U.S. History

Chapter 18: A Divided NationSection 4: Secession

The Raid of Harper’s Fairy

• 1858: John Brown begins work to seize federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry

• Plan: arm slaves

• Band of 19 menJohn Brown (1856)

The Raid of Harper’s Fairy

• Oct. 16 1859: raid begins

• Took over arsenal

• Sent men into countryside to get slaves

John Brown (1859)

The Raid of Harper’s Fairy

• White southerners attack Brown

• Brown retreats to a firehouse

• Oct. 17: Robert E. Lee ordered Marines to storm firehouse “John Brown’s Fort”

Judging John Brown

• Brown charged & convicted of treason, murder, and conspiracy to stir rebellion

• Sentenced to death

Hanging of John BrownAppearing in Frank Leslie's Weekly Illustrated

Paper on December 17, 1859

“I believe that to have interfered as I have done…in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments. -- I submit; so let it be done!“

"Old Brown has just been executed. We cannot object even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason."

The Election of 1860

•April 1860: Democrats meet in Charleston, SC

•Northern & southern members could not agree on a candidate

•Party splits

The Election of 1860

Senator Stephen Douglas

Nominated by Northern Democrats

Vice President John C.

BreckinridgeNominated by Southern Democrats

The Election of 1860• Constitutional Union Party—

recognized no political principles other than Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of laws

Former Secretary of War

John BellNominated by Constitutional Union

Party

The Election of 1860

• May 1860: Republicans hold convention

• Senator William Seward leading candidate

• Worries over Seward’s strong anti-slavery views

William Seward

The Election of 1860

• Abraham Lincoln won nomination on 3rd ballot

• Moderate: against the spread of slavery

• Said he would not try to abolish slavery where it existed

Abraham Lincoln & Mr. Taylor

Breaking with the Union

•Fears Lincoln would abolish slavery

•Lincoln insisted otherwise

•Lincoln had stated slavery had to end at some point

Breaking with the Union

• December 17, 1860: South Carolina holds secession convention

• South Carolina first state to secede

•Secession—act of formally withdrawing from the Union

Breaking with the Union

• John C. Crittenden—proposed a series of constitutional amendments to save slavery

Senator John C. Crittenden

Breaking with the Union

• Amendments preserved & extended slavery

• President-elect Lincoln will urge Republicans to reject plan

President Abraham Lincoln

The Confederate States of America

• Feb. 1, 1864: MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, & TX had seceded from the Union

• Feb 4, 1864: Delegates from states meet in Montgomery, AL and form Confederate States of America

• Constitution guaranteed right to own slaves

The Confederate States of America

• Jefferson Davis elected President of Confederacy

• West Point grad, veteran of Mexican War, Secretary of War, & Senator

• Did not seek presidency

• Opposed secessionJefferson Davis

Secession

Causes