US History Unit 6 Lesson 2

The 1850s brought some compromise, but the conflict over slavery and other issues led to upheaval around the nation and terrible violence in "Bleeding Kansas." The Supreme Court added to the turmoil with the Dred Scott decision, declaring that slaves were property and had no rights of citizenship. In the midst of the impending crisis, Abraham Lincoln emerged on the national scene in a series of artful campaign debates against Stephen Douglas. He lost that Senate election, but two years later Lincoln won the presidential nomination of the young Republican Party. His victory in 1860 led South Carolina to secede. War loomed.

True

The Republicans gained strength in the North due to the disintegration of the Whigs and the Democrats losing support in the North. Because the North had more citizens than the South by the mid-1850s, the Republican Party controlled a majority of votes in the U.S. House of Representatives.

True

Together "Bleeding Kansas," "Bleeding Sumner," and the Kansas-Nebraska Act brought about a political realignment that had been building for years. Describe the political realignments for each of the political parties listed below. How did these realignments lead to the rise of the Republican Party in the 1850s?

True

With the Dred Scott case, many Americans had hoped the Court would resolve the issue of slavery in the territories. What impact did the Supreme Court's decision have on the nation?

The Dred Scott decision overturned both the Missouri Compromise and popular sovereignty. It opened the door for slavery everywhere and denied the rights of citizenship to slaves by declaring that they were property

(1854) Stephen Douglas proposes a bill to spur railroad development and open farmland in Kansas and Nebraska to settlement. The Kansas- Nebraska Act is passed. It provides that popular sovereignty will be used to make decisions about slavery. This effectively ends the Missouri Compromise.

True

(1855) Violence surrounding the issue of slavery breaks out. A newspaper coins the phrase Bleeding Kansas to describe it.

True

(1856) Preston Brooks of South Carolina violently attacks Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a fierce opponent of slavery, on the floor of the Senate. The Republican party is born and calls for a ban on slavery in the western territories. The party nominates John C. Frémont, who loses the election to Democrat James Buchanan.

True

(1857) The Supreme Court hands down the Dred Scott decision ruling that the government cannot restrict slavery in the territories. The court says that to do so would violate the prperty rights of American citizens. It rules that slaves and even free blacks are not citizens and cannot bring suit.

True

(1858) The Illinois Senate race features a series of debates that results in the emergence of Abraham Lincoln as a national figure. He is opposed to slavery and loses this election to the incumbent Stephen Douglas.

True

(1859) Abolitionist John Brown tries to incite rebellion against slavery by attacking the federal armory at Harpers Ferry. He is caught and hanged, but becomes a martyr for is cause

True

(1860) Abraham Lincoln defeats three other candidates to win the presidential election. South Carolina declares that it will secede and other states rapidly follow suit.

True

The Know-Nothing Party

- anti-immigrant American Party - won dozens of seats in Congress in the 1854 election - most members in the South returned to the Democratic Party - most members in the North became Republicans

The Republican Party

- created by coalitions of anti-slavery voters - very strong in the North - controlled a majority of votes in the U.S. House of Representatives - held the first national convention in Philadelphia

The Democratic Party

- lost most of its support in the North - absorbed most of the former Whigs - strongest supporters of slavery - very strong in the South

The Whig Party

- the party ceased to exist - former Whigs joined the Democratic party

Compromise of 1850:

-Abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C. -Territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah -California admission as a free state -Passage of the Fugitive Slave Act

(1852) The Whigs nominate General Winfield Scott for the presidency, after discarding incumbent Millard Fillmore. Scott loses overwhelmingly to Franklin Pierce, a Northern ____ who supports slavery

Democrat

Who was John Brown? Why did he raid the armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia?

John Brown was a religious man and a radical abolitionist. He wanted to seize the federal armory at Harpers Ferry so that he and his followers could free slaves from their plantations and build a liberation army that would travel throughout the South.

How did the Lincoln-Douglas debates help Abraham Lincoln?

The debates made Abraham Lincoln a national celebrity and a Republican leader.

(1851) Harriet Beecher Stowe begins publishing a series of installments from her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin

the complete book, condemning slavery, is published in 1852