The Split of the Democratic Party and the Road to the Civil War (1860), Study notes of World History

Download The Split of the Democratic Party and the Road to the Civil War (1860) and more Study notes World History in PDF only on Docsity! HISTORY 121 M01 LECTURE 33 Page 1 HST 121 History of the United States till 1877 Lecture 33 SOMETIMES A HUSBAND AND A WIFE WHO HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR MANY YEARS FINALLY DECIDE THAT IT'S TIME FOR A DIVORCE. THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH IN THE YEAR 1860 HAVE REALLY BEEN FUSSING WITH EACH OTHER FOR FORTY YEARS. AND THE DISCUSSION AND THE UNHAPPINESS HAVE BEEN OVER SLAVERY EXTENSION. THAT'S THE ISSUE. NOW WE HAVE AN INCREASING NUMBER IN BOTH THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH WHO THINK THAT IT'S TIME FOR A DIVORCE. IT IS TIME FOR A SPLIT IN THE NATION. I EMPHASIZE THAT IT WAS IN BOTH THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH BECAUSE THERE WERE OUTSPOKEN PEOPLE IN THE NORTH WHO WERE CERTAINLY CALLING FOR A DIVORCE IN OUR NATION. LET'S LOOK AT THE FIRST TOPIC IN OUR LECTURE OUTLINE FOR TODAY. THE DEMOCRATS SPLIT. AS YOU KNOW IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD WE ARE IN THE ENGLISH TRADITION. IN THE CLASSICAL ENGLISH GOVERNMENTAL OR POLITICAL TRADITION BOTH SIDES EXPRESS THEMSELVES AND THEN THE ENGLISH MUDDLE THROUGH. SOMEHOW THEY MAKE CONCESSIONS AND COMPROMISES AND THEY MUDDLE THROUGH IN ORDER TO GET AN AGREEMENT AND GO ON. IN AMERICA IN THE LATE 1850'S THE MOST RADICAL PEOPLE IN BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH WERE SO OUTSPOKEN AND STRIDENT THAT WE JUST COULDN'T SEEM TO MAKE COMPROMISES ANYMORE. WE COULDN'T SEEM TO GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER ANYMORE. ONE CAN SEE THIS EVEN IN THE RELIGIOUS AREAS. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE METHODISTS, BAPTISTS, AND PRESBYTERIANS DURING THESE YEARS? THEY SPLIT. THIS IS WHERE YOU GET SOUTHERN BAPTISTS AND NORTHERN BAPTISTS, SOUTHERN METHODISTS AND NORTHERN METHODISTS, SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIANS AND NORTHERN PRESBYTERIANS. IN DOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD WE HAVE TWO MAJOR METHODISTS CHURCHES, LARGE CHURCHES, LOCATED 2-3 BLOCKS BETWEEN EACH OTHER. WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT? ONE WAS SOUTHERN AND ONE WAS NORTHERN. PEOPLE IN SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS WERE FINDING THE SAME DIFFICULTIES THAT GOVERNMENTAL UNITS WERE FINDING. NOW THE MAJORITY PARTY AT THIS TIME WAS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. REMEMBER THE WHIGS HAD BEEN PRETTY STRONG IN THE 1840'S AND THEY ACTUALLY HAD BEEN ABLE TO ELECT TAYLOR IN 1848. THE WHIGS HAD DIED AND NOW THE DEMOCRATS WERE THE MAJOR PARTY. IN 1860 THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL WAS HELD IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA. IT WAS A VERY UNHAPPY CONVENTION BECAUSE THE SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN DEMOCRATS COULDN'T GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER. THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS WERE TALKING ABOUT A TERRITORIAL SLAVE CODE. SOME SORT OF A CODE WHICH WOULD LEGALIZE SLAVERY IN ALL OF THE TERRITORIAL UNITS. YOU KNOW WE NEED THIS AND WE OUGHT TO HAVE ONE ADOPTED AND IT FITS NOW WITH THE DRED SCOTT DECISION WHICH SAID ANYONE COULD TAKE SLAVES INTO ANY TERRITORY. WE