From 1854 through 1857, the sectional divide in the US deepened, mostly due to the Southern goals of expanding and protecting slavery. The "main events" from that period include the “Sacking of Lawrence”, “The Caning” in the Capitol, the start of “Bleeding Kansas”, the election of James Buchanan as President, and the Dred Scott Decision in 1857. It wasn’t long before Buchanan, a Pennsylvanian (one of the three “Bottom-Feeder” Presidents, along with Pierce and Andrew Johnson), revived efforts to acquire Cuba (the Ostend Manifesto in 1854) in order to expand slavery and the South. To the South, and even some Northerners, the idea was that the American South was merely the beginning of an expanding “Slave Empire”; to those such as Lincoln, that goal posed a threat to the entire Western Hemisphere. Slavery expansionists raised money, arms, and recruits to try and acquire additional slave territories in the Caribbean, Mexico, and other parts of Latin America.
According to the Richmond Enquirer, the only way the South could really be compensated for the viscous attacks by the anti-slavery forces was to expand and acquire more slave territories. One way to gain territories by force was by “filibusters”, a Spanish/French/Dutch word that translated to “free-booter” or “pirate”. The term applied to private citizens who armed themselves and launched military operations to control lands outside the US. While not all “filibustering” operations were to expand slavery, those that did labeled themselves as agents of White Southern Expansion.
According to the Richmond Enquirer, the only way the South could really be compensated for the viscous attacks by the anti-slavery forces was to expand and acquire more slave territories. One way to gain territories by force was by “filibusters”, a Spanish/French/Dutch word that translated to “free-booter” or “pirate”. The term applied to private citizens who armed themselves and launched military operations to control lands outside the US. While not all “filibustering” operations were to expand slavery, those that did labeled themselves as agents of White Southern Expansion.
While Cuba was viewed as the epicenter of a future Southern Slave Empire, events in the US turned the conflict over slavery from words to actions. On 21 May 1856, “Border Ruffians” (violent pro-slavery extremists) pillaged Lawrence, which was the anti-slavery territorial capital of Kansas, which became known as the “Sacking of Lawrence". Senator Charles Sumner
(R; MA), in his speech “The Crime Against Kansas”, blamed specific people for the violence, among them a relative of Representative Preston Brooks (D; SC, who felt that his and his family’s honor had been besmirched.
Brooks decided to defend his manhood and honor by physically attacking Sumner with his cane while also verbally attacking him for his speech. Brooks’ attack on Sumner was so savage that Sumner’s skull was fractured, and Brooks broke his cane. Brooks was a ‘Hero of the South”; admirers sent Brooks new canes. Brooks was a villain in most of the North, while Sumner became a living martyr. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, virtually every member of Congress showed up armed, with either a pistol or a knife. Two days after “The Caning”, on 24 Mary 1856 the Radical Abolitionist John Brown and a few of his sons killed five pro-slavery men, hacking them to pieces during/afterwards with broadswords (big machetes), which became forever known as the Pottawatomie Massacre.
(R; MA), in his speech “The Crime Against Kansas”, blamed specific people for the violence, among them a relative of Representative Preston Brooks (D; SC, who felt that his and his family’s honor had been besmirched.
Brooks decided to defend his manhood and honor by physically attacking Sumner with his cane while also verbally attacking him for his speech. Brooks’ attack on Sumner was so savage that Sumner’s skull was fractured, and Brooks broke his cane. Brooks was a ‘Hero of the South”; admirers sent Brooks new canes. Brooks was a villain in most of the North, while Sumner became a living martyr. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, virtually every member of Congress showed up armed, with either a pistol or a knife. Two days after “The Caning”, on 24 Mary 1856 the Radical Abolitionist John Brown and a few of his sons killed five pro-slavery men, hacking them to pieces during/afterwards with broadswords (big machetes), which became forever known as the Pottawatomie Massacre.
Very soon thereafter, Lincoln was selected as a Republican Presidential Elector in Illinois for the Presidential Election of 1856. During the Summer of 1856, Lincoln made a national reputation for himself through his ideas and how he worded them. For example, Lincoln, unlike Sumner, never attacked someone’s character or motives. Unlike Brooks or John Brown, Lincoln never used words as weapons. Lincoln’s rising star became evident when at the very first Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 1856, his name was placed in nomination for Vice-President. John C. Fremont (“The Pathfinder”) was nominated as the first Republican Presidential candidate, and then the process for selecting the VP started. On the first ballot, Lincoln was second, far behind the leader, but he had over twice the number of delegates to the person who finished third (the voting finished on the second ballot).
During the Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati, James Buchanan was nominated for President, and John C. Breckenridge (KY) was nominated for VP. Almost immediately after those nominations, the convention delegates labeled the Republicans as “Black Republicans”, warning that the new party was hellbent on destroying the nation. Lincoln started to seriously contemplate why the Republican Party was only viable in the North, while Democrats, who wanted to expand slavery, had (obviously) massive support in the South, but also strong support in the North; to Lincoln, the obvious answer was race.
