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American Debate on Slavery

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What did John Brown hope to accomplish by capturing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia?
Brown hoped to begin a slave rebellion in Virginia and through out the South.

October 16, 1859, John Brown and about 20 followers captured the federal armory (where military stores explosives) (treason) at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. They hoped to spark a slave uprising throughout the South.
How did some northern abolitionists react to John Brown’s plan to begin a slave uprising in the South?
They thought he was a hero to the opponents of slavery. Also, they thought of him as a noble freedom fighter.

John Brown was the radical abolitionist who in 1856 had previously led seven other men to murder pro slavery settlers in the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas in 1856. John Brown killed anyone who had of supported slaves.
How did most southerners view John Brown’s raid?
They were terrified and enraged. Also, they thought their peace was being disturbed.

Through Brown expected slaves from all over the region to join uprising, he had not informed them of his plans. No slaves joined the attack on Harpers Ferry, and local and federal militia companies soon captured or killed most of Brown’s followers.
What effect did John Brown’s raid have on the political divisions between the North and South?
After the raid, southerners were afraid that northerners would destroy slavery. This made great fear, hatred, and suspicion between the two.

Brown was tired and hanged for treason, conspiracy, and murder on December 2, 1859. Uses religion for committing the murder
How many political parties and candidates were involved in the Presidential Election of 1860?
There were three political parties. There were four candidates.

The Democrats nominating broke up because they couldn’t decide on a candidate. After meeting twice more, majority of the convention delegate nominated- Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. However, the southern Democrats did not agree w/ this choice and broke away.
6. Who won the Presidential Election of 1860? What states did he win? How many electoral votes did he receive? How many electoral votes for the entire nation? He didn’t win a single southern state; so explain how he won the Presidential Election of 186
President Lincoln won the Presidential Election of 1860. Lincoln won Oregon, California, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. He didn’t win New Jersey. He won 180 electoral votes. There were 303 electoral votes for the entire nation. Since the northern states had the majority of the population, they had the majority of electoral votes.
How did the people of the South react to Lincoln’s winning the election?
They thought it was unfair that someone they didn’t vote for would govern them. They decided to consider secession.

The Republicans nominated Abe Lincoln. Lincoln not only didn’t win any southern states, he wasn’t even on the ballot in most of them. Fearing that the south might leave the Union if an antislavery Republican won the election, some moderate pro-slavery, pro- Union southern formed the Constitutional Union Party- John Bell. Southern Democrats- John C. Breckinridge. Southerners began discussing how having a antislavery president would affect slavery, and they struggled with dual loyalties to the South and the Union.
Define secession
Secession: The act of formally withdrawing as part of a nation.

Secession: The withdrawal from the Union of II Southern States in 1860-1861 that led to the formation of the Confederacy (the 11 southern states that will leave the Union) and the beginning of the Civil War.
Explain two reasons how southerners justified secession.
The southerners said the original 13 states had been separate before anyways, so it wouldn’t be bad to do it now, and they said since the voted into the Constitution, they could withdraw their vote.

The original 13 states had existed separately before they joined together to form the U.S. The states then drafted and approved the U.S. Constitution. Because the states had once been independent, southerners argues, each state had the right to withdraw its allegiance to the Constitution if its citizens voted to do so. Southerners feared that their social and economic well-being would be threatened under Lincoln, who disapproved of slavery. In addition, their loyalty to the Union had been weakened by years of being criticized in the national debate over slavery.
Explain two reasons northerners were against secession.
Many northerners saw secession as a challenge to the basic principles of the Constitution. They argued that the Constitution bound all the states together by mutual consent, meaning that states had voluntarily recognized the Constitution as the supreme law of land. The states had also agreed to accept not only federalism- the sharing of power by national and state governments- but also the national governments power to perform certain function.
First state to secede from the Union?
The first state to secede from the Union was South Carolina.
Can you understand why southern states felt they had lost their voice in the federal government?
Yes, because in the House of Representatives, the free states were represented more because of the largeness of their population. Also, only three fifths of the slave population’s votes counted. With the slave states heavily populated with slaves, a large amount of their states votes didn’t count and this brought down their voice in the voting process.
Treaty of Paris of 1783
Treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War. In the treaty, Great Britain recognized American independence.
Explain two geographical effects from the Treaty of Paris. In other words, the United States gained (1.) and (2.).
ß the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. To the Mississippi River (east -west)

