Essential Questions: What differences existed between the North and South? What was the Compromise of 1850? Why was it so important?
I. Differences between North and South
A. North favored industry and immigration
B. South favored agriculture and slavery
II. What to do with slavery in the territories
A. . Wilmot Proviso
1. David Wilmot, a democrat from Penn., introduced an amendment to an
appropriations bill on August 8, 1846
a. The bill would have outlawed slavery in any territory gained
from Mexico
b. Framed slavery debate for the next 15 years
c. The vote was defeated along sectional lines
B. Slavery hampered efforts at the Mexican War peace talks
1. Anti-slavery forces opposed acquiring territory that supported slavery
2. Pro-slavery forces called for the annexation of all of Mexico
III. The slavery issue boils over
A. Cluster of slavery related questions remained unanswered in 1850
1. The return of fugitive slaves to their rightful owners
2. Continuing slave trade in Washington D.C.
3. Territory gained from Mexico
B. Passage of the Compromise of 1850
1. California would come in as a free state
a. However, a state law allowed slave owners to keep their slaves
while visiting the state
2. The territorial legislatures of Utah and New Mexico could decide for
themselves whether or not they wanted slavery (popular sovereignty)
3. The abolition of the slave trade in Washington DC
4. Passage of new Fugitive Slave Law
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Chapter 10: Protest, Resistance, and Violence
Essential Questions: How did the Underground Railroad operate? Why did Kansas become a center of controversy over the issue of slavery?
I. Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
A. Harriet Tubman became a conductor on the Underground Railroad
1. The Underground Railroad was a secret network of people would help
fugitive escape to the North
a. Tubman helped 300 slaves escape to freedom in the North
-None of the slaves she helped were ever captured
II. Uncle Tom�s Cabin, 1851
1. The book, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, discussed the evils of slavery
a. Breakup of the slave family
2. Helped shape a generations view of slavery
III. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
A. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois suggested applying popular sovereignty concept to
Nebraska
1. Ultimately agreed to divide territory into Kansas and Nebraska
2. Also agreed to explicitly repeal the Missouri Compromise
B. Reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act was intense
1. Northern opposition to the �slave power� was intense
C. Bleeding Kansas
1. Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act meant a struggle for control of the territory
a. Settlers rushed in from both North and South (Bloody)
b. Goal was to establish majority in order to control the territory
-Pro-slavery Missourians were determined to establish a pro-slavery
government in Kansas
-Northern settlers also poured into the territory
2. John Brown
a. Brown was an abolitionists who led a group of men into Kansas
-He and his followers pulled five proslavery men from their beds,
hacked their hands off and stabbed them with broadswords
-This incident triggered dozens of encounters between proslavery
and free-soiler forces
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Chapter 10: Slavery and Secession
Essential Questions: What was the significance of the Dred Scott Decision? What was Lincoln�s position on slavery? How did Lincoln�s election in 1860 affect the South?
I. The Dred Scott case (1857)
A. Dred Scott�s owner took him to army posts in Illinois and Wisconsin (free
territories) in 1834 before returning to Missouri
1. Scott sued for freedom based on his long residence in Wisconsin
a. The Missouri Compromise had declared this a free territory
2. Southern justices decided to rule that Missouri Compromise�s
prevention of slavery in the territories was unconstitutional
a. Constitution�s protection of private property meant Congress
had no right to stop slavery
b. Since blacks were not citizens Scott didn�t have the right to sue
3. Northerners denounced this decision as wrong
4. Instead of settling slavery controversy, Scott decision intensified it
II. Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A. Illinois Senate race in 1858 pitted Abraham Lincoln against Stephen Douglas
1. Became dress rehearsal for 1860 presidential election
2. Seven open-air debates focused almost entirely on the issue of slavery
a. Lincoln warned that slavery and freedom could not co-exist
b. Douglas felt people had a right to slavery if they wanted it
B. Freeport Doctrine
1. Douglas further alienated Southern Democrats because his popular sovereignty
views went against Dred Scott decision
III. The Election of 1860
A. Democrats were split over slavery
1. Northerners favored Stephen Douglas
2. Southerners favored John C. Breckinridge
B. Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln
1. Lincoln was against expanding slavery
C. Southern fears began to mount
1. Opposed any Republican candidate
2. Feared that party was out to destroy slavery
D. Lincoln elected by winning every free state, but 40% of popular vote
IV. The Lower South Secedes
A. Lincoln�s victory shocked the South
1. Seven states seceded immediately
a. Believed states retained individual sovereignty
-States therefore could leave the Union
2. Four other states would secede by the time of Lincoln�s inauguration
3. Seceded states formed the Confederate States of America