Bleeding Kansas and the Caning of Charles Sumner

“Bleeding Kansas” is the expression used to describe the violence that occurred in the territory of Kansas in 1854.  It started with the Kansas-Nebraska Act which replaced the Missouri Compromise in determining whether a territory would be pro- or anti-slave territory.  The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the people to choose (“popular sovereignty”) and the Missouri Compromise used latitude to set the border between free and slave territory. Because people in Kansas could now choose free or slave territory, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed to Kansas to try to sway the result.  Violence broke out between the factions and Kansas was in turmoil.

In May of 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was assaulted by congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina because Sumner gave a speech “The Crime Against Kansas,” which denounced slavery. Sumner mainly directed his speech against Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina.  Preston Brooks, the cousin of Andrew Butler, assaulted Sumner with a cane by hitting him repeatedly, while sitting at his desk in the Senate chamber. Sumner did not return to the Senate for three years. Northerners were outraged and Brooks was considered a hero in the South. This incident is significant because it added to the escalating hostility between the North and South.

South Carolina and Other States Secede

The first seven states to secede from the Union in 1861 before the Civil War broke out were South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These states believed their way of life was threatened by the North and with Abraham Lincoln as President due to the anti-slavery views. After the firing upon Ft. Sumter began, the Civil War in April of 1861, four more states seceded from the Union.  These states included North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia. These eleven states formed their own Confederate government with Jefferson Davis as the President.  They created their own flag and operated in a similar manner to the United States.

Ft. Sumter Falls

Ft. Sumter

In 1861, before the Civil War broke out, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union. These states claimed all the forts within their territories except for two. Ft. Sumter was one of the two forts remaining under Federal jurisdiction, and was the site of the first battle in the Civil War in 1861.  Ft. Sumter had no value strategically in that it was unfinished and all its guns pointed out to sea; however, it became the symbol of the national union. The South demanded that Ft. Sumter be evacuated, and Lincoln refused to allow this “disunion.” He sent supplies to fortify the fort that was being starved out.  Before supplies could arrive at the fort, the South called for its immediate evacuation, which was refused.  The fall of St. Sumter came in April 1861, when Confederate troops opened fire, the fort surrendered after 34 hours of being fired upon.   The fall of Ft. Sumter is significant because the Civil War began with the South first firing upon Ft. Sumter.

The Election of 1860

The candidates running for President in the Election of 1860 were Senator Stephen A. Douglas from Illinois (chosen by the Northern Democrats);  Vice President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky (chosen by the Southern Democrats); Senator John Bell of Tennessee (of the Constitutional Union Party), and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois (Republican candidate).  The Democrats were extremely divided over slavery issues and split into two democratic parties (Northern and Southern), therefore each nominated a presidential candidate.  Lincoln was elected President in 1860 (just one year before the start of the Civil War).  Since Lincoln was anti-slavery, within a few weeks several Southern states seceded from the Union.

John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

John Brown

On October 16, 1859, a federal armory located in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, was raided by abolitionist John Brown in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt against slavery. He was backed by other abolitionists and his group included his three sons, five black men and about 12 other men. His group was discovered and by the next morning, the raiders were surrounded. On October 19th, the U.S. Marines overtook Brown and his cohorts killing ten men. Brown was found guilty of treason and murder and was hanged on December 2, 1859. Brown handed a note to a guard before the execution which read:, "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." Although John Brown failed, his revolt raised sectional tensions between the North and South by convincing the south that the Northerners were plotting against them, and thus called to prepare to go to arms. The north, however, saw this as the morally right thing to do and by Brown's insurrection encouraged the abolitionist movement in the north.