ß Borders: North: Canada South: Mexico
Notes on the Treaty of Paris
During the first half of the 1780s, Congress had yet to find a way to solve several problems that were occurring in the land north of the Ohio River and west of the state of Pennsylvania, an area known then as the Northwest Territory. One such problem was threats by American Indian groups to kill settlers who attempted to move into this area. In addition, British soldiers manned forts on the American side of the Great Lakes. Settlers were hesitant to venture into the Northwest Territory because there was no established government presence in the region.
Explain the purpose of the Land Ordinance. (one sentence)
Legislative Branch to sell the land that we got from the Treaty of Paris (Great Britain)
Outline three provisions of the Land Ordinance.
ß Land had to be surveyed and townships had to be six miles on a side
ß 640 acres, then they could be sold
ß The law also said that one section in each township should be kept for a public school.
Explain the purpose of the Northwest Ordinance. (one sentence)
The purpose of the Northwest Ordinance was to make a government for the region of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvani
Explain what happens when a territory reaches 5, 000 free men.
The free men (who were above voting age) would elect a legislature and send a nonvoting delegate to Congress

Note: Want to keep the colony informed
Explain what happens when a territory reaches 60, 000 free inhabitants.
Eligible for statehood and can draft a Constitution
What type of government must be established? Define republican form of government.
A republican form of government was established.

Republican: Form of government in which the people hold the power and give elected representatives the authority to make and carry out laws.
How was slavery handled in the Northwest Ordinance?
Slavery was handled in the Northwest Ordinance by not allowing slavery unless it was to punish someone for committing a crime.
Which branch of government was responsible for approving a future state’s constitution and admittance into the Union?
The legislative branch of government was responsible for approving a future state’s constitution and admittance into the Union.
List the states created from the Northwest Ordinance.
ß Ohio
ß Indiana
ß Illinois
ß Michigan
ß Wisconsin
Three-Fifths Compromise
ß The Constitution determined that seats in the House of Representatives would be assigned on the basis of population; a debate arose over whether slaves should be counted in a state’s population.
11. Explain why a debate arose over this situation. Who would benefit from slaves being counted in a state’s population?
A debate arose because many delegates from the North believed that slave states would have an unfair advantage and that it encouraged slavery. Counting slaves would have added numbers to the South’s population and would’ve given them more votes. The southern states would benefit from slaves being counted in a state’s population.

House of Representatives would be affected
12. Explain the solution from Charles Pinckney
Charles Pinckney came up with the 3/5 Compromise. This counted slaves as 3/5 of a vote.

Freed people (white) = one vote
13. Go to page 137 – Article I, the Legislative Branch. Locate Section 2. Go to third paragraph. Explain why the information in this section is crossed out- you realize this information was not crossed out until December 18, 1865. Go to page 150. Expla
It was crossed out because it refers to slaves and free persons, and excludes Indians. Also, the part about the numbers of representatives in each states had to be crossed out, because it gave specific numbers, and those numbers were later to be determined by population not the Constitution. In December 18, 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery.
Louisiana Purchase
Region west of the Mississippi River measuring 828,000 square miles that was added to the United States in 1803. Its purchase grew out of renewed American concerns about access to New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River. 15 states were made by the Louisiana Purchase
1. Explain why Napoleon offered to sell the entire region to the United States.
Napoleon offered to sell the entire region to the United States because he wanted to sell part of his western empire.
3. How much money was spent? How much per acre?
Fifteen million dollars was spent for about four cents per acre.
4. How many states created from this purchase?
Fifteen states were created from the purchase.
5. What was the geographical effect of this purchase- in other words, what happened to the United States in relation to geography?
The United States almost doubled in size because of the Louisiana Purchase
6. Explain the economic effect for the United States- how did this acquisition help the United States financially?
New Orleans, which was a part of the Louisiana Purchase, had heavy merchant traffic and brought more business to the U.S.v
Convention of 1818
ß Agreement signed between the United States and Great Britain. The Convention of 1818 established the border between the United States and British North America east of the Rocky Mountains.
Adams-Onis Treaty 1819
ß The Adams-Onis Treaty was an agreement between the United States and Spain that settled several territorial issues between the two nations.
7. Explain the geographical effect of the Adams-Onis Treaty
The Adams-Onis Treaty gave the U.S. Florida and the Oregon Country. Also, it gave up U.S. claims to Spanish Mexico, making a boundary with the Louisiana Purchase territory.
8. What did the United States receive from Spain? How much money?
The United States received the land from Spain. The U.S. didn’t receive money, they gave Spain $5 million.
9. Define the Monroe Doctrine. Who was President of the United States?
Monroe Doctrine: Statement issued by President James Monroe declaring that European countries could no longer establish colonies in the Americas and that the United States would stay out of European affairs.

