Political Conflicts & Dred Scott

Political Conflicts

• Upset with the Kansas Nebraska

Act, members of the Free Soil,
Whig, and Democratic Parties
joined together to create the
Republican Party.

• They opposed the expansion of

slavery into the territories.

Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner

insulted and mocked South Carolina
Senator Butler in his speech “Crime

Against Kansas.”

Senator Butler has taken "a

mistress . . . who, though ugly to
others, is always lovely to him;

though polluted in the sight of the
world, is chaste in his sight - I mean

- the harlot, Slavery.”

-- Charles Sumner

Butler’s relative, Representative

Preston Brooks, defended

Butler’s honor by walking into
the Senate chamber and beat
Senator Sumner with a cane.

The Caning of Charles Sumner

• Both Sumner and Brooks became heroes

in their regions.

• Massachusetts refused to seat another

senator during Sumner’s recovery.

• People from all over the
South sent Brooks new
canes to replace the
one he broke while
caning Sumner.

Charles Sumner
slowly recovered
and returned to
the Senate for 18
more years

Preston Brooks
resigned from the
House of
Representatives and
died soon after at
the age of 37

• Lincoln and Douglas were

both vying for the U.S.
Senate seat from Illinois

Stephen Douglas

Abraham Lincoln

• They agreed to debate

each other 7 times

• The issue of slavery was the main

theme in the debates

• Douglas won the election, but

Lincoln gained national attention
and the 1860 presidential
nomination of the Republican
Party

Their Speeches

Platform:
• enforce the

Fugitive Slave Act

• allow territories to

vote on practice
of slavery

Northern Democrat
Stephen Douglas

Platform:
• unrestricted

expansion of
slavery

• annexation of

Cuba

Southern Democrat
John Breckinridge

Republican
Abraham Lincoln

Platform:
• no expansion

of slavery

• protective

tariffs

• internal

improvements

Constitutional Union Party
John Bell

Platform:
• preserve the

Union

Republican
Abraham Lincoln

​WINNER!!!

Multiple Choice

“I enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope that the beginning of our history as a Confederacy may not be blocked by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of a separate existence and independence.”

Multiple Choice

“In your hands, my unhappy fellow countrymen, and not mine is the issue of civil war. The government will not attack you. There will be no conflict unless you start it.”

Multiple Choice

“We are an agricultural people whose main goal is the export of the commodity (cotton) required in every manufacturing country, our true policy is peace, and the freest possible trade which our situation allows.”

Multiple Choice

“I enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope that the beginning of our history as a Confederacy may not be blocked by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of a separate existence and independence.”

Multiple Choice

“No state on its own can lawfully get out of the Union. Any resolutions or ordinances of secession are illegal, and any acts of violence within any State against the authority of the United States is a rebellion.”

Multiple Choice

“Our present condition shows the American idea that governments rest on the consent of the governed and that it is the right of the people to change or abolish governments when they no longer serve the interests of the people being governed.”

Multiple Choice

“With a Constitution different from that of our fathers that explains their original intentions, we are freed from the sectional conflicts that have interfered with our pursuit of the general welfare. A reunion with the States from which we have separated is not practical or desired.”

Multiple Choice

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have tested things it must not break our bonds of friendship.”

Multiple Choice

“I have no reason, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so and I have no intention to do so.”

Multiple Choice

“I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully followed in all the States. It is the declared reason for the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.”

Multiple Choice

“Through many years of controversy with our recent friends, we have tried unsuccessfully to secure peace and respect for the rights to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a choice, we have resorted to the solution of separation.”

Dred Scott v.
Sandford

Court Case Background:

• Scott was a slave in Missouri.

• His master took him into

Wisconsin, a free state, before

returning to Missouri.

• Scott sued saying he should
be free.

Supreme Court Decision:

1. Scott was not a U.S. citizen.

Therefore, he could not sue.

2. Slaves were property so the

federal government could not exclude slavery from any territory.

3. The Missouri Compromise was

unconstitutional.

Multiple Choice

What best describes Dred Scott ?

• slave who sued for his freedom

• slaveowner who sued for the return of a fugitive slave

• Georgia politician trying to ban slavery

• Supreme Court judge making a ruling on the spread of slavery

Multiple Choice

Dred Scott's case went to...

• the Georgia State Supreme Court.

• the United States Supreme Court.

• the U.S. Congress.

• Georgia General Assembly

Multiple Choice

The Dred Scott decision is referred to as "the Supreme Court case that...

• abolished slavery."

• declared the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional."

• caused the Civil War."

• resulted in the Compromise of 1850."

Multiple Choice

The Dred Scott decision...

• angered southerners, satisfied northerners.

• satisfied southerners, angered northerners.

• promoted the abolitionist movement.

• resulted in a compromise between the North & South.

Multiple Choice

The Dred Scott case pushed the nation closer to disunion & civil war?

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

According to the Dred Scott decision, any area of the country was open to the spread of slavery, possibly even the free states of the North?

• true

• false

Multiple Select

(Please select three correct answers) In the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court ruled that slaves...

• were NOT citizens of the U.S.

• had NO right to sue in court.

• were considered to be the property of their owner.

• should all be freed immediately.

Multiple Choice

How did the Dred Scott case (1857) impact the Compromise of 1850?

• It overturned the Compromise of 1850 and made it obsolete.

• It upheld the Compromise of 1850.

• It made the Compromise of 1850 acceptable to all northerners.

• ALL choices

Multiple Choice

The ruling in the Dred Scott case protected the rights of...

• fugitive slaves.

• abolitionists.

• slave owners.

• anti-slavery groups.

Multiple Choice

What did the Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott case make possible?

• the abolition of slavery

• the restriction of slavery within the South

• the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act

• the spread of slavery into any free territory or state

Multiple Choice

The Dred Scott Supreme Court case centered around what issue?

• slavery

• tariffs

• manufacturing

• trade patents

Multiple Select

Select three (3) reasons why the South was so pleased with the ruling in the Dred Scott case?

• It protected the rights of slave holders.

• It weakened the anti-slavery and abolitionist movements.

• It enabled slavery to spread into any western territory.

• it outlawed slavery in the west