US History Textbook 8th Grade Chapter 14 A Divided Nation

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US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation PDF
1848
The Free-Soil
Party is formed
on August 9.
1848
Revolutionary
movements sweep
across Europe.
CHAPTER
14
1848–1860
434 CHAPTER 14
18 4 8
A Divided
A Divided
Nation
Nation
Writing an Autobiographical Sketch When you read
about history, it can be difficult to imagine how the events
you read about affected ordinary people. In this chapter
you will read about slavery in the United States. Then you
will write an autobiography of a fictional character, tell-
ing how these events affected him or her. Your fictional
character can live in any part of the United States. He or
she might be an enslaved African, a southern plantation
owner, a northern abolitionist, or a settler in one of the
new territories. Your classmates are your audience.
FOCUS ON WRITING
California Standards
History–Social Science
8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish
slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of
Independence.
8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and
complex consequences of the Civil War.
Analysis Skills
HR 3 Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information.
HR 4 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary
sources.
English–Language Arts
Writing 8.2.1 Write biographies, autobiographies, short stories,
or narratives.
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level
appropriate materials.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Download
186 0
1852
Louis-Napoléon declares
himself Emperor Napoléon III
of France.
1856
British and French
forces defeat Russia
in the Crimean War.
1857 Indian soldiers
in the British army begin
the Sepoy Mutiny against
British control of India.
435
18 5 0
18 5 5
1859
John Brown
takes control
of the federal
arsenal at Harpers
Ferry, Virginia.
1860
On December 20,
South Carolina
votes to secede
from the United
States.
1852
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin is pub-
lished by Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
What You Will Learn…
Two women look at a display called “Survival of
Spirit” at the Museum of African American His-
tory in Detroit, Michigan. The display shows a
history of resistance to slavery. In this chapter
you will learn about how the debate over slavery
increasingly divided Americans during the
mid-1800s.
HOLT
History’s Impact
video series
Watch the video to under-
stand the impact of
states’ rights.
1850 Congress
passes the Fugitive
Slave Act on
September 18.
1856 In the
Sack of Lawrence,
pro-slavery forces
attack the town of
Lawrence, Kansas,
on May 21.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation PDF Download
436 CHAPTER 00
Focus on Reading When you are trying to learn about history,
would you rather read facts or the author’s opinion? You would prefer
facts, of course. Separating facts from opinions about historical events
helps you know what really happened.
Identifying Facts and Opinions Something is a fact if there is a
way to prove it or disprove it. For example, research can prove or
disprove the following statement: “Abraham Lincoln belonged to the
Republican Party.” But research can’t prove the fol lowing statement
because it is just an opinion, or someone’s belief: “Lincoln was the
greatest president in American history.”
Use the process below to decide whether a statement is fact or opinion.
Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers
Focus on Themes
This chapter describes the
growing tension between the North and the South
over the slavery issue. You will read what happened
as more states were admitted to the Union and
people argued if they should be slave states or not.
You will read about events that widened the division
between the North and South so that the South
nally chose to secede from the Union. Throughout
the chapter you will see that cultural differences
infl uenced political decisions.
Geography
Politics
Economics
Society
and Culture
Science and
Technology
Religion
Additional reading
support can be
found in the
Read the
statement.
Ask yourself, “Can this
statement be proved or
disproved?” “Can we fi nd
evidence to show whether
it is a true statement or a
false one?”
If not, the
statement is an
opinion.
If the answer is yes,
the statement is
a fact.
Facts, Opinions, and the Past
436 CHAPTER 14
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-1
SECTION TITLE 437A DIVIDED NATION 437
Key Terms
Key Terms
and People
and People
As you read Chapter 14, look closely at
quotes from historical figures. Are these
quotes showing you facts or opinions?
You Try It!
The following passage tells about the debates that Abraham Lincoln
had with Stephen Douglas. All the statements in this passage are
facts. What makes them facts and not opinions?
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated
Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His
opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas,
who had represented Illinois in the Senate
since 1847. Lincoln challenged Douglas in
what became the historic Lincoln-Douglas
debates.
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that
the central issue of the campaign was the
spread of slavery in the West. He said that
the Democrats were trying to spread slavery
across the nation.
Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott deci-
sion. He said that African Americans were
“entitled to all the natural rights” listed in
the Declaration of Independence, specifi cally
mentioning “the right to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.”
From
Chapter 14,
pp. 452–453
Identify each of the following as a fact or an opinion and then
explain your choice.
1. Lincoln accused the Democrats of trying to spread slavery across
the nation.
2. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were the most important debates in
the history of the nation.
3. Stephen Douglas was a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
4. Abraham Lincoln ran against Douglas in the 1858 Senate election.
5. Most Americans believed that the Dred Scott decision was a
good one.
6. Lincoln was the best debater people from Illinois had ever heard.
Chapter 14
Section 1
popular sovereignty (p. 438)
Wilmot Proviso (p. 438)
sectionalism (p. 439)
Free-Soil Party (p. 439)
Compromise of 1850 (p. 441)
Fugitive Slave Act (p. 441)
Anthony Burns (p. 442)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (p. 443)
Harriet Beecher Stowe (p. 443)
Section 2
Franklin Pierce (p. 445)
Stephen Douglas (p. 446)
Kansas-Nebraska Act (p. 447)
Pottawatoamie (p. 448)
Charles Sumner (p. 449)
Preston Brooks (p. 449)
Section 3
Republican Party (p. 450)
James Buchanan (p. 450)
John C. Fremont (p. 451)
Dred Scott (p. 451)
Roger B. Taney (p. 452)
Abraham Lincoln (p. 452)
Lincoln-Douglas debates (p. 453)
Freeport Doctrine (p. 453)
Section 4
John Brown’s raid (p. 455)
John C. Breckinridge (p. 457)
Constitutional Union Party (p. 457)
John Bell (p. 457)
secession (p. 458)
Confederate States of America
(p. 458)
Jefferson Davis (p. 458)
John J. Crittenden (p. 459)
Academic Vocabulary
In this chapter, you will learn the
following academic words:
implications (p. 446)
complex (p. 451)
ELA
Reading 8.2.0 Read and understand grade-level-
appropriate material.
HSS
Analysis HR 2 Distinguish fact from opinion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-2
SECTION
1
Key Terms and People
popular sovereignty, p. 438
Wilmot Proviso, p. 438
sectionalism, p. 439
Free-Soil Party, p. 439
Compromise of 1850, p. 441
Fugitive Slave Act, p. 441
Anthony Burns, p. 442
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, p. 443
Harriet Beecher Stowe, p. 443
What You Will Learn…
Antislavery literature and the
annexation of new lands intensi-
fied the debate over slavery.
The Big Idea
1. The addition of new land in
the West renewed disputes
over the expansion of slavery.
2. The Compromise of 1850 tried
to solve the disputes over
slavery.
3. The Fugitive Slave Act caused
more controversy.
4. Abolitionists used antislavery
literature to promote opposition.
Main Ideas
You live in a crowded neighborhood in New York City in 1854.
Your apartment building is home to a variety of people—long-
time residents, Irish immigrants, free African Americans. One day
federal marshals knock on your door. They claim that one of your
neighbors is a fugitive slave. The marshals say you must help
them fi nd her. If you don’t, you will be fi ned or even sent to jail.
What would you tell the federal marshals?
BUILDING BACKGROUND Some reform movements of the 1800s
drew stubborn and often violent opposition. This was especially true
of the abolitionist movement. Pro-slavery supporters fought for laws
to protect slavery and extend the slave system. These laws were a
threat to African Americans in the North.
New Land Renews Slavery Disputes
The United States added more than 500,000 square miles of land as
a result of winning the Mexican-American War in 1848. The addi-
tional land caused bitter debate about slavery. The Missouri Com-
promise of 1820 had divided the Louisiana Purchase into either
free or slave regions. It prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30
'
but let Missouri become a slave state. In the 1840s President Polk
wanted to extend the 36°30
'
line to the West Coast, in the same
way dividing the Mexican Cession in two. Some leaders, including
Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, encouraged
popular sovereignty
popular sovereignty
,
,
the idea that political power belongs to the people,
the idea that political power belongs to the people, who should
decide on whether to ban or allow slavery in their territory.
Regional Differences about Slavery
Some northerners wanted to outlaw slavery in all parts of the Mexi-
can Cession. During the war, Representative David Wilmot offered
the
Wilmot
Wilmot
Proviso
Proviso
, a document stating that “neither slavery nor
, a document stating that “neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.”
involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.”
If YOU were there...
The Debate over
Slavery
438 CHAPTER 14
HSS
8.9.4
Discuss the importance
of the slavery issue as raised by the
annexation of Texas and California’s
admission to the union as a free state
under the Compromise of 1850.
HSS
8.10.1
Compare the confl ict-
ing interpretations of state and fed-
eral authority as emphasized in the
speeches and writings of statesmen
such as Daniel Webster and John C.
Calhoun.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-3
Cf S
The northern-controlled House passed the
document, but in the Senate, the South had
more power. The Wilmot Proviso did not
pass. Before this time, politicians had usually
supported the ideas of their political parties.
However, the Wilmot Proviso spurred a debate
that showed growing
sectionalism
sectionalism,
or
or
favoring
favoring
the interests of one section or region
the interests of one section or region
over the
over the
interests of the entire country
interests of the entire country.
To attract voters, the Democrats and the
Whigs did not take a clear position on slav-
ery in the presidential campaign of 1848. In
response,
antislavery northerners formed a
antislavery northerners formed a
new party, the
new party, the
Free-Soil Party
Free-Soil Party
, which sup-
, which sup-
ported the
ported the
Wilmot Proviso.
Wilmot Proviso. They worried
that slave labor would mean fewer jobs for
white workers. Party members chose former
president Martin Van Buren as their can-
didate. The new party won 10 percent of
the popular vote, drawing away votes from
Democrat Lewis Cass. Whig candidate Zach-
ary Taylor won a narrow victory.
The California Question
The California gold rush caused such rapid
population growth that California applied to
join the Union as a state instead of as a terri-
tory. But would California enter the Union as
a free state or a slave state?
Most Californians opposed slavery, which
had been illegal when the state was part of
Mexico. Also, many forty-niners had come
from free states. But if California became a
free state, the balance between free and slave
states would change, favoring the free states.
In the South, an imbalance was unaccept-
able. “We are about permanently to destroy
the balance of power between the sections,”
said Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. He
and many other southerners did not want
California to enter the Union as a free state.
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences
Why did sectionalism in the United States increase
in the late 1840s?
A DIVIDED NATION 439
Upsetting the Balance
Slave States
Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Free States
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Wisconsin
INTERPRETING MAPS
Region How could the admission of California as a slave state
or a free state upset the balance between North and South?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
Northern free states
30 senators
Southern slave states
30 senators
The admission of
California could upset
the balance of power
in the Senate.
California + 2 senators
Small parties still
affect presiden-
tial elections in a
similar way today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-4
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had helped
to settle the Missouri crisis of 1819–20 and
the nullifi cation crisis of 1832–33 by propos-
ing compromises. He now had another plan
to help the nation maintain peace. His ideas
were designed to give both sides things that
they wanted:
1. California would enter the Union as a
free state.
2. The rest of the Mexican Cession would
be federal land. In this territory, popular
sovereignty would decide on slavery.
3. Texas would give up land east of the
upper Rio Grande. In return, the gov-
ernment would pay Texas’s debts from
when it was an independent republic.
4. The slave trade—but not slavery—
would end in the nation’s capital.
5. A more effective fugitive slave law
would be passed.
Clay’s plan drew attack, especially regard-
ing California. Senator William Seward of
New York defended antislavery views and
wanted California admitted “directly, with-
out conditions, without qualifi cations, and
without compromise.” However, Senator
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina argued
that letting California enter as a free state
would destroy the nation’s balance. He
warned people of issues that would later
start the Civil War. Calhoun asked that the
slave states be allowed “to separate and part
in peace.”
440 CHAPTER 14
SPEECH
The Seventh of March Speech
On March 7, 1850, Daniel Webster spoke on the floor of the
Senate in favor of the Compromise of 1850.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why did Webster support the Compromise of
1850?
Primary Source
Daniel Webster spoke
eloquently in support of
the compromise.
Henry Clay introduced
the Compromise of 1850
on the Senate floor.
I hear with distress and anguish the word
“secession.” Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir,
your eyes and mine are never destined to see the
miracle. The dismemberment [taking apart] of
this vast country without convulsion! The break-
ing up of the fountains of the great deep without
ruffing the surface! Who is so foolish, I beg every
bodys pardon, as to expect to see any such
thing? . . . There can be no such thing as peace-
able secession.
—quoted in Daniel Webster: The Completest Man,
edited by Kenneth Shewmaker
Webster is
upset by talk of
secession.
Webster is say-
ing that just as
it is impossible
to move water
in the ocean
without mak-
ing waves, it is
impossible for
states to peace-
fully secede.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-5
In contrast, Senator Daniel Webster of
Massachusetts favored Clay’s plan:
I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts
man, nor as a Northern man, but as an Ameri-
can . . . I speak today for the preservation of the
Union. Hear me for my cause.
—Daniel Webster, quoted in Battle Cry of Freedom
by James M. McPherson
Webster criticized northern abolitionists and
southerners who talked of secession.
A compromise was enacted that year and
seemed to settle most disputes between free
and slave states. It achieved the majority of
Clay’s proposals.
With the
With the
Compromise of
Compromise of
1850
1850
, California was able to enter the Union
, California was able to enter the Union
as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Ces-
as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Ces-
sion was divided into two territories
sion was divided into two territories
U
U
tah
tah
and New Mexic
and New Mexic
o—where t
o—where t
he question of
he question of
whether to allow slavery would be decided
whether to allow slavery would be decided
by popular sovereignty.
by popular sovereignty.
Texas agreed to give up its land claims in
New Mexico in exchange for fi nancial aid from
the federal government. The compromise out-
lawed the slave trade in the District of Colum-
bia and established a new fugitive slave law.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How was Texas
affected by the Compromise of 1850?
Fugitive Slave Act
The newly passed
Fugitive Slave Act
Fugitive Slave Act
made it
made it
a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed
a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed
offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas
offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas.
Slaveholders were permitted to take sus-
pected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who
decided their fate.
Details of the Fugitive Slave Act
Slaveholders could use testimony from
white witnesses, but enslaved African Amer-
icans accused of being fugitives could not
testify. Nor could people who hid or helped
a runaway slave—they faced six months in
jail and a $1,000 fi ne. Commissioners who
rejected a slaveholder’s claim earned $5
while those who returned suspected fugi-
tives to slaveholders earned $10. Clearly,
the commissioners benefi ted from helping
slaveholders.
Reactions to the Fugitive Slave Act
Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act began
immediately. In September 1850—the same
month the law was passed—federal marshals
arrested African American James Hamlet.
They returned him to a slaveholder in
A DIVIDED NATION 441
John C. Calhoun
was weak and
near death. He
had his speech in
support of slavery
read to the Senate
for him.
SPEECH
John C. Calhoun from South Carolina wrote a speech saying
that the proposed compromise did not go far enough to satisfy
the South.
I have, senators, believed from the first that the agitation
of the subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some
timely and effective measure, end in disunion . . . The South
asks for justice, simple justice, and less she ought not to
take. She has no compromise to offer but the Constitution,
and no concession or surrender to make.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why did Calhoun urge southern senators to vote against
the compromise?
Primary Source
Southern View of the Compromise of 1850
Agitation means
“unrest.
Calhoun believes
the South’s position
is supported by the
Constitution.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-6
Maryland, although he had lived in New
York City for three years.
Thousands of northern African Americans
ed to Canada in fear. In the 10 years after Con-
gress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, some 343
fugitive slave cases were reviewed. The accused
fugitives were declared free in only 11 cases.
The Fugitive Slave Act upset northern-
ers, who were uncomfortable with the com-
missioners’ power. Northerners disliked the
idea of a trial without a jury. They also dis-
approved of commissioners’ higher fees for
returning slaves. Most were horrifi ed that
some free African Americans had been cap-
tured and sent to the South.
Most northerners opposed to the Act
peacefully resisted, but violence did erupt.
In 1854
Anthony Burns, a Virginia fugitive
slave, was arrested in Boston. Abolitionists
used force while trying to rescue him from
jail, killing a deputy marshal. A federal ship
was ordered to return Burns to Virginia after
his trial. Many people in the North, particu-
larly in Massachusetts, were outraged. The
event persuaded many to join the abolition-
ist cause.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
What concerns did northerners have about the
Fugitive Slave Act?
442 CHAPTER 14
Frederick Douglass
spoke to the crowd.
The Edmonson sisters, Mary
(left) and Emily, tried to
escape from slavery but were
captured. Abolitionists later
purchased their freedom.
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why would the abolitionists want a photograph of their
convention?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
PHOTOGRAPH
A Fugitive Slave
Convention
The Fugitive Slave Act enraged abolition-
ists. To protest the new law, they held many
meetings to publicly denounce it. One
such meeting was held in 1850 in the small
town of Cazenovia in central New York, a
center for abolitionist activity. About 2,000
people—including many former slaves—
attended the convention. They listened to
speeches, made plans, and raised their
voices for freedom. This photo was a point
of pride for the delegates, but it also was
used by opponents of the movement as a
symbol of the poor morals of abolitionists:
Not only were whites allowed to mix with
African Americans, women and men were
allowed to mix as well. This angered many
people.
Primary Source
Gerrit Smith organized
the convention.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-7
Antislavery Literature
Abolitionists in the North used the stories of
fugitive slaves like James Hamlet and Anthony
Burns to gain sympathy for their cause. Slave
narratives also educated people about their
hardships.
Fiction also informed people about the
evils of slavery.
Uncle Toms
Uncle Toms
Cabin
Cabin
, the anti-
, the anti-
slavery
slavery
novel written by
novel written by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
, spoke out powerfully against slavery.
Stowe, the daughter of Connecticut minister
Lyman Beecher, moved to Ohio when she
was 21. There she met fugitive slaves and
learned about the cruelties of slavery. The
Fugitive Slave Act greatly angered Stowe. She
decided to write a book that would educate
northerners about the realities of slavery.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852.
The main character, a kindly enslaved African
American named Tom, is taken from his wife
and sold “down the river” in Louisiana. Tom
becomes the slave of cruel Simon Legree. In a
rage, Legree has Tom beaten to death.
The novel electrified the nation and
sparked outrage in the South. Louisa McCord,
a famous southern writer, questioned the “foul
imagination which could invent such scenes.”
Within a decade, more than 2 million
copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin had been sold
in the United States. The book’s popularity
caused one northerner to remark that Stowe
and her book had created “two millions of
abolitionists.” Stowe later wrote A Key to
Uncle Tom’s Cabin to answer those who had
criticized her book.
The impact of Stowe’s book is suggested by
her reported meeting with Abraham Lincoln in
1862, a year after the start of the Civil War. Lin-
coln supposedly said to Stowe that she was “the
little lady who made this big war.” Her book is
still widely read today as a source of informa-
tion about the harsh realities of slavery.
READING CHECK
Identifying Cause and Effect
Why did abolitionists use antislavery literature to
promote their cause, and what effect did it have on
the slavery debate?
A DIVIDED NATION 443
Section 1 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Describe What ideas did the Free-Soil Party promote?
b. Predict What are some possible results of the growing
sectional debate over slavery?
2. a. Describe What were the major points of the
Compromise of 1850?
b. Contrast What differing opinions emerged toward Henry
Clay‘s proposed compromise?
3. a. Identify What were the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did some Americans believe the
Fugitive Slave Act was unfair?
4. a. Identify What are three examples of antislavery literature?
b. Elaborate Do you think literature was an effective tool
against slavery? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
5. Evaluating Copy the web diagram below onto a sheet of
your own paper. Use it to explain how the Compromise
of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, and antislavery literature
affected the debate over slavery.
Compromise
of 1850
Fugitive
Slave Act
Slavery Debate
Antislavery
Literature
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Taking Notes on the Debate over Slavery Make some
notes on the Wilmot Proviso, the Free-Soil Party, the
Compromise of 1850, and the Fugitive Slave Act. Decide
how your character feels about each of these. How do
the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act affect
your character?
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The United
States experienced increasing disagree-
ment over the issue of slavery. The Com-
promise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act
tried to address these disagreements with
legislation. In the next section you will
read about another disputed law concern-
ing slavery, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and
the violence it sparked.
HSS
8.9.4, 8.10.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-8
444 CHAPTER 14
Literature in History
GUIDED READING
WORD HELP
conceive imagine
desolate alone
forlorn unhappy
slacking slowing down
thither there
1 What detail tells you how
long Eliza has walked up to
this point?
2 Why do you think she
chooses that escape route?
Antislavery Literature
from
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
About the Reading Published nine years before the outbreak of the Civil
War, Uncle Tom’s Cabin focused the nation’s attention on the cruelties of
slavery. In the following section, Stowe describes how a slave named Eliza
is trying to escape to save her son from being sold.
AS YOU READ
Look for details that appeal to your feelings.
It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly deso-
late and forlorn than Eliza when she turned her footsteps from Uncle
Tom’s cabin . . .
The boundaries of the farm, the grove, the wood lot passed by her
dizzily as she walked on; and still she went, leaving one familiar object
after another, slacking not, pausing not, till reddening daylight found
her many a long mile from all traces of any familiar objects upon the
open highway.
1
She had often been, with her mistress, to visit some connections
in the little town of T—, not far from the Ohio River, and knew the
road well.
2
To go thither, to escape across the Ohio River, were the
first hurried outlines of her plan of escape; beyond that she could only
hope in God . . .
CONNECTING LITERATURE TO HISTORY
1. Slaves had no legal rights. They
were considered to be property,
not human beings. How do
the actions and dialogue in this
passage contradict these ideas
about slaves?
2. Frederick Douglass, Sojourner
Truth, and other former slaves
wrote narratives about their
experiences. Yet these true
stories did not have as much
impact as Stowe’s novel. Why
do you think this fi ctional story
about slavery had more impact
than true slave narratives?
ELA
Reading 8.3
Students
read and respond to historically
or culturally signifi cant works of
literature that refl ect and
enhance their studies of history
and social science.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-9
Trouble in Kansas
If YOU were there...
You live on a New England farm in 1855. You often think about
moving West. But the last few harvests have been bad, and you
can’t afford it. Now the Emigrant Aid Society offers to help you get
to Kansas. To bring in antislavery voters like you, they’ll give you a
wagon, livestock, and farm machines. Still, you know that Kansas
might be dangerous.
Would you decide to risk settling in Kansas?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The argument over the extension of
slavery grew stronger and more bitter. It dominated American poli-
tics in the mid-1800s. Laws that tried to find compromises ended by
causing more violence. The bloodiest battleground of this period
was in Kansas.
Election of 1852
Four leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination
emerged in 1852. It became clear that none of them would win a
majority of votes. Frustrated delegates at the Democratic National
Convention turned to
Franklin Pierce, a little-known politician
from New Hampshire. Pierce promised to honor the Compromise
What You Will Learn…
SECTION
2
Key Terms and People
Franklin Pierce, p. 445
Stephen Douglas, p. 446
Kansas-Nebraska Act, p. 447
Pottawatomie Massacre, p. 449
Charles Sumner, p. 449
Preston Brooks, p. 449
1. The debate over the expan-
sion of slavery influenced
the election of 1852.
2. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
allowed voters to allow or
prohibit slavery.
3. Pro-slavery and antislavery
groups clashed violently
in what became known as
“Bleeding Kansas.”
Main Ideas
A DIVIDED NATION 445
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
heightened tensions in the
conflict over slavery.
The Big Idea
This political cartoon
shows pro-slavery
politicians forcing
slavery on a settler
in Kansas who is
a member of the
antislavery Free-Soil
political party.
HSS
8.9.5
Analyze the signifi cance
of the States’ Rights Doctrine, the
Missouri Compromise (1820), the
Wilmot Proviso (1846), the Compro-
mise of 1850, Henry Clay’s role in
the Missouri Compromise and the
Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act (1854), the Dred Scott
v. Sandford decision (1857), and the
Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858).
HSS
8.10.2
Trace the boundaries
constituting the North and the South,
the geographical differences between
the two regions, and the differences
between agrarians and industrialists.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-10
Missouri
Compromise
line (36°30'N)
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
MICHIGAN
TERRITORY
ARKANSAS
TERRITORY
MO.
Free state
Free territory
Slave state
Slave territory
Missouri
Compromise
line (36°30'N)
MINNESOTA
TERRITORY
OREGON
TERRITORY
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
Disputed
of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. There-
fore, southerners trusted Pierce on the issue
of slavery.
The opposing Whigs also held their con-
vention in 1852. In other presidential elec-
tions, they had nominated well-known for-
mer generals such as William Henry Harrison
and Zachary Taylor. This had been a good
strategy, as both men had won. The Whigs
decided to choose another war hero. They
passed over the current president, Millard
Fillmore, because they believed that his strict
enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act would
cost votes. Instead, they chose Winfi eld Scott,
a Mexican War hero. Southerners did not trust
Scott, however, because he had not fully sup-
ported the Compromise of 1850.
Pierce won the election of 1852 by a large
margin. Many Whigs viewed the election as
a painful defeat, not just for their candidate,
but for their party.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
What issues determined the outcome of the
presidential election of 1852?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
In his inaugural address, President Pierce
expressed his hope that the slavery issue had
been put to rest “and that no sectional . . .
excitement may again threaten the durabil-
ity [stability] of our institutions.” Less than
a year later, however, a proposal to build a
railroad to the West coast helped revive the
slavery controversy and opened a new period
of sectional confl ict.
Douglas and the Railroad
Ever since entering Congress in the mid-
1840s,
Stephen Douglas had supported
the idea of building a railroad to the Pacifi c
Ocean. Douglas favored a line running from
Chicago. The fi rst step toward building such a
railroad would be organizing what remained
of the Louisiana Purchase into a federal ter-
ritory. The Missouri Compromise required
that this land be free territory and eventually
free states.
Southerners in Congress did not support
Douglas’s plan, recommending a southern
route for the railroad. Their preferred line
446 CHAPTER 14
From Compromise to Conflict
The Missouri Compromise, 1820
Under the Missouri Compromise of 1820,
there are an equal number of free states
(orange) and slave states (green).
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850
allowed for one more free state
than slave state, but also passed
a strict fugitive slave law.
FOCUS ON
READING
What facts and
what opinions are
mentioned in this
paragraph?
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-11
F&Eli
MINNESOTA
TERRITORY
OREGON
TERRITORY
WASH.
TERR.
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
Disputed
Free state
Free territory
Slave state
Slave territory
Popular sovereignty
ran from New Orleans, across Texas and New
Mexico Territory, to southern California.
Determined to have the railroad start in Chi-
cago, Douglas asked a few key southern sena-
tors to support his plan. They agreed to do
so if the new territory west of Missouri was
opened to slavery.
Two New Territories
In January 1854, Douglas introduced what
became the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act,
a plan
a plan
that would divide the remainder of the Loui-
that would divide the remainder of the Loui-
siana Purchase into two territories—Kansas
siana Purchase into two territories—Kansas
and Nebraska—and allow the people in each
and Nebraska—and allow the people in each
territory to decide on the question of slavery.
territory to decide on the question of slavery.
The act would eliminate the Missouri Com-
promise’s restriction on slavery north of the
36º 30
'
line.
Antislavery northerners were outraged
by the implications. Some believed the pro-
posal was part of a terrible plot to turn free
territory into a “dreary region . . . inhabited
by masters and slaves.” All across the North,
citizens attended protest meetings and sent
anti-Nebraska petitions to Congress.
Even so, with strong southern support—
and with Douglas and President Pierce pres-
suring their fellow Democrats to vote for it—
the measure passed both houses of Congress
and was signed into law on May 30, 1854.
Lost amid all the controversy over the ter-
ritorial bill was Douglas’s proposed railroad
to the Pacifi c Ocean. Congress would not
approve the construction of such a railroad
until 1862.
Kansas Divided
Antislavery and pro-slavery groups rushed
their supporters to Kansas. One of the people
who spoke out strongly against slavery in Kan-
sas was Senator Seward.
Gentlemen of the Slave States . . . I accept [your
challenge] in . . . the cause of freedom. We will
engage in competition for . . . Kansas, and God
give the victory to the side which is stronger in
numbers as it is in right.
—William Henry Seward, quoted in
The Impending Crisis, 184 8 18 61 by David M. Potter
Elections for the Kansas territorial legisla-
ture were held in March 1855. Almost 5,000
A DIVIDED NATION 447
INTERPRETING MAPS
1. Region In what part of the United States
were the slave states located?
2. Place What free state was added with the
Compromise of 1850?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the
question of slavery is to be decided by popular
sovereignty—by the people who vote in the elections
there—in the newly organized territories of Kansas
and Nebraska. The act sparked violent conflict
between pro-slavery and antislavery groups.
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
implications
things that are
inferred or
deduced
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-12
pro-slavery voters crossed the border from
Missouri, voted in Kansas, and then returned
home. As a result, the new legislature had a
huge pro-slavery majority. The members of
the legislature passed strict laws that made
it a crime to question slaveholders’ rights
and said that those who helped fugitive
slaves could be put to death. In protest, anti-
slavery Kansans formed their own legislature
25 miles away in Topeka. President Pierce
only recognized the pro-slavery legislature.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Why did
northerners dislike the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Bleeding Kansas
By early 1856 Kansas had two opposing gov-
ernments, and the population was angry.
Settlers had moved to Kansas to homestead
in peace, but the controversy over slavery
began to affect everyone.
In April 1856, a congressional commit-
tee arrived in Kansas to decide which govern-
ment was legitimate. Although committee
members declared the election of the pro-
slavery legislature to be unfair, the federal
government did not follow their recommen-
dations.
Attack on Lawrence
The new pro-slavery settlers owned guns,
and antislavery settlers received weapons
shipments from friends in the East. Then,
violence broke out. In May 1856 a pro-
slavery grand jury in Kansas charged leaders
of the antislavery government with treason.
About 800 men rode to the city of Lawrence
to arrest the antislavery leaders, but they
had fl ed. The posse took its anger out on
Lawrence by setting fi res, looting buildings,
and destroying presses used to print antislav-
ery newspapers. One man was killed in the
pro-slavery attack that became known as the
Sack of Lawrence.
John Browns Response
Abolitionist John Brown was from New
England, but he and some of his sons had
moved to Kansas in 1855. The Sack of Law-
rence made him determined to “fi ght re
with fi re” and to “strike terror in the hearts
of the pro-slavery people.” On the night of
May 24, 1856, along Pottawatomie Creek,
Brown and his men killed fi ve pro-slavery
Brown and his men killed fi ve pro-slavery
men in Kansas in what became known as
men in Kansas in what became known as
448
Abolitionists and pro-slavery forces clashed in
Kansas, killing many people. Shown here is a
group of abolitionists who took the law into their
own hands to free one of their group from prison.
Why might these men
have fought
against slavery?
“Bleeding Kansas”
John Doy was impris-
oned for his aboli-
tionist activities but
was freed by other
abolitionists
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-13
the
the
Pottawatomie
Pottawatomie
Massacre
Massacre. Brown and
his men dragged the pro-slavery men out
of their cabins and killed them with swords.
The abolitionist band managed to escape
capture. Brown declared that his actions had
been ordered by God.
Kansas collapsed into civil war, and about
200 people were killed. The events in “Bleed-
ing Kansas” became national front-page
stories. In September 1856, a new territorial
governor arrived and began to restore order.
Brooks Attacks Sumner
Congress also reacted to the violence of the
Sack of Lawrence. Senator
Charles Sumner of
Massachusetts criticized pro-slavery people
in Kansas and personally insulted Andrew
Pickens Butler, a pro-slavery senator from South
Carolina. Representative
Preston Brooks,
a relative of Butler’s, responded strongly. On
May 22, 1856, Brooks used a walking cane
to beat Sumner unconscious in the Senate
chambers.
Dozens of southerners sent Brooks new
canes, but northerners were outraged and
called the attacker “Bully Brooks”. Brooks
only had to pay a $300 fi ne to the federal
court. It took Sumner three years before
he was well enough to return to his Senate
duties.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were
some of the results of the intense division in Kansas?
A DIVIDED NATION 449
Section 2 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What issues infl uenced the
outcome of the election of 1852?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did northern and
southern Democrats support Franklin Pierce?
2. a. Recall What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do?
b. Explain Why did antislavery and pro-slavery
groups encourage people to move to Kansas?
c. Evaluate Would you have supported or
opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why?
3. a. Describe What was the Pottawatomie Massacre?
b. Analyze How did Charles Sumner’s views on
“Bleeding Kansas” create confl ict?
c. Elaborate Do you think Preston Brooks’s
punishment was reasonable? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
4. Sequencing Copy the graphic organizer at the top
of the right column onto your own sheet of paper.
Use it to show events that led to violence in Kansas.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on the Trouble in Kansas Make
some notes on the election of 1852, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act, and the events in Kansas. Decide how
your character feels about each of these. How do
these events affect your character?
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Violence in Kansas
The cartoon
above shows
Preston Brooks
beating Charles
Sumner with
his cane.
Sumner’s only
protection is
a quill pen
symbolically
representing
the law.
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Kansas-
Nebraska Act produced a national uproar.
In the next section you will read about
divisions in political parties.
HSS
8.9.5,
8.10.2
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-14
SECTION
3
Key Terms and People
Republican Party, p. 450
James Buchanan, p. 450
John C. Frémont, p. 451
Dred Scott, p. 451
Roger B. Taney, p. 452
Abraham Lincoln, p. 452
Lincoln-Douglas debates, p. 453
Freeport Doctrine, p. 454
What You Will Learn…
1. Political parties in the United
States underwent change
due to the movement to
expand slavery.
2. The Dred Scott decision
created further division over
the issue of slavery.
3. The Lincoln-Douglas debates
brought much attention to the
conflict over slavery.
Main Ideas
You are traveling through Michigan in July 1854. As you pass
through the town of Jackson, you see a crowd of several hundred
people gathered under the trees. You join them and fi nd that it
is a political rally. Antislavery supporters from different parties are
meeting to form a new political party. Speakers promise to fi ght
slavery “until the contest be terminated.
How do you think this new party will affect
American politics?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The slavery question continued to
divide the country and lead to violence. The issue not only dominated
American politics in the mid-1800s but also brought changes in the
makeup of American political parties.
Political Parties Undergo Change
Democrat Stephen Douglas had predicted that the Kansas-Nebraska
Act would “raise a . . . storm.” He was right. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
brought the slavery issue back into the national spotlight. Some
Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, and abolitionists joined in 1854
to form the
Republican Party
Republican Party,
a political party
a political party
united against the
united against the
spread of slavery in the West
spread of slavery in the West.
Democrats were in trouble. Those who supported the Kansas-
Nebraska Act were not re-elected. The Whig Party also fell apart
when northern and southern Whigs refused to work together. A
senator from Connecticut complained, “The Whig Party has been
killed off . . . by that miserable Nebraska business.” Some Whigs
and Democrats joined the American Party, also known as the
Know-Nothing Party. At the party’s convention, delegates argued
over slavery, then chose former president Millard Fillmore as their
candidate for the election of 1856.
The Democrats knew they could not choose a strong supporter of
