Source: Jon Meacham. And There Was Light -
Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (2022)
Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (2022)
During 1850, Congress tried to protect slavery and to preserve the Union in what became known as the Compromise of 1850. In winning the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848), the US took the northern one-third of Mexico, which is mostly what is now CA, NV, UT, and most of AZ and NM. Even during the war, the debate about the expansion of slavery in territories to be taken from Mexico became an obsession, especially in the South. What precipitated the need for a compromise, in part, was CA’s desire to become a free state. The complication was that CA would have given the North a plus-two advantage in the Senate over the South, since there wasn’t a slave territory ready to be admitted to keep the balance in the chamber.
John C. Calhoun saw the situation the South faced as “submission or resistance”, all-or-nothing. On the other side of the coin, Henry Clay basically came out of retirement to craft an omnibus (multi-part) bill that he hoped would buy the nation time to allow the tensions to calm down. Among the parts of Clay’s bill was: a) CA added as a free state; b) Popular Sovereignty for the territories of UT and NM; c) A stronger Fugitive Slave Act (which Congress had passed in 1793). Clay’s omnibus bill became stalled in the Senate, and eventually Senator Stephen Douglas (D; IL) proposed that the Senate should vote on each separate part in separate bills, which led to the end of the logjam in that chamber.
John C. Calhoun saw the situation the South faced as “submission or resistance”, all-or-nothing. On the other side of the coin, Henry Clay basically came out of retirement to craft an omnibus (multi-part) bill that he hoped would buy the nation time to allow the tensions to calm down. Among the parts of Clay’s bill was: a) CA added as a free state; b) Popular Sovereignty for the territories of UT and NM; c) A stronger Fugitive Slave Act (which Congress had passed in 1793). Clay’s omnibus bill became stalled in the Senate, and eventually Senator Stephen Douglas (D; IL) proposed that the Senate should vote on each separate part in separate bills, which led to the end of the logjam in that chamber.
The South was ecstatic with the Compromise of !850, particularly with the Fugitive Slave Act, having long wanted the ability to track down runaway “property” in the North, which slave owners simply saw as their economic and God-given right. Many Northerners viewed the Fugitive Slave Act differently, believing that the federal government was favoring the South. The Fugitive Slave Act meant that the federal government used its power in service of slaveholders, and that part of the Compromise of 1850 became the flashpoint for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Stowe’s book was originally serialized in 1851, and then published as a book in 1852, and then adapted into an incredibly popular play. The overall effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the North was that the reader became emotionally involved in the lives of African slaves, and for the first time, cognitively anyway, viewed slaves as people. The book sold in unprecedented numbers, and rare was the Northerner that hadn’t at least heard of the book. Uncle Tom’s Cabin did not turn Northerners into Abolitionists, but the book did turn many more Northerners against slavery, which was a sea-change in the region’s thinking about slavery and the South.
By the mid-1850s, it seemed very likely that the US was going down the path towards Civil War, with the latest polarizing event being the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854). The origin of the bill was due to the ambition of Senator Stephen Douglas (D; IL) to eventually become President by no later than 1860. Simplified, Douglas’ plan was to: a) Organize the unorganized territory of what was left of the Louisiana Purchase, which spanned from what is now KS all the way north to the border of Canada, east of the Rockies; b) Popular Sovereignty would be used in the gigantic territory; c) Once the territory was created, land grants could be issued for railroad companies to start building a line from Chicago to San Francisco through that newly created territory; d) As a result of the railroad’s construction, Douglas would be so popular in Illinois that he would again be re-selected as US Senator, and be perfectly poised for the Democratic nomination for President, perhaps as early as 1856.
By the mid-1850s, it seemed very likely that the US was going down the path towards Civil War, with the latest polarizing event being the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854). The origin of the bill was due to the ambition of Senator Stephen Douglas (D; IL) to eventually become President by no later than 1860. Simplified, Douglas’ plan was to: a) Organize the unorganized territory of what was left of the Louisiana Purchase, which spanned from what is now KS all the way north to the border of Canada, east of the Rockies; b) Popular Sovereignty would be used in the gigantic territory; c) Once the territory was created, land grants could be issued for railroad companies to start building a line from Chicago to San Francisco through that newly created territory; d) As a result of the railroad’s construction, Douglas would be so popular in Illinois that he would again be re-selected as US Senator, and be perfectly poised for the Democratic nomination for President, perhaps as early as 1856.
Douglas proposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had banned slavery north of the “36-30 Line”, using instead popular sovereignty as an expedient (since Douglas was in a hurry to become President). In the years immediately after the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, slave owners felt even more isolated and under attack. In order to protect and expand their way of life which slaveholders found so precious and justified, the answer was to amass as much power as possible. If the South could control land and people via political, social, and economic power, the region be able to protect slavery where it existed and expand slavery West in the territories, which would guarantee the permanence of their way of life. The increased anxieties and fears of the region created the rise of Southern White Nationalism, which in effect became the “regional religion”; in other words, Southern society was to be purely exempt and separate from any opposing views, laws, and traditions of the North (or anywhere else).