The President of the United States was President James Monroe.
10. The Monroe Doctrine was issued after the War of ...
1812
American Expansion – Debate on Slavery – Part III
• At the time of the Revolutionary War, the American South had the largest population. By 1820, however, the North’s population had surpassed that of the South. As a result, the North had a majority in the House of Representatives. When Missouri applied in 1819 to enter the Union as a slave state, northern members of the House had enough votes to amend Missouri’s constitution to limit slavery in the state.
• In the Senate, however, where each state has two senators, membership was equally divided between the 11 southern and 11 northern states. The issue over slavery in Missouri created a deadlock. Neither side wanted to upset the balance between slave and free states, thereby giving the other side a majority in the Senate.
1. If you were a northerner debating the Missouri case, then what previous document dealt with the issue of slavery in the northern states? Which branch of government had the authority to deal with the issue of slavery?
I would argue with the Northwest Ordinance. The Legislative Branch had the authority to deal with the issue of slavery.
2. If you were a southerner debating the Missouri case, then which amendment from the first ten deals with the issue of slavery? Hint is property! Explain your argument.
I would argue with the 5th Amendment because the 5th Amendment includes the protection of private property and slaves were included as property.
3. Explain the compromise created by Henry Clay. You should mention three parts of the compromise.
The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state, Maine a free state, and it outlawed slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36Ëš30 north latitude.
4. Define Manifest Destiny:
the 19th-century doctrine according to which the United States was believed to have the God-given right to expand into and possess the whole of the North American continent
Notes on Manifest Destiny:
• Land acquisition and development (getting more land for agricultural use)
• Nationalism (Americans as superior)
• Democracy (freedom and democracy as a superior system worthy of spreading)
• Religion (bringing Christianity and “civilization” to American Indians)
5. Define Annex
to take over territory and incorporate it into another political entity, for example, a country or state.
Notes:
⬢ President James Polk (#11 President on me wall-behind you!) was determined to win the Texas boundary dispute and to acquire New Mexico and California. After having tried unsuccessfully to obtain these territories through diplomacy and pressure, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor (later became #12 President) to advance to the Rio Grande in 1846. Shortly after Taylor did so, a Mexican force attacked one of his patrols. Polk informed Congress. Congress declared war.
6. Define Bear Flag Revolt. What territory/eventual state did the United States acquire?
Revolt against Mexico by California settlers who declared the Republic of California during the Mexican War.

California is the territory/eventual state that the United States acquired.
7. Purpose of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
The purpose of the Treaty of the Guadalupe Hidalgo was to end the Mexican War and to give the United States the Mexican Cession.
a. How much money did the United States give to Mexico?
The United States gave Mexico a little over $15 million.
b. What did the United States earn in terms of geography?
The United States earned California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
Define Mexican Cession. Name the present-day American Southwest states acquired.
Territory that Mexico ceded to the United States after the Mexican War.

