SECTION

3 Political Divisions
TEKS 5C, 7C, 8B, 17B, 18C, 21A If YOU were there...
You are traveling through Michigan in July 1854. As you pass
What You Will Learn… through the town of Jackson, you see a crowd of several hundred
Main Ideas
people gathered under the trees. You join them and find that it is
1. Political parties in the United a political rally. Antislavery supporters from different parties are
States underwent change meeting to form a new political party. Speakers promise to fight
due to the movement to
expand slavery. slavery “until the contest be terminated.”
2. The Dred Scott decision
created further division over How do you think this new party will affect
the issue of slavery. American politics?
3. The Lincoln-Douglas debates
brought much attention to the
conflict over slavery.

The Big Idea Building Background The slavery question continued to divide
the country and lead to violence. The issue not only dominated Ameri-
The split over the issue of slav-
ery intensified due to political can politics in the mid-1800s but also brought changes in the makeup of
division and judicial decisions. American political parties.

Key Terms and People

Republican Party, p. 488 Political Parties Undergo Change
James Buchanan, p. 488
Democrat Stephen Douglas had predicted that the Kansas-Nebraska
John C. Frémont, p. 489
Act would “raise a . . . storm.” He was right. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Dred Scott, p. 489
Roger B. Taney, p. 490 brought the slavery issue back into the national spotlight. Some
Abraham Lincoln, p. 490 Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, and abolitionists joined in 1854
Lincoln-Douglas debates, p. 491 to form the Republican Party, a political party united against the
Freeport Doctrine, p. 492 spread of slavery in the West.
Democrats were in trouble. Those who supported the Kansas-
Nebraska Act were not re-elected. The Whig Party also fell apart
when northern and southern Whigs refused to work together. A
Use the graphic organizer online to senator from Connecticut complained, “The Whig Party has been
take notes on the effects of political killed off . . . by that miserable Nebraska business.” Some Whigs
divisions and the Dred Scott case and Democrats joined the American Party, also known as the
on the debate over slavery. Know-Nothing Party. At the party’s convention, delegates argued
over slavery, then chose former president Millard Fillmore as their
candidate for the election of 1856.
The Democrats knew they could not choose a strong supporter of
the Kansas-Nebraska Act, such as President Pierce or Senator Douglas.
They nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. Buchanan had
a great deal of political experience as Polk’s secretary of state. Most

488 Chapter 15
important, he had been in Great Britain Dred Scott Decision
as ambassador during the Kansas-Nebraska
Just two days after Buchanan became presi-
Act dispute and had not been involved in
dent, the Supreme Court issued a historic
the debate.
ruling about slavery. News of the decision
At their first nominating convention, the
threw the country back into crisis. The Court A CADEMIC
Republicans chose explorer John C. Frémont
reviewed and decided the complex case involv- V OCABULARY
as their candidate. He had little political complex
ing an enslaved man named Dred Scott.
experience, but he stood against the spread difficult, not
of slavery. The public saw Republicans as a simple
Dred Scott Sues for Freedom
single-issue party. They had almost no sup-
Dred Scott was the slave of Dr. John Emerson,
porters outside of the free states.
an army surgeon who lived in St. Louis, Mis-
On election day, Buchanan won 14 of the
souri. In the 1830s, Emerson had taken Scott
15 slave states and became the new president.
on tours of duty in Illinois and the Wisconsin
Frémont won 11 of the 16 free states. Fillmore
Territory. After they returned to Missouri, the
won only one state—Maryland. Buchanan
doctor died, and Scott became the slave of
had won the election.
Emerson’s widow. In 1846 Scott sued for his
Reading Check Summarizing What were the freedom in the Missouri state courts, arguing
major political parties in the election of 1856, and that he had become free when he lived in
who was the candidate for each party? free territory. Though a lower court ruled in

