Passages History 1301 Chapter 13 Outline

Chapter Outline

Differences between the North and the South had been growing since the country’s foundation, but during the late 1850s those differences were exacerbated by numerous crises.

A.     The White South Fortifies Itself:  The white South fortified itself to defend the economic system of slavery that had been cultivated in the region, while antislavery people became more vocal in their criticism.

1.       Southern slaveholders argued that slavery was actually preferable to the free labor system of the North, that it was more humane, even that it was the preferred Christian way.

2.       They also pointed to the economic success of the South that helped the rest of the country be successful as well.

3.       Critics of slavery charged that slavery was economically holding back not only the South but also the entire country, and books such as The Impending Crisis of the South criticized the “backwardness” of the region.

B.      Bleeding Kansas:  When the Kansas-Nebraska Act instituted “popular sovereignty” in the territory of Kansas, disagreements turned into violent discord, and events such as the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas and the caning of Senator Sumner in the U.S. Senate made “Bleeding Kansas” a more than appropriate term.

C.     The Republicans Challenge the South:  Politics took a new turn in 1854 with the emergence of the new Republican party, which was dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery, but the election of James Buchanan in 1856 gave some Americans hope that the question of slavery would settle down.

D.     Dred Scott:  The Dred Scott case of 1856 accentuated the sharp differences within the country; when the court ruled against Scott in his suit for freedom, southerners were pleased, and opponents of slavery increased their efforts to gain political clout to continue the fight.

Despite the booming economy of the mid-1850s, American society was in a state of crisis, and many people began to look for answers in a variety of places.

A.     Financial Panic and Spiritual Revival:  Worried by the Panic of 1857 that took much of the country by surprise, many Americans turned to religion for strength, and revivalism flourished.

B.      The Agony of Kansas:  Events in Kansas continued to make the situation there more volatile, with competing legislatures, competing constitutions, and a United States Congress that seemed unsure of what to do.

C.     The Lincoln-Douglas Debates:  Republicans were heartened in 1858, when Senatorial debates between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln brought Lincoln to national attention.

1.       Lincoln’s success in the debates and his focus on the slavery issue gave Douglas pause, and though he won the election he lost a great deal of influence.

2.       Republicans turned to Lincoln as an effective spokesman for a “restrained” antislavery platform.

A.     John Brown and Harpers Ferry:  John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry polarized the nation, as those supporting slavery saw him as the devil incarnate, and abolitionists viewed him as a martyr to the cause.

The approach of the 1860 election heightened tensions even more, with both sides wondering who would prevail.

B.      The Election of 1860:  The Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, won decisively in the North, giving him a wide margin in the electoral college over the divided Democrats, and the split between the North and the South widened.

C.     The South Debates Independence:  In the aftermath of the election, southern states debated their courses of action, but talk of secession frightened and gave pause to people living there; most wanted to wait and see what Lincoln would do, but South Carolina speedily chose secession and challenged other states to follow.

South Carolina’s secession led to immediate problems for the federal government, whose fort off that state’s coast was in need of fortification; actions there would plunge the nation into war.

Lincoln Becomes President:  At his inauguration, Lincoln tried to mollify the South even as he clarified his position on secession: the act was illegal, and he was legally bound to protect federal property everywhere, most notably at Fort Sumter.

The Decision at Fort Sumter:  Immediately after the inauguration, Lincoln ordered a relief expedition, southern troops fired shots, the fort surrendered, and the country plunged into war.

Conclusion: Historians continue to debate possible alternative outcomes that might have occurred if events had been handled differently. It is indisputable; however, that so many differences existed between the North and the South that something had to give. The violent events of the 1850s merely set the stage for the war that, to many, seemed inevitable.