Kansas's Lecompton Constitution

Lecompton Costitution Hall

The Lecompton Constitution was written by pro-slavery activists and was the second constitution written for the Kansas Territory in anticipation of statehood. The Lecompton Constitution was rejected by Kansas for its injustices, however, the controversy over this proposed Constitution added to the tensions leading up to the Civil War. It allowed slavery, and did not permit free blacks to live in Kansas. It also only allowed white male citizens of the U.S. to vote. One of the most serious repercussions of the Lecompton Constitution was that controversy and debate over it destroyed the Democratic party. President Buchanan supported the Lecompton Constitution and so lost his political supporters in the North, while Stephen Douglas objected to it because it went against his "Popular Sovereignty" position. The Lecompton Constitution was defeated and Kansas was admitted as a free state in 1861.

Dred Scott Decision

The Dred Scott decision was a huge controversy during the years before the Civil War. Dred Scott was a slave who lived with his owner in a free state and then relocated to a slave state.  Scott petitioned the court for freedom from slavery because according to the Missouri Compromise, he had lived north of the 36°30' latitude line. Scott's petition went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court which issued its decision in 1857.  Chief Justice Roger B. Taney found that no black, whether free or a slave, could claim citizenship, and so could not petition the court for freedom.  This infuriated the anti-slave supporters and Chief Justice Taney was viewed as a satanic figure.  

This decision was a major factor that led to the Civil War. The Northerners were outraged by this dictate, the Southerers, smug.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in 1852.  This is an anti-slavery novel that Stowe wrote in response to her experiences with fugitive slaves, the punitive fugitive slave laws, and her experiences with the Underground Railroad. The novel tells of a poor white farmer and wife with a good relationship with their slaves. The farmer plans to sell two slaves (Uncle Tom and his wife) to avoid losing everything he owns.  The wife warns the slaves who flee north.  The story relates the experiences of the slaves on their flight to freedom. The African Americans depicted are relatable and real.  The impact on the U.S. was extremely wide. By the first year, 300,000 copies were sold. To the Northerers it illustrated the horrors of slavery and unleased pity and outrage at the treatment of slaves in the Lower and Upper south.  

When Southerners read this book they called it blasphemous, outraged at the conditions of enslaved peoples.  Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed to the tension between the North-South because it was so widely read that it influenced  Americans' views of slavery, and increased in the north the immoral view of the southern way of life.

Gadsden Purchase

In 1853, Jefferson Davis (U.S. Secretary under President Pierce) sent James Gadsden, U.S. Minister to Mexico, to negotiate the purchase with Santa Anna for a strip of land on the border between Mexico and Texas. The purchase is significant because it established the southern border between the United States and Mexico. Also, the land was desired by the United States because it was considered a practical route for a southern railroad to the Pacific.  The purchase was completed in 1854 and cost ten million dollars for 30,000 acres of land which is now southern New Mexico and Arizona. Eventually, in 1861, the Southern Pacific branch of the Central Pacific Railroad was built in that location.

This purchase of dry desert added animosity and sectionalism between the North and the South because northerers believed that the purchase of land was pointless for such a substatial amount of money. There was nothing the U.S. could do with the dry, cactus-strewn desert floor, in their opinion. 

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Abraham Lincoln

Stephen Douglas

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a set of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858 during the Illinois state election campaign.  Historians believe the seven debates to be some of the most important in our political history. These debates were significant to the issue of North-South sectionalism because the issues involved the conflict over slavery. There was Douglas’ “popular sovereignty” position, in which states/territories could decide for themselves whether or not slavery would be permitted. Lincoln believed slavery was morally wrong and should be abolished.  Lincoln said that either slavery would become extinct or the U.S. would, because the issue was dividing the our country.  Lincoln accused Douglas of trying to extend slavery into free states/territories by using "popular sovereignty" to influence voters. Douglas argued that “popular sovereignty” was fair in that he believed decisions should be made at the local level to reflect the people’s wishes.  Douglas denied Lincoln’s accusations and said most territories would choose to be free of slavery anyway because of economic and geographic reasons. These two men both opposed slavery, but believed that the way it should and would be abolished was either enforced by the government, from Lincoln's point, or enforced by the will and morality of the people, from Douglas' point. 

