • Supports dividing territory into 2 territories, Kansas & Nebraska
Kansas - Nebraska Act - 1854 • Repeals Missouri Compromise in favor of Popular Sovereignty – people decide on slavery • Douglas hoped Nebraska - Free; Kansas - Slave to help keep balance in Congress. • “Free Soilers” and Slaveholders race to occupy Kansas (ABOVE the Mason-Dixon line). • North feels betrayed – South feels excited
Slaveowners & Free-Soilers Face Off in Kansas • Both groups send settlers into Kansas to outnumber the other, & ‘claim’ the state as free or slave under Popular Sovereignty. • Open and bloody competition for control of the legislature • Missouri sends in bogus residents to vote for pro-slavery & wins the election. Sets up a government in Lecompton, KS • Enact Pro-Slavery laws immediately • Free-Soilers refuse to accept the crooked verdict & set up another in state capital in Topeka – 1855, along with a HQ in Lawrence.
Countrywide Violence ‘Sacking of Lawrence’ • Pro-Slavery Kansans go to Lawrence – a Free-Soiler settlement and wreck the town, burning down the Free-Soiler HQ, trash printing presses. • Becomes known as “Bleeding Kansas” ‘Caning of Sumner’ • Preston Brooks, US Rep. SC, attacks Charles Sumner, Sen. , MA in the Senate Chamber, over a speech…The Crime in Kansas, • Congressmen begin bringing weapons to the Capitol Building
John Brown Fanatical Abolitionist • Believed he was divinely instructed to fight slavery. Mistakenly believed 5 men were killed in Lawrence and planned direct revenge… …and slaughtered 5 proslavery settlers in Potawatamie Creek, KS.
Preston Brooks ‘Caning’ of Charles Sumner – May 1856
![Newspaper Comments Indianapolis, Indiana Locomotive [Democratic], (23 May 1856) Freedom of speech should be](https://present5.com/presentation/fadf021edfe9f3d17b92e7502c2b6692/image-9.jpg "Newspaper Comments Indianapolis, Indiana Locomotive [Democratic], (23 May 1856) Freedom of speech should be")
Newspaper Comments Indianapolis, Indiana Locomotive [Democratic], (23 May 1856) Freedom of speech should be guarantied to all public men in debate on public questions. Boston, Massachusetts Atlas [Republican], (23 May 1856) • the mouths of the representatives of the North are to be closed by the use of bowie-knives, bludgeons, and revolvers. Cincinnati, Ohio Daily Enquirer [Democratic], (23 May 1856) Superficial and malevolent writers are attempting to magnify Sumner into a martyr for freedom and a victim of slavery. Charleston, South Carolina Mercury [Democratic], (28 May 1856) • Sumner was well and elegantly whipped, and he richly deserved it.
Slavery Divides the Whigs • Whigs were a National party united in the North and South by a common belief in preserving the Union. • Slavery caused party members to pick sides and became weak over the issue. • The Kansas –Nebraska Act so divided loyalties that they never recovered and members sought new parties to join. • Elections were now all about slavery
Where Whig Refugees Went • Liberty Party (Abolitionists) As early as 1844 this small party formed to oppose slavery • Free-Soil Party (Conspiracy Theorists) No extension of Slavery in Territories Not as extreme as above, concerned over labor competition • Republicans (Combination) All of above, plus some temperance, farmers seeking land, and manufacturers seeking internal improvements
American Party • Nativists (Know-Nothings) - Concerned about large influx of immigrants - Alarmed about Catholics loyal to the Pope who could undermine democracy. - Secret handshakes and meetings - Denied knowledge of party activities… “I Know Nothing. ”
Republicans Consolidate • Took advantage of the events… …‘Bleeding Kansas’ and ‘Bleeding Sumner’…in 1856 • Other parties saw Republicans as a “catch all” party and began to move toward them. • Abe Lincoln was a Free-Soiler turned Republican, after the series of debates vs. Stephen Douglas. • Republican nominated him for Presidency – 1858 – 2 yrs before the election
“House Divided” Speech On June 16, 1858, in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln accepted the Republican party’s nomination with a speech that dissected the great issues confronting the nation. “We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the… confident promise of putting an end to slavery…agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. . . it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. ‘A house divided against itself can not stand. ’ I believe this Government can not endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. ”
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