NEED A TERRITORIAL SLAVE CODE. THAT WAS AN EXTREME POSITION ON THE PART OF THE SOUTH. THE NORTHERN DEMOCRATS SAID NO, THAT'S NOT APPROPRIATE BECAUSE WE WANT THE DECISION TO BE MADE BY POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. STEPHEN DOUGLAS WHO WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND CONVINCING DEMOCRAT, THE STEAM HISTORY 121 M01 LECTURE 33 Page 2 ENGINE IN BRITCHES, SAID THAT HE WANTED POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. SO YOU HAVE THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS WHO ARE AT ONE ANOTHER AT THIS CONVENTION. FINALLY THEY COULDN'T AGREE. THEY COULDN'T COME TO ANY AGREEMENT ON ANY PLATFORM AND THE SOUTHERN STATES WALKED OUT AND NO ONE WAS ELECTED OR NOMINATED AS THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1860. THEY ADJOURNED. THEY HAD SPENT TEN HOT DAYS THERE IN CHARLESTON TRYING TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT AND THEY WERE UNABLE TO DO THAT. THEY MET AGAIN THE SECOND TIME IN BALTIMORE. MAYBE THEY THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE QUITE AS WARM IF THEY WENT UP THE COAST AND THEY STILL COULDN'T REACH A CONSENSUS. THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH COULDN'T GET TOGETHER ENOUGH TO NOMINATED SOMEONE FOR PRESIDENT SO THEY SPLIT AND THE NORTHERN DEMOCRATS NOMINATED DOUGLAS AND THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS NOMINATED A MAN FROM KENTUCKY NAMED JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. THERE IS A CLASSIC CARTOON OF THAT PERIOD WHICH SHOWS A WAGON WITH TWO MULES PULLING ONE WAY AND TWO MULES PULLING ANOTHER WAY. ON ONE SIDE TO THE WEST IT IS STEPHEN DOUGLAS WHO WAS NOMINATED AS THE CANDIDATE FOR THE NORTHERN DEMOCRATS. ON THE RIGHT IT IS JOHN BRECKINRIDGE WHO IS NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT BY THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS. YOU WILL OBSERVE THAT THERE IS A RAILROAD TRAIN THAT IS APPROACHING AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS THE ENGINEER AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. THE TRAIN IS GOING TO HIT THAT WAGON AND DIVIDE IT IN TWO. THIS IS IN FACT WHAT DID OCCUR. SOME OF YOU FROM TIME TO TIME GO SKIING IN COLORADO AND ONE OF THE TOWNS OUT THERE IS BRECKENRIDGE. IT HAS ALWAYS AMUSED ME THAT BRECKENRIDGE, COLORADO WHICH WAS NAMED FOR JOHN BRECKINRIDGE WHO WAS CANDIDATE OF THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS, WHEN THE CIVIL WAR CAME ON BECAME A CONFEDERATE. IT SO IRRITATED THESE PEOPLE IN COLORADO THAT THEY WANTED TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THEIR TOWN BUT SINCE IT WAS KNOWN AS BRECKENRIDGE THEY HATED TO COMPLETELY CHANGE IT SO WHAT THEY DID IS CHANGE THE SPELLING. BRECKINRIDGE THE PERSON IS SPELLED WITH AN "IN". BRECKENRIDGE THE TOWN IS SPELLED WITH AN "EN". THEY DID THAT IN ORDER TO SHOW TO TRY TO GET A LITTLE DISTANCE FROM JOHN BRECKINRIDGE. SO NEXT TIME YOU ARE SKIING AS YOU GO DOWN THE HILLS YOU CAN BE THINKING OF THAT CHANGE IN SPELLING. WELL WHAT WE HAVE HERE NOW IS THE SPLIT IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN 1860. WELL SECONDLY THIS PROVIDES A REPUBLICAN OPPORTUNITY. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD. THE REPUBLICANS SENSED THAT THEY HAD A GREAT OPPORTUNITY IN 1860 BECAUSE IF THE DEMOCRATS WERE NOW SPLIT WITH TWO SEPARATE CANDIDATES DOUGLAS FOR THESE DEMOCRATS AND BRECKINRIDGE FOR THESE DEMOCRATS THEN A REPUBLICAN MIGHT COME ALONG AND WIN THE ELECTION. THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION WAS HELD IN CHICAGO. THEY WERE SEEKING A CANDIDATE FROM THE MIDWEST AND THEY DECIDED ON THE THIRD BALLOT. BY THE WAY I'M TOLD THAT A MAN FROM SPRINGFIELD WAS ONE OF THE NOMINATING PEOPLE AT THAT CONVENTION AND GAVE A SPEECH OF ENDORSEMENT FOR HISTORY 121 M01 LECTURE 33 Page 5 CAROLINA, GEORGIA, FLORIDA, ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA, AND TEXAS ALL SECEDED. THESE LOWER STATES. THAT ISN'T ALL OF THE SLAVE STATES. THEY DIDN'T SECEDE IMMEDIATELY. IT WAS JUST THESE STATES OF THE LOWER SOUTH THAT SECEDED IMMEDIATELY. THEY THEN HAD TO DO SOMETHING TOGETHER. BY THE WAY I THINK THERE'S SUCH DRAMA IN THESE STATE CONVENTIONS TO SECEDE THE UNION. ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC OCCURRED WHEN TEXAS SECEDED FROM THE UNION. OLD SAM HOUSTON WHO HAD LED THE TEXANS IN THEIR WAR AND WHO HAD BEEN THE PRESIDENT OF TEXAS FOR NINE YEARS DIDN'T WANT TO SECEDE. HE SAID LOOK IT TOOK US NINE YEARS TO GET IN NOW LET'S NOT JUMP OUT. BUT THE TEXANS PUSHED HOUSTON ASIDE AND SAID WE WANT TO SECEDE. SO WE HAVE THESE STATES OF THE CONFEDERACY WHICH SECEDE. THEN THEY MEET IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA IN FEBRUARY OF 1861. THE SECEDING STATES ESTABLISH A NEW NATION. THAT NEW NATION HAD THE NAME THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. PLEASE NOTE HOW SIMILAR THE NAMES ARE. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. THE ABBREVIATION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WAS U.S.A. THE ABBREVIATION FOR THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA WAS C.S.A. YOU OUGHT TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THAT. IN THE AREA OF ANTIQUES YOU MAY SEE SOME CONFEDERATE ARTICLE AND IF IT HAS CSA ON IT YOU WILL NOW IT HAS GREATER AUTHENTICITY. NOT ONLY WERE THE NAMES SIMILAR BUT THE CONSTITUTIONS WERE SIMILAR ALSO. THIS NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE CONFEDERACY HAD ONE PRESIDENT, A TWO HOUSE LEGISLATURE, AND A JUDICIARY JUST AS THE U.S. DID. A VERY SIMILAR STRUCTURE. IT DID EMPHASIZE STATES RIGHTS AT VARIOUS POINTS IN THAT CONSTITUTION. IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE SYMPATHETIC WITH STATES RIGHTS, SOMETHING THAT CREATED GREAT PROBLEMS WITH THE PRESIDENCY. WHO WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERACY? THAT PRESIDENT WAS JEFFERSON DAVIS, WHO WAS A GOOD LOOKING MAN. PROBABLY IN A BEAUTY CONTEST YOU WOULD VOTE FOR DAVIS OVER LINCOLN. DAVIS WAS A MISSISSIPPI PLANTER WHO HAD HAD LONG EXPERIENCE IN GOVERNMENT. HE HAD BEEN A SENATOR. HE HAD BEEN SECRETARY OF WAR. HE WAS A VERY IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL IN THE SOUTH. HE WAS SELECTED TO BE THE PRESIDENT. SO WE HAVE BEGINNING IN FEBRUARY OF 1861 A NEW NATION--THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. AND A NEW PRESIDENT WHO WAS JEFFERSON DAVIS WHO IS OPERATING WITHIN THAT NEW NATION. NOW IN STARTING THIS NEW GOVERNMENT THEY DIDN'T DECLARE WAR. THIS ISN'T A DECLARATION OF WAR. THEY SIMPLY SAID WE ARE GOING TO SET UP A DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT. WE AREN'T GOING TO BE IN YOUR GOVERNMENT ANYMORE. WAR COMES LATER AND WE WILL TALK ABOUT THAT AFTER WE HAVE THE UNIT TEST. THERE WAS SOME IN THE NORTH. AND HORACE GREELEY WHO WAS A VERY INFLUENTIAL NEWSPAPER MAN IN THE CITY. HE WAS EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE. GREELEY