The House voted to recognize the territory of Nebraska (there was no separate Kansas territory yet), but the bill was blocked in the Senate since Nebraska was entirely above the Missouri Compromise’s “36/30 Line”. It was at that point that Douglas called for popular sovereignty in the territory, and to also create the Kansas Territory, using popular sovereignty there as well. In calling for a Kansas Territory immediately south of the Nebraska Territory, Douglas was in effect pandering to the South, thinking that in Kansas slaveholders would have a better chance to prevail with popular sovereignty.
On 30 May 1854, President Franklin Pierce signed the bill into law, which as far as many Northerners were concerned, opened up the West to the expansion of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused a tidal wave of political change: a) The Whig Party collapsed over the debate of the expansion of slavery; b) Anti-slavery Whigs needed a new political home, and they joined with Free Soilers and anti-slavery Democrats to form the Republican Party in 1854. Anti-slavery forces were aroused as never before as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and far more polarizing events were to come in the next few years.
The House voted to recognize the territory of Nebraska (there was no separate Kansas territory yet), but the bill was blocked in the Senate since Nebraska was entirely above the Missouri Compromise’s “36/30 Line”. It was at that point that Douglas called for popular sovereignty in the territory, and to also create the Kansas Territory, using popular sovereignty there as well. In calling for a Kansas Territory immediately south of the Nebraska Territory, Douglas was in effect pandering to the South, thinking that in Kansas slaveholders would have a better chance to prevail with popular sovereignty.
On 30 May 1854, President Franklin Pierce signed the bill into law, which as far as many Northerners were concerned, opened up the West to the expansion of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused a tidal wave of political change: a) The Whig Party collapsed over the debate of the expansion of slavery; b) Anti-slavery Whigs needed a new political home, and they joined with Free Soilers and anti-slavery Democrats to form the Republican Party in 1854. Anti-slavery forces were aroused as never before as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and far more polarizing events were to come in the next few years.
During the Summer of 1854 in the political landscape surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Lincoln campaigned for a US Senate seat in Illinois. By this time Lincoln agreed with
Frederick Douglass in that an emancipated Union was possible. That view was contrasted by the Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who actually supported secession, which in his view would purge the sin of slavery from the North. Lincoln shared the view that the Constitution authorized slavery where it already existed, but he was absolutely opposed to the expansion of slavery. Lincoln saw a future in the US where slavery was prohibited from expanding in the territories, and gradual emancipation would occur in the South with compensation for slaveholders. Following that, Lincoln supported the volunteer immigration of former slaves to locations outside of the nation.
On 10 July 1854, Cassius Clay of Kentucky, famous for being a Southern Abolitionist (he was a KY plantation owner), and for publishing his Abolitionist newspaper, “The True American”, spoke in Springfield. Lincoln was one of the estimated 1500 in attendance that heard Clay state that the nation should strike at the “monster aggressor” of slavery. Afterwards, Clay recalled Lincoln saying that “the man who made the corn should eat the corn”.
Frederick Douglass in that an emancipated Union was possible. That view was contrasted by the Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who actually supported secession, which in his view would purge the sin of slavery from the North. Lincoln shared the view that the Constitution authorized slavery where it already existed, but he was absolutely opposed to the expansion of slavery. Lincoln saw a future in the US where slavery was prohibited from expanding in the territories, and gradual emancipation would occur in the South with compensation for slaveholders. Following that, Lincoln supported the volunteer immigration of former slaves to locations outside of the nation.
On 10 July 1854, Cassius Clay of Kentucky, famous for being a Southern Abolitionist (he was a KY plantation owner), and for publishing his Abolitionist newspaper, “The True American”, spoke in Springfield. Lincoln was one of the estimated 1500 in attendance that heard Clay state that the nation should strike at the “monster aggressor” of slavery. Afterwards, Clay recalled Lincoln saying that “the man who made the corn should eat the corn”.
Before the 17th Amendment in 1913, which mandated that US Senators be elected by popular vote, US Senators were selected by state legislatures. In Illinois, what complicated matters for the “selection” was the intense rivalry between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, who had been “selected” as a US Senator in 1847. According to Frederick Douglass, commenting on Stephen Douglas, “no man of his time has done more to intensify the hatred for the Negro”. Senator Stephen Douglas became the champion of popular sovereignty, where those actually in the territory (white men) voted yes-or-no to sanction slavery. To Lincoln, popular sovereignty was nothing more than political hypocrisy.