The Court’s Ruling

The Court ruled that African Americans, Congress could not outlaw slavery in the
whether free or slave, were not consid- territories. This struck down the Missouri
ered citizens of the United States, and Compromise, which had made slavery
therefore had no right to sue in federal illegal in territories north of the 36˚30'
court. It also decided that the Missouri dividing line.
Dred Scott v. Sandford Compromise was unconstitutional.
(1857) The Court’s Reasoning Why It Matters
Background of the Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in The Dred Scott case was seen as a set-
Case Born a slave in Virginia, the majority opinion that the Court back to abolitionist ideas against slavery.
Dred Scott moved with his did not believe that African Americans It reduced the status of free African
slaveholder to the free state of were included in the Americans and upheld the view of slaves
Illinois and then to the Wiscon- Constitution’s definition as property without rights or protection
sin Territory. After returning of citizens and that they under the Constitution. It also took from
to the South, Scott sued for “had no rights which the Congress the power to ban slavery in its
his freedom. He claimed that white man was bound territories, which would aid the spread
because he had lived in a state to respect.” Addressing of slavery in new states. Because of its
that banned slavery, he was no a side issue in the case, pro-slavery decision, the reputation of
longer a slave. the opinion also the Court suffered greatly in parts of the
stated that North.

ANALYSIS
skill Analyzing Information
1. Why do you think the Court ruled that African
Americans had no access to federal courts?
2. How did this case affect abolitionist efforts?

A Divided Nation 489

 said the nation’s founders believed that Afri-
A Growing Conflict can Americans “had no rights which a white
man was bound to respect.” He therefore con-
cluded that all African Americans, whether
Causes of Conflict slave or free, were not citizens under the U.S.
• Failure of Missouri Compromise Constitution. Thus, Dred Scott did not have
• Failure of Compromise of 1850 the right to file suit in federal court.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act Taney also ruled on the other issues before
• Dred Scott decision the Court. As to whether Scott’s residence on
free soil made him free, Taney flatly said it
did not. Because Scott had returned to the
slave state of Missouri, the chief justice said,
Short-Term Effects
“his status, as free or slave, depended on the
• Political battles
laws of Missouri.”
• Sectional differences
Finally, Taney declared the Missouri
• “Bleeding Kansas”
Compromise restriction on slavery north of
• Lincoln-Douglas debates
36°30' to be unconstitutional. He pointed
out that the Fifth Amendment said no one
could “be deprived of life, liberty, or property
Long-Term Effect without due process of law.” Because slaves
• Civil War were considered property, Congress could
not prohibit someone from taking slaves
into a federal territory. Under this ruling,
Congress had no right to ban slavery in any
federal territory.
Most white southerners cheered this
his favor, the Missouri Supreme Court over- decision. It “covers every question regarding
turned this ruling. slavery and settles it in favor of the South,”
Scott’s case reached the U.S. Supreme reported a Georgia newspaper. Another news-
Court 11 years later, in 1857. The justices—a paper, the New Orleans Picayune, assured its
majority of whom were from the South— readers that the ruling put “the whole basis
had three key issues before them. First, of the . . . Republican organization under the
the Court had to rule on whether Scott ban of law.”
was a citizen. Only citizens could sue in The ruling stunned many northern-
federal court. Second, the Court had to decide ers. The Republicans were particularly upset
if his time living on free soil made him free. because their platform in 1856 had argued
Third, the Court had to determine the con- that Congress held the right to ban slavery
stitutionality of prohibiting slavery in parts in the federal territories. Now the nation’s
of the Louisiana Purchase. highest court had ruled that Congress did
not have this right.
The Supreme Court’s Ruling Indeed, some northerners feared that the
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (taw-nee), him- spread of slavery would not stop with the
self from a slaveholding family in Maryland, federal territories. Illinois lawyer Abraham
wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott Lincoln warned that a future Court ruling, or
decision in March 1857. First, he addressed what he called “the next Dred Scott decision,”
the issue of Dred Scott’s citizenship. Taney would prohibit states from banning slavery.