WHEN THIS HAPPENS SAID LET THEM DEPART IN PEACE. GREELEY WOULDN'T HAVE FOUGHT TO CONTINUE THE UNION WITH THEM. HE WOULD HAVE JUST LET THEM GO. BUT NOT EVERYONE AGREES WITH GREELEY. SO NOW WE HAVE THE LOWER SOUTH SECEDING AND FORMING THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT. HISTORY 121 M01 LECTURE 33 Page 6 THE NEXT TOPIC IS BUCHANAN WAITS. WE NEED TO RECALL THAT BUCHANAN WAS STILL PRESIDENT. ALTHOUGH LINCOLN WAS ELECTED IN NOVEMBER OF 186O HE WASN'T SWORN IN UNTIL MARCH OF 1861. DURING THIS TIME BUCHANAN WAS STILL PRESIDENT AND LIVING IN THE WHITE HOUSE ALTHOUGH STATES ARE SECEDING FROM THE UNION AND FORMING NEW GOVERNMENTS. HE MADE TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS DURING THIS TIME THAT ARE RATHER INTERESTING. HIS FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT WAS THAT NO STATE HAS A RIGHT TO SECEDE. HIS ATTORNEY GENERAL HAD ADVISED HIM TO MAKE THAT ANNOUNCEMENT. NO STATE HAS A RIGHT TO SECEDE. THEN HE MADE A SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT AND THIS SHOWS THAT HE WAS ESSENTIALLY A DOUGHFACE. HE SAYS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE THE POWER TO HOLD A STATE IN THE UNION AGAINST ITS WILL. YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO BUT IF YOU EXERCISE A RIGHT THAT YOU DON'T HAVE WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE THE POWER TO HOLD THE STATE IN THE UNION AGAINST ITS WILL. NOW TO BE SYMPATHETIC TO BUCHANAN FOR A MOMENT. HE THOUGHT IF HE DID SOMETHING IT MIGHT START THE WAR AND HE DIDN'T WANT THE WAR STARTING ON HIS WATCH SO HE SAT AND WAITED AS THE NEW CONFEDERATE STATES ORGANIZED AND TOOK OVER THE MILITARY BASES LOCATED IN THEIR STATES. THEY TOOK THEM OVER ONE BY ONE EXCEPT FOR TWO BASES AND WE WILL TALK ABOUT THEM LATER. ONE OF THEM AT CHARLESTON HARBOR BECAME THE CAUSE FOR THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. THERE WERE A FEW PEOPLE DURING THIS TIME WHO TRIED TO WORK OUT A PIECE. WHY WEREN'T THESE BORDER SLAVE STATES SECEDING? WHY WERE THEY SO SLOW TO ACT? THEY ARE RIGHT BY THE NORTH. WHEN THE FIGHTING OCCURS WHERE WILL IT OCCUR? THOSE BORDER STATES. SO THEY WERE PERCEPTIVE. THEY HAD MORE TO LOSE IN THAT SENSE. SO THE BORDER STATES WAIT. A FEW STATES TRIED TO WORK OUT THESE CONFERENCES. THE STATE OF VIRGINIA ANNOUNCED THERE WAS GOING TO BE A WASHINGTON PEACE CONFERENCE TO TRY TO WORK OUT ALL THESE PROBLEMS. HENRY CLAY WAS DEAD NOW AND THEY COULDN'T GET BOTH SIDES TO TAKE PART IN THE PROCESS. THE CONFEDERACY WOULD NOT TAKE PART IN IT. LINCOLN SAID I WAS ELECTED AND YOU KNOW WHAT MY PLATFORM WAS. SO WHILE BUCHANAN WAS PRESIDENT THE NATION JUST SAT AND WAITED FOR LINCOLN WHO WOULD BE SWORN IN ON MARCH 4, 1861. ALL THIS OCCURS WHILE BUCHANAN IS SIMPLY SITTING AND WAITING. IN SUMMARY LET ME MAKE TWO POINTS. FIRST OF ALL THE ELECTION OF LINCOLN WAS THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE FOR THE SECESSION OF THE SOUTH. THE ELECTION OF LINCOLN. THERE HAD BEEN A LOT OF CAUSES BUT THIS WAS THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMELS BACK. THE SECOND POINT THAT I WOULD MAKE IS THAT NOW THAT THE SOUTH HAD SECEDED, THE BIG ISSUE WAS WOULD THE NORTH LET THEM GO? THAT WAS THE QUESTION. JUST BECAUSE ONE SIDE FILES FOR DIVORCE DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE OTHER SIDE IS HAPPY ABOUT THAT ALTERNATIVE AND WILL GO ALONG WITH IT. WE WILL SEE IN THE NEXT FIRST LECTURE AFTER THE TEST WHAT THE RESPONSE