the Kansas-Nebraska Act, such as President Pierce or Senator Douglas.
They nominated
James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. Buchanan had
a great deal of political experience as Polk’s secretary of state. Most
If YOU were there...
Political Divisions
450 CHAPTER 14
The split over the issue of slav-
ery intensified due to political
division and judicial decisions.
The Big Idea
HSS
8.10.4
Discuss Abraham
Lincoln’s presidency and his signifi -
cant writings and speeches and their
relationship to the Declaration of
Independence, such as his “House
Divided” speech (1858), Gettys-
burg Address (1863), Emancipation
Proclamation (1863), and inaugural
addresses (1861 and 1865).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-15
importantly, he had been in Great Britain
as ambassador during the Kansas-Nebraska
Act dispute and had not been involved in
the debate.
At their fi rst nominating convention, the
Republicans chose explorer
John C. Frémont
as their candidate. He had little political
experience, but he stood against the spread
of slavery. The public saw Republicans as a
single-issue party. They had almost no sup-
porters outside of the free states.
On election day, Buchanan won 14 of the
15 slave states and became the new president.
Frémont won 11 of the 16 free states. Fillmore
won only one state—Maryland. Buchanan
had won the election.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were the
major political parties in the election of 1856, and
who was the candidate for each party?
Dred Scott Decision
Just two days after Buchanan became presi-
dent, the Supreme Court issued a historic
ruling about slavery. News of the decision
threw the country back into crisis. The Court
reviewed and decided the complex case involv-
ing an enslaved man named
Dred Scott.
Dred Scott Sues for Freedom
Dred Scott was the slave of Dr. John Emerson,
an army surgeon who lived in St. Louis, Mis-
souri. In the 1830s, Emerson had taken Scott
on tours of duty in Illinois and the Wisconsin
Territory. After they returned to Missouri, the
doctor died, and Scott became the slave of
Emerson’s widow. In 1846 Scott sued for his
freedom in the Missouri state courts, arguing
that he had become free when he lived in
free territory. Though a lower court ruled in
A DIVIDED NATION 451
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING INFORMATION
1. Why do you think the Court ruled that African
Americans had no access to federal courts?
2. How did this case affect abolitionist efforts?
Dred Scott v. Sandford
(1857)
Background of the
Case Born a slave in Virginia,
Dred Scott moved with his
slaveholder to the free state
of Illinois and then to the Wis-
consin Territory. After returning
to the South, Scott sued for
his freedom. He claimed that
because he had lived in a state
that banned slavery, he was no
longer a slave.
The Court’s Ruling
The Court ruled that African Americans,
whether free or slave, were not consid-
ered citizens of the United States, and
therefore had no right to sue in federal
court. It also decided that the Missouri
Compromise was unconstitutional.
The Court’s Reasoning
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in
the majority opinion that the Court
did not believe that African Americans
were included in the
Constitution’s definition
of citizens and that they
“had no rights which the
white man was bound
to respect.” Address-
ing a side issue in the
case, the opinion
also stated
that Congress could not outlaw slavery
in the territories. This struck down the
Missouri Compromise, which had made
slavery illegal in territories north of the
36
˚30
'
dividing line.
Why It Matters
The Dred Scott case was seen as a
setback to abolitionist ideas against
slavery. It reduced the status of free
African Americans and upheld the view
of slaves as property without rights or
protection under the Constitution. It also
took from Congress the power to ban
slavery in its territories, which would
aid the spread of slavery in new states.
Because of its pro-slavery decision, the
reputation of the Court suffered greatly
in parts of the North.
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
complex
difficult, not
simple
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-16
Long-Term Effect
• Civil War
Causes of Conflict
Failure of Missouri Compromise
Failure of Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Dred Scott decision
Short-Term Effects
• Political battles
• Sectional differences
• “Bleeding Kansas”
• Lincoln-Douglas debates
A Growing Conflict
his favor, the Missouri Supreme Court over-
turned this ruling.
Scott’s case reached the U.S. Supreme
Court 11 years later, in 1857. The justices—a
majority of whom were from the South—
had three key issues before them. First,
the Court had to rule on whether Scott
was a citizen. Only citizens could sue in
federal court. Second, the Court had to decide
if his time living on free soil made him free.
Third, the Court had to determine the con-
stitutionality of prohibiting slavery in parts
of the Louisiana Purchase.
The Supreme Court’s Ruling
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (TAW-nee), him-
self from a slaveholding family in Maryland,
wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott
decision in March 1857. First, he addressed
the issue of Dred Scott’s citizenship. Taney
said the nation’s founders believed that Afri-
can Americans “had no rights which a white
man was bound to respect.” He therefore con-
cluded that all African Americans, whether
slave or free, were not citizens under the U.S.
Constitution. Thus, Dred Scott did not have
the right to fi le suit in federal court.
Taney also ruled on the other issues before
the Court. As to whether Scott’s residence on
free soil made him free, Taney fl atly said it
did not. Because Scott had returned to the
slave state of Missouri, the chief justice said,
“his status, as free or slave, depended on the
laws of Missouri.”
Finally, Taney declared the Missouri
Compromise restriction on slavery north of
36°30
'
to be unconstitutional. He pointed
out that the Fifth Amendment said no one
could “be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.” Because slaves
were considered property, Congress could
not prohibit someone from taking slaves
into a federal territory. Under this ruling,
Congress had no right to ban slavery in any
federal territory.
Most white southerners cheered this
decision. It “covers every question regarding
slavery and settles it in favor of the South,”
reported a Georgia newspaper. Another news-
paper, the New Orleans Picayune, assured its
readers that the ruling put “the whole basis
of the . . . Republican organization under the
ban of law.”
The ruling stunned many northern-
ers. The Republicans were particularly upset
because their platform in 1856 had argued
that Congress held the right to ban slavery
in the federal territories. Now the nation’s
highest court had ruled that Congress did
not have this right.
Indeed, some northerners feared that the
spread of slavery would not stop with the
federal territories. Illinois lawyer
Abraham
Lincoln
warned that a future Court ruling, or
what he called “the next Dred Scott decision,”
would prohibit states from banning slavery.
452 CHAPTER 14
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-17
We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the
people of Missouri are on the verge of [close to]
making their state free; and we shall awake to
the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has
made Illinois a slave state.
—Abraham Lincoln, quoted in The Collected Works of
Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were the
major rulings of the Dred Scott decision?
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated Abra-
ham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His opponent
was Democrat Stephen Douglas, who had
represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847.
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became
the historic
the historic
Lincoln-Douglas
Lincoln-Douglas
debates
debates.
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that the
central issue of the campaign was the spread
of slavery in the West. He said that the Dem-
ocrats were trying to spread slavery across
the nation.
Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott
decision. He said that African Ameri-
cans were “entitled to all the natural
rights” listed in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, specifi cally mentioning “the
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”
However, Lincoln believed
that African Americans were not necessarily
the social or political equals of whites. Hop-
ing to cost Lincoln votes, Douglas charged
that Lincoln “thinks that the Negro is his
brother . . .”
Douglas also criticized Lincoln for saying
that the nation could not remain “half slave
and half free.” Douglas said that the state-
ment revealed a Republican desire to make
every state a free state. This, he warned,
would only lead to “a dissolution [destruc-
tion] of the Union” and “warfare between
the North and the South.”
At the second debate, in the northern
Illinois town of Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln
pressed Douglas on the apparent contradic-
tion between the Democrats’ belief in popu-
A DIVIDED NATION 453
SPEECH
A House Divided
In 1858 Abraham Lincoln gave a passionate speech to
Illinois Republicans about the dangers of the disagreement
over slavery. Some considered it a call for war.
In my opinion, it [disagreement over slavery] will not cease [stop],
until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. “A house divided
against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure
permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be
dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will
cease to be divided.
—Abraham Lincoln,
quoted in Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 18 3 2 185 8
edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher
Primary Source
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
What do you think Lincoln meant by “crisis”?
This line is a
paraphrase of a
line in the Bible.
Lincoln expresses
confidence that the
Union will survive.
Today political
debates are
televised and can
be seen around
the world.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-18
lar sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision.
Lincoln asked Douglas to explain how, if
Congress could not ban slavery from a feder-
al territory, Congress could allow the citizens
of that territory to ban it.
Douglas responded that it did not mat-
ter what the Supreme Court decided about
slavery. He argued that “the people have the
lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as
they please, for the reason that slavery can-
not exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless
it is supported by local police regulations.”
This notion that the police would
This notion that the police would
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
Scott case became known as the
Scott case became known as the
Freeport
Freeport
Doctrine
Doctrine
.
.
The Freeport Doctrine put the slavery
question back in the hands of American citi-
zens. It helped Douglas win the Senate seat.
Lincoln, while not victorious, emerged as an
important leader of the Republican Party.
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences Why
did Abraham Lincoln make slavery’s expansion the
central issue of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?
454 CHAPTER 14
Section 3 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What was the major issue of the newly
formed Republican Party?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Kansas-
Nebraska Act affect political parties?
c. Elaborate Why do you think James Buchanan
won the election of 1856?
2. a. Identify Who was Roger B. Taney, and why
was he important?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Dred Scott
decision affect the Missouri Compromise and the
expansion of slavery?
c. Predict What problems might result from the
Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case?
3 a. Recall What was the major issue of the
Lincoln-Douglas debates?
b. Make Inferences Despite his loss in the elec-
tion, how did Lincoln become the leader of the
Republican Party?
Critical Thinking
4. Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below
onto your own paper. Use it to identify the issues
involved in the Dred Scott case and the Supreme
Court’s rulings.
Issues Supreme Court Rulings
Dred Scott Case
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on the Political Divisions Make
some notes on the Republican Party, the Dred Scott
decision, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Decide
how your character feels about each of these. How
do these events affect your character?
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Abraham Lincoln Stephen Douglas
Lincoln ran for the
U.S. Senate in
Illinois against
Douglas in 1858.
The two men
debated seven
times at various
locations around
the state. Lincoln
lost the election
but gained national
recognition.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Dred Scott
decision and the Lincoln-Douglas debates
dealt with the confl ict over slavery in the
western territories. In the next section
you will read about how the confl ict broke
apart the Union.
HSS
8.10.4
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-19
The Nation Divides
If YOU were there...
You work for the weekly newspaper in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
You strongly oppose slavery, but you think the question ought to
be resolved by laws, not bloodshed. Now your paper has sent you
to interview the famous abolitionist John Brown in prison. His raids
in “Bleeding Kansas” killed several people. Now he is in jail for
attacking a federal arsenal and taking weapons.
What questions would you ask John Brown?
BUILDING BACKGROUND Unpopular compromises and court
decisions deepened the divisions between pro-slavery and antislav-
ery advocates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates attracted more atten-
tion to the issue. As the disagreements grew, violence increased,
though many Americans hoped to avoid it. But it was too late to keep
the nation unified.
Raid on Harpers Ferry
In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising. He wanted to attack
the federal arsenal in Virginia and seize weapons there. He planned
to arm local slaves. Brown expected to kill or take hostage white
southerners who stood in his way. He urged abolitionists to give
him money so that he could support a small army. But after nearly
two years, Brown’s army had only about 20 men.
On the night of October 16, 1859,
John Browns raid
John Browns raid
began
began
when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
Virginia, in hop
Virginia, in hop
es of starting a slave rebellion
es of starting a slave rebellion. He sent several of
his men into the countryside to get slaves to join him. However,
enslaved African Americans did not come to Harpers Ferry, fear-
ing punishment if they took part. Instead, local white southern-
ers attacked Brown. Eight of his men and three local men were
killed. Brown and some followers retreated to a fi rehouse.
Federal troops arrived in Harpers Ferry the following night. The
next morning, Colonel Robert E. Lee ordered a squad of marines to
storm the fi rehouse. In a matter of seconds, the marines killed two
more of Brown’s men and captured the rest—including Brown.
What You Will Learn…
SECTION
4
Key Terms and People
John Brown’s raid, p. 455
John C. Breckinridge, p. 457
Constitutional Union Party, p. 457
John Bell, p. 457
secession, p. 458
Confederate States of
America, p. 458
Jefferson Davis, p. 458
John J. Crittenden, p. 459
1. John Brown’s raid on Harpers
Ferry intensified the disagree-
ment between free states
and slave states.
2. The outcome of the election
of 1860 divided the United
States.
3. The dispute over slavery led
the South to secede.
Main Ideas
A DIVIDED NATION 455
The United States broke apart
due to the growing conflict
over slavery.
The Big Idea
HSS
8.9.1
Describe the leaders
of the movement (e.g., John Quincy
Adams and his proposed constitu-
tional amendment, John Brown and
the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman
and the Underground Railroad, Benja-
min Franklin, Theodore Weld, William
Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).
8.10.3 Identify the constitutional
issues posed by the doctrine of nullifi-
cation and secession and the earliest
origins of that doctrine.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-20
Brown was quickly convicted of treason,
murder, and conspiracy. Some of his men
received death sentences. John A. Copeland,
a fugitive slave, defended his actions. “If I am
dying for freedom, I could not die for a bet-
ter cause.” Convinced that he also would be
sentenced to death, Brown delivered a mem-
orable speech.
Now, if it is deemed [thought] necessary that I
should forfeit [give up] my life for the further-
ance of the ends of justice, and mingle [mix]
my blood . . . with the blood of millions in this
slave country whose rights are disregarded by
wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say, let
it be done.
—John Brown, quoted in John Brown, 1800–1859
by Oswald Garrison Villard
As expected, the judge ordered Brown to
be hanged. The sentence was carried out one
month later on December 2, 1859.
Many northerners mourned John Brown’s
death, but some abolitionists criticized his
extreme actions. Abraham Lincoln said Brown
“agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong.”
However, Lincoln continued, “That cannot
excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason.”
Most southern whites—both slave-
holders and non-slaveholders—felt threat-
ened by the actions of John Brown. They
worried that a “John Brown the Second”
might attack. One South Carolina newspa-
per voiced these fears: “We are convinced
the safety of the South lies only outside the
present Union.” Another newspaper stated
that “the sooner we get out of the Union,
the better.”
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
Why did John Brown’s raid lead some southerners
to talk about leaving the Union?
456 CHAPTER 14
SPEECH
John Brown’s Last Speech
At his trial, after being pronounced guilty, John Brown
spoke in his own defense about his plan to free slaves.
I intended certainly to have made a clean thing
of that matter [freeing slaves] . . . I never did
intend murder or treason, or the destruction
of property, or to excite or incite the slaves to
rebellion, or to make insurrection [revolt] . . .
Had I interfered in the manner which I admit . . . in
behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent,
the so-called great . . . it would have been all
right, and every man in this Court would have
deemed it an act worthy of reward rather
than punishment . . . I believe that to have
interfered as I have done . . . in behalf of
His despised poor, is no wrong, but right.
—John Brown,
quoted in The Life, Trial and Execution
of Captain John Brown
Primary Source
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How does Brown contrast his ideas with the Court’s ideas?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
By His, Brown
means God’s.
Brown says he
never meant to
start a rebellion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-21
INDIAN
TERR.
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
Unorganized
Territory
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
Disputed
TX
4
AR
4
LA
6
MS
7
AL
9
GA
10
TN
12
KY
12
VA
15
OH
23
IN
13
PA
27
NY
35
ME
8
MD
8
DE
3
NJ
7*
CT
6
RI
4
MA
13
VT
5
NH
5
MI
6
MO
9
IA
4
OR
3
CA
4
IL
11
MN
4
WI
5
FL
3
SC
8
NC
10
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States
Lincoln
(Republican)
Douglas
(N. Democrat)
Breckinridge
(S. Democrat)
Bell
(Constitutional
Union)
180
12
72
39
Electoral
Vote
Popular
Vote
1,865,593
1,382,713
848,356
592,906
*NewJersey cast four electoral votes
for Lincoln and three for Douglas.
Election of 1860
In this climate of distrust, Americans pre-
pared for another presidential election in
1860. The northern and southern Democrats
could not agree on a candidate. Northern
Democrats chose Senator Stephen Doug-
las. Southern Democrats backed the cur-
rent vice president,
John C. Breckinridge
of Kentucky, who supported slavery in the
territories.
Meanwhile, a new political party emerged.
The
The
Constitutional Union Party
Constitutional Union Party
recognized
recognized
“no political principles other than the Con-
“no political principles other than the Con-
stitution of the country, the Union of the
stitution of the country, the Union of the
states, and the enforcement of the laws.”
states, and the enforcement of the laws.”
Members of this new party met in Baltimore,
Maryland, and selected
John Bell of Tennes-
see as their candidate. Bell was a slaveholder,
but he had opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act
in 1854.
Senator William Seward of New York was
the Republicans’ leading candidate at the start
of their convention. But it turned out that
Lincoln appealed to more party members.
A moderate who was against the spread of
slavery, Lincoln promised not to abolish
slavery where it already existed.
Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell each knew
he might not win the election. They hoped
to win enough electoral votes to prevent Lin-
coln from winning in the electoral college.
But with a unifi ed Republican Party behind
him, Lincoln won. Although he received the
highest number of votes, he won only about
40 percent of the overall popular vote.
Lincoln won 180 of 183 electoral votes in
free states. Douglas had the second-highest
number of popular votes, but he won only
one state. He earned just 12 electoral votes.
Breckinridge and Bell split electoral votes in
other slave states.
The election results angered southerners.
Lincoln did not campaign in their region
and did not carry any southern states, but he
became the next president. The election sig-
naled that the South was losing its national
political power.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Why was Lincoln
viewed by many as a moderate candidate during
his campaign for the presidency?
A DIVIDED NATION 457
INTERPRETING MAPS
Region In which part of the country were most of the
states that Lincoln won?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
Election of 1860
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-22
The South Secedes
Lincoln insisted that he would not change
slavery in the South. However, he said that
slavery could not expand and thus would
eventually die out completely. That idea
angered many southerners.
Southerners’ Reactions
People in the South believed their economy
and way of life would be destroyed with-
out slave labor. They reacted immediately.
Within a week of Lincoln’s election, South
Carolina’s legislature called for a special con-
vention. The delegates considered
secession
secession,
or formally withdrawing from the Union
or formally withdrawing from the Union.
South Carolina elected to dissolve “the
union now subsisting [existing] between
South Carolina and other States.” Southern
secessionists believed that they had a right to
leave the Union. They pointed out that each
of the original states had voluntarily joined
the Union by holding a special convention
that had ratifi ed the Constitution. Surely,
they reasoned, states could leave the Union
by the same process.
Critics of secession thought this argu-
ment was ridiculous. President Buchanan
said the Union was not “a mere voluntary
association of States, to be dissolved at plea-
sure by any one of the contracting parties.”
President-elect Abraham Lincoln agreed, say-
ing, “No State, upon its own mere motion,
can lawfully get out of the Union.” Lincoln
added, “They can only do so against [the]
law, and by revolution.”
The Confederate States of America
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Loui-
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Loui-
siana, and Texas also seceded to form the
siana, and Texas also seceded to form the
Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America,
also c
also c
alled
alled
the Confederacy.
the Confederacy. Its new constitution guaran-
teed citizens the right to own slaves.
Delegates from seceded states elected
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president of
the Confederacy. Davis had hoped to be the
commanding general of Mississippi’s troops.
He responded to the news of his election
with reluctance.
While the South Carolina representatives
were meeting to discuss secession, Congress
458 CHAPTER 14
This photograph is of the first inaugura-
tion of Jefferson Davis as the president
of the Confederate States of America. A
former U.S. secretary of war, Davis was
elected president of the confederacy in
1861.
How does this photo show the state of
the southern government?
Rebel Government
Jefferson Davis takes the
oath of office for presi-
dent of the Confederate
States of America.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-23
examined a plan to save the Union. Senator
John J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposed a
series of constitutional amendments that he
believed would satisfy the South by protect-
ing slavery. Crittenden hoped the country
could avoid secession and a civil war.
Lincoln disagreed with some of Critten-
den’s plan. He believed there could be no
compromise about the extension of slavery.
Lincoln wrote, “The tug has to come and
better now than later.” A Senate committee
voted on Crittenden’s plan, and every Repub-
lican rejected it, as Lincoln had requested.
When the southern states seceded, the
question of who owned federal property in
the South arose. For instance, the forts in the
harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, were
federal property. However, Confederate pres-
ident Davis and the Confederacy were ready
to prevent the federal army from controlling
the property.
Lincoln Takes Offi ce
President Lincoln was inaugurated on March
4, 1861. In writing his inaugural address,
Lincoln looked to many of the nation’s
founding documents. Referring to the idea
that governments receive “their just powers
from the consent of the governed,” a line
from the Declaration of Independence, Lin-
coln stated, “This country, with its institu-
tions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.
Whenever they grow weary of the existing
Government, they can exercise their consti-
tutional right of amending it or their revo-
lutionary right to dismember [take apart] or
overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the
fact that many worthy and patriotic citi-
zens are desirous [wanting] of having the
National Constitution amended . . .”
While he believed that U.S. citizens
had the power to change their government
through majority consent, he opposed the
idea that southern states could leave the
Union because they were unhappy with the
government’s position on slavery.
He announced in his inaugural address
that he would keep all government property
in the seceding states. However, he also tried
to convince southerners that his government
would not provoke a war. He hoped that,
given time, southern states would return to
the Union.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions Why
did some southern states secede from the Union?
A DIVIDED NATION 459
Section 4 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Recall Why did John Brown want to seize the federal
arsenal at Harpers Ferry?
b. Explain Why did some abolitionists disagree with
Brown’s actions?
2. a. Identify List the candidates in the presidential election
of 1860, and what party each supported.
b. Predict How might Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the
election of 1860 lead to future problems?
3. a. Identify What states made up the Confederate States
of America?
b. Explain Why did Lincoln disagree with John J.
Crittenden’s plan to keep the Union together?
c. Elaborate Do you believe that the southern states had
the right to secede? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
4. Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below onto
your own sheet of paper. Use it to identify the causes of
the secession of southern states.
Causes
Secession
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on Secession Make some notes on the raid
on Harpers Ferry, the election of 1860, and the secession
of the South. Decide how your character feels about each
of these. How do these events affect your character?
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The secession
of the southern states hinted at the vio-
lence to come. In the next chapter you will
read about the Civil War.
HSS
8.9.1, 8.10.3
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-24
Define the Skill
All historical information comes from primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources are documents
written by someone who witnessed or took part in
an event. They include diaries, letters, autobiogra-
phies, and newspaper reports. Secondary sources are
accounts of events written after the events have
occurred by someone who did not witness or take
part in them. They retell, interpret, and summarize
information from primary sources. History books
and biographies are examples of secondary sources.
Historical sources often disagree. One writer’s
version of an event may be different from another
writer’s version. You must assess the reliability of a
primary or secondary source in order to weigh its
value to you as a source of accurate information.
Learn the Skill
Use these guidelines to analyze and evaluate primary
and secondary sources.
1
Identify the nature of the material. Is it a fi rst-
hand, eye-witness account or is it based on
information provided by others?
2
Evaluate the author. If the material is a second-
ary source, what qualifi cations does the author
have to interpret the sources from which it
came? If the material is a primary source, what
was the author’s connection to the event he or
she is writing about?
3
Determine the audience. Was the source meant
to be seen by the public? Was it meant for a
friend, or for the writer alone? The intended
audience can infl uence a source’s content.
Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources
4
Determine the purpose. Even authors of primary
sources can have reasons to distort the truth to
suit their own purposes. Look for evidence of
emotion, exaggeration, opinion, or bias that
may have infl uenced the account.
5
Look for documentation. Look for other infor-
mation or evidence that supports the source’s
account. Compare sources whenever possible.
Practice the Skill
The passage below concerns the attack on Lawrence,
Kansas, that you read about in this chapter. The
passage contains both a primary and a secondary
source. The secondary account was written by John
A. Garraty, a well-known historian. Review the
information on page 448, analyze the passage, and
answer the questions that follow.
Sheriff Jones, at the head of an army of Missourians,
marched into Lawrence. In broad daylight they threw
the printing presses of two newspapers into a river. They
burned down the Free State Hotel and other buildings.
Antislavery Kansans seethed with rage. One eyewitness
described the attack.
Sheriff Jones, after looking at the fl ames rising from the hotel
and saying that it was ‘the happiest day of his life,’ dismissed
the troops and they began their lawless destruction.
1. Did the author of the primary source likely sup-
port the attackers or the people of Lawrence?
What clues in the passage suggest this?
2. For whom was the primary source likely written?
3. Which source is more reliable for information
about this incident? Explain why.
460 CHAPTER 14
Social Studies Skills
Analysis
Critical Thinking Participation Study
HR3
Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant
information.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-25
A DIVIDED NATION 461
Standards Review
CHAPTER
14
Reviewing Vocabulary,
Terms, and People
Identify the correct term or person from the chapter that
best fi ts each of the following descriptions.
1. belief that voters should be given the right to
decide if slavery would be permitted or banned
2. chief justice of the Supreme Court who wrote
the majority opinion for the Dred Scott decision
3. Democratic candidate for president in 1852 who
promised to enforce the Compromise of 1850
and the Fugitive Slave Act
4. a fugitive slave whose arrest led to violence
between government officials and abolitionists
5. Republican candidate for the presidency in 1856
who opposed the spread of slavery in the West
6. slave who sued for freedom, claiming that
by living in free territory, he had earned his
freedom
7. Stephen Douglas’s claim that states and
territories should determine the issue of slavery
through popular sovereignty
Comprehension and
Critical Thinking
SECTION 1 (Pages 438–443)
8. a. Describe How did literature aid the antislav-
ery movement?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the issue of slav-
ery promote sectionalism?
c. Evaluate Do you think the Compromise of
1850 was a good solution? Explain your answer.
SECTION 2
(Pages 445–449)
9. a. Identify Who were the candidates in the
presidential election of 1852, and what issues
did each support?
b. Analyze How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act
lead to growing hostility between pro-slavery
and antislavery supporters?
c. Elaborate Why do you think “Bleeding
Kansas” produced intense controversy between
many Americans?
Use the visual summary below to help you review
the main ideas of the chapter.
Visual
Summary
Differing views on slavery in the
North and South gradually tore
apart the unity of the nation.
HSS
8.9.4, 8.10.1
HSS
8.9.5, 8.10.2
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-26
462 CHAPTER 14
SECTION 3 (Pages 450–454)
10. a. Identify Who was Dred Scott, and why was
his case important?
b. Analyze How were political parties affected
by the debate over slavery?
c. Elaborate Why do you think Republicans
challenged Stephen Douglas’s run for the
Senate?
SECTION 4
(Pages 455–459)
11. a. Recall Why did the southern states secede,
and what was the North’s response?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did the results of the
election of 1860 anger southerners?
c. Evaluate Do you think John Brown was right
to use violence to protest slavery? Explain.
Reviewing Themes
12. Politics How did sectionalism affect American
politics?
13. Society and Culture What effect did Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin have on
the debate over slavery?
Using the Internet
KEYWORD: SS8 US14
14. Activity: Creating a Newspaper Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s novel and John Brown’s raids
were two important events that created more
debate over slavery and heightened tension
between sides. Enter the activity keyword and
learn more about antislavery actions. Then
create a newspaper with which to display your
research. Remember to write from the point of
view of someone from the mid-1800s.
Reading Skills
Understanding Fact and Opinion Use the Reading
Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about
the reading selection below.
In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising.
He wanted to attack the federal arsenal in
Virginia and seize weapons there. He planned
to arm local slaves. Brown expected to kill or
take hostage white southerners who stood in
his way. (p. 455)
15. Based on the reading above, which of the
following statements is an opinion?
a. John Brown’s raid was in 1858.
b. John Brown hated all slaveholders.
c. John Brown’s raid took place in Virginia.
d. Local slaves helped John Brown.
Social Studies Skills
Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources Use the
Social Studies Skills taught in this chapter to answer the
question below.
16. Which of the following is not an example of a
primary source used in this chapter?
a. A People’s History of the United States by
Howard Zinn
b. The Seventh of March speech by Daniel
Webster
c. A House Divided speech by Abraham Lincoln
d. John Brown’s last speech
FOCUS ON WRITING
17. Writing Your Autobiography Review your notes.
Then write your autobiography, being sure to
mention each of the events from your notes.
Tell how your character heard about each event,
what he or she was doing at the time, how he
or she felt about the event, and how it affected
him or her. What are your character’s hopes and
fears for the future?
HSS
8.10.4
HSS
8.9.1, 8.10.3
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-27
30°
N
90°W
120°W
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
OR
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
TX
CA
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
MS
AL
GA
FL
TN
KY
IL
WI
MI
IN
OH
PA
NY
MD
DE
NJ
CT
RI
MA
VT
NH
VA
NC
SC
ME
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
A DIVIDED NATION 463
DIRECTIONS: Read each question and write the
letter of the best response. Use the map below to
answer question 1.
!
From the information in this map, you can
conclude that it shows
A the provisions of the Compromise of 1850.
B the results of the election of 1860.
C the formation of the Confederacy.
D the results of the Dred Scott decision.
@
Which leader was responsible for settling the
dispute over the expansion of slavery that
arose after the Mexican War?
A David Wilmot
B Henry Clay
C Abraham Lincoln
D Jefferson Davis
#
California’s admission as a free state after
the Mexican War aroused controversy
because
A many Californians already held slaves.
B it would upset the balance between free states
and slave states.
C Mexico still claimed that California was part of
Mexico’s territory.
D most Californians wanted independence.
$
Widespread violence erupted in Kansas over
slavery in the mid-1850s mainly due to
A the practice of popular sovereignty.
B the Pottawatomie Massacre.
C the Missouri Compromise.
D the threat of secession.
%
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 directly or
indirectly led to all of the following except
A the rise of the Republican Party.
B the collapse of the Whig Party.
C Abraham Lincoln’s election as president.
D The Missouri Compromise.
Connecting with Past Learning
^
The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled
differences between the North and South
over the spread of slavery. Earlier in Grade 8
you learned about another compromise over
slavery that took place
A during the American Revolution.
B at the Constitutional Convention.
C during the War of 1812.
D in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
&
Several southern states seceded after Lin-
coln’s election as president in 1860. What
earlier event also threatened the nation by
greatly angering the South?
A ratifi cation of the Constitution in 1789
B Henry Clay’s proposal of the American System
after the War of 1812
C Andrew Jackson’s defeat in the presidential
election of 1824
D passage of a protective tariff in 1828
Standards Assessment
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-28
464 UNIT 4
Assignment
Write a paper comparing and
contrasting one of the fol-
lowing: (1) America before
and after the Industrial
Revolution, (2) the lives of
free blacks in the North with
the lives of free blacks in
the South.
Using Graphic Organizers
Venn diagrams help you focus on
similarities and differences. Write
details the subjects have in common
in the overlapping area. Write details
that make each subject different in
the sections that do not overlap.
Comparing People
and Events
O
ne way to learn more about historical figures and
events is to compare and contrast them. By studying
how the figures or events are alike and different, you can
begin to see each one more clearly.
1. Prewrite
Getting Started
“How are they alike?” “How are they different?” Jot down answers
to these questions as you research the presidents or the Industrial
Revolution. Group your answers into points of comparison. For exam-
ple, points of comparison for the lives of free blacks might be work,
education, etc. Points of comparison for the Industrial Revolution
might be factories or farming.
Organizing Your Information
There are two ways to organize a compare-and-contrast paper.
Block Style Say everything you have to say about one subject.
Then say everything you have to say about the second subject.
Discuss the points of comparison in the same order for each
subject.
Point-by-Point Style Discuss the points of comparison one at a
time. Explain how the subjects are alike and different on one point
of comparison, then another, and so on. Discuss the subjects in the
same order for each point of comparison.
2. Write
You can use this framework with your notes to help you write your
first draft.
Introduction
Identify the two subjects and give back-
ground information to help readers
understand your comparisons.
State your big idea, or main purpose,
in comparing and contrasting them.
Body
Use block or point-by-point
organization.
Use three points of comparison.
Support your points with specific
historical facts, details, and examples.
Conclusion
Restate your big idea.
Summarize the points you made.
Expand on your big idea, perhaps by
relating it to later historical events or
other historical figures.
A Writer’s Framework
Differences DifferencesSimilarities
TIP
ELA
Writing 8.1.1
Create com-
positions that establish a controlling
impression, have a coherent thesis, and
end with a clear and well-supported
conclusion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-29
3. Evaluate and Revise
Evaluating
Use these questions to discover ways to improve your paper.
Evaluation Questions for a Comparison/Contrast Paper
Do you introduce both subjects in
the first paragraph?
Do you provide relevant background
information in a clear and concise
manner?
Do you state your big idea in the
introduction?
Do you include three points of
comparison between the subjects?
Do you use either the block style or
point-by-point style to organize your
points of comparison?
Do you support your points of
comparison with appropriate
historical facts, details, and
examples?
Do you restate your big idea and
summarize your points?
Revising
As you reread your paper, look for sentences that start with There was
or There were. Sentences beginning with There was/There were tend to
be weak: The verbs was and were do not convey any action.
Weak
There was a decline in southern agriculture after the American
Revolution.
Stronger
Southern agriculture declined after the American Revolution.
4. Proofread and Publish
Proofreading
In a research report, you may be referring to the titles of your sources
of information. Check to see whether you have punctuated any titles
according to these guidelines.
Underling (if you are writing) or italics (if you are using a
computer) for books, movies, TV programs, Internet sites, and
magazines or newspapers
Quotation marks for magazine articles, newspaper articles,
chapters in a book
Publishing
Share your paper with one or more classmates. After reading each
other’s papers, you can compare and contrast them.
5. Practice and Apply
Use the steps and strategies outlined in this workshop to write your
paper comparing and contrasting two people or events.
TIP
Making Meaning Clear
One way to make relationships
between ideas clear is to repeat key
or similar words and phrases in your
writing. For example, you can use
similar wording when comparing two
historical figures on the same point
of comparison.
EXAMPLE
Samuel Slater filled his labor needs
by hiring entire families to work in the
mills. Francis Lowell filled his labor
needs by hiring young, unmarried
women to work in the mills.