These debates created sectional tension by the people rallying behind whoever they supported, either Lincoln or Douglas. Southerners were angered by Douglas' viewpoint that local police regulations were what managed slavery. Many Northerners agreed with the two men's views, but were not quite ready for the government to take such a prominent role on the issue of slavery. Douglas won the election.       

The Compromise of 1850

President Taylor.
Had he not died, our history would be different.

The Compromise of 1850 essentially eased the strain of slavery in the states. The need for a compromise in the first place is that California wanted to become a free state. This sent the Southerners into a frenzy of fear of Northern dominance, for there then would be unbalance in the Senate. The Compromise of 1850 was introduced by Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky to resolve the issues over slavery in the territory America acquired during the Mexican-American War in 1848 (California). Stephen A. Douglas divided the large compromise into smaller bills as to allow the representatives from the different regions to vote on what they liked or disliked about the compromise. Though all voted on the different parts of the compromise, the compromise was passed as Clay had envisioned it. This compromise included laws that created the New Mexico and Utah territories and admitted California as a free state. It allowed the people in each territory/state to decide whether or not to allow slavery. The Compromise also ended Washington, D.C.’s slave trade, resolved a boundary dispute between Texas and New Mexico, and provided ways to help southerners recover fugitive slaves. The North and South debated and fought about the Compromise of 1850’s slavery issues, but Congress, due to the support of Vice President Millard Fillmore after the unexpected death of President Taylor, who opposed the compromise, did pass the Compromise.

The compromise eased the sectionalism between the two regions. But it seems now only an obstacle on the road to the Civil War. In future years, this promise of cooperation would fade away and sectionalism would once again flare.

The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman

An Underground Railroad Station

The Underground Railroad was the group of people (abolitionists and free blacks) who helped slaves gain their freedom from the South to the northern states or into Canada. It was called the Underground Railroad because the activities had to be carried out in secret due to the severe punishments to anyone who helped runaway slaves. Railway terms were also used, such as "conductors," "freight," and "stations" to indicate the various participants and stopping points.  Most of the "conductors" (Railroad workers) were free black slaves like Harriet Tubman and not white abolitionists. An escaped slave at age 29, Harriet Tubman would travel back into the South 19 times to aid the runaways over her lifetime and help several hundred slaves escape to the North. She was also called "Moses."  There were also white Railroad workers who contributed to the cause. Unfortunately, most slaves never escaped and lived in bondage their whole lives.

The Underground Railroad contributed to the North-South sectionalism in that the idea of a group of people undermining the institution of slavery through secret and coordinated planning angered the southerners so much that they sought aid from Congress to strengthen the fugitive slave laws. The North protested and increased their efforts on the slaves' behalf. Thus, the hostility between North and South escalated.

Transcontinental Railroad

 

What the Transcontinental Railroad would eventually be.

The Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad that was to connect the United States from the east coast to the west coast. Before the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, there were arguments between the North and the South on where the railroad should begin. These debates are what increased the sectionalism between the North and the South. The North, of course, wanted it in the north, and in Illinois-born, Democratic Stephen A. Douglas' opinion, it should start in Chicago. The South wanted the railroad to begin at New Orleans. But, if either region was granted their request, there would have to be major organization and reorganization of the territories that the railroad would run through.

