M25 Lecture #7
Dissension Over Slavery Leads to War
Krister Swanson
Moorpark College
Growing Distinctiveness
- By 1820 slavery is making the south increasingly distinctive
- Fed by growth of Cotton Kingdom (AL & MS)
- Slave Empire grows in deep south – slave labor shifts to cotton
production
- Black majority in deep south
- White supremacy fueled by need to maintain superiority in face of
large black influence
- Fragile existence for whites makes them defensive – leads to
growth of defense for slavery (slaves better off, black inferiority,
all great societies had slaves, etc.)
The Plantation Economy
- Whites unify around race
- Only ¼ of whites hold slaves, most of those hold less than
5 slaves
- Big planters dominate southern economy, provide lifeblood
- Cotton key national export as well, making slavery a tricky
national issue
- South plantation based while North increasingly diversifies
- Immigrants go north to avoid competition with slaves
- Rich planters continue to make political decisions for their
benefit & ignore improvements that would allow diversification
The Big House
- Plantation Masters & the practice of paternalism (better
treatment of slaves as economic assets)
- Plantation Mistresses – paragons of southern virtue, managerial
duties in their own right
- Miscegenation and drug use common evidence of misery
Slaves and the Quarter
- Work
- Family, Religion, and Community
- Resistance and Rebellion
- Black and Free
- Precarious Freedom
- Achievement despite Restrictions
The Plain Folk
- Plantation Belt Yeomen
- Upcountry Yeomen
- The Culture of the Plain Folk
- Politics of Slavery
- The Democratization of the Political Arena
- Planter Power
Bitter Fruits of War
- Huge division over the role of slavery in the west
- 1848: Wilmot Proviso (barred slavery in all land acquired from
Mexico) Preserve the west for free labor with free soil (many free
soilers anti-black)
- defeated by Southern senators – Wilmot hoped to reduce their power
- Idea of popular sovereignty on slavery – vagaries of timing give
both sides hope
- Slavery huge issue in Election of 1848 – Free Soilers (grand
Northern Party of Freedom) split from Whigs because Taylor owns slaves
– Whig Taylor gets elected
Sectional Balance Undone
- Taylor surprises by favoring free soil
- Compromise of 1850: CA becomes a free state (throws balance of
senate to North) & the Fugitive Slave Act (underground RR, North
aiding slaves)
- Comp keeps momentary peace – not a long term solution
- Fugitive slave law very controversial – much resistance in North
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin depicts slavery in a way that fuels the
abolitionist cause (slaves as people) feeds sectional fire
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act allows for popular sovereignty on slavery
in these territories (in violation of the MO Compromise) in exchange
for northern RR route
- Realignment of Party System
- K-N Act shatters old system (2 parties with bi-sectional
support), brings in one party based heavily in the North
- Whigs (wealthy elite, abolitionists, anti-Jacksonians) unable to
please north & south
- Democrats split by pop. sov.
The New Parties
- Know-Nothings nativists build support among those who fear
changes from immigration (Germany & Ireland), capture many state
legs
- Republicans (free soil, free labor, dignity of labor) trying to
pick up all the disaffected pieces
- Republicans argue the slave power was trying to expand slavery
and subvert liberty
- The Election of 1856: Know Nothings split over K-N Act,
Republicans go with Fremont
- Dems run Buchanan & paint Reps as abolitionist extremists
- Buchanan wins but Reps make it close, setting stage for 1860
Freedom Under Siege
- “Bleeding Kansas” becomes national focus: guerrilla warfare
fighting between pro & anti slavery factions
- The Dred Scott Decision – slaves are still property after owner
dies & travel in free territories (no rights)
- Outrage over decision strengthens Republican party
Enter Abraham Lincoln
- Lincoln strongly opposed slavery on a number of grounds, can’t
stand pop. sov. & the K-N Act (fresh land for expansion of slavery)
- Racially moderate – end slavery & allow blacks to leave
(insurmountable prejudice)
- Slavery would either be killed or take over
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
- Lincoln challenged the premier democrat in Nation for IL senate
seat in 1858
- Douglas tries to break southern connections by rejecting
Lecompton constitution
- Lincoln charges Douglas with pushing expansion of slavery
- Douglas plays racial angle against Lincoln
- Douglas wins because of a Democrat majority in the Illinois Leg,
but debate frames issue of slavery
The Union Collapses
- Each side comes to fear aggression of the other
- 1859: John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, Brown becomes a martyr
- Democratic party splits over a call for a platform protecting
slavery
- Northern Dems nominate Douglas, Radical Southern Dems nominate
Breckinridge, Southern Moderates nominate Bell
- Republicans seek to unify the North (homesteads, trans RR,
tariffs)
- Lincoln’s relative moderation makes him appealing
- He defeats Douglas in the North & carries the race as
Breckinridge & Bell are left to contest the South
- Free states had majority of electoral votes
- Fire eaters fuel secession talk
Secession Winter
- South realizes its vulnerability that the President can be
elected without an electoral vote from the South
- Many believe Lincoln won’t go to war
- SC secedes in 12/1860, six other states in lower south follow
- Lincoln takes office, conciliatory about slavery but not about
maintaining the Union, puts ball solidly in the South’s court