THE NATION EXPANDS
465
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation PDF
1848
The Free-Soil
Party is formed
on August 9.
1848
Revolutionary
movements sweep
across Europe.
CHAPTER
14
1848–1860
434 CHAPTER 14
18 4 8
A Divided
A Divided
Nation
Nation
Writing an Autobiographical Sketch When you read
about history, it can be difficult to imagine how the events
you read about affected ordinary people. In this chapter
you will read about slavery in the United States. Then you
will write an autobiography of a fictional character, tell-
ing how these events affected him or her. Your fictional
character can live in any part of the United States. He or
she might be an enslaved African, a southern plantation
owner, a northern abolitionist, or a settler in one of the
new territories. Your classmates are your audience.
FOCUS ON WRITING
California Standards
History–Social Science
8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish
slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of
Independence.
8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and
complex consequences of the Civil War.
Analysis Skills
HR 3 Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information.
HR 4 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary
sources.
English–Language Arts
Writing 8.2.1 Write biographies, autobiographies, short stories,
or narratives.
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level
appropriate materials.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Download
186 0
1852
Louis-Napoléon declares
himself Emperor Napoléon III
of France.
1856
British and French
forces defeat Russia
in the Crimean War.
1857 Indian soldiers
in the British army begin
the Sepoy Mutiny against
British control of India.
435
18 5 0
18 5 5
1859
John Brown
takes control
of the federal
arsenal at Harpers
Ferry, Virginia.
1860
On December 20,
South Carolina
votes to secede
from the United
States.
1852
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin is pub-
lished by Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
What You Will Learn…
Two women look at a display called “Survival of
Spirit” at the Museum of African American His-
tory in Detroit, Michigan. The display shows a
history of resistance to slavery. In this chapter
you will learn about how the debate over slavery
increasingly divided Americans during the
mid-1800s.
HOLT
History’s Impact
video series
Watch the video to under-
stand the impact of
states’ rights.
1850 Congress
passes the Fugitive
Slave Act on
September 18.
1856 In the
Sack of Lawrence,
pro-slavery forces
attack the town of
Lawrence, Kansas,
on May 21.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation PDF Download
436 CHAPTER 00
Focus on Reading When you are trying to learn about history,
would you rather read facts or the author’s opinion? You would prefer
facts, of course. Separating facts from opinions about historical events
helps you know what really happened.
Identifying Facts and Opinions Something is a fact if there is a
way to prove it or disprove it. For example, research can prove or
disprove the following statement: “Abraham Lincoln belonged to the
Republican Party.” But research can’t prove the fol lowing statement
because it is just an opinion, or someone’s belief: “Lincoln was the
greatest president in American history.”
Use the process below to decide whether a statement is fact or opinion.
Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers
Focus on Themes
This chapter describes the
growing tension between the North and the South
over the slavery issue. You will read what happened
as more states were admitted to the Union and
people argued if they should be slave states or not.
You will read about events that widened the division
between the North and South so that the South
nally chose to secede from the Union. Throughout
the chapter you will see that cultural differences
infl uenced political decisions.
Geography
Politics
Economics
Society
and Culture
Science and
Technology
Religion
Additional reading
support can be
found in the
Read the
statement.
Ask yourself, “Can this
statement be proved or
disproved?” “Can we fi nd
evidence to show whether
it is a true statement or a
false one?”
If not, the
statement is an
opinion.
If the answer is yes,
the statement is
a fact.
Facts, Opinions, and the Past
436 CHAPTER 14
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-1
SECTION TITLE 437A DIVIDED NATION 437
Key Terms
Key Terms
and People
and People
As you read Chapter 14, look closely at
quotes from historical figures. Are these
quotes showing you facts or opinions?
You Try It!
The following passage tells about the debates that Abraham Lincoln
had with Stephen Douglas. All the statements in this passage are
facts. What makes them facts and not opinions?
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated
Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His
opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas,
who had represented Illinois in the Senate
since 1847. Lincoln challenged Douglas in
what became the historic Lincoln-Douglas
debates.
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that
the central issue of the campaign was the
spread of slavery in the West. He said that
the Democrats were trying to spread slavery
across the nation.
Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott deci-
sion. He said that African Americans were
“entitled to all the natural rights” listed in
the Declaration of Independence, specifi cally
mentioning “the right to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.”
From
Chapter 14,
pp. 452–453
Identify each of the following as a fact or an opinion and then
explain your choice.
1. Lincoln accused the Democrats of trying to spread slavery across
the nation.
2. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were the most important debates in
the history of the nation.
3. Stephen Douglas was a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
4. Abraham Lincoln ran against Douglas in the 1858 Senate election.
5. Most Americans believed that the Dred Scott decision was a
good one.
6. Lincoln was the best debater people from Illinois had ever heard.
Chapter 14
Section 1
popular sovereignty (p. 438)
Wilmot Proviso (p. 438)
sectionalism (p. 439)
Free-Soil Party (p. 439)
Compromise of 1850 (p. 441)
Fugitive Slave Act (p. 441)
Anthony Burns (p. 442)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (p. 443)
Harriet Beecher Stowe (p. 443)
Section 2
Franklin Pierce (p. 445)
Stephen Douglas (p. 446)
Kansas-Nebraska Act (p. 447)
Pottawatoamie (p. 448)
Charles Sumner (p. 449)
Preston Brooks (p. 449)
Section 3
Republican Party (p. 450)
James Buchanan (p. 450)
John C. Fremont (p. 451)
Dred Scott (p. 451)
Roger B. Taney (p. 452)
Abraham Lincoln (p. 452)
Lincoln-Douglas debates (p. 453)
Freeport Doctrine (p. 453)
Section 4
John Brown’s raid (p. 455)
John C. Breckinridge (p. 457)
Constitutional Union Party (p. 457)
John Bell (p. 457)
secession (p. 458)
Confederate States of America
(p. 458)
Jefferson Davis (p. 458)
John J. Crittenden (p. 459)
Academic Vocabulary
In this chapter, you will learn the
following academic words:
implications (p. 446)
complex (p. 451)
ELA
Reading 8.2.0 Read and understand grade-level-
appropriate material.
HSS
Analysis HR 2 Distinguish fact from opinion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-2
SECTION
1
Key Terms and People
popular sovereignty, p. 438
Wilmot Proviso, p. 438
sectionalism, p. 439
Free-Soil Party, p. 439
Compromise of 1850, p. 441
Fugitive Slave Act, p. 441
Anthony Burns, p. 442
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, p. 443
Harriet Beecher Stowe, p. 443
What You Will Learn…
Antislavery literature and the
annexation of new lands intensi-
fied the debate over slavery.
The Big Idea
1. The addition of new land in
the West renewed disputes
over the expansion of slavery.
2. The Compromise of 1850 tried
to solve the disputes over
slavery.
3. The Fugitive Slave Act caused
more controversy.
4. Abolitionists used antislavery
literature to promote opposition.
Main Ideas
You live in a crowded neighborhood in New York City in 1854.
Your apartment building is home to a variety of people—long-
time residents, Irish immigrants, free African Americans. One day
federal marshals knock on your door. They claim that one of your
neighbors is a fugitive slave. The marshals say you must help
them fi nd her. If you don’t, you will be fi ned or even sent to jail.
What would you tell the federal marshals?
BUILDING BACKGROUND Some reform movements of the 1800s
drew stubborn and often violent opposition. This was especially true
of the abolitionist movement. Pro-slavery supporters fought for laws
to protect slavery and extend the slave system. These laws were a
threat to African Americans in the North.
New Land Renews Slavery Disputes
The United States added more than 500,000 square miles of land as
a result of winning the Mexican-American War in 1848. The addi-
tional land caused bitter debate about slavery. The Missouri Com-
promise of 1820 had divided the Louisiana Purchase into either
free or slave regions. It prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30
'
but let Missouri become a slave state. In the 1840s President Polk
wanted to extend the 36°30
'
line to the West Coast, in the same
way dividing the Mexican Cession in two. Some leaders, including
Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, encouraged
popular sovereignty
popular sovereignty
,
,
the idea that political power belongs to the people,
the idea that political power belongs to the people, who should
decide on whether to ban or allow slavery in their territory.
Regional Differences about Slavery
Some northerners wanted to outlaw slavery in all parts of the Mexi-
can Cession. During the war, Representative David Wilmot offered
the
Wilmot
Wilmot
Proviso
Proviso
, a document stating that “neither slavery nor
, a document stating that “neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.”
involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.”
If YOU were there...
The Debate over
Slavery
438 CHAPTER 14
HSS
8.9.4
Discuss the importance
of the slavery issue as raised by the
annexation of Texas and California’s
admission to the union as a free state
under the Compromise of 1850.
HSS
8.10.1
Compare the confl ict-
ing interpretations of state and fed-
eral authority as emphasized in the
speeches and writings of statesmen
such as Daniel Webster and John C.
Calhoun.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-3
Cf S
The northern-controlled House passed the
document, but in the Senate, the South had
more power. The Wilmot Proviso did not
pass. Before this time, politicians had usually
supported the ideas of their political parties.
However, the Wilmot Proviso spurred a debate
that showed growing
sectionalism
sectionalism,
or
or
favoring
favoring
the interests of one section or region
the interests of one section or region
over the
over the
interests of the entire country
interests of the entire country.
To attract voters, the Democrats and the
Whigs did not take a clear position on slav-
ery in the presidential campaign of 1848. In
response,
antislavery northerners formed a
antislavery northerners formed a
new party, the
new party, the
Free-Soil Party
Free-Soil Party
, which sup-
, which sup-
ported the
ported the
Wilmot Proviso.
Wilmot Proviso. They worried
that slave labor would mean fewer jobs for
white workers. Party members chose former
president Martin Van Buren as their can-
didate. The new party won 10 percent of
the popular vote, drawing away votes from
Democrat Lewis Cass. Whig candidate Zach-
ary Taylor won a narrow victory.
The California Question
The California gold rush caused such rapid
population growth that California applied to
join the Union as a state instead of as a terri-
tory. But would California enter the Union as
a free state or a slave state?
Most Californians opposed slavery, which
had been illegal when the state was part of
Mexico. Also, many forty-niners had come
from free states. But if California became a
free state, the balance between free and slave
states would change, favoring the free states.
In the South, an imbalance was unaccept-
able. “We are about permanently to destroy
the balance of power between the sections,”
said Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. He
and many other southerners did not want
California to enter the Union as a free state.
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences
Why did sectionalism in the United States increase
in the late 1840s?
A DIVIDED NATION 439
Upsetting the Balance
Slave States
Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Free States
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Wisconsin
INTERPRETING MAPS
Region How could the admission of California as a slave state
or a free state upset the balance between North and South?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
Northern free states
30 senators
Southern slave states
30 senators
The admission of
California could upset
the balance of power
in the Senate.
California + 2 senators
Small parties still
affect presiden-
tial elections in a
similar way today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-4
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had helped
to settle the Missouri crisis of 1819–20 and
the nullifi cation crisis of 1832–33 by propos-
ing compromises. He now had another plan
to help the nation maintain peace. His ideas
were designed to give both sides things that
they wanted:
1. California would enter the Union as a
free state.
2. The rest of the Mexican Cession would
be federal land. In this territory, popular
sovereignty would decide on slavery.
3. Texas would give up land east of the
upper Rio Grande. In return, the gov-
ernment would pay Texas’s debts from
when it was an independent republic.
4. The slave trade—but not slavery—
would end in the nation’s capital.
5. A more effective fugitive slave law
would be passed.
Clay’s plan drew attack, especially regard-
ing California. Senator William Seward of
New York defended antislavery views and
wanted California admitted “directly, with-
out conditions, without qualifi cations, and
without compromise.” However, Senator
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina argued
that letting California enter as a free state
would destroy the nation’s balance. He
warned people of issues that would later
start the Civil War. Calhoun asked that the
slave states be allowed “to separate and part
in peace.”
440 CHAPTER 14
SPEECH
The Seventh of March Speech
On March 7, 1850, Daniel Webster spoke on the floor of the
Senate in favor of the Compromise of 1850.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why did Webster support the Compromise of
1850?
Primary Source
Daniel Webster spoke
eloquently in support of
the compromise.
Henry Clay introduced
the Compromise of 1850
on the Senate floor.
I hear with distress and anguish the word
“secession.” Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir,
your eyes and mine are never destined to see the
miracle. The dismemberment [taking apart] of
this vast country without convulsion! The break-
ing up of the fountains of the great deep without
ruffing the surface! Who is so foolish, I beg every
bodys pardon, as to expect to see any such
thing? . . . There can be no such thing as peace-
able secession.
—quoted in Daniel Webster: The Completest Man,
edited by Kenneth Shewmaker
Webster is
upset by talk of
secession.
Webster is say-
ing that just as
it is impossible
to move water
in the ocean
without mak-
ing waves, it is
impossible for
states to peace-
fully secede.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-5
In contrast, Senator Daniel Webster of
Massachusetts favored Clay’s plan:
I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts
man, nor as a Northern man, but as an Ameri-
can . . . I speak today for the preservation of the
Union. Hear me for my cause.
—Daniel Webster, quoted in Battle Cry of Freedom
by James M. McPherson
Webster criticized northern abolitionists and
southerners who talked of secession.
A compromise was enacted that year and
seemed to settle most disputes between free
and slave states. It achieved the majority of
Clay’s proposals.
With the
With the
Compromise of
Compromise of
1850
1850
, California was able to enter the Union
, California was able to enter the Union
as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Ces-
as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Ces-
sion was divided into two territories
sion was divided into two territories
U
U
tah
tah
and New Mexic
and New Mexic
o—where t
o—where t
he question of
he question of
whether to allow slavery would be decided
whether to allow slavery would be decided
by popular sovereignty.
by popular sovereignty.
Texas agreed to give up its land claims in
New Mexico in exchange for fi nancial aid from
the federal government. The compromise out-
lawed the slave trade in the District of Colum-
bia and established a new fugitive slave law.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How was Texas
affected by the Compromise of 1850?
Fugitive Slave Act
The newly passed
Fugitive Slave Act
Fugitive Slave Act
made it
made it
a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed
a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed
offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas
offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas.
Slaveholders were permitted to take sus-
pected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who
decided their fate.
Details of the Fugitive Slave Act
Slaveholders could use testimony from
white witnesses, but enslaved African Amer-
icans accused of being fugitives could not
testify. Nor could people who hid or helped
a runaway slave—they faced six months in
jail and a $1,000 fi ne. Commissioners who
rejected a slaveholder’s claim earned $5
while those who returned suspected fugi-
tives to slaveholders earned $10. Clearly,
the commissioners benefi ted from helping
slaveholders.
Reactions to the Fugitive Slave Act
Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act began
immediately. In September 1850—the same
month the law was passed—federal marshals
arrested African American James Hamlet.
They returned him to a slaveholder in
A DIVIDED NATION 441
John C. Calhoun
was weak and
near death. He
had his speech in
support of slavery
read to the Senate
for him.
SPEECH
John C. Calhoun from South Carolina wrote a speech saying
that the proposed compromise did not go far enough to satisfy
the South.
I have, senators, believed from the first that the agitation
of the subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some
timely and effective measure, end in disunion . . . The South
asks for justice, simple justice, and less she ought not to
take. She has no compromise to offer but the Constitution,
and no concession or surrender to make.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why did Calhoun urge southern senators to vote against
the compromise?
Primary Source
Southern View of the Compromise of 1850
Agitation means
“unrest.
Calhoun believes
the South’s position
is supported by the
Constitution.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-6
Maryland, although he had lived in New
York City for three years.
Thousands of northern African Americans
ed to Canada in fear. In the 10 years after Con-
gress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, some 343
fugitive slave cases were reviewed. The accused
fugitives were declared free in only 11 cases.
The Fugitive Slave Act upset northern-
ers, who were uncomfortable with the com-
missioners’ power. Northerners disliked the
idea of a trial without a jury. They also dis-
approved of commissioners’ higher fees for
returning slaves. Most were horrifi ed that
some free African Americans had been cap-
tured and sent to the South.
Most northerners opposed to the Act
peacefully resisted, but violence did erupt.
In 1854
Anthony Burns, a Virginia fugitive
slave, was arrested in Boston. Abolitionists
used force while trying to rescue him from
jail, killing a deputy marshal. A federal ship
was ordered to return Burns to Virginia after
his trial. Many people in the North, particu-
larly in Massachusetts, were outraged. The
event persuaded many to join the abolition-
ist cause.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
What concerns did northerners have about the
Fugitive Slave Act?
442 CHAPTER 14
Frederick Douglass
spoke to the crowd.
The Edmonson sisters, Mary
(left) and Emily, tried to
escape from slavery but were
captured. Abolitionists later
purchased their freedom.
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why would the abolitionists want a photograph of their
convention?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
PHOTOGRAPH
A Fugitive Slave
Convention
The Fugitive Slave Act enraged abolition-
ists. To protest the new law, they held many
meetings to publicly denounce it. One
such meeting was held in 1850 in the small
town of Cazenovia in central New York, a
center for abolitionist activity. About 2,000
people—including many former slaves—
attended the convention. They listened to
speeches, made plans, and raised their
voices for freedom. This photo was a point
of pride for the delegates, but it also was
used by opponents of the movement as a
symbol of the poor morals of abolitionists:
Not only were whites allowed to mix with
African Americans, women and men were
allowed to mix as well. This angered many
people.
Primary Source
Gerrit Smith organized
the convention.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-7
Antislavery Literature
Abolitionists in the North used the stories of
fugitive slaves like James Hamlet and Anthony
Burns to gain sympathy for their cause. Slave
narratives also educated people about their
hardships.
Fiction also informed people about the
evils of slavery.
Uncle Toms
Uncle Toms
Cabin
Cabin
, the anti-
, the anti-
slavery
slavery
novel written by
novel written by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
, spoke out powerfully against slavery.
Stowe, the daughter of Connecticut minister
Lyman Beecher, moved to Ohio when she
was 21. There she met fugitive slaves and
learned about the cruelties of slavery. The
Fugitive Slave Act greatly angered Stowe. She
decided to write a book that would educate
northerners about the realities of slavery.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852.
The main character, a kindly enslaved African
American named Tom, is taken from his wife
and sold “down the river” in Louisiana. Tom
becomes the slave of cruel Simon Legree. In a
rage, Legree has Tom beaten to death.
The novel electrified the nation and
sparked outrage in the South. Louisa McCord,
a famous southern writer, questioned the “foul
imagination which could invent such scenes.”
Within a decade, more than 2 million
copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin had been sold
in the United States. The book’s popularity
caused one northerner to remark that Stowe
and her book had created “two millions of
abolitionists.” Stowe later wrote A Key to
Uncle Tom’s Cabin to answer those who had
criticized her book.
The impact of Stowe’s book is suggested by
her reported meeting with Abraham Lincoln in
1862, a year after the start of the Civil War. Lin-
coln supposedly said to Stowe that she was “the
little lady who made this big war.” Her book is
still widely read today as a source of informa-
tion about the harsh realities of slavery.
READING CHECK
Identifying Cause and Effect
Why did abolitionists use antislavery literature to
promote their cause, and what effect did it have on
the slavery debate?
A DIVIDED NATION 443
Section 1 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Describe What ideas did the Free-Soil Party promote?
b. Predict What are some possible results of the growing
sectional debate over slavery?
2. a. Describe What were the major points of the
Compromise of 1850?
b. Contrast What differing opinions emerged toward Henry
Clay‘s proposed compromise?
3. a. Identify What were the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did some Americans believe the
Fugitive Slave Act was unfair?
4. a. Identify What are three examples of antislavery literature?
b. Elaborate Do you think literature was an effective tool
against slavery? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
5. Evaluating Copy the web diagram below onto a sheet of
your own paper. Use it to explain how the Compromise
of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, and antislavery literature
affected the debate over slavery.
Compromise
of 1850
Fugitive
Slave Act
Slavery Debate
Antislavery
Literature
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Taking Notes on the Debate over Slavery Make some
notes on the Wilmot Proviso, the Free-Soil Party, the
Compromise of 1850, and the Fugitive Slave Act. Decide
how your character feels about each of these. How do
the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act affect
your character?
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The United
States experienced increasing disagree-
ment over the issue of slavery. The Com-
promise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act
tried to address these disagreements with
legislation. In the next section you will
read about another disputed law concern-
ing slavery, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and
the violence it sparked.
HSS
8.9.4, 8.10.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-8
444 CHAPTER 14
Literature in History
GUIDED READING
WORD HELP
conceive imagine
desolate alone
forlorn unhappy
slacking slowing down
thither there
1 What detail tells you how
long Eliza has walked up to
this point?
2 Why do you think she
chooses that escape route?
Antislavery Literature
from
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
About the Reading Published nine years before the outbreak of the Civil
War, Uncle Tom’s Cabin focused the nation’s attention on the cruelties of
slavery. In the following section, Stowe describes how a slave named Eliza
is trying to escape to save her son from being sold.
AS YOU READ
Look for details that appeal to your feelings.
It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly deso-
late and forlorn than Eliza when she turned her footsteps from Uncle
Tom’s cabin . . .
The boundaries of the farm, the grove, the wood lot passed by her
dizzily as she walked on; and still she went, leaving one familiar object
after another, slacking not, pausing not, till reddening daylight found
her many a long mile from all traces of any familiar objects upon the
open highway.
1
She had often been, with her mistress, to visit some connections
in the little town of T—, not far from the Ohio River, and knew the
road well.
2
To go thither, to escape across the Ohio River, were the
first hurried outlines of her plan of escape; beyond that she could only
hope in God . . .
CONNECTING LITERATURE TO HISTORY
1. Slaves had no legal rights. They
were considered to be property,
not human beings. How do
the actions and dialogue in this
passage contradict these ideas
about slaves?
2. Frederick Douglass, Sojourner
Truth, and other former slaves
wrote narratives about their
experiences. Yet these true
stories did not have as much
impact as Stowe’s novel. Why
do you think this fi ctional story
about slavery had more impact
than true slave narratives?
ELA
Reading 8.3
Students
read and respond to historically
or culturally signifi cant works of
literature that refl ect and
enhance their studies of history
and social science.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-9
Trouble in Kansas
If YOU were there...
You live on a New England farm in 1855. You often think about
moving West. But the last few harvests have been bad, and you
can’t afford it. Now the Emigrant Aid Society offers to help you get
to Kansas. To bring in antislavery voters like you, they’ll give you a
wagon, livestock, and farm machines. Still, you know that Kansas
might be dangerous.
Would you decide to risk settling in Kansas?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The argument over the extension of
slavery grew stronger and more bitter. It dominated American poli-
tics in the mid-1800s. Laws that tried to find compromises ended by
causing more violence. The bloodiest battleground of this period
was in Kansas.
Election of 1852
Four leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination
emerged in 1852. It became clear that none of them would win a
majority of votes. Frustrated delegates at the Democratic National
Convention turned to
Franklin Pierce, a little-known politician
from New Hampshire. Pierce promised to honor the Compromise
What You Will Learn…
SECTION
2
Key Terms and People
Franklin Pierce, p. 445
Stephen Douglas, p. 446
Kansas-Nebraska Act, p. 447
Pottawatomie Massacre, p. 449
Charles Sumner, p. 449
Preston Brooks, p. 449
1. The debate over the expan-
sion of slavery influenced
the election of 1852.
2. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
allowed voters to allow or
prohibit slavery.
3. Pro-slavery and antislavery
groups clashed violently
in what became known as
“Bleeding Kansas.”
Main Ideas
A DIVIDED NATION 445
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
heightened tensions in the
conflict over slavery.
The Big Idea
This political cartoon
shows pro-slavery
politicians forcing
slavery on a settler
in Kansas who is
a member of the
antislavery Free-Soil
political party.
HSS
8.9.5
Analyze the signifi cance
of the States’ Rights Doctrine, the
Missouri Compromise (1820), the
Wilmot Proviso (1846), the Compro-
mise of 1850, Henry Clay’s role in
the Missouri Compromise and the
Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act (1854), the Dred Scott
v. Sandford decision (1857), and the
Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858).
HSS
8.10.2
Trace the boundaries
constituting the North and the South,
the geographical differences between
the two regions, and the differences
between agrarians and industrialists.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-10
Missouri
Compromise
line (36°30'N)
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
MICHIGAN
TERRITORY
ARKANSAS
TERRITORY
MO.
Free state
Free territory
Slave state
Slave territory
Missouri
Compromise
line (36°30'N)
MINNESOTA
TERRITORY
OREGON
TERRITORY
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
Disputed
of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. There-
fore, southerners trusted Pierce on the issue
of slavery.
The opposing Whigs also held their con-
vention in 1852. In other presidential elec-
tions, they had nominated well-known for-
mer generals such as William Henry Harrison
and Zachary Taylor. This had been a good
strategy, as both men had won. The Whigs
decided to choose another war hero. They
passed over the current president, Millard
Fillmore, because they believed that his strict
enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act would
cost votes. Instead, they chose Winfi eld Scott,
a Mexican War hero. Southerners did not trust
Scott, however, because he had not fully sup-
ported the Compromise of 1850.
Pierce won the election of 1852 by a large
margin. Many Whigs viewed the election as
a painful defeat, not just for their candidate,
but for their party.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
What issues determined the outcome of the
presidential election of 1852?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
In his inaugural address, President Pierce
expressed his hope that the slavery issue had
been put to rest “and that no sectional . . .
excitement may again threaten the durabil-
ity [stability] of our institutions.” Less than
a year later, however, a proposal to build a
railroad to the West coast helped revive the
slavery controversy and opened a new period
of sectional confl ict.
Douglas and the Railroad
Ever since entering Congress in the mid-
1840s,
Stephen Douglas had supported
the idea of building a railroad to the Pacifi c
Ocean. Douglas favored a line running from
Chicago. The fi rst step toward building such a
railroad would be organizing what remained
of the Louisiana Purchase into a federal ter-
ritory. The Missouri Compromise required
that this land be free territory and eventually
free states.
Southerners in Congress did not support
Douglas’s plan, recommending a southern
route for the railroad. Their preferred line
446 CHAPTER 14
From Compromise to Conflict
The Missouri Compromise, 1820
Under the Missouri Compromise of 1820,
there are an equal number of free states
(orange) and slave states (green).
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850
allowed for one more free state
than slave state, but also passed
a strict fugitive slave law.
FOCUS ON
READING
What facts and
what opinions are
mentioned in this
paragraph?
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-11
F&Eli
MINNESOTA
TERRITORY
OREGON
TERRITORY
WASH.
TERR.
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
Disputed
Free state
Free territory
Slave state
Slave territory
Popular sovereignty
ran from New Orleans, across Texas and New
Mexico Territory, to southern California.
Determined to have the railroad start in Chi-
cago, Douglas asked a few key southern sena-
tors to support his plan. They agreed to do
so if the new territory west of Missouri was
opened to slavery.
Two New Territories
In January 1854, Douglas introduced what
became the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act,
a plan
a plan
that would divide the remainder of the Loui-
that would divide the remainder of the Loui-
siana Purchase into two territories—Kansas
siana Purchase into two territories—Kansas
and Nebraska—and allow the people in each
and Nebraska—and allow the people in each
territory to decide on the question of slavery.
territory to decide on the question of slavery.
The act would eliminate the Missouri Com-
promise’s restriction on slavery north of the
36º 30
'
line.
Antislavery northerners were outraged
by the implications. Some believed the pro-
posal was part of a terrible plot to turn free
territory into a “dreary region . . . inhabited
by masters and slaves.” All across the North,
citizens attended protest meetings and sent
anti-Nebraska petitions to Congress.
Even so, with strong southern support—
and with Douglas and President Pierce pres-
suring their fellow Democrats to vote for it—
the measure passed both houses of Congress
and was signed into law on May 30, 1854.
Lost amid all the controversy over the ter-
ritorial bill was Douglas’s proposed railroad
to the Pacifi c Ocean. Congress would not
approve the construction of such a railroad
until 1862.
Kansas Divided
Antislavery and pro-slavery groups rushed
their supporters to Kansas. One of the people
who spoke out strongly against slavery in Kan-
sas was Senator Seward.
Gentlemen of the Slave States . . . I accept [your
challenge] in . . . the cause of freedom. We will
engage in competition for . . . Kansas, and God
give the victory to the side which is stronger in
numbers as it is in right.
—William Henry Seward, quoted in
The Impending Crisis, 184 8 18 61 by David M. Potter
Elections for the Kansas territorial legisla-
ture were held in March 1855. Almost 5,000
A DIVIDED NATION 447
INTERPRETING MAPS
1. Region In what part of the United States
were the slave states located?
2. Place What free state was added with the
Compromise of 1850?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the
question of slavery is to be decided by popular
sovereignty—by the people who vote in the elections
there—in the newly organized territories of Kansas
and Nebraska. The act sparked violent conflict
between pro-slavery and antislavery groups.
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
implications
things that are
inferred or
deduced
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-12
pro-slavery voters crossed the border from
Missouri, voted in Kansas, and then returned
home. As a result, the new legislature had a
huge pro-slavery majority. The members of
the legislature passed strict laws that made
it a crime to question slaveholders’ rights
and said that those who helped fugitive
slaves could be put to death. In protest, anti-
slavery Kansans formed their own legislature
25 miles away in Topeka. President Pierce
only recognized the pro-slavery legislature.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Why did
northerners dislike the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Bleeding Kansas
By early 1856 Kansas had two opposing gov-
ernments, and the population was angry.
Settlers had moved to Kansas to homestead
in peace, but the controversy over slavery
began to affect everyone.
In April 1856, a congressional commit-
tee arrived in Kansas to decide which govern-
ment was legitimate. Although committee
members declared the election of the pro-
slavery legislature to be unfair, the federal
government did not follow their recommen-
dations.
Attack on Lawrence
The new pro-slavery settlers owned guns,
and antislavery settlers received weapons
shipments from friends in the East. Then,
violence broke out. In May 1856 a pro-
slavery grand jury in Kansas charged leaders
of the antislavery government with treason.
About 800 men rode to the city of Lawrence
to arrest the antislavery leaders, but they
had fl ed. The posse took its anger out on
Lawrence by setting fi res, looting buildings,
and destroying presses used to print antislav-
ery newspapers. One man was killed in the
pro-slavery attack that became known as the
Sack of Lawrence.
John Browns Response
Abolitionist John Brown was from New
England, but he and some of his sons had
moved to Kansas in 1855. The Sack of Law-
rence made him determined to “fi ght re
with fi re” and to “strike terror in the hearts
of the pro-slavery people.” On the night of
May 24, 1856, along Pottawatomie Creek,
Brown and his men killed fi ve pro-slavery
Brown and his men killed fi ve pro-slavery
men in Kansas in what became known as
men in Kansas in what became known as
448
Abolitionists and pro-slavery forces clashed in
Kansas, killing many people. Shown here is a
group of abolitionists who took the law into their
own hands to free one of their group from prison.
Why might these men
have fought
against slavery?
“Bleeding Kansas”
John Doy was impris-
oned for his aboli-
tionist activities but
was freed by other
abolitionists
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-13
the
the
Pottawatomie
Pottawatomie
Massacre
Massacre. Brown and
his men dragged the pro-slavery men out
of their cabins and killed them with swords.
The abolitionist band managed to escape
capture. Brown declared that his actions had
been ordered by God.
Kansas collapsed into civil war, and about
200 people were killed. The events in “Bleed-
ing Kansas” became national front-page
stories. In September 1856, a new territorial
governor arrived and began to restore order.
Brooks Attacks Sumner
Congress also reacted to the violence of the
Sack of Lawrence. Senator
Charles Sumner of
Massachusetts criticized pro-slavery people
in Kansas and personally insulted Andrew
Pickens Butler, a pro-slavery senator from South
Carolina. Representative
Preston Brooks,
a relative of Butler’s, responded strongly. On
May 22, 1856, Brooks used a walking cane
to beat Sumner unconscious in the Senate
chambers.
Dozens of southerners sent Brooks new
canes, but northerners were outraged and
called the attacker “Bully Brooks”. Brooks
only had to pay a $300 fi ne to the federal
court. It took Sumner three years before
he was well enough to return to his Senate
duties.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were
some of the results of the intense division in Kansas?
A DIVIDED NATION 449
Section 2 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What issues infl uenced the
outcome of the election of 1852?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did northern and
southern Democrats support Franklin Pierce?
2. a. Recall What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do?
b. Explain Why did antislavery and pro-slavery
groups encourage people to move to Kansas?
c. Evaluate Would you have supported or
opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why?
3. a. Describe What was the Pottawatomie Massacre?
b. Analyze How did Charles Sumner’s views on
“Bleeding Kansas” create confl ict?
c. Elaborate Do you think Preston Brooks’s
punishment was reasonable? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
4. Sequencing Copy the graphic organizer at the top
of the right column onto your own sheet of paper.
Use it to show events that led to violence in Kansas.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on the Trouble in Kansas Make
some notes on the election of 1852, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act, and the events in Kansas. Decide how
your character feels about each of these. How do
these events affect your character?
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Violence in Kansas
The cartoon
above shows
Preston Brooks
beating Charles
Sumner with
his cane.
Sumner’s only
protection is
a quill pen
symbolically
representing
the law.
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Kansas-
Nebraska Act produced a national uproar.
In the next section you will read about
divisions in political parties.
HSS
8.9.5,
8.10.2
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-14
SECTION
3
Key Terms and People
Republican Party, p. 450
James Buchanan, p. 450
John C. Frémont, p. 451
Dred Scott, p. 451
Roger B. Taney, p. 452
Abraham Lincoln, p. 452
Lincoln-Douglas debates, p. 453
Freeport Doctrine, p. 454
What You Will Learn…
1. Political parties in the United
States underwent change
due to the movement to
expand slavery.
2. The Dred Scott decision
created further division over
the issue of slavery.
3. The Lincoln-Douglas debates
brought much attention to the
conflict over slavery.
Main Ideas
You are traveling through Michigan in July 1854. As you pass
through the town of Jackson, you see a crowd of several hundred
people gathered under the trees. You join them and fi nd that it
is a political rally. Antislavery supporters from different parties are
meeting to form a new political party. Speakers promise to fi ght
slavery “until the contest be terminated.
How do you think this new party will affect
American politics?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The slavery question continued to
divide the country and lead to violence. The issue not only dominated
American politics in the mid-1800s but also brought changes in the
makeup of American political parties.
Political Parties Undergo Change
Democrat Stephen Douglas had predicted that the Kansas-Nebraska
Act would “raise a . . . storm.” He was right. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
brought the slavery issue back into the national spotlight. Some
Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, and abolitionists joined in 1854
to form the
Republican Party
Republican Party,
a political party
a political party
united against the
united against the
spread of slavery in the West
spread of slavery in the West.
Democrats were in trouble. Those who supported the Kansas-
Nebraska Act were not re-elected. The Whig Party also fell apart
when northern and southern Whigs refused to work together. A
senator from Connecticut complained, “The Whig Party has been
killed off . . . by that miserable Nebraska business.” Some Whigs
and Democrats joined the American Party, also known as the
Know-Nothing Party. At the party’s convention, delegates argued
over slavery, then chose former president Millard Fillmore as their
candidate for the election of 1856.
The Democrats knew they could not choose a strong supporter of
the Kansas-Nebraska Act, such as President Pierce or Senator Douglas.