If the South's wish was granted, they would have to buy land from Mexico. The Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who was a strong supporter of Southern interests, bought the Gadsden Purchase which consisted of 30,000 acres for $10 million. If the North wanted the starting point of the railroad in their region, they would have to reorganize Missouri into the two territories of Kansas and Nebraska, voiding the Missouri Compromise. The Southern Senators encouraged the voiding of the Missouri Compromise and refused the bill that would allow the railroad to be built in the North, unless the compromise was voided. If the Missouri Compromise was voided, it would help expand slavery in the territories.The Transcontinental Railroad was not completed until after the Civil War ended. After the war was over the railroad encouraged many people from the East looking for a new life away from prejudice and congested cities to travel on the new railroad to the West.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted in 1854 and caused conflicts to arise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. It was proposed by Stephen A. Douglas in order to organize western territories and new states. The act allowed the settlers of a new state or territory to decide whether or not slavery would be allowed in that new state using popular soverignty, instead of using latitude to decide.  Traditionally, latitude was used to determine the border between free and slave territory. This use of latitude was known as the Missouri Compromise, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned it.  Douglas' plan was to create two territories from the Missouri area (Kansas and Nebraska). The more northern territory (Nebraska) being free and Kansas being a slave territory.  Both Kansas and Nebraska were north of the latitude line, therefore should have been free territories, but Douglas wanted to gain political support from the Southern States. The repercussions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act were that it divided the two major political parties of pro-slavery and anti-slavery and further aggravated the relationship between the North and South. Douglas did not gain much political support and was criticized for breaking the Missouri Compromise.  Many of Douglas supporters joined the anti-slavery republican party and the North and South were further divided.

The Fugitive Slave Act and Civil Disobedience

The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress in 1850.  It was extremely cruel in that it severely penalized anyone who permitted or helped a slave escape.  The slaves themselves, if caught, were severely abused, were not allowed to testify on their own behalf, nor were they allowed  a trial by jury.  Pressure on Congress from the South to federally enforce this act was opposed strongly by the North. Special commissioners were appointed to work with the U.S. Courts to enforce the act.  Enforcement of the act backfired on the South because it led to abuses, which in turn led to support for the Underground Railroad and increased the number of abolitionists.  The Northern states also enacted personal liberty laws specifically in response to the Fugitive Slave Act.  The personal liberty laws built up so much resentment and angered the South so much that they were specifically listed as grievances and justification for the South's secession from the Union in 1860. The Act was enforced during part of the Civil War in the Southern states that bordered states loyal to the Union. The Fugitive Slave Act was finally repealed on June 28, 1864.
Civil Disobedience is an essay that was written in 1849 by Henry David Thoreau that advocated deliberately eschewing and disobeying the immoral laws set down by the government.  He stated that the people had a obligation to break laws if they believed that the morally wrong laws were damaging to the individual conscience. Since most Northerners believed that the Fugitive Slave Act was morally wrong, they chose to disobey the laws set down by the act. This Northern resistance was recurrent, publicly open, and violent.  These reoccurring confrontations, accredited to the Fugitive Slave Act and supported by Civil Disobedience, led to greater sectionalism in the U.S. by the act reaching and affecting every citizen in the North, even those who were indifferent to slavery, building up their resentment, and eventually forcing all Northern citizens to support in the anti-slavery movement.      

Wilmot Proviso and Popular Sovereignty

The Wilmot Proviso was proposed as an amendment  in August of 1846 by David Wilmot and was one result of the Mexican-American War.  It stated that slavery should never exist in any territory gained from Mexico. The argument that the Wilmot Proviso proposes against slavery was a reiteration of other abolitionists before Wilmot. Though it was only passed in the House of Representatives, the South felt that the Wilmot Proviso was a threat to slavery for they believed that a threat to slavery anywhere is a threat to slavery everywhere. To the South, their livelihood was at stake. The idea the Wilmot Proviso proposed could be countered by  the idea of popular sovereignty, proposed by Lewis Cass of Michigan, that the people living in a territory could vote for slavery or against it.

These two opposing ideas created controversy for the North and the South by their contradictory ideals. The South supported in the idea popular sovereignty, which enabled the states to have an option of slavery in the new respective states. The North supported the rejected Wilmot Proviso with the intent of hurrying the progressive elimination of slavery from the states, urging it to die out, for many Northerners believed that slavery was wrong. The Wilmot Proviso brought out the beliefs and opinions of many people in and out of Congress about the slavery issue, while the idea of popular sovereignty controlled it and took it out of national politics.