OF THE NORTH IS. HISTORY 121 M01 LECTURE 33 Page 7 *********** LET ME SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT OUR STATE MISSOURI. AS YOU KNOW HISTORY 121 IS A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES THEREFORE IT CANNOT BE EXCLUSIVELY BE DEVOTED TO ANY ONE SINGLE STATE. SOMETIMES IT IS USEFUL FOR US TO LOOK AT ONE STATE AND SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON. IN THE CASE OF MISSOURI THIS PERIOD BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PERIOD. WE NEED TO BE AWARE THAT MANY OF THESE ISSUES THAT WERE DEVELOPING NATIONALLY WERE ALSO VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE. IF YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH ST. LOUIS YOU HAVE SEEN THE ARCH, THAT MARVELOUS PIECE OF ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE WHICH CAPTURES THE ROLE WHICH ST. LOUIS PLAYED AS A GATEWAY TO THE WEST. ST. LOUIS THEN LED MISSOURI TO PLAY THE ROLE OF MOTHER OF THE WEST. LET'S JUST LOOK AT MISSOURI DURING THIS TIME AND SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT THIS STATE. FIRST OF ALL WE REALLY WERE THE MOTHER OF THE WEST DURING THIS PRE-CIVIL WAR PERIOD. WHO WAS IT THAT LED THE WAY TO THE SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS BY ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLE? OF COURSE IT WAS A MISSOURIAN MOSES AUSTIN WHO LED THE WAY. IT WAS HIS SON STEPHEN WHO CARRIED IT OUT. THE WHOLE MOVEMENT UP TO OREGON WAS RIGHT HERE BETWEEN KANSAS CITY AND ST. JOSEPH. THAT'S WHERE YOU HAVE THE OREGON FEVER THAT CAPTURED SO MANY PEOPLE. THE OREGON TRAIL COMES RIGHT OUT OF MISSOURI. WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT CALIFORNIA WHICH SEEMS SO ATTRACTIVE AFTER GOLD HAS BEEN DISCOVERED THAT WHEN SO MANY THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS MADE THEIR WAY TO CALIFORNIA THEY WENT THROUGH MISSOURI. THEY LEFT FROM THE INDEPENDENCE, WESTPORT REGION. SOMETIMES AS THEY WENT THEY SANG ABOUT SWEET BETSY FROM PIKE. WELL BETSY WAS FROM PIKE COUNTY MISSOURI RIGHT UP HERE BETWEEN HANNIBLE AND ST. LOUIS. MISSOURI WAS IMPORTANT IN THESE WESTWARD MOVEMENTS. MISSOURI WAS ALSO IMPORTANT IN TRANSPORTATION, ESPECIALLY TRANSPORTATION TO THE WEST. WE'VE ALREADY MENTIONED THE OREGON TRAIL, CALIFORNIA GROUPS, SANTA FE TRAIL. MISSOURI WAS IMPORTANT TO TRANSPORTATION TO THE WEST. IT WAS ALSO IMPORTANT IN MANY OTHER WAYS. FOR EXAMPLE THE USE OF STEAMBOATS. THE STEAMBOATS WHICH WE KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT, IN PART BECAUSE OF MARK TWAIN, CARRIED GOODS AND PEOPLE ON THE MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVER. THIS WAS PART OF THE LIFE OF MISSOURI. IN THE YEARS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR THAT WAS A GREAT RAILROAD BUILDING TIME. OF COURSE THERE WERE LOTS MORE RAILROADS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI THAT WEST BUT BY 1860 YOU COULD GO FROM ST. LOUIS TO KANSAS CITY BY RAILROAD. YOU COULDN'T GO FROM ST. LOUIS TO SPRINGFIELD BUT YOU COULD GET TO ROLLA BY 1860. THE RAILROADS WERE BUILDING DURING THIS TIME AND MISSOURI'S FIRST RAILROAD CROSSING THE STATE WENT FROM HANNIBLE TO ST. JOE. THAT RAILROAD WAS QUITE SUCCESSFUL FOR MANY YEARS. AS A MATTER OF FACT ANOTHER TRANSPORTATION WHICH CAME OUT OF MISSOURI WAS THE PONY EXPRESS. THE PONY EXPRESS WHICH LEFT FROM ST. JOSEPH WOULD WAIT UNTIL THE TRAIN CAME FROM HANNIBLE THEN THEY WOULD TAKE THOSE LETTERS AND MAKE THEIR WAY TO CALIFORNIA.