They nominated
James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. Buchanan had
a great deal of political experience as Polk’s secretary of state. Most
If YOU were there...
Political Divisions
450 CHAPTER 14
The split over the issue of slav-
ery intensified due to political
division and judicial decisions.
The Big Idea
HSS
8.10.4
Discuss Abraham
Lincoln’s presidency and his signifi -
cant writings and speeches and their
relationship to the Declaration of
Independence, such as his “House
Divided” speech (1858), Gettys-
burg Address (1863), Emancipation
Proclamation (1863), and inaugural
addresses (1861 and 1865).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-15
importantly, he had been in Great Britain
as ambassador during the Kansas-Nebraska
Act dispute and had not been involved in
the debate.
At their fi rst nominating convention, the
Republicans chose explorer
John C. Frémont
as their candidate. He had little political
experience, but he stood against the spread
of slavery. The public saw Republicans as a
single-issue party. They had almost no sup-
porters outside of the free states.
On election day, Buchanan won 14 of the
15 slave states and became the new president.
Frémont won 11 of the 16 free states. Fillmore
won only one state—Maryland. Buchanan
had won the election.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were the
major political parties in the election of 1856, and
who was the candidate for each party?
Dred Scott Decision
Just two days after Buchanan became presi-
dent, the Supreme Court issued a historic
ruling about slavery. News of the decision
threw the country back into crisis. The Court
reviewed and decided the complex case involv-
ing an enslaved man named
Dred Scott.
Dred Scott Sues for Freedom
Dred Scott was the slave of Dr. John Emerson,
an army surgeon who lived in St. Louis, Mis-
souri. In the 1830s, Emerson had taken Scott
on tours of duty in Illinois and the Wisconsin
Territory. After they returned to Missouri, the
doctor died, and Scott became the slave of
Emerson’s widow. In 1846 Scott sued for his
freedom in the Missouri state courts, arguing
that he had become free when he lived in
free territory. Though a lower court ruled in
A DIVIDED NATION 451
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING INFORMATION
1. Why do you think the Court ruled that African
Americans had no access to federal courts?
2. How did this case affect abolitionist efforts?
Dred Scott v. Sandford
(1857)
Background of the
Case Born a slave in Virginia,
Dred Scott moved with his
slaveholder to the free state
of Illinois and then to the Wis-
consin Territory. After returning
to the South, Scott sued for
his freedom. He claimed that
because he had lived in a state
that banned slavery, he was no
longer a slave.
The Court’s Ruling
The Court ruled that African Americans,
whether free or slave, were not consid-
ered citizens of the United States, and
therefore had no right to sue in federal
court. It also decided that the Missouri
Compromise was unconstitutional.
The Court’s Reasoning
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in
the majority opinion that the Court
did not believe that African Americans
were included in the
Constitution’s definition
of citizens and that they
“had no rights which the
white man was bound
to respect.” Address-
ing a side issue in the
case, the opinion
also stated
that Congress could not outlaw slavery
in the territories. This struck down the
Missouri Compromise, which had made
slavery illegal in territories north of the
36
˚30
'
dividing line.
Why It Matters
The Dred Scott case was seen as a
setback to abolitionist ideas against
slavery. It reduced the status of free
African Americans and upheld the view
of slaves as property without rights or
protection under the Constitution. It also
took from Congress the power to ban
slavery in its territories, which would
aid the spread of slavery in new states.
Because of its pro-slavery decision, the
reputation of the Court suffered greatly
in parts of the North.
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
complex
difficult, not
simple
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-16
Long-Term Effect
• Civil War
Causes of Conflict
Failure of Missouri Compromise
Failure of Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Dred Scott decision
Short-Term Effects
• Political battles
• Sectional differences
• “Bleeding Kansas”
• Lincoln-Douglas debates
A Growing Conflict
his favor, the Missouri Supreme Court over-
turned this ruling.
Scott’s case reached the U.S. Supreme
Court 11 years later, in 1857. The justices—a
majority of whom were from the South—
had three key issues before them. First,
the Court had to rule on whether Scott
was a citizen. Only citizens could sue in
federal court. Second, the Court had to decide
if his time living on free soil made him free.
Third, the Court had to determine the con-
stitutionality of prohibiting slavery in parts
of the Louisiana Purchase.
The Supreme Court’s Ruling
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (TAW-nee), him-
self from a slaveholding family in Maryland,
wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott
decision in March 1857. First, he addressed
the issue of Dred Scott’s citizenship. Taney
said the nation’s founders believed that Afri-
can Americans “had no rights which a white
man was bound to respect.” He therefore con-
cluded that all African Americans, whether
slave or free, were not citizens under the U.S.
Constitution. Thus, Dred Scott did not have
the right to fi le suit in federal court.
Taney also ruled on the other issues before
the Court. As to whether Scott’s residence on
free soil made him free, Taney fl atly said it
did not. Because Scott had returned to the
slave state of Missouri, the chief justice said,
“his status, as free or slave, depended on the
laws of Missouri.”
Finally, Taney declared the Missouri
Compromise restriction on slavery north of
36°30
'
to be unconstitutional. He pointed
out that the Fifth Amendment said no one
could “be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.” Because slaves
were considered property, Congress could
not prohibit someone from taking slaves
into a federal territory. Under this ruling,
Congress had no right to ban slavery in any
federal territory.
Most white southerners cheered this
decision. It “covers every question regarding
slavery and settles it in favor of the South,”
reported a Georgia newspaper. Another news-
paper, the New Orleans Picayune, assured its
readers that the ruling put “the whole basis
of the . . . Republican organization under the
ban of law.”
The ruling stunned many northern-
ers. The Republicans were particularly upset
because their platform in 1856 had argued
that Congress held the right to ban slavery
in the federal territories. Now the nation’s
highest court had ruled that Congress did
not have this right.
Indeed, some northerners feared that the
spread of slavery would not stop with the
federal territories. Illinois lawyer
Abraham
Lincoln
warned that a future Court ruling, or
what he called “the next Dred Scott decision,”
would prohibit states from banning slavery.
452 CHAPTER 14
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-17
We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the
people of Missouri are on the verge of [close to]
making their state free; and we shall awake to
the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has
made Illinois a slave state.
—Abraham Lincoln, quoted in The Collected Works of
Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were the
major rulings of the Dred Scott decision?
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated Abra-
ham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His opponent
was Democrat Stephen Douglas, who had
represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847.
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became
the historic
the historic
Lincoln-Douglas
Lincoln-Douglas
debates
debates.
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that the
central issue of the campaign was the spread
of slavery in the West. He said that the Dem-
ocrats were trying to spread slavery across
the nation.
Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott
decision. He said that African Ameri-
cans were “entitled to all the natural
rights” listed in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, specifi cally mentioning “the
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”
However, Lincoln believed
that African Americans were not necessarily
the social or political equals of whites. Hop-
ing to cost Lincoln votes, Douglas charged
that Lincoln “thinks that the Negro is his
brother . . .”
Douglas also criticized Lincoln for saying
that the nation could not remain “half slave
and half free.” Douglas said that the state-
ment revealed a Republican desire to make
every state a free state. This, he warned,
would only lead to “a dissolution [destruc-
tion] of the Union” and “warfare between
the North and the South.”
At the second debate, in the northern
Illinois town of Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln
pressed Douglas on the apparent contradic-
tion between the Democrats’ belief in popu-
A DIVIDED NATION 453
SPEECH
A House Divided
In 1858 Abraham Lincoln gave a passionate speech to
Illinois Republicans about the dangers of the disagreement
over slavery. Some considered it a call for war.
In my opinion, it [disagreement over slavery] will not cease [stop],
until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. “A house divided
against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure
permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be
dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will
cease to be divided.
—Abraham Lincoln,
quoted in Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 18 3 2 185 8
edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher
Primary Source
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
What do you think Lincoln meant by “crisis”?
This line is a
paraphrase of a
line in the Bible.
Lincoln expresses
confidence that the
Union will survive.
Today political
debates are
televised and can
be seen around
the world.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-18
lar sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision.
Lincoln asked Douglas to explain how, if
Congress could not ban slavery from a feder-
al territory, Congress could allow the citizens
of that territory to ban it.
Douglas responded that it did not mat-
ter what the Supreme Court decided about
slavery. He argued that “the people have the
lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as
they please, for the reason that slavery can-
not exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless
it is supported by local police regulations.”
This notion that the police would
This notion that the police would
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
Scott case became known as the
Scott case became known as the
Freeport
Freeport
Doctrine
Doctrine
.
.
The Freeport Doctrine put the slavery
question back in the hands of American citi-
zens. It helped Douglas win the Senate seat.
Lincoln, while not victorious, emerged as an
important leader of the Republican Party.
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences Why
did Abraham Lincoln make slavery’s expansion the
central issue of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?
454 CHAPTER 14
Section 3 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What was the major issue of the newly
formed Republican Party?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Kansas-
Nebraska Act affect political parties?
c. Elaborate Why do you think James Buchanan
won the election of 1856?
2. a. Identify Who was Roger B. Taney, and why
was he important?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Dred Scott
decision affect the Missouri Compromise and the
expansion of slavery?
c. Predict What problems might result from the
Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case?
3 a. Recall What was the major issue of the
Lincoln-Douglas debates?
b. Make Inferences Despite his loss in the elec-
tion, how did Lincoln become the leader of the
Republican Party?
Critical Thinking
4. Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below
onto your own paper. Use it to identify the issues
involved in the Dred Scott case and the Supreme
Court’s rulings.
Issues Supreme Court Rulings
Dred Scott Case
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on the Political Divisions Make
some notes on the Republican Party, the Dred Scott
decision, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Decide
how your character feels about each of these. How
do these events affect your character?
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Abraham Lincoln Stephen Douglas
Lincoln ran for the
U.S. Senate in
Illinois against
Douglas in 1858.
The two men
debated seven
times at various
locations around
the state. Lincoln
lost the election
but gained national
recognition.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Dred Scott
decision and the Lincoln-Douglas debates
dealt with the confl ict over slavery in the
western territories. In the next section
you will read about how the confl ict broke
apart the Union.
HSS
8.10.4
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-19
The Nation Divides
If YOU were there...
You work for the weekly newspaper in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
You strongly oppose slavery, but you think the question ought to
be resolved by laws, not bloodshed. Now your paper has sent you
to interview the famous abolitionist John Brown in prison. His raids
in “Bleeding Kansas” killed several people. Now he is in jail for
attacking a federal arsenal and taking weapons.
What questions would you ask John Brown?
BUILDING BACKGROUND Unpopular compromises and court
decisions deepened the divisions between pro-slavery and antislav-
ery advocates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates attracted more atten-
tion to the issue. As the disagreements grew, violence increased,
though many Americans hoped to avoid it. But it was too late to keep
the nation unified.
Raid on Harpers Ferry
In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising. He wanted to attack
the federal arsenal in Virginia and seize weapons there. He planned
to arm local slaves. Brown expected to kill or take hostage white
southerners who stood in his way. He urged abolitionists to give
him money so that he could support a small army. But after nearly
two years, Brown’s army had only about 20 men.
On the night of October 16, 1859,
John Browns raid
John Browns raid
began
began
when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
Virginia, in hop
Virginia, in hop
es of starting a slave rebellion
es of starting a slave rebellion. He sent several of
his men into the countryside to get slaves to join him. However,
enslaved African Americans did not come to Harpers Ferry, fear-
ing punishment if they took part. Instead, local white southern-
ers attacked Brown. Eight of his men and three local men were
killed. Brown and some followers retreated to a fi rehouse.
Federal troops arrived in Harpers Ferry the following night. The
next morning, Colonel Robert E. Lee ordered a squad of marines to
storm the fi rehouse. In a matter of seconds, the marines killed two
more of Brown’s men and captured the rest—including Brown.
What You Will Learn…
SECTION
4
Key Terms and People
John Brown’s raid, p. 455
John C. Breckinridge, p. 457
Constitutional Union Party, p. 457
John Bell, p. 457
secession, p. 458
Confederate States of
America, p. 458
Jefferson Davis, p. 458
John J. Crittenden, p. 459
1. John Brown’s raid on Harpers
Ferry intensified the disagree-
ment between free states
and slave states.
2. The outcome of the election
of 1860 divided the United
States.
3. The dispute over slavery led
the South to secede.
Main Ideas
A DIVIDED NATION 455
The United States broke apart
due to the growing conflict
over slavery.
The Big Idea
HSS
8.9.1
Describe the leaders
of the movement (e.g., John Quincy
Adams and his proposed constitu-
tional amendment, John Brown and
the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman
and the Underground Railroad, Benja-
min Franklin, Theodore Weld, William
Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).
8.10.3 Identify the constitutional
issues posed by the doctrine of nullifi-
cation and secession and the earliest
origins of that doctrine.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-20
Brown was quickly convicted of treason,
murder, and conspiracy. Some of his men
received death sentences. John A. Copeland,
a fugitive slave, defended his actions. “If I am
dying for freedom, I could not die for a bet-
ter cause.” Convinced that he also would be
sentenced to death, Brown delivered a mem-
orable speech.
Now, if it is deemed [thought] necessary that I
should forfeit [give up] my life for the further-
ance of the ends of justice, and mingle [mix]
my blood . . . with the blood of millions in this
slave country whose rights are disregarded by
wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say, let
it be done.
—John Brown, quoted in John Brown, 1800–1859
by Oswald Garrison Villard
As expected, the judge ordered Brown to
be hanged. The sentence was carried out one
month later on December 2, 1859.
Many northerners mourned John Brown’s
death, but some abolitionists criticized his
extreme actions. Abraham Lincoln said Brown
“agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong.”
However, Lincoln continued, “That cannot
excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason.”
Most southern whites—both slave-
holders and non-slaveholders—felt threat-
ened by the actions of John Brown. They
worried that a “John Brown the Second”
might attack. One South Carolina newspa-
per voiced these fears: “We are convinced
the safety of the South lies only outside the
present Union.” Another newspaper stated
that “the sooner we get out of the Union,
the better.”
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
Why did John Brown’s raid lead some southerners
to talk about leaving the Union?
456 CHAPTER 14
SPEECH
John Brown’s Last Speech
At his trial, after being pronounced guilty, John Brown
spoke in his own defense about his plan to free slaves.
I intended certainly to have made a clean thing
of that matter [freeing slaves] . . . I never did
intend murder or treason, or the destruction
of property, or to excite or incite the slaves to
rebellion, or to make insurrection [revolt] . . .
Had I interfered in the manner which I admit . . . in
behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent,
the so-called great . . . it would have been all
right, and every man in this Court would have
deemed it an act worthy of reward rather
than punishment . . . I believe that to have
interfered as I have done . . . in behalf of
His despised poor, is no wrong, but right.
—John Brown,
quoted in The Life, Trial and Execution
of Captain John Brown
Primary Source
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How does Brown contrast his ideas with the Court’s ideas?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
By His, Brown
means God’s.
Brown says he
never meant to
start a rebellion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-21
INDIAN
TERR.
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
Unorganized
Territory
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
Disputed
TX
4
AR
4
LA
6
MS
7
AL
9
GA
10
TN
12
KY
12
VA
15
OH
23
IN
13
PA
27
NY
35
ME
8
MD
8
DE
3
NJ
7*
CT
6
RI
4
MA
13
VT
5
NH
5
MI
6
MO
9
IA
4
OR
3
CA
4
IL
11
MN
4
WI
5
FL
3
SC
8
NC
10
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States
Lincoln
(Republican)
Douglas
(N. Democrat)
Breckinridge
(S. Democrat)
Bell
(Constitutional
Union)
180
12
72
39
Electoral
Vote
Popular
Vote
1,865,593
1,382,713
848,356
592,906
*NewJersey cast four electoral votes
for Lincoln and three for Douglas.
Election of 1860
In this climate of distrust, Americans pre-
pared for another presidential election in
1860. The northern and southern Democrats
could not agree on a candidate. Northern
Democrats chose Senator Stephen Doug-
las. Southern Democrats backed the cur-
rent vice president,
John C. Breckinridge
of Kentucky, who supported slavery in the
territories.
Meanwhile, a new political party emerged.
The
The
Constitutional Union Party
Constitutional Union Party
recognized
recognized
“no political principles other than the Con-
“no political principles other than the Con-
stitution of the country, the Union of the
stitution of the country, the Union of the
states, and the enforcement of the laws.”
states, and the enforcement of the laws.”
Members of this new party met in Baltimore,
Maryland, and selected
John Bell of Tennes-
see as their candidate. Bell was a slaveholder,
but he had opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act
in 1854.
Senator William Seward of New York was
the Republicans’ leading candidate at the start
of their convention. But it turned out that
Lincoln appealed to more party members.
A moderate who was against the spread of
slavery, Lincoln promised not to abolish
slavery where it already existed.
Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell each knew
he might not win the election. They hoped
to win enough electoral votes to prevent Lin-
coln from winning in the electoral college.
But with a unifi ed Republican Party behind
him, Lincoln won. Although he received the
highest number of votes, he won only about
40 percent of the overall popular vote.
Lincoln won 180 of 183 electoral votes in
free states. Douglas had the second-highest
number of popular votes, but he won only
one state. He earned just 12 electoral votes.
Breckinridge and Bell split electoral votes in
other slave states.
The election results angered southerners.
Lincoln did not campaign in their region
and did not carry any southern states, but he
became the next president. The election sig-
naled that the South was losing its national
political power.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Why was Lincoln
viewed by many as a moderate candidate during
his campaign for the presidency?
A DIVIDED NATION 457
INTERPRETING MAPS
Region In which part of the country were most of the
states that Lincoln won?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
Election of 1860
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-22
The South Secedes
Lincoln insisted that he would not change
slavery in the South. However, he said that
slavery could not expand and thus would
eventually die out completely. That idea
angered many southerners.
Southerners’ Reactions
People in the South believed their economy
and way of life would be destroyed with-
out slave labor. They reacted immediately.
Within a week of Lincoln’s election, South
Carolina’s legislature called for a special con-
vention. The delegates considered
secession
secession,
or formally withdrawing from the Union
or formally withdrawing from the Union.
South Carolina elected to dissolve “the
union now subsisting [existing] between
South Carolina and other States.” Southern
secessionists believed that they had a right to
leave the Union. They pointed out that each
of the original states had voluntarily joined
the Union by holding a special convention
that had ratifi ed the Constitution. Surely,
they reasoned, states could leave the Union
by the same process.
Critics of secession thought this argu-
ment was ridiculous. President Buchanan
said the Union was not “a mere voluntary
association of States, to be dissolved at plea-
sure by any one of the contracting parties.”
President-elect Abraham Lincoln agreed, say-
ing, “No State, upon its own mere motion,
can lawfully get out of the Union.” Lincoln
added, “They can only do so against [the]
law, and by revolution.”
The Confederate States of America
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Loui-
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Loui-
siana, and Texas also seceded to form the
siana, and Texas also seceded to form the
Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America,
also c
also c
alled
alled
the Confederacy.
the Confederacy. Its new constitution guaran-
teed citizens the right to own slaves.
Delegates from seceded states elected
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president of
the Confederacy. Davis had hoped to be the
commanding general of Mississippi’s troops.
He responded to the news of his election
with reluctance.
While the South Carolina representatives
were meeting to discuss secession, Congress
458 CHAPTER 14
This photograph is of the first inaugura-
tion of Jefferson Davis as the president
of the Confederate States of America. A
former U.S. secretary of war, Davis was
elected president of the confederacy in
1861.
How does this photo show the state of
the southern government?
Rebel Government
Jefferson Davis takes the
oath of office for presi-
dent of the Confederate
States of America.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-23
examined a plan to save the Union. Senator
John J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposed a
series of constitutional amendments that he
believed would satisfy the South by protect-
ing slavery. Crittenden hoped the country
could avoid secession and a civil war.
Lincoln disagreed with some of Critten-
den’s plan. He believed there could be no
compromise about the extension of slavery.
Lincoln wrote, “The tug has to come and
better now than later.” A Senate committee
voted on Crittenden’s plan, and every Repub-
lican rejected it, as Lincoln had requested.
When the southern states seceded, the
question of who owned federal property in
the South arose. For instance, the forts in the
harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, were
federal property. However, Confederate pres-
ident Davis and the Confederacy were ready
to prevent the federal army from controlling
the property.
Lincoln Takes Offi ce
President Lincoln was inaugurated on March
4, 1861. In writing his inaugural address,
Lincoln looked to many of the nation’s
founding documents. Referring to the idea
that governments receive “their just powers
from the consent of the governed,” a line
from the Declaration of Independence, Lin-
coln stated, “This country, with its institu-
tions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.
Whenever they grow weary of the existing
Government, they can exercise their consti-
tutional right of amending it or their revo-
lutionary right to dismember [take apart] or
overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the
fact that many worthy and patriotic citi-
zens are desirous [wanting] of having the
National Constitution amended . . .”
While he believed that U.S. citizens
had the power to change their government
through majority consent, he opposed the
idea that southern states could leave the
Union because they were unhappy with the
government’s position on slavery.
He announced in his inaugural address
that he would keep all government property
in the seceding states. However, he also tried
to convince southerners that his government
would not provoke a war. He hoped that,
given time, southern states would return to
the Union.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions Why
did some southern states secede from the Union?
A DIVIDED NATION 459
Section 4 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Recall Why did John Brown want to seize the federal
arsenal at Harpers Ferry?
b. Explain Why did some abolitionists disagree with
Brown’s actions?
2. a. Identify List the candidates in the presidential election
of 1860, and what party each supported.
b. Predict How might Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the
election of 1860 lead to future problems?
3. a. Identify What states made up the Confederate States
of America?
b. Explain Why did Lincoln disagree with John J.
Crittenden’s plan to keep the Union together?
c. Elaborate Do you believe that the southern states had
the right to secede? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
4. Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below onto
your own sheet of paper. Use it to identify the causes of
the secession of southern states.
Causes
Secession
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on Secession Make some notes on the raid
on Harpers Ferry, the election of 1860, and the secession
of the South. Decide how your character feels about each
of these. How do these events affect your character?
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The secession
of the southern states hinted at the vio-
lence to come. In the next chapter you will
read about the Civil War.
HSS
8.9.1, 8.10.3
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-24
Define the Skill
All historical information comes from primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources are documents
written by someone who witnessed or took part in
an event. They include diaries, letters, autobiogra-
phies, and newspaper reports. Secondary sources are
accounts of events written after the events have
occurred by someone who did not witness or take
part in them. They retell, interpret, and summarize
information from primary sources. History books
and biographies are examples of secondary sources.
Historical sources often disagree. One writer’s
version of an event may be different from another
writer’s version. You must assess the reliability of a
primary or secondary source in order to weigh its
value to you as a source of accurate information.
Learn the Skill
Use these guidelines to analyze and evaluate primary
and secondary sources.
1
Identify the nature of the material. Is it a fi rst-
hand, eye-witness account or is it based on
information provided by others?
2
Evaluate the author. If the material is a second-
ary source, what qualifi cations does the author
have to interpret the sources from which it
came? If the material is a primary source, what
was the author’s connection to the event he or
she is writing about?
3
Determine the audience. Was the source meant
to be seen by the public? Was it meant for a
friend, or for the writer alone? The intended
audience can infl uence a source’s content.
Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources
4
Determine the purpose. Even authors of primary
sources can have reasons to distort the truth to
suit their own purposes. Look for evidence of
emotion, exaggeration, opinion, or bias that
may have infl uenced the account.
5
Look for documentation. Look for other infor-
mation or evidence that supports the source’s
account. Compare sources whenever possible.
Practice the Skill
The passage below concerns the attack on Lawrence,
Kansas, that you read about in this chapter. The
passage contains both a primary and a secondary
source. The secondary account was written by John
A. Garraty, a well-known historian. Review the
information on page 448, analyze the passage, and
answer the questions that follow.
Sheriff Jones, at the head of an army of Missourians,
marched into Lawrence. In broad daylight they threw
the printing presses of two newspapers into a river. They
burned down the Free State Hotel and other buildings.
Antislavery Kansans seethed with rage. One eyewitness
described the attack.
Sheriff Jones, after looking at the fl ames rising from the hotel
and saying that it was ‘the happiest day of his life,’ dismissed
the troops and they began their lawless destruction.
1. Did the author of the primary source likely sup-
port the attackers or the people of Lawrence?
What clues in the passage suggest this?
2. For whom was the primary source likely written?
3. Which source is more reliable for information
about this incident? Explain why.
460 CHAPTER 14
Social Studies Skills
Analysis
Critical Thinking Participation Study
HR3
Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant
information.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-25
A DIVIDED NATION 461
Standards Review
CHAPTER
14
Reviewing Vocabulary,
Terms, and People
Identify the correct term or person from the chapter that
best fi ts each of the following descriptions.
1. belief that voters should be given the right to
decide if slavery would be permitted or banned
2. chief justice of the Supreme Court who wrote
the majority opinion for the Dred Scott decision
3. Democratic candidate for president in 1852 who
promised to enforce the Compromise of 1850
and the Fugitive Slave Act
4. a fugitive slave whose arrest led to violence
between government officials and abolitionists
5. Republican candidate for the presidency in 1856
who opposed the spread of slavery in the West
6. slave who sued for freedom, claiming that
by living in free territory, he had earned his
freedom
7. Stephen Douglas’s claim that states and
territories should determine the issue of slavery
through popular sovereignty
Comprehension and
Critical Thinking
SECTION 1 (Pages 438–443)
8. a. Describe How did literature aid the antislav-
ery movement?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the issue of slav-
ery promote sectionalism?
c. Evaluate Do you think the Compromise of
1850 was a good solution? Explain your answer.
SECTION 2
(Pages 445–449)
9. a. Identify Who were the candidates in the
presidential election of 1852, and what issues
did each support?
b. Analyze How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act
lead to growing hostility between pro-slavery
and antislavery supporters?
c. Elaborate Why do you think “Bleeding
Kansas” produced intense controversy between
many Americans?
Use the visual summary below to help you review
the main ideas of the chapter.
Visual
Summary
Differing views on slavery in the
North and South gradually tore
apart the unity of the nation.
HSS
8.9.4, 8.10.1
HSS
8.9.5, 8.10.2
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-26
462 CHAPTER 14
SECTION 3 (Pages 450–454)
10. a. Identify Who was Dred Scott, and why was
his case important?
b. Analyze How were political parties affected
by the debate over slavery?
c. Elaborate Why do you think Republicans
challenged Stephen Douglas’s run for the
Senate?
SECTION 4
(Pages 455–459)
11. a. Recall Why did the southern states secede,
and what was the North’s response?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did the results of the
election of 1860 anger southerners?
c. Evaluate Do you think John Brown was right
to use violence to protest slavery? Explain.
Reviewing Themes
12. Politics How did sectionalism affect American
politics?
13. Society and Culture What effect did Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin have on
the debate over slavery?
Using the Internet
KEYWORD: SS8 US14
14. Activity: Creating a Newspaper Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s novel and John Brown’s raids
were two important events that created more
debate over slavery and heightened tension
between sides. Enter the activity keyword and
learn more about antislavery actions. Then
create a newspaper with which to display your
research. Remember to write from the point of
view of someone from the mid-1800s.
Reading Skills
Understanding Fact and Opinion Use the Reading
Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about
the reading selection below.
In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising.
He wanted to attack the federal arsenal in
Virginia and seize weapons there. He planned
to arm local slaves. Brown expected to kill or
take hostage white southerners who stood in
his way. (p. 455)
15. Based on the reading above, which of the
following statements is an opinion?
a. John Brown’s raid was in 1858.
b. John Brown hated all slaveholders.
c. John Brown’s raid took place in Virginia.
d. Local slaves helped John Brown.
Social Studies Skills
Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources Use the
Social Studies Skills taught in this chapter to answer the
question below.
16. Which of the following is not an example of a
primary source used in this chapter?
a. A People’s History of the United States by
Howard Zinn
b. The Seventh of March speech by Daniel
Webster
c. A House Divided speech by Abraham Lincoln
d. John Brown’s last speech
FOCUS ON WRITING
17. Writing Your Autobiography Review your notes.
Then write your autobiography, being sure to
mention each of the events from your notes.
Tell how your character heard about each event,
what he or she was doing at the time, how he
or she felt about the event, and how it affected
him or her. What are your character’s hopes and
fears for the future?
HSS
8.10.4
HSS
8.9.1, 8.10.3
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-27
30°
N
90°W
120°W
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
OR
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
TX
CA
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
MS
AL
GA
FL
TN
KY
IL
WI
MI
IN
OH
PA
NY
MD
DE
NJ
CT
RI
MA
VT
NH
VA
NC
SC
ME
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
A DIVIDED NATION 463
DIRECTIONS: Read each question and write the
letter of the best response. Use the map below to
answer question 1.
!
From the information in this map, you can
conclude that it shows
A the provisions of the Compromise of 1850.
B the results of the election of 1860.
C the formation of the Confederacy.
D the results of the Dred Scott decision.
@
Which leader was responsible for settling the
dispute over the expansion of slavery that
arose after the Mexican War?
A David Wilmot
B Henry Clay
C Abraham Lincoln
D Jefferson Davis
#
California’s admission as a free state after
the Mexican War aroused controversy
because
A many Californians already held slaves.
B it would upset the balance between free states
and slave states.
C Mexico still claimed that California was part of
Mexico’s territory.
D most Californians wanted independence.
$
Widespread violence erupted in Kansas over
slavery in the mid-1850s mainly due to
A the practice of popular sovereignty.
B the Pottawatomie Massacre.
C the Missouri Compromise.
D the threat of secession.
%
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 directly or
indirectly led to all of the following except
A the rise of the Republican Party.
B the collapse of the Whig Party.
C Abraham Lincoln’s election as president.
D The Missouri Compromise.
Connecting with Past Learning
^
The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled
differences between the North and South
over the spread of slavery. Earlier in Grade 8
you learned about another compromise over
slavery that took place
A during the American Revolution.
B at the Constitutional Convention.
C during the War of 1812.
D in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
&
Several southern states seceded after Lin-
coln’s election as president in 1860. What
earlier event also threatened the nation by
greatly angering the South?
A ratifi cation of the Constitution in 1789
B Henry Clay’s proposal of the American System
after the War of 1812
C Andrew Jackson’s defeat in the presidential
election of 1824
D passage of a protective tariff in 1828
Standards Assessment
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-28
464 UNIT 4
Assignment
Write a paper comparing and
contrasting one of the fol-
lowing: (1) America before
and after the Industrial
Revolution, (2) the lives of
free blacks in the North with
the lives of free blacks in
the South.
Using Graphic Organizers
Venn diagrams help you focus on
similarities and differences. Write
details the subjects have in common
in the overlapping area. Write details
that make each subject different in
the sections that do not overlap.
Comparing People
and Events
O
ne way to learn more about historical figures and
events is to compare and contrast them. By studying
how the figures or events are alike and different, you can
begin to see each one more clearly.
1. Prewrite
Getting Started
“How are they alike?” “How are they different?” Jot down answers
to these questions as you research the presidents or the Industrial
Revolution. Group your answers into points of comparison. For exam-
ple, points of comparison for the lives of free blacks might be work,
education, etc. Points of comparison for the Industrial Revolution
might be factories or farming.
Organizing Your Information
There are two ways to organize a compare-and-contrast paper.
Block Style Say everything you have to say about one subject.
Then say everything you have to say about the second subject.
Discuss the points of comparison in the same order for each
subject.
Point-by-Point Style Discuss the points of comparison one at a
time. Explain how the subjects are alike and different on one point
of comparison, then another, and so on. Discuss the subjects in the
same order for each point of comparison.
2. Write
You can use this framework with your notes to help you write your
first draft.
Introduction
Identify the two subjects and give back-
ground information to help readers
understand your comparisons.
State your big idea, or main purpose,
in comparing and contrasting them.
Body
Use block or point-by-point
organization.
Use three points of comparison.
Support your points with specific
historical facts, details, and examples.
Conclusion
Restate your big idea.
Summarize the points you made.
Expand on your big idea, perhaps by
relating it to later historical events or
other historical figures.
A Writer’s Framework
Differences DifferencesSimilarities
TIP
ELA
Writing 8.1.1
Create com-
positions that establish a controlling
impression, have a coherent thesis, and
end with a clear and well-supported
conclusion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-29
3. Evaluate and Revise
Evaluating
Use these questions to discover ways to improve your paper.
Evaluation Questions for a Comparison/Contrast Paper
Do you introduce both subjects in
the first paragraph?
Do you provide relevant background
information in a clear and concise
manner?
Do you state your big idea in the
introduction?
Do you include three points of
comparison between the subjects?
Do you use either the block style or
point-by-point style to organize your
points of comparison?
Do you support your points of
comparison with appropriate
historical facts, details, and
examples?
Do you restate your big idea and
summarize your points?
Revising
As you reread your paper, look for sentences that start with There was
or There were. Sentences beginning with There was/There were tend to
be weak: The verbs was and were do not convey any action.
Weak
There was a decline in southern agriculture after the American
Revolution.
Stronger
Southern agriculture declined after the American Revolution.
4. Proofread and Publish
Proofreading
In a research report, you may be referring to the titles of your sources
of information. Check to see whether you have punctuated any titles
according to these guidelines.
Underling (if you are writing) or italics (if you are using a
computer) for books, movies, TV programs, Internet sites, and
magazines or newspapers
Quotation marks for magazine articles, newspaper articles,
chapters in a book
Publishing
Share your paper with one or more classmates. After reading each
other’s papers, you can compare and contrast them.
5. Practice and Apply
Use the steps and strategies outlined in this workshop to write your
paper comparing and contrasting two people or events.
TIP
Making Meaning Clear
One way to make relationships
between ideas clear is to repeat key
or similar words and phrases in your
writing. For example, you can use
similar wording when comparing two
historical figures on the same point
of comparison.
EXAMPLE
Samuel Slater filled his labor needs
by hiring entire families to work in the
mills. Francis Lowell filled his labor
needs by hiring young, unmarried
women to work in the mills.
THE NATION EXPANDS
465
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation PDF
1848