The United States acquired California, Nevada, and Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
9. Define Gadsden Purchase:
Agreement that added a strip of Mexican land to southern New Mexico and Arizona for $10 million.
a. How much money did the United States pay for this 30,000 square miles between Texas and California?
The United States paid $10 million.
b. List the states eventually carved out of the Gadsden Purchase.
The states were New Mexico and Arizona.
After the United States acquired all of this land, what do you think was the debate in Congress between the northern states and the southern states?
The debate was to decide if the new territories would allow slavery or not.
Define popular sovereignty
Principle that would let voters in new territories make their own decision about slavery.
12. Explain the purpose of the Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 settled the slavery debate over the land acquired from the Mexican War.
a. Who was responsible for it?
Henry Clay was responsible for the Compromise of 1850.
b. List four separate details of the Compromise.
1. California entered the Union as a free state.
2. Two new territories (Utah and New Mexico) were made and this is where settlers would decide slavery’s status using popular sovereignty.
3. The slave trade was made illegal in the District of Columbia.
4. The fugitive slave law was strengthened.
1. List the details of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Who created it?
• Douglas knew that southern representatives didn’t like his bill, so he came up with the idea of allowing settlers to decide on the question of slavery in the new territory.
• The plan was basically the principle of popular sovereignty.
• Douglas also said that he would split the area into two territories.
In 1854, officials held an election for 3,000 voters in the Kansas territory. 6,300 ballots were counted. Explain how the number changed and why?
The numbers changed because Missourians had come to Kansas to vote. They did this so that slavery would be legal in Kansas. The ballots were illegal because they were not residents. Still, their votes were counted.
Explain what happened when the illegal votes were counted. Your answer should include the effects of the Kansas legislature and runaway slaves!
The illegal votes were counted and a great majority of delegates supported slavery. The legislature passed the law allowing slavery. One of the laws was giving the death penalty to anyone who helped runaway slaves.
4. What did free-soil Kansans do in response to the actions of the pro-slavery government?
The made their own government.
Explain what happened in November 1855.
In November 1855, a man that was for slavery killed a free-soil settler during an argument. The friends of the dead man later set the killer’s cabin on fire.

• With two governments claiming to rule the same territory fighting soon broke out. Both sides took up arms.
• Abolitionists began shipping guns to antislavery forces so they could defend themselves. Reverend Henry Beecher Stowe – “Beecher’s Bibles.”
Explain how the Republican Part was established. What was their main goal dealing with slavery?
After the Democrats lost many followers and the Whig party fell apart, northern Democrats and Whigs joined a new organization named the Republican Party. Their main goal dealing with slavery was to keep it out of the western territories.

• The controversy over slavery in the territories produced major shifts in the nation’s political parties.
• The Republican Party was created in 1854, partly in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The party wanted to stop the expansion of slavery into the western territories.
• The party nominated its first presidential candidate in 1856. Just four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican president.
• The Republican Party dominated national politics from the Civil War in the 1860s until the Great Depression in the 1930s.
You should have this information. Explain who was Dred Scott and how did his case make it to the Supreme Court.
Dred Scott was a slave that traveled with his owner, an army doctor, John Emerson. In their travels, they went through free territories and states. (Illinois and Wisconsin) Dred Scott believed he was free because he went through and lived in those free places. The case came to the Supreme Court for final settlement.
Explain why the Supreme Court declared that Scott had no right to sue.
The Supreme Court declared that Scott had no right to sue because black people were not counted as citizens, so he couldn’t sue in a federal court.
9. Explain how the Fifth Amendment played a role in the Court’s decision.
The Fifth Amendment says that a person cannot be deprived of their property, and since slaves were called “property,” Dred Scott could not be freed.
10. Explain how the ruling affected the Northwest Ordinance, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and Congress passing laws limiting slavery western territories
Both the Northwest ordinance and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 banned slavery. So when the Dred Scott case said the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, all of the laws banning slavery were potentially unconstitutional. Also, the Court’s ruling hinted that Congress couldn’t stop the growing of slavery in the western territories.
11. How did Lincoln and Douglas differ in their views on the expansion of slavery into western territories?
Douglas believed in popular sovereignty and that climate and soil conditions would not be good for slavery in the western territories. Lincoln believed that slaves had rights from the Declaration of Independence. He wanted white Americans to feel remorse for African Americans.
⬢ Abraham was opposed of slavery going toward the western territories.
12. Abraham Lincoln first rose to national prominence as a member of which political party?
Abraham Lincoln was a member of the Republican Party.
13. The Freeport Doctrine argued that?
The Freeport Doctrine argued that territorial legislatures could support slavery or make slavery impossible.
⬢ Douglas meant that since territorial legislatures had the power to write local laws, they could either support slavery or make it impossible for the institution to exist.
14. Cause and Effect – Why did so many proslavery southerners support Douglas, and why did they stop supporting him after he stated his Freeport Doctrine.
This happened because before the Freeport Doctrine, Douglas seemed to agree with slavery but when Douglas said that he thought slavery should be decided on by the territory, he seemed to be against it. Douglas implied that if the Freeport Doctrine would be carried out, some territories would not have slavery, and this didn’t make the pro-slavery southerners happy so they stopped supporting him.
• Popular Sovereignty was the reason they voted for him.
How did Congress extend civil rights to African Americans during Reconstruction?
ß The Thirteenth (13th) Amendment abolished slavery.

