Chapter 14

How did the Lecompton Controversy make the sectional divisions between the North and South "truly irreconcilable"?

"The Lecompton Constitution decided to permit a vote on the slavery provision alone, giving the electorate the narrow choice of allowing or forbidding the future importation of slaves. Since there was no way to vote for total abolition, the free-state majority again resorted to a boycott, thus allowing ratification of a constitution that protected existing slave property and did not restore importations. Meanwhile, however, the free-states had finally gained control of the territorial legislature, and they authorized a second referendum on the constitution as a whole." It was following the idea of popular sovereignty and showed that the president was bowing down to southern pressure. It did not agree with either sides of the country, which angered both sides even more.

Describe the provisions, motivation, and eventual outcome of the Wilmot Proviso.

After the Mexican-American War started, David Wilmot proposed that all new territories acquired from Mexico should be a slave free territory. What motivated this was that if the U.S. were to acquire the land from Mexico, most of the new land would be below the Missouri Compromise line, therefore, all of the new territory would be filled with slaves, and this is not beneficial to the north. In the end, the Wilmot Proviso was shut down in both houses. It turned out that Congress made it so each new territory would be popular sovereignty.

Summarize the violent events in Kansas in the immediate antebellum period.

Also known as Bleeding Kansas, the small civil war that broke out between the rival regimes occurring when proslavery adherents raided the free-state capital at Lawrence. An antislavery man, named John Brown, and a couple followers, murdered five pro-slavery settlers and continued a hit-and-run guerrilla war between free-state and slave-state factions.

What were Chief Justice Taney's legal arguments in the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sanford?

Chief Justice Taney argued that no African American, slave or free, could be a citizen of the United States. He said that African Americans had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States.

Describe Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas' views of slavery, popular sovereignty, and federal power.

Douglas was said to not be relied on to oppose the extension of slavery, even though he had opposed the admission of Kansas under a proslavery constitution. Abraham Lincoln didn't necessarily agree with slavery, however he was not an abolitionist publicly. Lincoln believed that the Union wouldn't withstand if it was divided into two separate societies that hated each other.

What were the different components of the Compromise of 1850? How was its passage secured?

In the Compromise of 1850, it would pass California as a free state, however all new territories would have no explicit prohibition of slavery, therefore leaving it up to popular sovereignty to decide whether to become a slave state or not. It was passed because after Zachary Taylor died, newly president, Millard Fillmore, agreed with the compromise and passed it. It was in favor of both the North and the South, so both houses in Congress passed it too.

How did the Election of 1856 demonstrate increased sectional divisions?

In the Election of 1856, parties were more concerned with electing a candidate that would either appeal to all of the north or the south. It was so sectional now, and that the Democrat ruling south elected Buchanan and the Republicans elected Frémont. The election now was two complete, separate races, one in the North between Frémont and Buchanan and one in the South between Fillmore and Buchanan.

How did the Election of 1860 represent the final turning point in sectional divisions and lead of secession petitions among Southern states?

In the Election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the election as a Republican, which became a party a little over a couple years ago, and has raised enough support to elect a Republican as president. Ever since the start of the United States, southerners had either a president or had a big influence in the White House, and now southerners had no one, and they were not too thrilled about this, and this lead to the secession of the southern states from the Union and eventually led to the Civil War.

How did the structure of the U.S. Constitution lead to continued division over slavery and the breakdown of the Missouri Compromise system of new state admissions to the Union?

In the U.S. Constitution, there is no amendment or article that prohibits or allows slavery to continue. The founding fathers believed that slavery would just outgrow itself and discontinue. However, this did not happen, and slavery has become a major issue that has caused the North and the South to divide. The Missouri Compromise was a line that divided where slave states were allowed and not allowed. Anywhere above the Missouri Compromise, had to be added as a free state, and anywhere below had to be added into the union as a slave state. But, people wanted to add Kansas in as a slave state, and California as a free state, which would go against the Missouri Compromise, which led to the people adhering less to the Missouri Compromise.

Define "popular sovereignty". Explain how it intended to address the slavery question in newly acquired territories.

Popular sovereignty is when each new territory or each new state is allowed to vote whether or not that would like to become a slave state or not. It was intended to have states decide whether or not they want slavery, and for slavery to work itself out and there to be less disputes between the north and the south.

What was President Taylor's plan for solving the slavery question the the West and what did it lead to?

President Taylor did not agree with the Compromise of 1850, and he was a slave owner in the south, and he wanted to extend slavery into the new territories, however he didn't want the south to secede from the Union.

Summarize the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was when Stephen Douglas started to set up territorial governments in the Kansas and Nebraska territories, and it had permitted slavery in an area that wasn't previously permitted.

What were the beliefs and appeal of the "Know-Nothings"?

The Know-Nothings were anti-Catholic and didn't like that immigrants were coming into the country and living in the slums of cities, which attracted more crime, poverty. The Know-Nothings gained their nickname from their secrecy of their party, and if asked about it, they would say that they knew nothing. The whigs were going to be replaced by a nativist party rather than a antislavery party, so it was the Know-Nothing Party and they were anti-nebraska.

What events lead to a Southern "Crisis of Fear" in 1859-1860?

The first event was John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and he was later executed by getting hanged, but the Northerner abolitionists felt sympathy for him and he soon became a martyr saint of the antislavery cause. This was just one of the events that frightened the south that the North was becoming stronger and more passionate that slavery should be outlawed.

Describe the beliefs of the new Republican Party.

The new Republican Party was a more stronger free-soil party. Once the Know-Nothing Party started to lose popularity, and split up over the Nebraska-Kansas issue, the Republican Party grew in size. Did believe that the slavery was wrong and it was a greater threat to American liberty and equality than an alleged "popish plot" proved to be persuasive.

Describe the factors and implications that led to Winfield Scott's defeat in 1852.

Winfield Scott allied himself with with the dominant northern antislavery wing of the party, which caused Scott to have a crushing defeat against Pierce.