The Free-Soil
Party is formed
on August 9.
1848
Revolutionary
movements sweep
across Europe.
CHAPTER
14
1848–1860
434 CHAPTER 14
18 4 8
A Divided
A Divided
Nation
Nation
Writing an Autobiographical Sketch When you read
about history, it can be difficult to imagine how the events
you read about affected ordinary people. In this chapter
you will read about slavery in the United States. Then you
will write an autobiography of a fictional character, tell-
ing how these events affected him or her. Your fictional
character can live in any part of the United States. He or
she might be an enslaved African, a southern plantation
owner, a northern abolitionist, or a settler in one of the
new territories. Your classmates are your audience.
FOCUS ON WRITING
California Standards
History–Social Science
8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish
slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of
Independence.
8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and
complex consequences of the Civil War.
Analysis Skills
HR 3 Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information.
HR 4 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary
sources.
English–Language Arts
Writing 8.2.1 Write biographies, autobiographies, short stories,
or narratives.
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level
appropriate materials.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Download
186 0
1852
Louis-Napoléon declares
himself Emperor Napoléon III
of France.
1856
British and French
forces defeat Russia
in the Crimean War.
1857 Indian soldiers
in the British army begin
the Sepoy Mutiny against
British control of India.
435
18 5 0
18 5 5
1859
John Brown
takes control
of the federal
arsenal at Harpers
Ferry, Virginia.
1860
On December 20,
South Carolina
votes to secede
from the United
States.
1852
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin is pub-
lished by Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
What You Will Learn…
Two women look at a display called “Survival of
Spirit” at the Museum of African American His-
tory in Detroit, Michigan. The display shows a
history of resistance to slavery. In this chapter
you will learn about how the debate over slavery
increasingly divided Americans during the
mid-1800s.
HOLT
History’s Impact
video series
Watch the video to under-
stand the impact of
states’ rights.
1850 Congress
passes the Fugitive
Slave Act on
September 18.
1856 In the
Sack of Lawrence,
pro-slavery forces
attack the town of
Lawrence, Kansas,
on May 21.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation PDF Download
436 CHAPTER 00
Focus on Reading When you are trying to learn about history,
would you rather read facts or the author’s opinion? You would prefer
facts, of course. Separating facts from opinions about historical events
helps you know what really happened.
Identifying Facts and Opinions Something is a fact if there is a
way to prove it or disprove it. For example, research can prove or
disprove the following statement: “Abraham Lincoln belonged to the
Republican Party.” But research can’t prove the fol lowing statement
because it is just an opinion, or someone’s belief: “Lincoln was the
greatest president in American history.”
Use the process below to decide whether a statement is fact or opinion.
Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers
Focus on Themes
This chapter describes the
growing tension between the North and the South
over the slavery issue. You will read what happened
as more states were admitted to the Union and
people argued if they should be slave states or not.
You will read about events that widened the division
between the North and South so that the South
nally chose to secede from the Union. Throughout
the chapter you will see that cultural differences
infl uenced political decisions.
Geography
Politics
Economics
Society
and Culture
Science and
Technology
Religion
Additional reading
support can be
found in the
Read the
statement.
Ask yourself, “Can this
statement be proved or
disproved?” “Can we fi nd
evidence to show whether
it is a true statement or a
false one?”
If not, the
statement is an
opinion.
If the answer is yes,
the statement is
a fact.
Facts, Opinions, and the Past
436 CHAPTER 14
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-1
SECTION TITLE 437A DIVIDED NATION 437
Key Terms
Key Terms
and People
and People
As you read Chapter 14, look closely at
quotes from historical figures. Are these
quotes showing you facts or opinions?
You Try It!
The following passage tells about the debates that Abraham Lincoln
had with Stephen Douglas. All the statements in this passage are
facts. What makes them facts and not opinions?
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated
Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His
opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas,
who had represented Illinois in the Senate
since 1847. Lincoln challenged Douglas in
what became the historic Lincoln-Douglas
debates.
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that
the central issue of the campaign was the
spread of slavery in the West. He said that
the Democrats were trying to spread slavery
across the nation.
Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott deci-
sion. He said that African Americans were
“entitled to all the natural rights” listed in
the Declaration of Independence, specifi cally
mentioning “the right to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.”
From
Chapter 14,
pp. 452–453
Identify each of the following as a fact or an opinion and then
explain your choice.
1. Lincoln accused the Democrats of trying to spread slavery across
the nation.
2. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were the most important debates in
the history of the nation.
3. Stephen Douglas was a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
4. Abraham Lincoln ran against Douglas in the 1858 Senate election.
5. Most Americans believed that the Dred Scott decision was a
good one.
6. Lincoln was the best debater people from Illinois had ever heard.
Chapter 14
Section 1
popular sovereignty (p. 438)
Wilmot Proviso (p. 438)
sectionalism (p. 439)
Free-Soil Party (p. 439)
Compromise of 1850 (p. 441)
Fugitive Slave Act (p. 441)
Anthony Burns (p. 442)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (p. 443)
Harriet Beecher Stowe (p. 443)
Section 2
Franklin Pierce (p. 445)
Stephen Douglas (p. 446)
Kansas-Nebraska Act (p. 447)
Pottawatoamie (p. 448)
Charles Sumner (p. 449)
Preston Brooks (p. 449)
Section 3
Republican Party (p. 450)
James Buchanan (p. 450)
John C. Fremont (p. 451)
Dred Scott (p. 451)
Roger B. Taney (p. 452)
Abraham Lincoln (p. 452)
Lincoln-Douglas debates (p. 453)
Freeport Doctrine (p. 453)
Section 4
John Brown’s raid (p. 455)
John C. Breckinridge (p. 457)
Constitutional Union Party (p. 457)
John Bell (p. 457)
secession (p. 458)
Confederate States of America
(p. 458)
Jefferson Davis (p. 458)
John J. Crittenden (p. 459)
Academic Vocabulary
In this chapter, you will learn the
following academic words:
implications (p. 446)
complex (p. 451)
ELA
Reading 8.2.0 Read and understand grade-level-
appropriate material.
HSS
Analysis HR 2 Distinguish fact from opinion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-2
SECTION
1
Key Terms and People
popular sovereignty, p. 438
Wilmot Proviso, p. 438
sectionalism, p. 439
Free-Soil Party, p. 439
Compromise of 1850, p. 441
Fugitive Slave Act, p. 441
Anthony Burns, p. 442
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, p. 443
Harriet Beecher Stowe, p. 443
What You Will Learn…
Antislavery literature and the
annexation of new lands intensi-
fied the debate over slavery.
The Big Idea
1. The addition of new land in
the West renewed disputes
over the expansion of slavery.
2. The Compromise of 1850 tried
to solve the disputes over
slavery.
3. The Fugitive Slave Act caused
more controversy.
4. Abolitionists used antislavery
literature to promote opposition.
Main Ideas
You live in a crowded neighborhood in New York City in 1854.
Your apartment building is home to a variety of people—long-
time residents, Irish immigrants, free African Americans. One day
federal marshals knock on your door. They claim that one of your
neighbors is a fugitive slave. The marshals say you must help
them fi nd her. If you don’t, you will be fi ned or even sent to jail.
What would you tell the federal marshals?
BUILDING BACKGROUND Some reform movements of the 1800s
drew stubborn and often violent opposition. This was especially true
of the abolitionist movement. Pro-slavery supporters fought for laws
to protect slavery and extend the slave system. These laws were a
threat to African Americans in the North.
New Land Renews Slavery Disputes
The United States added more than 500,000 square miles of land as
a result of winning the Mexican-American War in 1848. The addi-
tional land caused bitter debate about slavery. The Missouri Com-
promise of 1820 had divided the Louisiana Purchase into either
free or slave regions. It prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30
'
but let Missouri become a slave state. In the 1840s President Polk
wanted to extend the 36°30
'
line to the West Coast, in the same
way dividing the Mexican Cession in two. Some leaders, including
Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, encouraged
popular sovereignty
popular sovereignty
,
,
the idea that political power belongs to the people,
the idea that political power belongs to the people, who should
decide on whether to ban or allow slavery in their territory.
Regional Differences about Slavery
Some northerners wanted to outlaw slavery in all parts of the Mexi-
can Cession. During the war, Representative David Wilmot offered
the
Wilmot
Wilmot
Proviso
Proviso
, a document stating that “neither slavery nor
, a document stating that “neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.”
involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory.”
If YOU were there...
The Debate over
Slavery
438 CHAPTER 14
HSS
8.9.4
Discuss the importance
of the slavery issue as raised by the
annexation of Texas and California’s
admission to the union as a free state
under the Compromise of 1850.
HSS
8.10.1
Compare the confl ict-
ing interpretations of state and fed-
eral authority as emphasized in the
speeches and writings of statesmen
such as Daniel Webster and John C.
Calhoun.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-3
Cf S
The northern-controlled House passed the
document, but in the Senate, the South had
more power. The Wilmot Proviso did not
pass. Before this time, politicians had usually
supported the ideas of their political parties.
However, the Wilmot Proviso spurred a debate
that showed growing
sectionalism
sectionalism,
or
or
favoring
favoring
the interests of one section or region
the interests of one section or region
over the
over the
interests of the entire country
interests of the entire country.
To attract voters, the Democrats and the
Whigs did not take a clear position on slav-
ery in the presidential campaign of 1848. In
response,
antislavery northerners formed a
antislavery northerners formed a
new party, the
new party, the
Free-Soil Party
Free-Soil Party
, which sup-
, which sup-
ported the
ported the
Wilmot Proviso.
Wilmot Proviso. They worried
that slave labor would mean fewer jobs for
white workers. Party members chose former
president Martin Van Buren as their can-
didate. The new party won 10 percent of
the popular vote, drawing away votes from
Democrat Lewis Cass. Whig candidate Zach-
ary Taylor won a narrow victory.
The California Question
The California gold rush caused such rapid
population growth that California applied to
join the Union as a state instead of as a terri-
tory. But would California enter the Union as
a free state or a slave state?
Most Californians opposed slavery, which
had been illegal when the state was part of
Mexico. Also, many forty-niners had come
from free states. But if California became a
free state, the balance between free and slave
states would change, favoring the free states.
In the South, an imbalance was unaccept-
able. “We are about permanently to destroy
the balance of power between the sections,”
said Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. He
and many other southerners did not want
California to enter the Union as a free state.
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences
Why did sectionalism in the United States increase
in the late 1840s?
A DIVIDED NATION 439
Upsetting the Balance
Slave States
Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Free States
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Wisconsin
INTERPRETING MAPS
Region How could the admission of California as a slave state
or a free state upset the balance between North and South?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
Northern free states
30 senators
Southern slave states
30 senators
The admission of
California could upset
the balance of power
in the Senate.
California + 2 senators
Small parties still
affect presiden-
tial elections in a
similar way today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-4
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had helped
to settle the Missouri crisis of 1819–20 and
the nullifi cation crisis of 1832–33 by propos-
ing compromises. He now had another plan
to help the nation maintain peace. His ideas
were designed to give both sides things that
they wanted:
1. California would enter the Union as a
free state.
2. The rest of the Mexican Cession would
be federal land. In this territory, popular
sovereignty would decide on slavery.
3. Texas would give up land east of the
upper Rio Grande. In return, the gov-
ernment would pay Texas’s debts from
when it was an independent republic.
4. The slave trade—but not slavery—
would end in the nation’s capital.
5. A more effective fugitive slave law
would be passed.
Clay’s plan drew attack, especially regard-
ing California. Senator William Seward of
New York defended antislavery views and
wanted California admitted “directly, with-
out conditions, without qualifi cations, and
without compromise.” However, Senator
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina argued
that letting California enter as a free state
would destroy the nation’s balance. He
warned people of issues that would later
start the Civil War. Calhoun asked that the
slave states be allowed “to separate and part
in peace.”
440 CHAPTER 14
SPEECH
The Seventh of March Speech
On March 7, 1850, Daniel Webster spoke on the floor of the
Senate in favor of the Compromise of 1850.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why did Webster support the Compromise of
1850?
Primary Source
Daniel Webster spoke
eloquently in support of
the compromise.
Henry Clay introduced
the Compromise of 1850
on the Senate floor.
I hear with distress and anguish the word
“secession.” Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir,
your eyes and mine are never destined to see the
miracle. The dismemberment [taking apart] of
this vast country without convulsion! The break-
ing up of the fountains of the great deep without
ruffing the surface! Who is so foolish, I beg every
bodys pardon, as to expect to see any such
thing? . . . There can be no such thing as peace-
able secession.
—quoted in Daniel Webster: The Completest Man,
edited by Kenneth Shewmaker
Webster is
upset by talk of
secession.
Webster is say-
ing that just as
it is impossible
to move water
in the ocean
without mak-
ing waves, it is
impossible for
states to peace-
fully secede.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-5
In contrast, Senator Daniel Webster of
Massachusetts favored Clay’s plan:
I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts
man, nor as a Northern man, but as an Ameri-
can . . . I speak today for the preservation of the
Union. Hear me for my cause.
—Daniel Webster, quoted in Battle Cry of Freedom
by James M. McPherson
Webster criticized northern abolitionists and
southerners who talked of secession.
A compromise was enacted that year and
seemed to settle most disputes between free
and slave states. It achieved the majority of
Clay’s proposals.
With the
With the
Compromise of
Compromise of
1850
1850
, California was able to enter the Union
, California was able to enter the Union
as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Ces-
as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Ces-
sion was divided into two territories
sion was divided into two territories
U
U
tah
tah
and New Mexic
and New Mexic
o—where t
o—where t
he question of
he question of
whether to allow slavery would be decided
whether to allow slavery would be decided
by popular sovereignty.
by popular sovereignty.
Texas agreed to give up its land claims in
New Mexico in exchange for fi nancial aid from
the federal government. The compromise out-
lawed the slave trade in the District of Colum-
bia and established a new fugitive slave law.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How was Texas
affected by the Compromise of 1850?
Fugitive Slave Act
The newly passed
Fugitive Slave Act
Fugitive Slave Act
made it
made it
a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed
a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed
offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas
offi cials to arrest those slaves in free areas.
Slaveholders were permitted to take sus-
pected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who
decided their fate.
Details of the Fugitive Slave Act
Slaveholders could use testimony from
white witnesses, but enslaved African Amer-
icans accused of being fugitives could not
testify. Nor could people who hid or helped
a runaway slave—they faced six months in
jail and a $1,000 fi ne. Commissioners who
rejected a slaveholder’s claim earned $5
while those who returned suspected fugi-
tives to slaveholders earned $10. Clearly,
the commissioners benefi ted from helping
slaveholders.
Reactions to the Fugitive Slave Act
Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act began
immediately. In September 1850—the same
month the law was passed—federal marshals
arrested African American James Hamlet.
They returned him to a slaveholder in
A DIVIDED NATION 441
John C. Calhoun
was weak and
near death. He
had his speech in
support of slavery
read to the Senate
for him.
SPEECH
John C. Calhoun from South Carolina wrote a speech saying
that the proposed compromise did not go far enough to satisfy
the South.
I have, senators, believed from the first that the agitation
of the subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some
timely and effective measure, end in disunion . . . The South
asks for justice, simple justice, and less she ought not to
take. She has no compromise to offer but the Constitution,
and no concession or surrender to make.
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why did Calhoun urge southern senators to vote against
the compromise?
Primary Source
Southern View of the Compromise of 1850
Agitation means
“unrest.
Calhoun believes
the South’s position
is supported by the
Constitution.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-6
Maryland, although he had lived in New
York City for three years.
Thousands of northern African Americans
ed to Canada in fear. In the 10 years after Con-
gress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, some 343
fugitive slave cases were reviewed. The accused
fugitives were declared free in only 11 cases.
The Fugitive Slave Act upset northern-
ers, who were uncomfortable with the com-
missioners’ power. Northerners disliked the
idea of a trial without a jury. They also dis-
approved of commissioners’ higher fees for
returning slaves. Most were horrifi ed that
some free African Americans had been cap-
tured and sent to the South.
Most northerners opposed to the Act
peacefully resisted, but violence did erupt.
In 1854
Anthony Burns, a Virginia fugitive
slave, was arrested in Boston. Abolitionists
used force while trying to rescue him from
jail, killing a deputy marshal. A federal ship
was ordered to return Burns to Virginia after
his trial. Many people in the North, particu-
larly in Massachusetts, were outraged. The
event persuaded many to join the abolition-
ist cause.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
What concerns did northerners have about the
Fugitive Slave Act?
442 CHAPTER 14
Frederick Douglass
spoke to the crowd.
The Edmonson sisters, Mary
(left) and Emily, tried to
escape from slavery but were
captured. Abolitionists later
purchased their freedom.
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Why would the abolitionists want a photograph of their
convention?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
PHOTOGRAPH
A Fugitive Slave
Convention
The Fugitive Slave Act enraged abolition-
ists. To protest the new law, they held many
meetings to publicly denounce it. One
such meeting was held in 1850 in the small
town of Cazenovia in central New York, a
center for abolitionist activity. About 2,000
people—including many former slaves—
attended the convention. They listened to
speeches, made plans, and raised their
voices for freedom. This photo was a point
of pride for the delegates, but it also was
used by opponents of the movement as a
symbol of the poor morals of abolitionists:
Not only were whites allowed to mix with
African Americans, women and men were
allowed to mix as well. This angered many
people.
Primary Source
Gerrit Smith organized
the convention.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-7
Antislavery Literature
Abolitionists in the North used the stories of
fugitive slaves like James Hamlet and Anthony
Burns to gain sympathy for their cause. Slave
narratives also educated people about their
hardships.
Fiction also informed people about the
evils of slavery.
Uncle Toms
Uncle Toms
Cabin
Cabin
, the anti-
, the anti-
slavery
slavery
novel written by
novel written by Harriet Beecher
Stowe
, spoke out powerfully against slavery.
Stowe, the daughter of Connecticut minister
Lyman Beecher, moved to Ohio when she
was 21. There she met fugitive slaves and
learned about the cruelties of slavery. The
Fugitive Slave Act greatly angered Stowe. She
decided to write a book that would educate
northerners about the realities of slavery.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852.
The main character, a kindly enslaved African
American named Tom, is taken from his wife
and sold “down the river” in Louisiana. Tom
becomes the slave of cruel Simon Legree. In a
rage, Legree has Tom beaten to death.
The novel electrified the nation and
sparked outrage in the South. Louisa McCord,
a famous southern writer, questioned the “foul
imagination which could invent such scenes.”
Within a decade, more than 2 million
copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin had been sold
in the United States. The book’s popularity
caused one northerner to remark that Stowe
and her book had created “two millions of
abolitionists.” Stowe later wrote A Key to
Uncle Tom’s Cabin to answer those who had
criticized her book.
The impact of Stowe’s book is suggested by
her reported meeting with Abraham Lincoln in
1862, a year after the start of the Civil War. Lin-
coln supposedly said to Stowe that she was “the
little lady who made this big war.” Her book is
still widely read today as a source of informa-
tion about the harsh realities of slavery.
READING CHECK
Identifying Cause and Effect
Why did abolitionists use antislavery literature to
promote their cause, and what effect did it have on
the slavery debate?
A DIVIDED NATION 443
Section 1 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Describe What ideas did the Free-Soil Party promote?
b. Predict What are some possible results of the growing
sectional debate over slavery?
2. a. Describe What were the major points of the
Compromise of 1850?
b. Contrast What differing opinions emerged toward Henry
Clay‘s proposed compromise?
3. a. Identify What were the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did some Americans believe the
Fugitive Slave Act was unfair?
4. a. Identify What are three examples of antislavery literature?
b. Elaborate Do you think literature was an effective tool
against slavery? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
5. Evaluating Copy the web diagram below onto a sheet of
your own paper. Use it to explain how the Compromise
of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, and antislavery literature
affected the debate over slavery.
Compromise
of 1850
Fugitive
Slave Act
Slavery Debate
Antislavery
Literature
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Taking Notes on the Debate over Slavery Make some
notes on the Wilmot Proviso, the Free-Soil Party, the
Compromise of 1850, and the Fugitive Slave Act. Decide
how your character feels about each of these. How do
the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act affect
your character?
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The United
States experienced increasing disagree-
ment over the issue of slavery. The Com-
promise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act
tried to address these disagreements with
legislation. In the next section you will
read about another disputed law concern-
ing slavery, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and
the violence it sparked.
HSS
8.9.4, 8.10.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-8
444 CHAPTER 14
Literature in History
GUIDED READING
WORD HELP
conceive imagine
desolate alone
forlorn unhappy
slacking slowing down
thither there
1 What detail tells you how
long Eliza has walked up to
this point?
2 Why do you think she
chooses that escape route?
Antislavery Literature
from
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
About the Reading Published nine years before the outbreak of the Civil
War, Uncle Tom’s Cabin focused the nation’s attention on the cruelties of
slavery. In the following section, Stowe describes how a slave named Eliza
is trying to escape to save her son from being sold.
AS YOU READ
Look for details that appeal to your feelings.
It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly deso-
late and forlorn than Eliza when she turned her footsteps from Uncle
Tom’s cabin . . .
The boundaries of the farm, the grove, the wood lot passed by her
dizzily as she walked on; and still she went, leaving one familiar object
after another, slacking not, pausing not, till reddening daylight found
her many a long mile from all traces of any familiar objects upon the
open highway.
1
She had often been, with her mistress, to visit some connections
in the little town of T—, not far from the Ohio River, and knew the
road well.
2
To go thither, to escape across the Ohio River, were the
first hurried outlines of her plan of escape; beyond that she could only
hope in God . . .
CONNECTING LITERATURE TO HISTORY
1. Slaves had no legal rights. They
were considered to be property,
not human beings. How do
the actions and dialogue in this
passage contradict these ideas
about slaves?
2. Frederick Douglass, Sojourner
Truth, and other former slaves
wrote narratives about their
experiences. Yet these true
stories did not have as much
impact as Stowe’s novel. Why
do you think this fi ctional story
about slavery had more impact
than true slave narratives?
ELA
Reading 8.3
Students
read and respond to historically
or culturally signifi cant works of
literature that refl ect and
enhance their studies of history
and social science.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-9
Trouble in Kansas
If YOU were there...
You live on a New England farm in 1855. You often think about
moving West. But the last few harvests have been bad, and you
can’t afford it. Now the Emigrant Aid Society offers to help you get
to Kansas. To bring in antislavery voters like you, they’ll give you a
wagon, livestock, and farm machines. Still, you know that Kansas
might be dangerous.
Would you decide to risk settling in Kansas?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The argument over the extension of
slavery grew stronger and more bitter. It dominated American poli-
tics in the mid-1800s. Laws that tried to find compromises ended by
causing more violence. The bloodiest battleground of this period
was in Kansas.
Election of 1852
Four leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination
emerged in 1852. It became clear that none of them would win a
majority of votes. Frustrated delegates at the Democratic National
Convention turned to
Franklin Pierce, a little-known politician
from New Hampshire. Pierce promised to honor the Compromise
What You Will Learn…
SECTION
2
Key Terms and People
Franklin Pierce, p. 445
Stephen Douglas, p. 446
Kansas-Nebraska Act, p. 447
Pottawatomie Massacre, p. 449
Charles Sumner, p. 449
Preston Brooks, p. 449
1. The debate over the expan-
sion of slavery influenced
the election of 1852.
2. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
allowed voters to allow or
prohibit slavery.
3. Pro-slavery and antislavery
groups clashed violently
in what became known as
“Bleeding Kansas.”
Main Ideas
A DIVIDED NATION 445
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
heightened tensions in the
conflict over slavery.
The Big Idea
This political cartoon
shows pro-slavery
politicians forcing
slavery on a settler
in Kansas who is
a member of the
antislavery Free-Soil
political party.
HSS
8.9.5
Analyze the signifi cance
of the States’ Rights Doctrine, the
Missouri Compromise (1820), the
Wilmot Proviso (1846), the Compro-
mise of 1850, Henry Clay’s role in
the Missouri Compromise and the
Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act (1854), the Dred Scott
v. Sandford decision (1857), and the
Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858).
HSS
8.10.2
Trace the boundaries
constituting the North and the South,
the geographical differences between
the two regions, and the differences
between agrarians and industrialists.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-10
Missouri
Compromise
line (36°30'N)
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
MICHIGAN
TERRITORY
ARKANSAS
TERRITORY
MO.
Free state
Free territory
Slave state
Slave territory
Missouri
Compromise
line (36°30'N)
MINNESOTA
TERRITORY
OREGON
TERRITORY
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
Disputed
of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. There-
fore, southerners trusted Pierce on the issue
of slavery.
The opposing Whigs also held their con-
vention in 1852. In other presidential elec-
tions, they had nominated well-known for-
mer generals such as William Henry Harrison
and Zachary Taylor. This had been a good
strategy, as both men had won. The Whigs
decided to choose another war hero. They
passed over the current president, Millard
Fillmore, because they believed that his strict
enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act would
cost votes. Instead, they chose Winfi eld Scott,
a Mexican War hero. Southerners did not trust
Scott, however, because he had not fully sup-
ported the Compromise of 1850.
Pierce won the election of 1852 by a large
margin. Many Whigs viewed the election as
a painful defeat, not just for their candidate,
but for their party.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
What issues determined the outcome of the
presidential election of 1852?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
In his inaugural address, President Pierce
expressed his hope that the slavery issue had
been put to rest “and that no sectional . . .
excitement may again threaten the durabil-
ity [stability] of our institutions.” Less than
a year later, however, a proposal to build a
railroad to the West coast helped revive the
slavery controversy and opened a new period
of sectional confl ict.
Douglas and the Railroad
Ever since entering Congress in the mid-
1840s,
Stephen Douglas had supported
the idea of building a railroad to the Pacifi c
Ocean. Douglas favored a line running from
Chicago. The fi rst step toward building such a
railroad would be organizing what remained
of the Louisiana Purchase into a federal ter-
ritory. The Missouri Compromise required
that this land be free territory and eventually
free states.
Southerners in Congress did not support
Douglas’s plan, recommending a southern
route for the railroad. Their preferred line
446 CHAPTER 14
From Compromise to Conflict
The Missouri Compromise, 1820
Under the Missouri Compromise of 1820,
there are an equal number of free states
(orange) and slave states (green).
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850
allowed for one more free state
than slave state, but also passed
a strict fugitive slave law.
FOCUS ON
READING
What facts and
what opinions are
mentioned in this
paragraph?
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-11
F&Eli
MINNESOTA
TERRITORY
OREGON
TERRITORY
WASH.
TERR.
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
Disputed
Free state
Free territory
Slave state
Slave territory
Popular sovereignty
ran from New Orleans, across Texas and New
Mexico Territory, to southern California.
Determined to have the railroad start in Chi-
cago, Douglas asked a few key southern sena-
tors to support his plan. They agreed to do
so if the new territory west of Missouri was
opened to slavery.
Two New Territories
In January 1854, Douglas introduced what
became the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act,
a plan
a plan
that would divide the remainder of the Loui-
that would divide the remainder of the Loui-
siana Purchase into two territories—Kansas
siana Purchase into two territories—Kansas
and Nebraska—and allow the people in each
and Nebraska—and allow the people in each
territory to decide on the question of slavery.
territory to decide on the question of slavery.
The act would eliminate the Missouri Com-
promise’s restriction on slavery north of the
36º 30
'
line.
Antislavery northerners were outraged
by the implications. Some believed the pro-
posal was part of a terrible plot to turn free
territory into a “dreary region . . . inhabited
by masters and slaves.” All across the North,
citizens attended protest meetings and sent
anti-Nebraska petitions to Congress.
Even so, with strong southern support—
and with Douglas and President Pierce pres-
suring their fellow Democrats to vote for it—
the measure passed both houses of Congress
and was signed into law on May 30, 1854.
Lost amid all the controversy over the ter-
ritorial bill was Douglas’s proposed railroad
to the Pacifi c Ocean. Congress would not
approve the construction of such a railroad
until 1862.
Kansas Divided
Antislavery and pro-slavery groups rushed
their supporters to Kansas. One of the people
who spoke out strongly against slavery in Kan-
sas was Senator Seward.
Gentlemen of the Slave States . . . I accept [your
challenge] in . . . the cause of freedom. We will
engage in competition for . . . Kansas, and God
give the victory to the side which is stronger in
numbers as it is in right.
—William Henry Seward, quoted in
The Impending Crisis, 184 8 18 61 by David M. Potter
Elections for the Kansas territorial legisla-
ture were held in March 1855. Almost 5,000
A DIVIDED NATION 447
INTERPRETING MAPS
1. Region In what part of the United States
were the slave states located?
2. Place What free state was added with the
Compromise of 1850?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the
question of slavery is to be decided by popular
sovereignty—by the people who vote in the elections
there—in the newly organized territories of Kansas
and Nebraska. The act sparked violent conflict
between pro-slavery and antislavery groups.
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
implications
things that are
inferred or
deduced
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-12
pro-slavery voters crossed the border from
Missouri, voted in Kansas, and then returned
home. As a result, the new legislature had a
huge pro-slavery majority. The members of
the legislature passed strict laws that made
it a crime to question slaveholders’ rights
and said that those who helped fugitive
slaves could be put to death. In protest, anti-
slavery Kansans formed their own legislature
25 miles away in Topeka. President Pierce
only recognized the pro-slavery legislature.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Why did
northerners dislike the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Bleeding Kansas
By early 1856 Kansas had two opposing gov-
ernments, and the population was angry.
Settlers had moved to Kansas to homestead
in peace, but the controversy over slavery
began to affect everyone.
In April 1856, a congressional commit-
tee arrived in Kansas to decide which govern-
ment was legitimate. Although committee
members declared the election of the pro-
slavery legislature to be unfair, the federal
government did not follow their recommen-
dations.
Attack on Lawrence
The new pro-slavery settlers owned guns,
and antislavery settlers received weapons
shipments from friends in the East. Then,
violence broke out. In May 1856 a pro-
slavery grand jury in Kansas charged leaders
of the antislavery government with treason.
About 800 men rode to the city of Lawrence
to arrest the antislavery leaders, but they
had fl ed. The posse took its anger out on
Lawrence by setting fi res, looting buildings,
and destroying presses used to print antislav-
ery newspapers. One man was killed in the
pro-slavery attack that became known as the
Sack of Lawrence.
John Browns Response
Abolitionist John Brown was from New
England, but he and some of his sons had
moved to Kansas in 1855. The Sack of Law-
rence made him determined to “fi ght re
with fi re” and to “strike terror in the hearts
of the pro-slavery people.” On the night of
May 24, 1856, along Pottawatomie Creek,
Brown and his men killed fi ve pro-slavery
Brown and his men killed fi ve pro-slavery
men in Kansas in what became known as
men in Kansas in what became known as
448
Abolitionists and pro-slavery forces clashed in
Kansas, killing many people. Shown here is a
group of abolitionists who took the law into their
own hands to free one of their group from prison.
Why might these men
have fought
against slavery?
“Bleeding Kansas”
John Doy was impris-
oned for his aboli-
tionist activities but
was freed by other
abolitionists
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-13
the
the
Pottawatomie
Pottawatomie
Massacre
Massacre. Brown and
his men dragged the pro-slavery men out
of their cabins and killed them with swords.
The abolitionist band managed to escape
capture. Brown declared that his actions had
been ordered by God.
Kansas collapsed into civil war, and about
200 people were killed. The events in “Bleed-
ing Kansas” became national front-page
stories. In September 1856, a new territorial
governor arrived and began to restore order.
Brooks Attacks Sumner
Congress also reacted to the violence of the
Sack of Lawrence. Senator
Charles Sumner of
Massachusetts criticized pro-slavery people
in Kansas and personally insulted Andrew
Pickens Butler, a pro-slavery senator from South
Carolina. Representative
Preston Brooks,
a relative of Butler’s, responded strongly. On
May 22, 1856, Brooks used a walking cane
to beat Sumner unconscious in the Senate
chambers.
Dozens of southerners sent Brooks new
canes, but northerners were outraged and
called the attacker “Bully Brooks”. Brooks
only had to pay a $300 fi ne to the federal
court. It took Sumner three years before
he was well enough to return to his Senate
duties.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were
some of the results of the intense division in Kansas?
A DIVIDED NATION 449
Section 2 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What issues infl uenced the
outcome of the election of 1852?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did northern and
southern Democrats support Franklin Pierce?
2. a. Recall What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do?
b. Explain Why did antislavery and pro-slavery
groups encourage people to move to Kansas?
c. Evaluate Would you have supported or
opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why?
3. a. Describe What was the Pottawatomie Massacre?
b. Analyze How did Charles Sumner’s views on
“Bleeding Kansas” create confl ict?
c. Elaborate Do you think Preston Brooks’s
punishment was reasonable? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
4. Sequencing Copy the graphic organizer at the top
of the right column onto your own sheet of paper.
Use it to show events that led to violence in Kansas.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on the Trouble in Kansas Make
some notes on the election of 1852, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act, and the events in Kansas. Decide how
your character feels about each of these. How do
these events affect your character?
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Violence in Kansas
The cartoon
above shows
Preston Brooks
beating Charles
Sumner with
his cane.
Sumner’s only
protection is
a quill pen
symbolically
representing
the law.
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Kansas-
Nebraska Act produced a national uproar.
In the next section you will read about
divisions in political parties.
HSS
8.9.5,
8.10.2
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-14
SECTION
3
Key Terms and People
Republican Party, p. 450
James Buchanan, p. 450
John C. Frémont, p. 451
Dred Scott, p. 451
Roger B. Taney, p. 452
Abraham Lincoln, p. 452
Lincoln-Douglas debates, p. 453
Freeport Doctrine, p. 454
What You Will Learn…
1. Political parties in the United
States underwent change
due to the movement to
expand slavery.
2. The Dred Scott decision
created further division over
the issue of slavery.
3. The Lincoln-Douglas debates
brought much attention to the
conflict over slavery.
Main Ideas
You are traveling through Michigan in July 1854. As you pass
through the town of Jackson, you see a crowd of several hundred
people gathered under the trees. You join them and fi nd that it
is a political rally. Antislavery supporters from different parties are
meeting to form a new political party. Speakers promise to fi ght
slavery “until the contest be terminated.
How do you think this new party will affect
American politics?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The slavery question continued to
divide the country and lead to violence. The issue not only dominated
American politics in the mid-1800s but also brought changes in the
makeup of American political parties.
Political Parties Undergo Change
Democrat Stephen Douglas had predicted that the Kansas-Nebraska
Act would “raise a . . . storm.” He was right. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
brought the slavery issue back into the national spotlight. Some
Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, and abolitionists joined in 1854
to form the
Republican Party
Republican Party,
a political party
a political party
united against the
united against the
spread of slavery in the West
spread of slavery in the West.
Democrats were in trouble. Those who supported the Kansas-
Nebraska Act were not re-elected. The Whig Party also fell apart
when northern and southern Whigs refused to work together. A
senator from Connecticut complained, “The Whig Party has been
killed off . . . by that miserable Nebraska business.” Some Whigs
and Democrats joined the American Party, also known as the
Know-Nothing Party. At the party’s convention, delegates argued
over slavery, then chose former president Millard Fillmore as their
candidate for the election of 1856.
The Democrats knew they could not choose a strong supporter of
the Kansas-Nebraska Act, such as President Pierce or Senator Douglas.
They nominated
James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. Buchanan had