ß The Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibited southern states from passing laws that restricted freed people’s rights.

ß The Reconstruction Acts divides the South into five military districts and stationed federal troops there to enforce federal laws and protect freed people’s rights.

ß The Fourteenth (14th) Amendment gave citizenship to all African Americans in the United States. It also said that no state could limit the civil rights of any citizen. As a result, the amendment prohibited racial discrimination.

ß The Fifteenth (15th) Amendment gave African American males the right to vote.
1. Explain the purpose of Reconstruction after the Civil War.
The purpose of the Reconstruction after the Civil War was to reconstruct and restructure that had broken away from the Union.
2. How did Andrew Johnson become President of the United States?
Andrew Johnson became President of the United States. (president Lincoln was assassinated)
3. Explain the purpose of the Thirteenth (13th) Amendment?
The purpose of the 13th Amendment was to abolish slavery.
4. Explain the purpose of Black Codes?
The Black Codes were made to keep freed people in a slave like condition.
Explain the purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau
The purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau was to help former slaves by giving them things like food, emergency supplies, and an education.
Explain the purpose of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
The purpose of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was to make it illegal for Southern states to pass laws like the Black Codes, that limit freed people’s rights
7. Cause and Effect: How did President Johnson respond to the Civil Rights Act of 1866?
President Johnson vetoed the bill.
8. Cause and Effect: How did Congress respond to President Johnson?
Congress overruled the veto because they got the 2/3s majority that was needed.
9. Explain the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The purpose if the Fourteenth Amendment is to give citizenship to all African Americans and to strike down the Black codes.

⬢ Most white southerners objected to the Fourteenth Amendment. The southern states refused to ratify it. Without their votes, it was impossible to get the required approval of 3/4 of the states to ratify the amendment. When it became clear that the southern states would not ratify the 14th Amendment, Congress passed a series of Reconstruction Acts to pressure them.
10. Explain how these Reconstruction Acts were put in place.
The Reconstruction Acts were put in place by having Congress order that the military would control the South.
11. To end army rule, the southern states would have to agree to two terms - explain these two terms.
One of the terms was that each state would have to make a new constitution that gave African Americans the right to vote. The other term was that each state had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT 1850
1. Anyone caught hiding runaway slaves faced six months in jail and a
$1, 000 fine per slave.

2. All citizens, even abolitionists in the North, were required to help capture runaway slaves when ordered to do so by law.

3. The law provided that persons accused of being escaped slaves could not testify in their own defense.
EFFECTS OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT
♦ Runaways and even African American northerners who had never been slaves felt threatened, and many left the United States for Canada.

♦ Influenced northern whites, many of who were prejudiced against people of African descent, free or slave. Yet in spite of these prejudices, some also sympathized with runaways who had risked their lives to win freedom.

♦ An additional concern was that free African Americans in the North would be falsely sent into slavery under the new law.
Extra notes on secession:
Canidates involed with the Presidential Election of 1860:

Northern Democrats – Stephen a. Douglas
Southern Democrats – John C. Breckinridge
Republicans – Abraham Lincoln
Constitutional Union Party – John Bell
How did lincoln win? Notes:
Lincoln not only didn’t win any southern states, he wasn’t even on the ballot in most of them
A state’s population determines how many electoral votes it gets.
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