During the Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati, James Buchanan was nominated for President, and John C. Breckenridge (KY) was nominated for VP. Almost immediately after those nominations, the convention delegates labeled the Republicans as “Black Republicans”, warning that the new party was hellbent on destroying the nation. Lincoln started to seriously contemplate why the Republican Party was only viable in the North, while Democrats, who wanted to expand slavery, had (obviously) massive support in the South, but also strong support in the North; to Lincoln, the obvious answer was race.
The Republican Party faced a monumental political barrier in the Election of 1856, in that the Democrats had an intractable base of support in the South as a head start, as well as many voters in the North - so how to combat that political reality? Campaigning for Fremont, Lincoln tried to appeal to white voters who were resistant to the moral arguments against slavery. Lincoln insisted the pro-slavery elements had it wrong, in that they falsely claimed that slaves were better off than Northern freemen. Lincoln was dismissed out of hand by the pro-slavery Democrat Illinois Register as the “Great High Priest of Abolitionism”.
The results of the Election of 1856 were as follows: Buchanan (Democrat) - 174 Electoral Votes, 19 states, 45.3% of the popular vote . . . Fremont (Republican) - 114 Electoral Votes, 11 states, and 33.1% . . . Millard Fillmore (American Party, a.k.a. the “Know-Nothings”) - 8 Electoral Votes, 1 state (MD), 21.6%. Outgoing President Franklin Pierce (from NH) viewed the North as the greatest threat to the Union; even Pierce had fallen under the spell that “States Rights” (which was really protecting slavery) was far more important that human rights. For his part, Lincoln viewed the election of Buchanan as a lost battle, not a lost war. On 4 March 1857, Buchanan gave his Inaugural Address, where he urged the nation to accept the possible expansion of slavery. Two days later, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney issued the majority opinion in the Dred Scott Decision. In 1857, the Supreme Court featured seven Democrats; five of them, including Taney, were from slave states.
The results of the Election of 1856 were as follows: Buchanan (Democrat) - 174 Electoral Votes, 19 states, 45.3% of the popular vote . . . Fremont (Republican) - 114 Electoral Votes, 11 states, and 33.1% . . . Millard Fillmore (American Party, a.k.a. the “Know-Nothings”) - 8 Electoral Votes, 1 state (MD), 21.6%. Outgoing President Franklin Pierce (from NH) viewed the North as the greatest threat to the Union; even Pierce had fallen under the spell that “States Rights” (which was really protecting slavery) was far more important that human rights. For his part, Lincoln viewed the election of Buchanan as a lost battle, not a lost war. On 4 March 1857, Buchanan gave his Inaugural Address, where he urged the nation to accept the possible expansion of slavery. Two days later, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney issued the majority opinion in the Dred Scott Decision. In 1857, the Supreme Court featured seven Democrats; five of them, including Taney, were from slave states.
In a 7 - 2 decision concerning Dred Scott, the Supreme Court ruled that the Declaration of Independence did not include Black people, that they were not citizens, and that the Missouri Compromise (1820) was unconstitutional. Taney wrote the majority opinion, stating that African slaves were “inferior”. Taney went further, asserting that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. In essence, the seven justices in the majority tried to “reorder the reality” by declaring that the anti-slavery cause was unconstitutional. The Taney Court wanted to end the debate over the expansion of slavery with a single ruling, except the Court’s decision, while lauded in the South, ignited a powder keg in the North. To more-and-more Northerners, it was now confirmed in their mind that the federal government was pro-South.
Lincoln saw the ruling as “erroneous”, and was determined to peacefully overrule the decision. Lincoln pointed out that in the Court’s dissenting opinion, in at least 5 of the original 13 states (NH, MA, NY, HM, NC) Free Blacks could, and did, vote. However, in the following decades, NJ and NC revoked Black suffrage, and NY greatly restricted Black voting rights. Also, state legislatures across the nation started to make emancipation far more difficult. By 1857, after the Dred Scott Decision, African slaves had virtually no path towards freedom. As 1858 unfolded, Lincoln started to again get ready to challenge Stephen Douglas for the US Senate ...
Lincoln saw the ruling as “erroneous”, and was determined to peacefully overrule the decision. Lincoln pointed out that in the Court’s dissenting opinion, in at least 5 of the original 13 states (NH, MA, NY, HM, NC) Free Blacks could, and did, vote. However, in the following decades, NJ and NC revoked Black suffrage, and NY greatly restricted Black voting rights. Also, state legislatures across the nation started to make emancipation far more difficult. By 1857, after the Dred Scott Decision, African slaves had virtually no path towards freedom. As 1858 unfolded, Lincoln started to again get ready to challenge Stephen Douglas for the US Senate ...