a great deal of political experience as Polk’s secretary of state. Most
If YOU were there...
Political Divisions
450 CHAPTER 14
The split over the issue of slav-
ery intensified due to political
division and judicial decisions.
The Big Idea
HSS
8.10.4
Discuss Abraham
Lincoln’s presidency and his signifi -
cant writings and speeches and their
relationship to the Declaration of
Independence, such as his “House
Divided” speech (1858), Gettys-
burg Address (1863), Emancipation
Proclamation (1863), and inaugural
addresses (1861 and 1865).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-15
importantly, he had been in Great Britain
as ambassador during the Kansas-Nebraska
Act dispute and had not been involved in
the debate.
At their fi rst nominating convention, the
Republicans chose explorer
John C. Frémont
as their candidate. He had little political
experience, but he stood against the spread
of slavery. The public saw Republicans as a
single-issue party. They had almost no sup-
porters outside of the free states.
On election day, Buchanan won 14 of the
15 slave states and became the new president.
Frémont won 11 of the 16 free states. Fillmore
won only one state—Maryland. Buchanan
had won the election.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were the
major political parties in the election of 1856, and
who was the candidate for each party?
Dred Scott Decision
Just two days after Buchanan became presi-
dent, the Supreme Court issued a historic
ruling about slavery. News of the decision
threw the country back into crisis. The Court
reviewed and decided the complex case involv-
ing an enslaved man named
Dred Scott.
Dred Scott Sues for Freedom
Dred Scott was the slave of Dr. John Emerson,
an army surgeon who lived in St. Louis, Mis-
souri. In the 1830s, Emerson had taken Scott
on tours of duty in Illinois and the Wisconsin
Territory. After they returned to Missouri, the
doctor died, and Scott became the slave of
Emerson’s widow. In 1846 Scott sued for his
freedom in the Missouri state courts, arguing
that he had become free when he lived in
free territory. Though a lower court ruled in
A DIVIDED NATION 451
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING INFORMATION
1. Why do you think the Court ruled that African
Americans had no access to federal courts?
2. How did this case affect abolitionist efforts?
Dred Scott v. Sandford
(1857)
Background of the
Case Born a slave in Virginia,
Dred Scott moved with his
slaveholder to the free state
of Illinois and then to the Wis-
consin Territory. After returning
to the South, Scott sued for
his freedom. He claimed that
because he had lived in a state
that banned slavery, he was no
longer a slave.
The Court’s Ruling
The Court ruled that African Americans,
whether free or slave, were not consid-
ered citizens of the United States, and
therefore had no right to sue in federal
court. It also decided that the Missouri
Compromise was unconstitutional.
The Court’s Reasoning
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in
the majority opinion that the Court
did not believe that African Americans
were included in the
Constitution’s definition
of citizens and that they
“had no rights which the
white man was bound
to respect.” Address-
ing a side issue in the
case, the opinion
also stated
that Congress could not outlaw slavery
in the territories. This struck down the
Missouri Compromise, which had made
slavery illegal in territories north of the
36
˚30
'
dividing line.
Why It Matters
The Dred Scott case was seen as a
setback to abolitionist ideas against
slavery. It reduced the status of free
African Americans and upheld the view
of slaves as property without rights or
protection under the Constitution. It also
took from Congress the power to ban
slavery in its territories, which would
aid the spread of slavery in new states.
Because of its pro-slavery decision, the
reputation of the Court suffered greatly
in parts of the North.
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
complex
difficult, not
simple
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-16
Long-Term Effect
• Civil War
Causes of Conflict
Failure of Missouri Compromise
Failure of Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Dred Scott decision
Short-Term Effects
• Political battles
• Sectional differences
• “Bleeding Kansas”
• Lincoln-Douglas debates
A Growing Conflict
his favor, the Missouri Supreme Court over-
turned this ruling.
Scott’s case reached the U.S. Supreme
Court 11 years later, in 1857. The justices—a
majority of whom were from the South—
had three key issues before them. First,
the Court had to rule on whether Scott
was a citizen. Only citizens could sue in
federal court. Second, the Court had to decide
if his time living on free soil made him free.
Third, the Court had to determine the con-
stitutionality of prohibiting slavery in parts
of the Louisiana Purchase.
The Supreme Court’s Ruling
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (TAW-nee), him-
self from a slaveholding family in Maryland,
wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott
decision in March 1857. First, he addressed
the issue of Dred Scott’s citizenship. Taney
said the nation’s founders believed that Afri-
can Americans “had no rights which a white
man was bound to respect.” He therefore con-
cluded that all African Americans, whether
slave or free, were not citizens under the U.S.
Constitution. Thus, Dred Scott did not have
the right to fi le suit in federal court.
Taney also ruled on the other issues before
the Court. As to whether Scott’s residence on
free soil made him free, Taney fl atly said it
did not. Because Scott had returned to the
slave state of Missouri, the chief justice said,
“his status, as free or slave, depended on the
laws of Missouri.”
Finally, Taney declared the Missouri
Compromise restriction on slavery north of
36°30
'
to be unconstitutional. He pointed
out that the Fifth Amendment said no one
could “be deprived of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.” Because slaves
were considered property, Congress could
not prohibit someone from taking slaves
into a federal territory. Under this ruling,
Congress had no right to ban slavery in any
federal territory.
Most white southerners cheered this
decision. It “covers every question regarding
slavery and settles it in favor of the South,”
reported a Georgia newspaper. Another news-
paper, the New Orleans Picayune, assured its
readers that the ruling put “the whole basis
of the . . . Republican organization under the
ban of law.”
The ruling stunned many northern-
ers. The Republicans were particularly upset
because their platform in 1856 had argued
that Congress held the right to ban slavery
in the federal territories. Now the nation’s
highest court had ruled that Congress did
not have this right.
Indeed, some northerners feared that the
spread of slavery would not stop with the
federal territories. Illinois lawyer
Abraham
Lincoln
warned that a future Court ruling, or
what he called “the next Dred Scott decision,”
would prohibit states from banning slavery.
452 CHAPTER 14
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-17
We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the
people of Missouri are on the verge of [close to]
making their state free; and we shall awake to
the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has
made Illinois a slave state.
—Abraham Lincoln, quoted in The Collected Works of
Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler
READING CHECK
Summarizing What were the
major rulings of the Dred Scott decision?
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated Abra-
ham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His opponent
was Democrat Stephen Douglas, who had
represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847.
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became
the historic
the historic
Lincoln-Douglas
Lincoln-Douglas
debates
debates.
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that the
central issue of the campaign was the spread
of slavery in the West. He said that the Dem-
ocrats were trying to spread slavery across
the nation.
Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott
decision. He said that African Ameri-
cans were “entitled to all the natural
rights” listed in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, specifi cally mentioning “the
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”
However, Lincoln believed
that African Americans were not necessarily
the social or political equals of whites. Hop-
ing to cost Lincoln votes, Douglas charged
that Lincoln “thinks that the Negro is his
brother . . .”
Douglas also criticized Lincoln for saying
that the nation could not remain “half slave
and half free.” Douglas said that the state-
ment revealed a Republican desire to make
every state a free state. This, he warned,
would only lead to “a dissolution [destruc-
tion] of the Union” and “warfare between
the North and the South.”
At the second debate, in the northern
Illinois town of Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln
pressed Douglas on the apparent contradic-
tion between the Democrats’ belief in popu-
A DIVIDED NATION 453
SPEECH
A House Divided
In 1858 Abraham Lincoln gave a passionate speech to
Illinois Republicans about the dangers of the disagreement
over slavery. Some considered it a call for war.
In my opinion, it [disagreement over slavery] will not cease [stop],
until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. “A house divided
against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure
permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be
dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will
cease to be divided.
—Abraham Lincoln,
quoted in Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 18 3 2 185 8
edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher
Primary Source
ANALYSIS
SKILL
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
What do you think Lincoln meant by “crisis”?
This line is a
paraphrase of a
line in the Bible.
Lincoln expresses
confidence that the
Union will survive.
Today political
debates are
televised and can
be seen around
the world.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-18
lar sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision.
Lincoln asked Douglas to explain how, if
Congress could not ban slavery from a feder-
al territory, Congress could allow the citizens
of that territory to ban it.
Douglas responded that it did not mat-
ter what the Supreme Court decided about
slavery. He argued that “the people have the
lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as
they please, for the reason that slavery can-
not exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless
it is supported by local police regulations.”
This notion that the police would
This notion that the police would
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
Scott case became known as the
Scott case became known as the
Freeport
Freeport
Doctrine
Doctrine
.
.
The Freeport Doctrine put the slavery
question back in the hands of American citi-
zens. It helped Douglas win the Senate seat.
Lincoln, while not victorious, emerged as an
important leader of the Republican Party.
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences Why
did Abraham Lincoln make slavery’s expansion the
central issue of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?
454 CHAPTER 14
Section 3 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What was the major issue of the newly
formed Republican Party?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Kansas-
Nebraska Act affect political parties?
c. Elaborate Why do you think James Buchanan
won the election of 1856?
2. a. Identify Who was Roger B. Taney, and why
was he important?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Dred Scott
decision affect the Missouri Compromise and the
expansion of slavery?
c. Predict What problems might result from the
Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case?
3 a. Recall What was the major issue of the
Lincoln-Douglas debates?
b. Make Inferences Despite his loss in the elec-
tion, how did Lincoln become the leader of the
Republican Party?
Critical Thinking
4. Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below
onto your own paper. Use it to identify the issues
involved in the Dred Scott case and the Supreme
Court’s rulings.
Issues Supreme Court Rulings
Dred Scott Case
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on the Political Divisions Make
some notes on the Republican Party, the Dred Scott
decision, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Decide
how your character feels about each of these. How
do these events affect your character?
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Abraham Lincoln Stephen Douglas
Lincoln ran for the
U.S. Senate in
Illinois against
Douglas in 1858.
The two men
debated seven
times at various
locations around
the state. Lincoln
lost the election
but gained national
recognition.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Dred Scott
decision and the Lincoln-Douglas debates
dealt with the confl ict over slavery in the
western territories. In the next section
you will read about how the confl ict broke
apart the Union.
HSS
8.10.4
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-19
The Nation Divides
If YOU were there...
You work for the weekly newspaper in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
You strongly oppose slavery, but you think the question ought to
be resolved by laws, not bloodshed. Now your paper has sent you
to interview the famous abolitionist John Brown in prison. His raids
in “Bleeding Kansas” killed several people. Now he is in jail for
attacking a federal arsenal and taking weapons.
What questions would you ask John Brown?
BUILDING BACKGROUND Unpopular compromises and court
decisions deepened the divisions between pro-slavery and antislav-
ery advocates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates attracted more atten-
tion to the issue. As the disagreements grew, violence increased,
though many Americans hoped to avoid it. But it was too late to keep
the nation unified.
Raid on Harpers Ferry
In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising. He wanted to attack
the federal arsenal in Virginia and seize weapons there. He planned
to arm local slaves. Brown expected to kill or take hostage white
southerners who stood in his way. He urged abolitionists to give
him money so that he could support a small army. But after nearly
two years, Brown’s army had only about 20 men.
On the night of October 16, 1859,
John Browns raid
John Browns raid
began
began
when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry,
Virginia, in hop
Virginia, in hop
es of starting a slave rebellion
es of starting a slave rebellion. He sent several of
his men into the countryside to get slaves to join him. However,
enslaved African Americans did not come to Harpers Ferry, fear-
ing punishment if they took part. Instead, local white southern-
ers attacked Brown. Eight of his men and three local men were
killed. Brown and some followers retreated to a fi rehouse.
Federal troops arrived in Harpers Ferry the following night. The
next morning, Colonel Robert E. Lee ordered a squad of marines to
storm the fi rehouse. In a matter of seconds, the marines killed two
more of Brown’s men and captured the rest—including Brown.
What You Will Learn…
SECTION
4
Key Terms and People
John Brown’s raid, p. 455
John C. Breckinridge, p. 457
Constitutional Union Party, p. 457
John Bell, p. 457
secession, p. 458
Confederate States of
America, p. 458
Jefferson Davis, p. 458
John J. Crittenden, p. 459
1. John Brown’s raid on Harpers
Ferry intensified the disagree-
ment between free states
and slave states.
2. The outcome of the election
of 1860 divided the United
States.
3. The dispute over slavery led
the South to secede.
Main Ideas
A DIVIDED NATION 455
The United States broke apart
due to the growing conflict
over slavery.
The Big Idea
HSS
8.9.1
Describe the leaders
of the movement (e.g., John Quincy
Adams and his proposed constitu-
tional amendment, John Brown and
the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman
and the Underground Railroad, Benja-
min Franklin, Theodore Weld, William
Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).
8.10.3 Identify the constitutional
issues posed by the doctrine of nullifi-
cation and secession and the earliest
origins of that doctrine.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-20
Brown was quickly convicted of treason,
murder, and conspiracy. Some of his men
received death sentences. John A. Copeland,
a fugitive slave, defended his actions. “If I am
dying for freedom, I could not die for a bet-
ter cause.” Convinced that he also would be
sentenced to death, Brown delivered a mem-
orable speech.
Now, if it is deemed [thought] necessary that I
should forfeit [give up] my life for the further-
ance of the ends of justice, and mingle [mix]
my blood . . . with the blood of millions in this
slave country whose rights are disregarded by
wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say, let
it be done.
—John Brown, quoted in John Brown, 1800–1859
by Oswald Garrison Villard
As expected, the judge ordered Brown to
be hanged. The sentence was carried out one
month later on December 2, 1859.
Many northerners mourned John Brown’s
death, but some abolitionists criticized his
extreme actions. Abraham Lincoln said Brown
“agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong.”
However, Lincoln continued, “That cannot
excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason.”
Most southern whites—both slave-
holders and non-slaveholders—felt threat-
ened by the actions of John Brown. They
worried that a “John Brown the Second”
might attack. One South Carolina newspa-
per voiced these fears: “We are convinced
the safety of the South lies only outside the
present Union.” Another newspaper stated
that “the sooner we get out of the Union,
the better.”
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
Why did John Brown’s raid lead some southerners
to talk about leaving the Union?
456 CHAPTER 14
SPEECH
John Brown’s Last Speech
At his trial, after being pronounced guilty, John Brown
spoke in his own defense about his plan to free slaves.
I intended certainly to have made a clean thing
of that matter [freeing slaves] . . . I never did
intend murder or treason, or the destruction
of property, or to excite or incite the slaves to
rebellion, or to make insurrection [revolt] . . .
Had I interfered in the manner which I admit . . . in
behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent,
the so-called great . . . it would have been all
right, and every man in this Court would have
deemed it an act worthy of reward rather
than punishment . . . I believe that to have
interfered as I have done . . . in behalf of
His despised poor, is no wrong, but right.
—John Brown,
quoted in The Life, Trial and Execution
of Captain John Brown
Primary Source
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How does Brown contrast his ideas with the Court’s ideas?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
By His, Brown
means God’s.
Brown says he
never meant to
start a rebellion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-21
INDIAN
TERR.
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
Unorganized
Territory
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
Disputed
TX
4
AR
4
LA
6
MS
7
AL
9
GA
10
TN
12
KY
12
VA
15
OH
23
IN
13
PA
27
NY
35
ME
8
MD
8
DE
3
NJ
7*
CT
6
RI
4
MA
13
VT
5
NH
5
MI
6
MO
9
IA
4
OR
3
CA
4
IL
11
MN
4
WI
5
FL
3
SC
8
NC
10
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States
Lincoln
(Republican)
Douglas
(N. Democrat)
Breckinridge
(S. Democrat)
Bell
(Constitutional
Union)
180
12
72
39
Electoral
Vote
Popular
Vote
1,865,593
1,382,713
848,356
592,906
*NewJersey cast four electoral votes
for Lincoln and three for Douglas.
Election of 1860
In this climate of distrust, Americans pre-
pared for another presidential election in
1860. The northern and southern Democrats
could not agree on a candidate. Northern
Democrats chose Senator Stephen Doug-
las. Southern Democrats backed the cur-
rent vice president,
John C. Breckinridge
of Kentucky, who supported slavery in the
territories.
Meanwhile, a new political party emerged.
The
The
Constitutional Union Party
Constitutional Union Party
recognized
recognized
“no political principles other than the Con-
“no political principles other than the Con-
stitution of the country, the Union of the
stitution of the country, the Union of the
states, and the enforcement of the laws.”
states, and the enforcement of the laws.”
Members of this new party met in Baltimore,
Maryland, and selected
John Bell of Tennes-
see as their candidate. Bell was a slaveholder,
but he had opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act
in 1854.
Senator William Seward of New York was
the Republicans’ leading candidate at the start
of their convention. But it turned out that
Lincoln appealed to more party members.
A moderate who was against the spread of
slavery, Lincoln promised not to abolish
slavery where it already existed.
Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell each knew
he might not win the election. They hoped
to win enough electoral votes to prevent Lin-
coln from winning in the electoral college.
But with a unifi ed Republican Party behind
him, Lincoln won. Although he received the
highest number of votes, he won only about
40 percent of the overall popular vote.
Lincoln won 180 of 183 electoral votes in
free states. Douglas had the second-highest
number of popular votes, but he won only
one state. He earned just 12 electoral votes.
Breckinridge and Bell split electoral votes in
other slave states.
The election results angered southerners.
Lincoln did not campaign in their region
and did not carry any southern states, but he
became the next president. The election sig-
naled that the South was losing its national
political power.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Why was Lincoln
viewed by many as a moderate candidate during
his campaign for the presidency?
A DIVIDED NATION 457
INTERPRETING MAPS
Region In which part of the country were most of the
states that Lincoln won?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
Election of 1860
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-22
The South Secedes
Lincoln insisted that he would not change
slavery in the South. However, he said that
slavery could not expand and thus would
eventually die out completely. That idea
angered many southerners.
Southerners’ Reactions
People in the South believed their economy
and way of life would be destroyed with-
out slave labor. They reacted immediately.
Within a week of Lincoln’s election, South
Carolina’s legislature called for a special con-
vention. The delegates considered
secession
secession,
or formally withdrawing from the Union
or formally withdrawing from the Union.
South Carolina elected to dissolve “the
union now subsisting [existing] between
South Carolina and other States.” Southern
secessionists believed that they had a right to
leave the Union. They pointed out that each
of the original states had voluntarily joined
the Union by holding a special convention
that had ratifi ed the Constitution. Surely,
they reasoned, states could leave the Union
by the same process.
Critics of secession thought this argu-
ment was ridiculous. President Buchanan
said the Union was not “a mere voluntary
association of States, to be dissolved at plea-
sure by any one of the contracting parties.”
President-elect Abraham Lincoln agreed, say-
ing, “No State, upon its own mere motion,
can lawfully get out of the Union.” Lincoln
added, “They can only do so against [the]
law, and by revolution.”
The Confederate States of America
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Loui-
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Loui-
siana, and Texas also seceded to form the
siana, and Texas also seceded to form the
Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America,
also c
also c
alled
alled
the Confederacy.
the Confederacy. Its new constitution guaran-
teed citizens the right to own slaves.
Delegates from seceded states elected
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president of
the Confederacy. Davis had hoped to be the
commanding general of Mississippi’s troops.
He responded to the news of his election
with reluctance.
While the South Carolina representatives
were meeting to discuss secession, Congress
458 CHAPTER 14
This photograph is of the first inaugura-
tion of Jefferson Davis as the president
of the Confederate States of America. A
former U.S. secretary of war, Davis was
elected president of the confederacy in
1861.
How does this photo show the state of
the southern government?
Rebel Government
Jefferson Davis takes the
oath of office for presi-
dent of the Confederate
States of America.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-23
examined a plan to save the Union. Senator
John J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposed a
series of constitutional amendments that he
believed would satisfy the South by protect-
ing slavery. Crittenden hoped the country
could avoid secession and a civil war.
Lincoln disagreed with some of Critten-
den’s plan. He believed there could be no
compromise about the extension of slavery.
Lincoln wrote, “The tug has to come and
better now than later.” A Senate committee
voted on Crittenden’s plan, and every Repub-
lican rejected it, as Lincoln had requested.
When the southern states seceded, the
question of who owned federal property in
the South arose. For instance, the forts in the
harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, were
federal property. However, Confederate pres-
ident Davis and the Confederacy were ready
to prevent the federal army from controlling
the property.
Lincoln Takes Offi ce
President Lincoln was inaugurated on March
4, 1861. In writing his inaugural address,
Lincoln looked to many of the nation’s
founding documents. Referring to the idea
that governments receive “their just powers
from the consent of the governed,” a line
from the Declaration of Independence, Lin-
coln stated, “This country, with its institu-
tions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.
Whenever they grow weary of the existing
Government, they can exercise their consti-
tutional right of amending it or their revo-
lutionary right to dismember [take apart] or
overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the
fact that many worthy and patriotic citi-
zens are desirous [wanting] of having the
National Constitution amended . . .”
While he believed that U.S. citizens
had the power to change their government
through majority consent, he opposed the
idea that southern states could leave the
Union because they were unhappy with the
government’s position on slavery.
He announced in his inaugural address
that he would keep all government property
in the seceding states. However, he also tried
to convince southerners that his government
would not provoke a war. He hoped that,
given time, southern states would return to
the Union.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions Why
did some southern states secede from the Union?
A DIVIDED NATION 459
Section 4 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP14
Online Quiz
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Recall Why did John Brown want to seize the federal
arsenal at Harpers Ferry?
b. Explain Why did some abolitionists disagree with
Brown’s actions?
2. a. Identify List the candidates in the presidential election
of 1860, and what party each supported.
b. Predict How might Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the
election of 1860 lead to future problems?
3. a. Identify What states made up the Confederate States
of America?
b. Explain Why did Lincoln disagree with John J.
Crittenden’s plan to keep the Union together?
c. Elaborate Do you believe that the southern states had
the right to secede? Why or why not?
Critical Thinking
4. Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below onto
your own sheet of paper. Use it to identify the causes of
the secession of southern states.
Causes
Secession
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Taking Notes on Secession Make some notes on the raid
on Harpers Ferry, the election of 1860, and the secession
of the South. Decide how your character feels about each
of these. How do these events affect your character?
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The secession
of the southern states hinted at the vio-
lence to come. In the next chapter you will
read about the Civil War.
HSS
8.9.1, 8.10.3
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-24
Define the Skill
All historical information comes from primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources are documents
written by someone who witnessed or took part in
an event. They include diaries, letters, autobiogra-
phies, and newspaper reports. Secondary sources are
accounts of events written after the events have
occurred by someone who did not witness or take
part in them. They retell, interpret, and summarize
information from primary sources. History books
and biographies are examples of secondary sources.
Historical sources often disagree. One writer’s
version of an event may be different from another
writer’s version. You must assess the reliability of a
primary or secondary source in order to weigh its
value to you as a source of accurate information.
Learn the Skill
Use these guidelines to analyze and evaluate primary
and secondary sources.
1
Identify the nature of the material. Is it a fi rst-
hand, eye-witness account or is it based on
information provided by others?
2
Evaluate the author. If the material is a second-
ary source, what qualifi cations does the author
have to interpret the sources from which it
came? If the material is a primary source, what
was the author’s connection to the event he or
she is writing about?
3
Determine the audience. Was the source meant
to be seen by the public? Was it meant for a
friend, or for the writer alone? The intended
audience can infl uence a source’s content.
Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources
4
Determine the purpose. Even authors of primary
sources can have reasons to distort the truth to
suit their own purposes. Look for evidence of
emotion, exaggeration, opinion, or bias that
may have infl uenced the account.
5
Look for documentation. Look for other infor-
mation or evidence that supports the source’s
account. Compare sources whenever possible.
Practice the Skill
The passage below concerns the attack on Lawrence,
Kansas, that you read about in this chapter. The
passage contains both a primary and a secondary
source. The secondary account was written by John
A. Garraty, a well-known historian. Review the
information on page 448, analyze the passage, and
answer the questions that follow.
Sheriff Jones, at the head of an army of Missourians,
marched into Lawrence. In broad daylight they threw
the printing presses of two newspapers into a river. They
burned down the Free State Hotel and other buildings.
Antislavery Kansans seethed with rage. One eyewitness
described the attack.
Sheriff Jones, after looking at the fl ames rising from the hotel
and saying that it was ‘the happiest day of his life,’ dismissed
the troops and they began their lawless destruction.
1. Did the author of the primary source likely sup-
port the attackers or the people of Lawrence?
What clues in the passage suggest this?
2. For whom was the primary source likely written?
3. Which source is more reliable for information
about this incident? Explain why.
460 CHAPTER 14
Social Studies Skills
Analysis
Critical Thinking Participation Study
HR3
Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant
information.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-25
A DIVIDED NATION 461
Standards Review
CHAPTER
14
Reviewing Vocabulary,
Terms, and People
Identify the correct term or person from the chapter that
best fi ts each of the following descriptions.
1. belief that voters should be given the right to
decide if slavery would be permitted or banned
2. chief justice of the Supreme Court who wrote
the majority opinion for the Dred Scott decision
3. Democratic candidate for president in 1852 who
promised to enforce the Compromise of 1850
and the Fugitive Slave Act
4. a fugitive slave whose arrest led to violence
between government officials and abolitionists
5. Republican candidate for the presidency in 1856
who opposed the spread of slavery in the West
6. slave who sued for freedom, claiming that
by living in free territory, he had earned his
freedom
7. Stephen Douglas’s claim that states and
territories should determine the issue of slavery
through popular sovereignty
Comprehension and
Critical Thinking
SECTION 1 (Pages 438–443)
8. a. Describe How did literature aid the antislav-
ery movement?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the issue of slav-
ery promote sectionalism?
c. Evaluate Do you think the Compromise of
1850 was a good solution? Explain your answer.
SECTION 2
(Pages 445–449)
9. a. Identify Who were the candidates in the
presidential election of 1852, and what issues
did each support?
b. Analyze How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act
lead to growing hostility between pro-slavery
and antislavery supporters?
c. Elaborate Why do you think “Bleeding
Kansas” produced intense controversy between
many Americans?
Use the visual summary below to help you review
the main ideas of the chapter.
Visual
Summary
Differing views on slavery in the
North and South gradually tore
apart the unity of the nation.
HSS
8.9.4, 8.10.1
HSS
8.9.5, 8.10.2
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-26
462 CHAPTER 14
SECTION 3 (Pages 450–454)
10. a. Identify Who was Dred Scott, and why was
his case important?
b. Analyze How were political parties affected
by the debate over slavery?
c. Elaborate Why do you think Republicans
challenged Stephen Douglas’s run for the
Senate?
SECTION 4
(Pages 455–459)
11. a. Recall Why did the southern states secede,
and what was the North’s response?
b. Draw Conclusions Why did the results of the
election of 1860 anger southerners?
c. Evaluate Do you think John Brown was right
to use violence to protest slavery? Explain.
Reviewing Themes
12. Politics How did sectionalism affect American
politics?
13. Society and Culture What effect did Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin have on
the debate over slavery?
Using the Internet
KEYWORD: SS8 US14
14. Activity: Creating a Newspaper Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s novel and John Brown’s raids
were two important events that created more
debate over slavery and heightened tension
between sides. Enter the activity keyword and
learn more about antislavery actions. Then
create a newspaper with which to display your
research. Remember to write from the point of
view of someone from the mid-1800s.
Reading Skills
Understanding Fact and Opinion Use the Reading
Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about
the reading selection below.
In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising.
He wanted to attack the federal arsenal in
Virginia and seize weapons there. He planned
to arm local slaves. Brown expected to kill or
take hostage white southerners who stood in
his way. (p. 455)
15. Based on the reading above, which of the
following statements is an opinion?
a. John Brown’s raid was in 1858.
b. John Brown hated all slaveholders.
c. John Brown’s raid took place in Virginia.
d. Local slaves helped John Brown.
Social Studies Skills
Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources Use the
Social Studies Skills taught in this chapter to answer the
question below.
16. Which of the following is not an example of a
primary source used in this chapter?
a. A People’s History of the United States by
Howard Zinn
b. The Seventh of March speech by Daniel
Webster
c. A House Divided speech by Abraham Lincoln
d. John Brown’s last speech
FOCUS ON WRITING
17. Writing Your Autobiography Review your notes.
Then write your autobiography, being sure to
mention each of the events from your notes.
Tell how your character heard about each event,
what he or she was doing at the time, how he
or she felt about the event, and how it affected
him or her. What are your character’s hopes and
fears for the future?
HSS
8.10.4
HSS
8.9.1, 8.10.3
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-27
30°
N
90°W
120°W
UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY
OR
WASHINGTON
TERRITORY
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
TX
CA
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
MS
AL
GA
FL
TN
KY
IL
WI
MI
IN
OH
PA
NY
MD
DE
NJ
CT
RI
MA
VT
NH
VA
NC
SC
ME
UTAH
TERRITORY
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
KANSAS
TERRITORY
INDIAN
TERR.
A DIVIDED NATION 463
DIRECTIONS: Read each question and write the
letter of the best response. Use the map below to
answer question 1.
!
From the information in this map, you can
conclude that it shows
A the provisions of the Compromise of 1850.
B the results of the election of 1860.
C the formation of the Confederacy.
D the results of the Dred Scott decision.
@
Which leader was responsible for settling the
dispute over the expansion of slavery that
arose after the Mexican War?
A David Wilmot
B Henry Clay
C Abraham Lincoln
D Jefferson Davis
#
California’s admission as a free state after
the Mexican War aroused controversy
because
A many Californians already held slaves.
B it would upset the balance between free states
and slave states.
C Mexico still claimed that California was part of
Mexico’s territory.
D most Californians wanted independence.
$
Widespread violence erupted in Kansas over
slavery in the mid-1850s mainly due to
A the practice of popular sovereignty.
B the Pottawatomie Massacre.
C the Missouri Compromise.
D the threat of secession.
%
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 directly or
indirectly led to all of the following except
A the rise of the Republican Party.
B the collapse of the Whig Party.
C Abraham Lincoln’s election as president.
D The Missouri Compromise.
Connecting with Past Learning
^
The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled
differences between the North and South
over the spread of slavery. Earlier in Grade 8
you learned about another compromise over
slavery that took place
A during the American Revolution.
B at the Constitutional Convention.
C during the War of 1812.
D in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
&
Several southern states seceded after Lin-
coln’s election as president in 1860. What
earlier event also threatened the nation by
greatly angering the South?
A ratifi cation of the Constitution in 1789
B Henry Clay’s proposal of the American System
after the War of 1812
C Andrew Jackson’s defeat in the presidential
election of 1824
D passage of a protective tariff in 1828
Standards Assessment
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-28
464 UNIT 4
Assignment
Write a paper comparing and
contrasting one of the fol-
lowing: (1) America before
and after the Industrial
Revolution, (2) the lives of
free blacks in the North with
the lives of free blacks in
the South.
Using Graphic Organizers
Venn diagrams help you focus on
similarities and differences. Write
details the subjects have in common
in the overlapping area. Write details
that make each subject different in
the sections that do not overlap.
Comparing People
and Events
O
ne way to learn more about historical figures and
events is to compare and contrast them. By studying
how the figures or events are alike and different, you can
begin to see each one more clearly.
1. Prewrite
Getting Started
“How are they alike?” “How are they different?” Jot down answers
to these questions as you research the presidents or the Industrial
Revolution. Group your answers into points of comparison. For exam-
ple, points of comparison for the lives of free blacks might be work,
education, etc. Points of comparison for the Industrial Revolution
might be factories or farming.
Organizing Your Information
There are two ways to organize a compare-and-contrast paper.
Block Style Say everything you have to say about one subject.
Then say everything you have to say about the second subject.
Discuss the points of comparison in the same order for each
subject.
Point-by-Point Style Discuss the points of comparison one at a
time. Explain how the subjects are alike and different on one point
of comparison, then another, and so on. Discuss the subjects in the
same order for each point of comparison.
2. Write
You can use this framework with your notes to help you write your
first draft.
Introduction
Identify the two subjects and give back-
ground information to help readers
understand your comparisons.
State your big idea, or main purpose,
in comparing and contrasting them.
Body
Use block or point-by-point
organization.
Use three points of comparison.
Support your points with specific
historical facts, details, and examples.
Conclusion
Restate your big idea.
Summarize the points you made.
Expand on your big idea, perhaps by
relating it to later historical events or
other historical figures.
A Writer’s Framework
Differences DifferencesSimilarities
TIP
ELA
Writing 8.1.1
Create com-
positions that establish a controlling
impression, have a coherent thesis, and
end with a clear and well-supported
conclusion.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_14_A_Divided_Nation Image-29
3. Evaluate and Revise
Evaluating
Use these questions to discover ways to improve your paper.
Evaluation Questions for a Comparison/Contrast Paper
Do you introduce both subjects in
the first paragraph?
Do you provide relevant background
information in a clear and concise
manner?
Do you state your big idea in the
introduction?
Do you include three points of
comparison between the subjects?
Do you use either the block style or
point-by-point style to organize your
points of comparison?
Do you support your points of
comparison with appropriate
historical facts, details, and
examples?
Do you restate your big idea and
summarize your points?
Revising
As you reread your paper, look for sentences that start with There was
or There were. Sentences beginning with There was/There were tend to
be weak: The verbs was and were do not convey any action.
Weak
There was a decline in southern agriculture after the American
Revolution.
Stronger
Southern agriculture declined after the American Revolution.
4. Proofread and Publish
Proofreading
In a research report, you may be referring to the titles of your sources
of information. Check to see whether you have punctuated any titles
according to these guidelines.
Underling (if you are writing) or italics (if you are using a
computer) for books, movies, TV programs, Internet sites, and
magazines or newspapers
Quotation marks for magazine articles, newspaper articles,
chapters in a book
Publishing
Share your paper with one or more classmates. After reading each
other’s papers, you can compare and contrast them.
5. Practice and Apply
Use the steps and strategies outlined in this workshop to write your
paper comparing and contrasting two people or events.
TIP
Making Meaning Clear
One way to make relationships
between ideas clear is to repeat key
or similar words and phrases in your
writing. For example, you can use
similar wording when comparing two
historical figures on the same point
of comparison.
EXAMPLE
Samuel Slater filled his labor needs
by hiring entire families to work in the
mills. Francis Lowell filled his labor
needs by hiring young, unmarried
women to work in the mills.
THE NATION EXPANDS
465