In 1854, Lincoln and Douglas debated in Peoria, with Douglas speaking first at 2 pm, where he spent three hours defending the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Lincoln understood that those in attendance needed a break to have dinner, and asked them to reassemble at 7 pm to listen to his speech. Lincoln attacked the “declared indifference” of popular sovereignty as a covert and aggressive strategy to expand slavery. Lincoln argued that the Declaration of Independence applied to all people. Lincoln believed slavery to be morally wrong, but he understood that in 1854 he couldn’t entirely base his opposition to slavery in moral terms. Lincoln recognized that slavery was an entrenched systems network of forced labor in the South (and if money could be made in the North, slavery existed as well), and that the North reaped huge economic benefits from slavery, for example in the textile and sugar industries.
Lincoln went on to say that the current/new territories in the West should be locations where Southern poor whites migrated, not expanding slavery for the benefit of the wealthy Southern plantation owners. Lincoln pleaded to Southern whites to give up their belief that slavery was divinely ordained and to stop insisting that African slaves were subhuman. Lincoln stated that if the territories were free from slavery, then he could then tolerate the Fugitive Slave Act. The Illinois state legislature did not select Lincoln in 1855, but he told others that he was not depressed, in part because even in defeat, Lincoln was firm in his belief that slavery was morally wrong and that emancipation was possible.
In 1854, Lincoln and Douglas debated in Peoria, with Douglas speaking first at 2 pm, where he spent three hours defending the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Lincoln understood that those in attendance needed a break to have dinner, and asked them to reassemble at 7 pm to listen to his speech. Lincoln attacked the “declared indifference” of popular sovereignty as a covert and aggressive strategy to expand slavery. Lincoln argued that the Declaration of Independence applied to all people. Lincoln believed slavery to be morally wrong, but he understood that in 1854 he couldn’t entirely base his opposition to slavery in moral terms. Lincoln recognized that slavery was an entrenched systems network of forced labor in the South (and if money could be made in the North, slavery existed as well), and that the North reaped huge economic benefits from slavery, for example in the textile and sugar industries.
Lincoln went on to say that the current/new territories in the West should be locations where Southern poor whites migrated, not expanding slavery for the benefit of the wealthy Southern plantation owners. Lincoln pleaded to Southern whites to give up their belief that slavery was divinely ordained and to stop insisting that African slaves were subhuman. Lincoln stated that if the territories were free from slavery, then he could then tolerate the Fugitive Slave Act. The Illinois state legislature did not select Lincoln in 1855, but he told others that he was not depressed, in part because even in defeat, Lincoln was firm in his belief that slavery was morally wrong and that emancipation was possible.
In the midst of his campaign for the US Senate seat, the Republican Party was created. The original make-up of the party consisted of Free Soilers, anti-slavery Whigs, anti-Kansas-Nebraska Democrats, as well as other anti-slavery elements. On 6 July 1954 in Jackson (MI), the Republican Party was officially formed. The convention delegates agreed to call the party the Republican Party, and that the creation of the party was forced upon them by “slave power”.
In a trend that very much worried Lincoln, Nativism (Anti-Immigration) was on the rise, mainly in reaction to the high number of Irish and German immigrants to the US. These secret anti-immigration societies became the “Know-Nothing Party”, in that members were instructed to respond in that manner if they were asked if they were a member of one of those secret societies. Nativists were all-in on the belief that white Americans must rule America.
Nativism gained momentum after the Election of 1852 when Winfield Scott (Whig) lost to Franklin Pierce (Democrat). Scott alienated Protestant extremists by reaching out to Catholics for their vote, and those extremists mobilized many Protestant moderates to vote against Scott. Lincoln detested Nativism almost as much as slavery. What really riled Lincoln was that Nativism took root among those that opposed slavery in the North, which to him made zero sense. The American Party became the official name of the “Know-Nothing Party”, and it became more-and-more difficult for Lincoln to keep the political focus on slavery instead of immigration.
In a trend that very much worried Lincoln, Nativism (Anti-Immigration) was on the rise, mainly in reaction to the high number of Irish and German immigrants to the US. These secret anti-immigration societies became the “Know-Nothing Party”, in that members were instructed to respond in that manner if they were asked if they were a member of one of those secret societies. Nativists were all-in on the belief that white Americans must rule America.
Nativism gained momentum after the Election of 1852 when Winfield Scott (Whig) lost to Franklin Pierce (Democrat). Scott alienated Protestant extremists by reaching out to Catholics for their vote, and those extremists mobilized many Protestant moderates to vote against Scott. Lincoln detested Nativism almost as much as slavery. What really riled Lincoln was that Nativism took root among those that opposed slavery in the North, which to him made zero sense. The American Party became the official name of the “Know-Nothing Party”, and it became more-and-more difficult for Lincoln to keep the political focus on slavery instead of immigration.