HIST 119: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877 Lecture 8 - Dred Scott, Bleeding Kansas, and the Impending Crisis of the Union, 1855-58
Aug 19, 2017
A brisk tour through the 1850s crisis over slavery, from the violence in Kansas and John Brown's radicalism to the caning of Charles Sumner in the Senate. The rapid rise of a new anti-slavery political coalition and the 1856 presidential realignment are highlighted. The narrative builds toward the seismic Dred Scott decision and its explosive political consequences.
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How Kansas-Nebraska Ignited A New Party
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act erased the Missouri Compromise line and unleashed a political storm by opening western lands to possible slavery expansion.
- Stephen Douglas's popular sovereignty gamble shattered the old two-party system and catalyzed the rapid birth of the Republican Party in 1854.
Republican Party Built On Slave Power Fear
- Republicans formed around a Slave Power Conspiracy idea and an anti-slavery interpretation of the Constitution to keep slavery regional, not national.
- The coalition combined northern Whigs, Free Soilers, and anti-slavery Democrats around free labor and small-farmer mobility.
Bleeding Kansas Became A Mini Civil War
- Kansas became a violent battleground as Missourians flooded in to vote, producing rival governments and a guerrilla civil war called Bleeding Kansas.
- By 1856 about 250 people died and both sides used nighttime raids, vigilantes, and imported settlers funded by immigrant aid societies.