Subjects

U.S. History

Grade Levels

K12

Resource Type

PDF

US History Textbook 8th Grade Chapter 14 A Divided Nation PDF Download

A California Standards Science Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish I slavery and to realize the ideals ofthe Declaration of Independence . Students analyze the multiple causes , key events , and complex consequences of the Civil War . Analysis Skills Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information . Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources . Arts Writing Write biographies , autobiographies , short stories , or narratives . Reading Students read and understand appropriate materials . FOCUS ON WRITING , Writing an Autobiographical Sketch When you read about history , it can be difficult to imagine how the events you read about affected ordinary people . In this chapter you will read about slavery in the United States . Then you will write an autobiography of a fictional character , ing how these events affected him or her . Your fictional character can live in any part of the United States . He or she might be an enslaved African , a southern plantation owner . a abolitionist , or a settler in one of the new territories . Your classmates are your audience . The Party is formed on August . I 848 Revolutionary movements sweep across Europe . 434 CHAPTER 14

Impact video series Watch the video to stand the impact of states rights . Uncle Cabin is by Harriet Beecher . 1850 Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act on September 18 . declares himself Emperor Napoleon What You Will Learn Two women look at a display called survival of Spirit at the of African American tory in Detroit , Michigan . The display shows a history of resistance to slavery . In this chapter you will learn about how the debate over slavery increasingly divided Americans during the . um 1859 John Brown takes control of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry , Virginia . On South Carolina votes to secede from the United HI I States . Sack of Lawrence , forces town of Lawrence , Kansas , on May 21 . 1856 British and French forces defeat Russia in the Crimean War . Indian soldiers in the British army begin the Sepoy Mutiny against British control of India .

Reading Social Studies Economics Geography Religion Society Politics and Culture Focus on Themes This chapter describes the You will read about events that widened the division growing tension between the North and the South between the North and South so that the South over the slavery issue . You will read what happened finally chose to secede from the Union . Throughout as more states were admitted to the Union and the chapter you will see that cultural differences people argued if they should be slave states or not . influenced political decisions . Facts , Opinions , and the Past Focus on Reading When you are trying to learn about history , would ou rather read facts or the author You would refer Additional reading A support can be ' facts , of course . Separating facts from opinions about historical events found in me , helps you know what really happened . Identifying Facts and Opinions Something is a fact if there is a way to prove it or disprove it . For example , research can prove or disprove the following statement Abraham Lincoln belonged to the Republican But research ca prove the following statement because it is just an opinion , or someone belief Lincoln was the greatest president in American Use the process below to decide whether a statement is fact or opinion . Read the statement . Ask yourself , Can this statement be proved or If not the disproved ?

Can we find statement is an evidence to show whether opinion it is a true statement or a false one ?

If the answer is yes , the statement is a fact . 436 CHAPTER 14 ELA Reading Read and understand appropriate material . Analysis Distinguish opinion . You Try It ! The following passage tells about the debates that Abraham Lincoln had with Stephen Douglas . All the statements in this passage are facts . What makes them facts and not opinions ?

The Debates In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated From Abraham Lincoln for the Senate . His opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas , who had represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847 . Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became the historic debates . In each debate , Lincoln stressed that the central issue of the campaign was the spread of slavery in the West . He said that the Democrats were trying to spread slavery across the nation . Lincoln talked about the Scott sion . He said that African Americans were entitled to all the natural rights listed in the Declaration of Independence , mentioning the right to life , liberty , and the pursuit of Identify each of the following as a fact or an opinion and then explain your choice . Lincoln accused the Democrats of trying to spread slavery across the nation . The debates were the most important debates in the history of the nation . Stephen Douglas was a . Senator from Illinois . Abraham Lincoln ran against Douglas in the 1858 Senate election . Most Americans believed that the Scott decision was a good one . Lincoln was the best debater people from Illinois had ever heard . and People Chapter 14 Section popular sovereignty ( 43 ! Proviso ( 438 ) sectionalism ( Party ( 439 ) Compromise of 1850 ( 441 ) Fugitive Slave Act ( 441 ) Anthony Burns ( 442 ) Uncle Tom Cabin ( Harriet Beecher ( Section Franklin Pierce ( Stephen Douglas ( 446 ) Act ( 447 ) 448 ) Charles Sumner ( 449 ) Preston Brooks ( Section Republican Party ( 450 James Buchanan ( 450 John Fremont ( 451 Scott ( 451 ) Roger ( 452 ) Abraham Lincoln ( debates ( 453 ) Freeport Doctrine ( 453 ) Section John Brown raid ( 455 ) John ( Constitutional Union Party ( 457 ) John Bell ( secession ( 458 ) Confederate States of America ( 458 ) Jefferson Davis ( 458 ) John ( 459 ) Academic Vocabulary In this chapter , you will learn the following academic words implications ( 446 ) complex ( 451 As you read , look closely at quotes from historical figures . Are these quotes showing you facts or opinions ?

A DIVIDED NATION 431 SECTION What You Will Learn . The addition of new land in the West renewed disputes over the expansion of slavery . The Compromise of 1850 tried to solve the disputes over slavery . The Fugitive Slave Act caused more controversy . Abolitionists used antislavery literature to promote opposition . The Big Idea Antislavery literature and the annexation of new lands fied the debate over slavery . Key Terms and People popular sovereignty , 43 ! Proviso , 438 sectionalism , Party , 439 Compromise of 1850 , 441 Fugitive Slave Act , 441 Anthony Burns , 442 Uncle Tom Cabin , 443 Harriet Beecher , 443 El ! IE importance of the slavery issue as raised by the annexation of Texas and admission to the union as a free state underthe Compromise of 1850 . IE Compare the ing interpretations of state and eral authority as emphasized in the speeches and writings of statesmen such as Daniel Webster and John Calhoun . 438 CHAPTER 14 The Debate over Slavery If YOU were there You live in a crowded neighborhood in New York City in 1854 . Your apartment building is home to a variety of time residents , Irish immigrants , free African Americans . One day federal marshals knock on your door . They claim that one of your neighbors is a fugitive slave . The marshals say you must help them find her If you dont , you will be fined or even sent to jail . What would you tell the federal marshals ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND Some reform movements of the drew stubborn and often violent opposition . This was especially true ofthe abolitionist movement . supporters laws to protect slavery and extend the slave system . These laws were a threat to African Americans in the North . New Land Renews Slavery Disputes The United States added more than square miles of land as a result of winning the War in 1848 . The land caused bitter debate about slavery . The Missouri promise of 1820 had divided the Louisiana Purchase into either free or slave regions . It prohibited slavery north of latitude but let Missouri become a slave state . In the 18405 President Polk wanted to extend the line to the West Coast , in the same way dividing the Mexican Cession in two . Some leaders , including Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan , encouraged popular sovereignty , the idea that political power belongs to the people , who should decide on whether to ban or allow slavery in their territory . Regional Differences about Slavery Some northerners wanted to outlaw slavery in all parts of the can Cession . During the war , Representative David offered the Proviso , a document stating that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of the territory .

The admission of California could upset the balance of power In the Senate . GEOGRAPHY SKILLS INTERPRETING MAPS The House passed the document , but in the Senate , the South had more power . The Proviso did not pass . Before this time , politicians had usually supported the ideas of their political parties . However , the Proviso spurred a debate that showed growing sectionalism , or favoring the interests of one section or region over the interests of the entire country . To attract voters , the Democrats and the did not take a clear position on ery in the presidential campaign of 1848 . In response , antislavery northerners formed a new party , the Party , which ported the Proviso . They worried that slave labor would mean fewer jobs for white workers . Party members chose former president Martin Van as their . The new party won 10 percent of the popular vote , drawing away votes from Democrat Lewis Cass . Whig candidate ary Taylor won a narrow victory . Region How could the admission of California as a slave state or a free state balance between North and South ?

Southern slave states 30 senators The California Question The California gold rush caused such rapid population growth that California applied to join the Union as a state instead of as a tory . But would California enter the Union as a free state or a slave state ?

Most Californians opposed slavery , which had been illegal when the state was part of Mexico . Also , many had come from free states . But if California became a free state , the balance between free and slave states would change , favoring the free states . In the South , an imbalance was able . We are about permanently to destroy the balance of power between the sections , said Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi . He and many other southerners did not want California to enter the Union as a free state . Drawing Why did sectionalism in the United States increase in the late 18405 ?

Free States Connecticut Illinois Indiana Iowa Maine Massachusetts Michigan New Hampshire New Jersey New York Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Wisconsin I Slave States Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia TODAY Small parties still affect elections in a similar . A DIVIDED NATION 439

Compromise of 1850 Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had helped . California would enter the Union as a free state . The rest of the Mexican Cession would to settle the Missouri crisis of and the nullification crisis of by ing compromises . He now had another plan to help the nation maintain peace . His ideas were designed to give both sides things that they wanted be federal land . In this , popular sovereignty would decide on slavery . Texas would give up land east of the upper Rio Grande . In return , the would pay Texas debts from when it was an independent republic . The slave not would end in the nation capital . A more effective fugitive slave law would be passed . Primary Source SPEECH The Seventh of March Speech On March , 1850 , Daniel Webster spoke on the floor of the Senate in favor of the Compromise of 1850 . I hear with distress and anguish the word Clay plan drew attack , especially ing California . Senator William Seward of New York defended antislavery views and secession . Secession ! Peaceable secession ! Sir , is Wanted California admitted directly , your eyes and mine are never destined to see the out Conditions , Without and miracle . The dismemberment taking apart of ' this vast country without The out Dweller ing up of the fountains of the great deep without John Calhoun of South Carolina argued Surface ! who is so foolish , beg every that letting California enter as a free state . pardon , as to expect to see any Such ' would destroy the nation balance . He thing ?

can be no such thing as to move water warned people of issues that would later able secession . in the ocean start the Civil War . Calhoun asked that the in Daniel Webster . The , slave states be allowed to separate and part edited by Kenneth in impossible for states to PRIMARY SOURCES Why did Webster Compromise of fully secede . Henry Clay introduced the Compromise of 1850 on the Senate floor . Daniel Webster spoke eloquently in support of the compromise . 440 CHAPTER 14

In contrast , Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts favored Clay plan I wish to speak today , not as a Massachusetts man , nor as a Northern man , but as an can I for the preservation of the Union . Hear me for my Webster , quoted in Battle Cry of Freedom by James Webster criticized northern abolitionists and southerners who talked of secession . A compromise was enacted that year and seemed to settle most disputes between free and slave states . It achieved the majority of Clay proposals . With the Compromise of 1850 , California was able to enter the Union as a free state . The rest of the Mexican sion was divided into two and New the question of whether to allow slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty . Texas agreed to give up its land claims in New Mexico in exchange for aid from the federal government . The compromise the slave trade in the District of bia and established a new fugitive slave law . Analyzing Howwas Texas affected by the Compromise of 1850 ?

SPEECH the South . John Calhoun was weak and near death . He had his speech in support of slavery read to the Senate for him . Primary Source ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES Why did Calhoun urge southern senators to vote against the compromise ?

Fugitive Slave Act The newly passed Fugitive Slave Act made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed to arrest those slaves in free areas . Slaveholders were permitted to take fugitives to commissioners , who decided their fate . Details of the Fugitive Slave Act Slaveholders could use testimony from white witnesses , but enslaved African accused of being fugitives could not testify . Nor could people who hid or helped a runaway faced six months in jail and a . Commissioners who rejected a slaveholder claim earned while those who returned suspected to slaveholders earned 10 . Clearly , the commissioners from helping slaveholders . Reactions to the Fugitive Slave Act Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act began immediately . In September same month the law was marshals arrested African American James Hamlet . They returned him to a slaveholder in Southern View of the Compromise of John Calhoun from South Carolina wrote a speech saying that the proposed compromise did not go far enough to satisfy have , senators , believed from the first that the agitation of the subject of slavery would , if not prevented by some timely and effective measure , end in disunion . The South asks for justice , simple justice , and less she ought not to take . She has no compromise to offer but the Constitution , and no concession or surrender to make . Agitation means unrest . Calhoun believes the South position is supported by the Constitution . A DIVIDED NATION 441

Primary Source PHOTOGRAPH A Fugitive Slave Convention The Fugitive Slave Act enraged . To protest the new law they held many meetings to publicly denounce it . One such meeting was held in 1850 in the small town of in central New York , a center for abolitionist activity About many former attended the convention . They listened to speeches , made plans , and raised their voices for freedom . This photo was a point of pride for the delegates , but it also was used by opponents of the movement as a symbol of the poor morals of abolitionists Not only were whites allowed to mix with African Americans , women and men were allowed to mix as well . This angered many people . Smith organized the convention . Frederick spoke to the crowd . The sisters , Mary ( left ) and Emily , tried to escape from slavery but were captured . Abolitionists later purchased their freedom . ANALYSIS SKILL ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES Why would the abolitionists want a photograph of their ?

Maryland , although he had lived in New York City for three years . Thousands of northern African Americans to Canada in fear . In the 10 years after passed the Fugitive Slave Act , some 343 fugitive slave cases were reviewed . The accused fugitives were declared free in only 11 cases . The Fugitive Slave Act upset ers , who were uncomfortable with the power . Northerners disliked the idea of a trial without a jury . They also approved of commissioners higher fees for returning slaves . Most were that some free African Americans had been and sent to the South . 442 CHAPTER 14 Most northerners opposed to the Act peacefully resisted , but violence did erupt . In 1854 Anthony Burns , a Virginia fugitive slave , was arrested in Boston . Abolitionists used force while trying to rescue him from jail , killing a deputy marshal . A federal ship was ordered to return Burns to Virginia after his trial . Many people in the North , in Massachusetts , were outraged . The event persuaded many to join the ist cause . Drawing Conclusions What concerns did northerners have about the Fugitive Slave Act ?

Antislavery Literature Abolitionists in the North used the stories of fugitive slaves like James Hamlet and Anthony Burns to gain sympathy for their cause . Slave narratives also educated people about their hardships . Fiction also informed people about the evils of slavery . Uncle Tom Cabin , the slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher , spoke out powerfully against slavery . the daughter of Connecticut minister Lyman Beecher , moved to Ohio when she was 21 . There she met fugitive slaves and learned about the cruelties of slavery . The Fugitive Slave Act greatly angered . She decided to write a book that would educate northerners about the realities of slavery . Uncle Tom Cabin was published in 1852 . The main character , a kindly enslaved African American named Tom , is taken from his wife and sold down the river in Louisiana . Tom becomes the slave of cruel Simon Degree . In a rage , has Tom beaten to death . The novel the nation and sparked outrage in the South . Louisa McCord , a famous southern writer , questioned the foul imagination which could invent such Within a decade , more than million copies of Uncle Tom Cabin had been sold in the United States . The book popularity caused one northerner to remark that and her book had created two millions of later wrote A Key to Uncle Tom Cabin to answer those who had criticized her book . The impact of book is suggested by her reported meeting with Abraham Lincoln in 1862 , a year after the start of the Civil War . supposedly said to that she was the little lady who made this big Her book is still widely read today as a source of tion about the harsh realities of slavery Identifying Cause and Effect Why did abolitionists use antislavery literature to promote their cause , and what effect did it have on the slavery debate ?

SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The United States experienced increasing ment over the issue of slavery . The promise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act tried to address these disagreements with legislation . In the next section you will read about another disputed law ing slavery , the Act , and the violence it sparked . him ( an Online Quiz Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People , a . Describe What ideas did the Party promote ?

Predict What are some possible results of the growing sectional debate over slavery ?

a . Describe What were the major points of the Compromise of 1850 ?

Contrast What differing opinions emerged toward Henry proposed compromise ?

a . Identify What were the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act ?

Draw Conclusions Why did some Americans believe the Fugitive Slave Act was unfair ?

a . Identify What are three examples of antislavery literature ?

Elaborate Do you think literature was an effective tool against slavery ?

Why or why not ?

Section Assessment Critical Thinking . Evaluating Copy the web diagram below onto a sheet of your own paper . Use it to explain how the Compromise of 1850 , the Fugitive Slave Act , and antislavery literature affected the debate over slavery . Compromise Fugitive Antislavery of 1850 Slave Act Literature FOCUS ON WRITING , Taking Notes on the Debate over Slavery Make some notes on the Proviso , the Party , the Compromise of 1850 , and the Fugitive Slave Act . Decide how your character feels about each of these . How do the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act affect your character ?

A DIVIDED NATION 443 Literature in History WORD HELP conceive imagine desolate alone forlorn unhappy slacking slowing down thither there What detail tells you how long Eliza has walked up to this point ?

Why Ila you think she chooses that escape route ?

En Reading Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science . 444 CHAPTER 14 Antislavery Literature Uncle Cabin by Harriet Beecher ( About the Reading Published nine years before the outbreak of the Civil War , Uncle Tom Cabin focused the nation attention on the cruelties of slavery . In the following section , describes how a slave named Eliza is trying to escape to save her son from being sold . Look for details that appeal to your feelings . It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly late and forlorn than Eliza when she turned her footsteps from Uncle Tom cabin . The boundaries of the farm , the grove , the wood lot passed by her dizzily as she walked on and still she went , leaving one familiar object after another , slacking not , pausing not , till reddening daylight found her many a long mile from all traces of any familiar objects upon the open highway . She had often been , with her mistress , to Visit some connections in the little town of , not far from the Ohio River , and knew the road well . To go thither , to escape across the Ohio River , were the first hurried outlines of her plan of escape beyond that she could only hope in God . CONNECTING LITERATURE HISTORY Slaves had no legal rights . They . Frederick , Sojourner were considered to be property , Truth , and other former slaves not human beings . How do wrote narratives about their the actions and dialogue in this experiences . Yet these true stories did not have as much impact as novel . Why do you think this fictional story about slavery had more impact than true slave narratives ?

passage contradict these ideas about slaves ?

Trouble in Kansas If YOU were there You live on a New England farm in 1855 . You often think about moving West . But the last few harvests have been bad , and you ca afford it . Now the Emigrant Aid Society offers to help you get to Kansas . To bring in antislavery voters like you , they give you a wagon , livestock , and farm machines . Still , you know that Kansas might be dangerous . Would you decide to risk settling in Kansas ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND The argument overthe extension of slavery grew stronger and more bitter . It dominated American tics in the . Laws that tried to find compromises ended by causing more violence . The bloodiest battleground of this period was in Kansas . Election of 1852 Four leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination emerged in 1852 . It became clear that none of them would win a majority of Votes . Frustrated delegates at the Democratic National Convention turned to Franklin Pierce , a politician from New Hampshire . Pierce promised to honor the Compromise I . This political cartoon ' shows politicians forcing slavery on a settler in Kansas who is a member of the antislavery political party . RHINO SLAVERY DOWN THE THROAT ( IF A SECTION lit What You Will Learn . The debate over the sion of slavery influenced the election of 1852 . The Act allowed voters to allow or prohibit slavery . and antislavery groups clashed violently in what became known as Bleeding Kansas . The Big Idea The Act heightened tensions in the conflict over slavery . Key Terms and People Franklin Pierce , 445 Stephen Douglas , 446 Act , 447 Massacre , 449 Charles Sumner , 449 Preston Brooks , 449 Analyze the significance of the States Rights Doctrine , the Missouri Compromise ( 1820 ) the Proviso ( 1846 ) the mise of 1850 , Henry Clay role in the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 , the Nebraska Act ( 1854 ) the Scott ( 1857 ) and the debates ( 1858 ) boundaries constituting the North and the South , the geographical differences between the two regions , and the differences between and industrialists . A DIVIDED NATION 445

From Compromise to Conflict The Missouri Compromise , 1820 Under the Missouri Compromise of 1820 , there are an equal number of free states ( orange ) and slave states ( green ) FOCUS ON READING and what opinions are mentioned in this paragraph ?

line UNORGANIZED Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act . fore , southerners trusted Pierce on the issue of slavery . The opposing also held their in 1852 . In other presidential tions , they had nominated mer generals such as William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor . This had been a good strategy , as both men had won . The decided to choose another war hero . They passed over the current president , Millard Fillmore , because they believed that his strict enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act would cost votes . Instead , they chose Scott , a Mexican War hero . Southerners did not trust Scott , however , because he had not fully ported the Compromise of 1850 . Pierce won the election of 1852 by a large margin . Many viewed the election as a painful defeat , not just for their candidate , but for their party . Drawing Conclusions What issues determined the outcome of the presidential election of 1852 ' 446 CHAPTER 14 Free state Free territory Slave state Slave territory OREGON Compromise line ( 36 ) The Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 allowed for one more free state than slave state , but also passed a strict fugitive slave law . The Act In his inaugural address , President Pierce expressed his hope that the slavery issue had been put to rest and that no sectional . excitement may again threaten the ity stability of our Less than a year later , however , a proposal to build a railroad to the West coast helped revive the slavery controversy and opened a new period of sectional . Douglas and the Railroad Ever since entering Congress in the , Stephen Douglas had supported the idea of building a railroad to the Ocean . Douglas favored a line running from Chicago . The first step toward building such a railroad would be organizing what remained of the Louisiana Purchase into a federal . The Missouri Compromise required that this land be free territory and eventually free states . Southerners in Congress did not support Douglas plan , recommending a southern route for the railroad . Their preferred line

OREGON TERRITORY The Act As a result of the Act , the ran from New Orleans , across Texas and New Mexico Territory , to southern California . Determined to have the railroad start in cago , Douglas asked a few key southern to support his plan . They agreed to do so if the new territory west of Missouri was opened to slavery . Two New Territories In January 1854 , Douglas introduced what became the Act , a plan that would divide the remainder of the Purchase into two and allow the people in each territory to decide on the question of slavery . The act would eliminate the Missouri promise restriction on slavery north of the . Antislavery were outraged by the implications . Some believed the was part of a terrible plot to turn free territory into a dreary region . inhabited by masters and All across the North , citizens attended protest meetings and sent petitions to Congress . question of slavery is to be decided by popular me people who vote in die elections the newly organized territories of Kansas and Nebraska . The act sparked violent conflict between and antislavery groups . Free state Free territory Slave state Slave territory GEOGRAPHY Compromise of 1850 ?

Even so , with strong and with Douglas and President Pierce their fellow Democrats to vote for the measure passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law on May 30 , 1854 . Lost amid all the controversy over the bill was Douglas proposed railroad to the Ocean . Congress would not approve the construction of such a railroad until 1862 . Kansas Divided Antislavery and groups rushed their supporters to Kansas . One of the people who spoke out strongly against slavery in sas was Senator Seward . Gentlemen of the Slave States I accept your challenge in the cause of will engage in competition for Kansas , and God give the victory to the side which is stronger in numbers as it is in Henry Seward , quoted in The Impending , by David Potter Elections for the Kansas territorial ture were held in March 1855 . Almost Popular sovereignty SKILLS I INTERPRETING MAPS . Region In what part of the United States were the slave states located ?

Place What free state was added with the ACADEMIC VOCABULARY implications things that are inferred or deduced A DIVIDED NATION 441 Bleeding Abolition voters crossed the border from Missouri , voted in Kansas , and then returned home . As a result , the new legislature had a huge majority . The members of the legislature passed strict laws that made it a crime to question slaveholders rights and said that those who helped fugitive slaves could be put to death . In protest , slavery formed their own legislature 25 miles away in . President Pierce only recognized the legislature . Analyzing dislike the Act ?

Bleeding Kansas By early 1856 Kansas had two opposing , and the population was angry . Settlers had moved to Kansas to homestead in peace , but the controversy over slavery began to affect everyone . In April 1856 , a congressional tee arrived in Kansas to decide which ment was legitimate . Although committee Kansas and forces clashed in Kansas , killing many people . Shown here is a group of abolitionist who took the law into their own hands to free one of their group from prison . Why might these men have fought against slavery ?

448 A 63 . members declared the election of the slavery legislature to be unfair , the federal government did not follow their . Attack on Lawrence The new settlers owned guns , and antislavery settlers received weapons shipments from friends in the East . Then , violence broke out . In May 1856 a slavery grand jury in Kansas charged leaders of the antislavery government with treason . About 800 men rode to the city of Lawrence to arrest the antislavery leaders , but they had . The posse took its anger out on Lawrence by setting , looting buildings , and destroying presses used to print ery newspapers . One man was killed in the attack that became known as the Sack of Lawrence . John Brown Response Abolitionist John Brown was from New England , but he and some of his sons had moved to Kansas in 1855 . The Sack of made him determined to fight fire with and to strike terror in the hearts of the On the night of May 24 , 1856 , along Creek , Brown and his men killed men in Kansas in what became known as John Day was oned for his activities but was freed by other abolitionists

the Massacre . Brown and his men dragged the men out of their cabins and killed them with swords . The abolitionist band managed to escape capture . Brown declared that his actions had been ordered by God . Kansas collapsed into civil war , and about 200 people were killed . The events in ing Kansas became national stories . In September 1856 , a new territorial governor arrived and began to restore order . Brooks Attacks Sumner Congress also reacted to the violence of the Sack of Lawrence . Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts criticized people in Kansas and personally insulted Andrew Pickens Butler , a senator from South Carolina . Representative Preston Brooks , a relative of Butler , responded strongly . On May 22 , 1856 , Brooks used a walking cane to beat Sumner unconscious in the Senate chambers . Dozens of southerners sent Brooks new canes , but northerners were outraged and called the attacker Bully Brooks . Brooks only had to pay a 300 to the federal court . It took Sumner three years before The cartoon above shows Preston Brooks Section Assessment Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People , a . Identify What issues influenced the outcome of the election of 1852 ?

Draw Conclusions Why did northern and southern Democrats support Franklin Pierce ?

a . Recall What did the Act do ?

Explain Why did antislavery and groups encourage people to move to Kansas ?

Evaluate Would you have supported or opposed the Act ?

Why ?

a . Describe was the Massacre ?

Analyze How did Charles Sumner views on Bleeding Kansas create conflict ?

Elaborate Do you think Preston punishment was reasonable ?

Why or why not ?

Critical Thinking . Sequencing Copy the graphic organizer at the top of the right column onto your own sheet of paper . Use it to show events that led to violence in Kansas . he was well enough to return to his Senate beating Charles duties . Sumner with his cane . Summarizing Whatwere ' protection is some ofthe results ofthe intense division in Kansas . a quill Pen symbolically representing the law . SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Nebraska Act produced a national uproar . In the next section you will read about divisions in political parties . am online Quiz . Violence in Kansas . Taking Notes on the Trouble in Kansas Make some notes on the election of 1852 , the Nebraska Act , and the events in Kansas . Decide how your character feels about each of these . How do these events affect your character ?

A DIVIDED NATION 449 What You Learn . Political parties in the United States underwent change due to the movement to expand slavery . The created further division over the issue of slavery . The debates brought much attention to the conflict over slavery . The Big Idea The split overthe issue of ery intensified due to political division and judicial decisions . Key Terms and People Republican Party , 450 James Buchanan , 450 John , 451 Scott , 451 Roger , 452 Abraham Lincoln , 452 debates , 453 Freeport Doctrine , 454 ! Discuss Abraham Lincoln presidency and his cant writings and speeches and their relationship to the Declaration of Independence , such as his House Divided speech ( 1858 ) burg Address ( 1863 ) Emancipation Proclamation ( 1863 ) and inaugural addresses ( 1861 and 1865 ) 450 CHAPTER 14 Political Divisions If YOU were there You are traveling through Michigan 1854 . As you pass through the town of Jackson , you see a crowd of several hundred people gathered under the trees . You join them and find that it is a political rally . Antislavery supporters from different parties are meeting to form a new political party . Speakers promise to fight slavery until the contest be terminated How do you think this new party will affect American politics ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND The slavery question continued to divide the country and lead to violence . The issue not only dominated American politics in the but also brought changes in the makeup of American political parties . Political Parties Undergo Change Democrat Stephen Douglas had predicted that the Act would raise a . He was right . The Act brought the slavery issue back into the national spotlight . Some , Democrats , and abolitionists joined in 1854 to form the Republican Party , a political party united against the spread of slavery in the West . Democrats were in trouble . Those who supported the Nebraska Act were not . The Whig Party also fell apart when northern and southern refused to work together . A senator from Connecticut complained , The Whig Party has been killed off . by that miserable Nebraska Some and Democrats joined the American Party , also known as the Party . At the party convention , delegates argued over slavery , then chose former president Millard Fillmore as their candidate for the election of 1856 . The Democrats knew they could not choose a strong supporter of the Act , such as President Pierce or Senator Douglas . They nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania . Buchanan had a great deal of political experience as Polk secretary of state . Most

importantly , he had been in Great Britain as ambassador during the Act dispute and had not been involved in the debate . At their first nominating convention , the Republicans chose explorer John as their candidate . He had little political experience , but he stood against the spread of slavery . The public saw Republicans as a party . They had almost no porters outside of the free states . On election day , Buchanan won 14 of the 15 slave states and became the new president . won 11 of the 16 free states . Fillmore won only one . Buchanan had won the election . Summarizing Whatwere the major political parties in the election of , and who was the candidate for each party ?

SUPREME Scott Decision Just two days after Buchanan became dent , the Supreme Court issued a historic ruling about slavery . News of the decision threw the country back into crisis . The Court reviewed and decided the complex case ing an enslaved man named Scott . Scott Sues for Freedom Scott was the slave of John Emerson , an army surgeon who lived in Louis , In the , Emerson had taken Scott on tours of duty in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory . After they returned to Missouri , the doctor died , and Scott became the slave of Emerson widow . In 1846 Scott sued for his freedom in the Missouri state courts , arguing that he had become free when he lived in free territory . Though a lower court ruled in Hue Court Ruling ACADEMIC VOCABULARY complex difficult , not simple i ( Scott ( Background of the Case Born a slave in Virginia , Scott moved with his slaveholder to the free state of Illinois and then to the Territory . After returning to the South , Scott sued for his freedom . He claimed that because he had lived in a state that banned slavery , he was no longer a slave . The Court ruled that African Americans , whether free or slave , were not ered citizens of the United States , and therefore had no right to sue in federal court . It also decided that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional . Court Reasoning Roger wrote in the majority opinion that the Court did not believe that African Americans were included in the Constitution definition of citizens and that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect ! ing a side issue in the case , the opinion also stated , at that Congress could not outlaw slavery in the territories . This struck down the Missouri Compromise , which had made slavery illegal in territories north of the line . Why It Matters The Scott case was seen as a setback to abolitionist ideas against slavery It reduced the status of free African Americans and upheld the view of slaves as property without rights or protection under the Constitution . It also took from Congress the power to ban slavery in its territories , which would aid the spread of slavery in new states . Because of its decision , the reputation of the Court suffered greatly in parts of the North . SKILL ANALYZING INFORMATION . Why do you think the Court ruled that African Americans had no access to federal courts ?

How did this case affect abolitionist efforts ?

A DIVIDED NATION 451 A Growing Causes of Conflict Failure of Missouri Compromise Failure of Compromise of 1850 Act Effects Political battles Sectional differences Bleeding Kansas debates Effect Civil War his favor , the Missouri Supreme Court turned this ruling . Scott case reached the US . Supreme Court 11 years later , in 1857 . The majority of whom were from the had three key issues before them . First , the Court had to rule on whether Scott was a citizen . Only citizens could sue in federal court . Second , the Court had to decide if his time living on free soil made him free . Third , the Court had to determine the of prohibiting slavery in parts of the Louisiana Purchase . The Supreme Court Ruling Chief Justice Roger ( self from a slaveholding family in Maryland , wrote the majority opinion in the Scott decision in March 1857 . First , he addressed the issue of Scott citizenship . 452 CHAPTER 14 said the nation founders believed that can Americans had no rights which a white man was bound to He therefore that all African Americans , whether slave or free , were not citizens under the US . Constitution . Thus , Scott did not have the right to file suit in federal court . also ruled on the other issues before the Court . As to whether Scott residence on free soil made him free , said it did not . Because Scott had returned to the slave state of Missouri , the chief justice said , his status , as free or slave , depended on the laws of Finally , declared the Missouri Compromise restriction on slavery north of to be unconstitutional . He pointed out that the Fifth Amendment said no one could be deprived of life , liberty , or property without due process of Because slaves were considered property , Congress could not prohibit someone from taking slaves into a federal territory . Under this ruling , Congress had no right to ban slavery in any federal territory . Most white southerners cheered this decision . It covers every question regarding slavery and settles it in favor of the South , reported a Georgia newspaper . Another paper , the New Orleans Picayune , assured its readers that the ruling put the whole basis of the . Republican organization under the ban of The ruling stunned many ers . The Republicans were particularly upset because their platform in 1856 had argued that Congress held the right to ban slavery in the federal territories . Now the highest court had ruled that Congress did not have this right . Indeed , some northerners feared that the spread of slavery would not stop with the federal territories . Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln warned that a future Court ruling , or what he called the next Scott decision , would prohibit states from banning slavery .

I Primary Source SPEECH A House Divided over slavery . Some considered it a call for war cease to be divided . I Lincoln expresses confidence that the Union will survive . ANALYSIS We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of close to making their state free and we shall awake to the reality , instead , that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave state . Lincoln , quoted in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln , edited by Roy Summarizing Whatwere the major rulings ofthe ?

Debates In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated ham Lincoln for the Senate . His opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas , who had represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847 . Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became the historic debates . In each debate , Lincoln stressed that the central issue of the campaign was the spread of slavery in the West . He said that the were trying to spread slavery across the nation . In 1358 Abraham Lincoln gave a passionate speech to Illinois Republicans about the dangers of the disagreement In my opinion , it disagreement over slavery will not cease stop , until a crisis shall have been reached and passed . A house divided against itself can not stand . I believe this government can not endure permanently half slave and half free . I do not expect the Union to be do not expect the house to I do expect it will . Lincoln , quoted in Abraham Lincoln Speeches and ?

ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES What do you think Lincoln meant by crisis ?

This line is a paraphrase of a line in the Bible . edited by Don Lincoln talked about the Scott decision . He said that African cans were entitled to all the natural rights listed in the Declaration of , mentioning the right to life , liberty , and the pursuit of However , Lincoln believed that African Americans were not necessarily the social or political equals of whites . ing to cost Lincoln votes , Douglas charged that Lincoln thinks that the Negro is his brother . Douglas also criticized Lincoln for saying that the nation could not remain half slave and half Douglas said that the ment revealed a Republican desire to make every state a free state . This , he warned , would only lead to a dissolution tion of the Union and warfare between the North and the At the second debate , in the northern Illinois town of Freeport , Illinois , Lincoln pressed Douglas on the apparent tion between the Democrats belief in THE IMPACT TODAY Today political debates are televised and can be seen around the world . A DIVIDED NATION 453

Debates they please , for the reason that slavery not exist a day or an hour anywhere , unless Lincoln for the it is supported by local police US . Senate in This notion that the police would ) enforce the voters decision if it contradicted , men ' the Supreme Court decision in the debated seven times at various locations around the state . Lincoln Scott case became known as the Freeport Doctrine . The Freeport Doctrine put the slavery lost the election question back in the hands of American gamed a al . It helped Douglas win the Senate seat . recognition . Lincoln , while not victorious , emerged as an important leader of the Republican Party . Drawing inferences Why did Abraham Lincoln make slavery expansion the central issue of the debates ?

Abraham Lincoln Stephen Douglas lar sovereignty and the Scott decision . Lincoln asked Douglas to explain how , if Congress could not ban slavery from a al territory , Congress could allow the citizens AND PREVIEW The 55017 of that to ban . decision and the debates Dough responded that it did not . dealt with the over slavery in the ter what the supreme Court about western territories . In the next section He argued that the people have the you will read about how the broke lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as apart the go Section Assessment KEYWORD . Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People Em Critical Thinking a . Identify What was the major issue of the newly . Copy the graphic organizer below formed Republican Party ?

onto your own paper . Use it to identify the issues . Draw Conclusions How did the involved in the Scott case and the Supreme Nebraska Act affect political parties ?

Court rulings . Elaborate Why do you think James Buchanan won the election of 1856 ?

a . Identify Who was Roger , and why Rulings was he important ?

I . Draw Conclusions How did the Scott I decision affect the Missouri Compromise and the expansion of slavery ?

I Predict What problems might result from the Supreme Court ruling in the Scott case ?

a . Recall What was the major issue of the . Taking Notes on the Political Divisions Make debates ?

Make inferences Despite his loss in the notes Party the scoff decision , and the debates . Decide tion , how did Lincoln become the leader of the Re Party . how your character feels about each of these . How ' do these events affect your character ?

454 CHAPTER 14 The Nation Divides If YOU were there You work for the weekly newspaper in Harpers Ferry , Virginia . You strongly oppose slavery , but you think the question ought to be resolved by laws , not bloodshed . Now your paper has sent you to interview the famous Brown in prison . His raids in Bleeding Kansas killed several people . Now he is in jail for attacking a federal arsenal and taking weapons . What questions would you ask John Brown ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND Unpopular compromises and court decisions deepened the divisions between and ery advocates . The debates attracted more tion to the issue . As the disagreements grew , violence increased , though many Americans hoped to avoid it . But itwas too late to keep the nation unified . Raid on Harpers Ferry In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising . He wanted to attack the federal arsenal in Virginia and seize weapons there . He planned to arm local slaves . Brown expected to kill or take hostage white southerners who stood in his way . He urged abolitionists to give him money so that he could support a small army . But after nearly two years , Brown army had only about 20 men . On the night of October 16 , 1859 , John Brown raid began when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry , Virginia , in hopes of starting a slave rebellion . He sent several of his men into the countryside to get slaves to join him . However , enslaved African Americans did not come to Harpers Ferry , ing punishment if they took part . Instead , local white ers attacked Brown . Eight of his men and three local men were killed . Brown and some followers retreated to a . Federal troops arrived in Harpers Ferry the following night . The next morning , Colonel Robert Lee ordered a squad of marines to storm the . In a matter of seconds , the marines killed two more of Brown men and captured the Brown . SECTION What You Will Learn . John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry intensified the ment between free states and slave states . The outcome of the election of 1860 divided the United States . The dispute over slavery led the South to secede . The Big Idea The United States broke apart due to the growing conflict over slavery . Key Terms and People John Brown raid , 455 John , 457 Constitutional Union Party , 457 John Bell , 457 secession , 458 Confederate States of America , 458 Jefferson Davis , 458 John , 459 leaders ofthe , John Quincy Adams and his proposed amendment , John Brown and the armed resistance , Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad , min Franklin , Theodore Weld , William Lloyd Garrison , Frederick ) constitutional issues posed by the doctrine of cation and secession and the earliest origins . A DIVIDED NATION 455

Primary Source SPEECH John Brown Last Speech trial , pronounced guilty , John Brown spoke in his own defense about his plan to free slaves . I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter freeing slaves . I never did intend murder or treason , or the destruction of property , or to excite or incite the slaves to rebellion , or to make insurrection revolt Had I interfered in the manner which I admit in behalf of the rich , the powerful , the intelligent , the great . it would have been all right , and every man in this Court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment . I believe that to have interfered as I have done . in behalf of despised poor , is no wrong , but right . Brown , quoted in The Life , Trial and Execution of Brown By His , Brown means God . SKILL ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES How does Brown contrast his ideas with the Court ideas ?

Brown was quickly convicted of treason , murder , and conspiracy . Some of his men received death sentences . John Copeland , a fugitive slave , defended his actions . am dying for freedom , I could not die for a ter Convinced that he also would be sentenced to death , Brown delivered a speech . Now , if it is deemed thought necessary that I should forfeit give up my life for the ance ofthe ends ofjustice , and mingle mix my blood with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked , and unjust , I say , let it be Brown , quoted Brown , 1859 by Oswald Garrison As expected , the judge ordered Brown to be hanged . The sentence was carried out one month later on December , 1859 . 456 CHAPTER 14 Brown says he never meant to start a rebellion . Many northerners Brown death , but some abolitionists criticized his extreme actions . Abraham Lincoln said Brown agreed with us in thinking slavery However , Lincoln continued , That can not excuse violence , bloodshed , and Most southern holders and by the actions of John Brown . They worried that a John Brown the Second might attack . One South Carolina per voiced these fears We are convinced the safety of the South lies only outside the present Another newspaper stated that the sooner we get out of the Union , the Drawing Conclusions Why did John Brown raid lead some southerners to talk about leaving the Union ?

Election of 1860 In this climate of distrust , Americans pared for another presidential election in 1860 . The northern and southern Democrats could not agree on a candidate . Northern Democrats chose Senator Stephen las . Southern Democrats backed the rent vice president , John of Kentucky , who supported slavery in the territories . Meanwhile , party emerged . The Constitutional Union Party recognized no political principles other than the of the country , the Union of the states , and the enforcement of the Members of this new party met in Baltimore , Maryland , and selected John Bell of see as their candidate . Bell was a slaveholder , but he had opposed the Act in 1854 . Senator William Seward of New York was the Republicans leading candidate at the start of their convention . But it turned out that appealed to more party members . A moderate who was against the spread of Election of 1860 Source Historical Statistics ol the United States slavery , Lincoln promised not to abolish slavery where it already existed . Douglas , and Bell each knew he might not win the election . They hoped to win enough electoral votes to prevent from winning in the electoral college . But with a Republican Party behind him , won . Although he received the highest number of votes , he won only about 40 percent of the overall popular vote . Lincoln won 180 of 183 electoral votes in free states . Douglas had the number of popular votes , but he won only one state . He just 12 electoral votes . and Bell split electoral votes in other slave states . The election results angered . Lincoln did not campaign in their region and did not carry any southern states , but he became the next president . The election that the South was losing its national political power . Analyzing Whywas Lincoln viewed by many as a moderate candidate during his campaign forthe presidency ! Electoral Popular ( Republican ) Douglas ( Democrat ) Democrat ) Bell ( Constitutional Union ) Vote 80 12 72 39 Vote New Jersey cast four electoral votes for Lincoln and three for Douglas . GEOGRAPHY SKILLS INTERPRETING MAPS states that Lincoln won ?

A DIVIDED NATION 451 Region In which part ofthe 458 i The South Secedes Lincoln insisted that he would not change slavery in the South . However , he said that slavery could not expand and thus would eventually die out completely . That idea angered many southerners . Southerners Reactions People in the South believed their economy and way of life would be destroyed out slave labor . They reacted immediately . Within a week of Lincoln election , South Carolina legislature called for a special . The delegates considered secession , or formally withdrawing from the Union . South Carolina elected to dissolve the union now subsisting existing between South Carolina and other Southern believed that they had a right to leave the Union . They pointed out that each of the original states had voluntarily joined the Union by holding a special convention that had ratified the Constitution . Surely , they reasoned , states could leave the Union by the same process . Jefferson Davis takes the oath of office for dent of the Confederate States of America . ill Critics of secession thought this ment was ridiculous . President Buchanan said the Union was not a mere voluntary association of States , to be dissolved at sure by any one of the contracting Abraham Lincoln agreed , ing , No State , upon its own mere motion , can lawfully get out of the Lincoln added , They can only do so against the law , and by The Confederate States of America Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , and Texas also seceded to form the Confederate States of America , also called the Confederacy . Its new constitution teed citizens the right to own slaves . Delegates from seceded states elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as president of the Confederacy . Davis had hoped to be the commanding general of Mississippi troops . He responded to the news of his election with reluctance . While the South Carolina representatives were meeting to discuss secession , Congress Rebel Government This photograph is of the first tion of Jefferson Davis as the president of the Confederate States of America . A former secretary of war , Davis was elected president of the confederacy in 861 . How does this photo show the state of the southern govemment ?

examined a plan to save the Union . Senator John of Kentucky proposed a series of constitutional amendments that he believed would satisfy the South by ing slavery . hoped the country could avoid secession and a civil war . Lincoln disagreed with some of den plan . He believed there could be no compromise about the extension of slavery . Lincoln wrote , The tug has to come and better now than A Senate committee voted on plan , and every rejected it , as Lincoln had requested . When the southern states seceded , the question of who owned federal property in the South arose . For instance , the forts in the harbor of Charleston , South Carolina , were federal property . However , Confederate ident Davis and the Confederacy were ready to prevent the federal army from controlling the property . Lincoln Takes President Lincoln was inaugurated on March , 1861 . In writing his inaugural address , Lincoln looked to many of the nation founding documents . Referring to the idea that governments receive their just powers from the consent of the governed , a line from the Declaration of Independence , stated , This country , with its tions , belongs to the people who inhabit it . Whenever they grow weary of the existing Government , they can exercise their right of amending it or their right to dismember take apart or overthrow it . I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic are desirous wanting of having the National Constitution amended . While he believed that citizens had the power to change their government through majority consent , he opposed the idea that southern states could leave the Union because they were unhappy with the government position on slavery . He announced in his inaugural address that he would keep all government property in the seceding states . However , he also tried to convince that his government would not provoke a war . He hoped that , given time , southern states would return to the Union . Drawing Conclusions Why did some southern states secede from the Union ?

SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The secession of the southern states hinted at the to come . In the next chapter you will read about the Civil War . him ( an online Quiz KEYWORD Section Assessment Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People IE a . Recall Why did John Brown want to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry ?

Explain Why did some abolitionists disagree with Brown actions ?

a . Identify List the candidates in the presidential election of 1860 , and what party each supported . Predict How might Abraham Lincoln victory in the election of 1860 lead to future problems ?

a . Identify What states made up the Confederate States of America ?

Explain Why did Lincoln disagree with John plan to keep the Union together ?

Elaborate Do you believe that the southern states had the right to secede ?

Why or why not ?

Critical Thinking . Summarizing Copy the graphic organizer below onto your own sheet of paper . Use it to identify the causes of the secession of southern states . Ca uses . Taking Notes on Secession Make some notes on the raid on Harpers Ferry , the election of 1860 , and the secession of the South . Decide how your character feels about each of these . How do these events affect your character ?

A DIVIDED NATION 459 Social Studies Skills Critical Thinking Analysis Define the Skill All historical information comes from primary and secondary sources . Primary sources are documents written by someone who witnessed or took part in an event . They include diaries , letters , and newspaper reports . Secondary sources are accounts of events written after the events have occurred by someone who did not witness or take part in them . They retell , interpret , and summarize information from primary sources . History books and biographies are examples of secondary sources . Historical sources often disagree . One version of an event may be different from another writer version . You must assess the reliability of a primary or secondary source in order to weigh its value to you as a source of accurate information . Learn the Skill Use these guidelines to analyze and evaluate primary and secondary sources . Identify the nature of the material . Is it a hand , account or is it based on information provided by others ?

Evaluate the author . If the material is a ary source , what does the author have to interpret the sources from which it came ?

If the material is a primary source , what was the author connection to the event he or she is writing about ?

Determine the audience . Was the source meant to be seen by the public ?

Was it meant for a friend , or for the writer alone ?

The intended audience can a source content . 460 CHAPTER 14 Participation Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information . Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources Determine the purpose . Even authors of primary sources can have reasons to distort the truth to suit their own purposes . Look for evidence of emotion , exaggeration , opinion , or bias that may have the account . Look for documentation . Look for other mation or evidence that supports the account . Compare sources whenever possible . Practice the Skill The passage below concerns the attack on Lawrence , Kansas , that you read about in this chapter . The passage contains both a primary and a secondary source . The secondary account was written by John , a historian . Review the information on page 448 , analyze the passage , and answer the questions that follow . Sheriff Jones , at the head of an army of , marched into Lawrence . In broad daylight they threw the printing presses of two newspapers into a burned down the Free State Hotel and other buildings . Antislavery seethed with rage . One eyewitness described the attack . after looking at the rising from the hotel and saying that it was the happiest day of his the troops and they began their lawless destruction . I . Did the author of the primary source likely port the attackers or the people of Lawrence ?

What clues in the passage suggest this ?

For whom was the primary source likely written ?

Which source is more reliable for information about this incident ?

Explain why .

Visual Summary the main ideas of the chapter . Differing views on slavery in the North and South gradually tore apart the unity of the nation . Reviewing Vocabulary , Terms , and People Identify the correct term or person from the chapter that best each of the following descriptions . belief that voters should be given the right to decide if slavery would be permitted or banned chief justice of the Supreme Court who wrote the majority opinion for the Scott decision . Democratic candidate for president in 1852 who promised to enforce the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act a fugitive slave whose arrest led to violence between government and abolitionists . Republican candidate for the presidency in 1856 who opposed the spread of slavery in the West slave who sued for freedom , claiming that by living in free territory , he had earned his freedom . Stephen Douglas claim that states and territories should determine the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty Use the visual summary below to help you review Comprehension and Critical Thinking SECTION ( Pages ) a . Describe How did literature aid the ery movement ?

Draw Conclusions How did the issue of ery promote sectionalism ?

Evaluate Do you think the Compromise of 1850 was a good solution ?

Explain your answer . SECTION ( Pages ) a . Identify Who were the candidates in the presidential election of 1852 , and what issues did each support ?

Analyze How did the Act lead to growing hostility between and antislavery supporters ?

Elaborate Why do you think Bleeding Kansas produced intense controversy between many Americans ?

A DIVIDED NATION 461 ( Pages ) a . Identify Who was Scott , and why was his case important ?

Analyze How were political parties affected by the debate over slavery ?

Elaborate Why do you think Republicans challenged Stephen Douglas run for the Senate ?

Pages ) Em II . a . Recall Why did the southern states secede , and what was the North response ?

Draw Conclusions Why did the results of the election of 1860 anger southerners ?

Evaluate Do you think John Brown was right to use Violence to protest slavery ?

Explain . Reviewing Themes . Politics How did sectionalism affect American politics ?

Society and Culture What effect did Harriet Beecher book Uncle Tom Cabin have on the debate over slavery ?

the Internet . Activity Creating a Newspaper Harriet Beecher novel and John Brown raids were two important events that created more debate over slavery and heightened tension between sides . Enter the activity keyword and learn more about antislavery actions . Then create a newspaper with which to display your research . Remember to write from the point of View of someone from the . 462 CHAPTER 14 Reading Skills Understanding Fact and Opinion Use the Reading Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about the reading selection below . In 1858 John Brown tried to start an uprising . He wanted to attack the federal arsenal in Virginia and seize weapons there . He planned to arm local slaves . Brown expected to kill or take hostage white southerners who stood in his way . 455 ) Based on the reading above , which of the following statements is an opinion ?

John Brown raid was in John Brown hated all slaveholders . John Brown raid took place in Virginia . Local slaves helped John Brown . Social Studies Skills Assessing Primary and Secondary Sources Use the Social Studies Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question below . Which of the following is not an example of a primary source used in this chapter ?

a . A People History of the United States by Howard . The Seventh of March speech by Daniel Webster A House Divided speech by Abraham Lincoln John Brown last speech 11 . Writing Your Autobiography Review your notes . Then write your autobiography , being sure to mention each of the events from your notes . Tell how your character heard about each event , what he or she was doing at the time , how he or she felt about the event , and how it affected him or her . What are your character hopes and fears for the future ?

DIRECTIONS Read each question and write the letter of the best response . Use the map below to answer question . TERRITORY NEW MEXICO From the information in this map , you can conclude that it shows A the provisions of the Compromise of 1850 . the results of the election of 1860 . the formation of the Confederacy . the results of the . Which leader was responsible for settling the dispute over the expansion of slavery that arose after the Mexican War ?

A David Henry Clay Abraham Lincoln Jefferson Davis California admission as a free state after the Mexican War aroused controversy because A many Californians already held slaves . it would upset the balance between free states and slave states . Mexico still claimed that California was part of Mexico territory . most Californians wanted independence . Standards Assessment I Widespread violence erupted in Kansas over slavery in the mainly due to A the practice of popular sovereignty . the Massacre . the Missouri Compromise . the threat of secession . The Act of 1854 directly or indirectly led to all of the following except A the rise of the Republican Party . the collapse of the Whig Party . Abraham election as president . The Missouri Compromise . Connecting with Past Learning a The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled differences between the North and South over the spread of slavery . Earlier in Grade you learned about another compromise over slavery that took place A during the American Revolution . at the Constitutional Convention . during the War of 1812 . in the Treaty of Paris of Several southern states seceded after election as president in 1860 . What earlier event also threatened the nation by greatly angering the South ?

A ratification of the Constitution in 1789 Henry Clay proposal of the American System after the War of 1812 Andrew Jackson defeat in the presidential election of 1824 passage of a protective tariff in 1828 A DIVIDED NATION 463 Writing Workshop Assignment Write a paper comparing and contrasting one of the lowing ( America before and after the Industrial Revolution , the lives of free blacks in the North with the lives of free blacks in the South . El ?

Using Graphic Organizers Venn diagrams help you focus on similarities and differences . Write details the subjects have in common in the overlapping area . Write details that make each subject different in the sections that do not overlap . Differences Differences Writing Create positions that establish a controlling end with a clear and conclusion . A Writer Framework Introduction impression , have a coherent thesis , and Comparing People and Events one way to learn more about historical figures and events is to compare and contrast them . By studying how the figures or events are alike and different , you can begin to see each one more clearly . Getting Started How are they alike ?

How are they different ?

Jot down answers to these questions as you research the presidents or the Industrial Revolution . Group your answers into points of comparison . For ple , points of comparison for the lives of free blacks might be work , education , etc . Points of comparison for the Industrial Revolution might be factories or farming . Organizing Your Information There are two ways to organize a paper . I Block Style Say everything you have to say about one subject . Then say everything you have to say about the second subject . Discuss the points of comparison in the same order for each subject . I Style Discuss the points of comparison one at a time . Explain how the subjects are alike and different on one point of comparison , then another , and so on . Discuss the subjects in the same order for each point of comparison . Write You can use this framework with your notes to help you write your first draft . Body Conclusion I two subjects and give ground information to help readers I Use block or organization . I Use three points of comparison . I Support your points with specific historical facts , details , and examples . I Restate your big idea . I Summarize the points you made . I Expand on your big idea , perhaps by relating it to later historical events or other historical figures . understand your comparisons . I State your big idea , or main purpose , in comparing and contrasting them . 464 UNIT

. Evaluate and Revise Evaluating Use these questions to discover ways to improve your paper . Evaluation Questions for a Paper I Do you use eitherthe block style or style to organize your points of comparison ?

I Do you support your points of comparison with appropriate I Do you introduce both subjects in the first paragraph ?

I Do you provide relevant background information in a clear and concise manner ! I Do you state your big idea in the introduction ?

I Do you include three points of comparison between the subjects ?

historical facts , details , and examples ?

I Do you restate your big idea and summarize your points ?

Revising As you reread your paper , look for sentences that start with There was or There were . Sentences beginning with There here were tend to be weak The verbs was and were do not convey any action . Weak There was a decline in southern agriculture after the American Revolution . Stronger Southern agriculture declined after the American Revolution . Proofread and Publish Proofreading In a research report , you may be referring to the titles of your sources of information . Check to see whether you have punctuated any titles according to these guidelines . I Underling ( if you are writing ) or italics ( if you are using a computer ) for books , movies , programs , Internet sites , and magazines or newspapers I Quotation marks for magazine articles , newspaper articles , chapters in a book Publishing Share your paper with one or more classmates . After reading each other papers , you can compare and contrast them . Practice and Apply Use the steps and strategies outlined in this workshop to write your paper comparing and contrasting two people or events . Making Meaning Clear One way to make relationships between ideas clear is to repeat key or and phrases in your writing . For example , you can use when comparing two historical figures on the same point of comparison . EXAMPLE Samuel his labor needs by hiring entire families to work in the mills . Francis Lowell filled his labor needs by hiring young , unmarried women to work in the mills . THE NATION EXPANDS 465