490 Chapter 15
 Primary Source
Speech
A House Divided
This line is a
In 1858 Abraham Lincoln gave a passionate speech to paraphrase of a
Illinois Republicans about the dangers of the disagreement line in the Bible.
over slavery. Some considered it a call for war.

“untilIn my opinion, it [disagreement over slavery] will not cease [stop],

a crisis shall have been reached and passed. “A house divided
against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure
permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be
dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease
to be divided.

” —Abraham Lincoln,
quoted in Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832–1858
edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher
Lincoln expresses
confidence that the
Union will survive.
ANALYSIS
skill ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
What do you think Lincoln meant by “crisis”?

Lincoln talked about the Dred Scott

“We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the decision. He said that African Ameri-
people of Missouri are on the verge of [close to]
making their state free; and we shall awake to cans were “entitled to all the natural
the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has rights” listed in the Declaration of Inde-
made Illinois a slave state.” pendence, specifically mentioning “the
—Abraham Lincoln, quoted in The Collected Works of right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler
happiness.” However, Lincoln believed
that African Americans were not necessarily
Reading Check Summarizing What were the the social or political equals of whites. Hop-
major rulings of the Dred Scott decision? ing to cost Lincoln votes, Douglas charged
that Lincoln “thinks that the Negro is his VIDEO
brother . . .” House Divided
Lincoln-Douglas Debates Douglas also criticized Lincoln for saying Speech

In 1858 Illinois Republicans nominated Abra- that the nation could not remain “half slave
ham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. His opponent and half free.” Douglas said that the state-
was Democrat Stephen Douglas, who had ment revealed a Republican desire to make
represented Illinois in the Senate since 1847. every state a free state. This, he warned,
Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became would only lead to “a dissolution [destruc-
the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. tion] of the Union” and “warfare between The Impact
In each debate, Lincoln stressed that the the North and the South.” Today
central issue of the campaign was the spread At the second debate, in the northern Today political
of slavery in the West. He said that the Dem- Illinois town of Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln debates are
televised and can
ocrats were trying to spread slavery across pressed Douglas on the apparent contradic- be seen around
the nation. tion between the Democrats’ belief in popu- the world.

A Divided Nation 491

 Lincoln-Douglas Debates they please, for the reason that slavery can-
not exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless
Lincoln ran for the it is supported by local police regulations.”
U.S. Senate in This notion that the police would
Illinois against
enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted
Douglas in 1858.
The two men the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred
debated seven Scott case became known as the Freeport
times at various Doctrine.
locations around
the state. Lincoln The Freeport Doctrine put the slavery
lost the election question back in the hands of American
but gained national citizens. It helped Douglas win the Senate
recognition.
seat. Lincoln, while not victorious, became
a strong, important leader of the Republican
Abraham Lincoln Stephen Douglas Party.

R eading C heck Drawing Inferences Why

did Abraham Lincoln make slavery’s expansion the
lar sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision. central issue of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?
Lincoln asked Douglas to explain how, if
Congress could not ban slavery from a feder-
al territory, Congress could allow the citizens SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Dred Scott
of that territory to ban it. decision and the Lincoln-Douglas debates
Douglas responded that it did not mat- dealt with the conflict over slavery in the
ter what the Supreme Court decided about western territories. In the next section
slavery. He argued that “the people have the you will read about how the conflict broke
lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as apart the Union.

Section 3 Assessment ONLINE QUIZ

Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People Critical Thinking

1. a. Identify What was the major issue of the newly 4. Identifying Points of View Review your notes
formed Republican Party? on political divisions and the Dred Scott decision.
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Kansas-Nebras- Then copy the graphic organizer below and use it to
ka Act affect political parties? identify the views of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen
c. Elaborate Why do you think James Buchanan Douglas on slavery.
won the election of 1856?
Lincoln Douglas
2. a. Identify Who was Roger B. Taney, and why was
he important? vs.
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Dred Scott
decision affect the Missouri Compromise and the
expansion of slavery?
c. Predict What problems might result from the Focus on Writing
Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case?
3. a. Recall What was the major issue of the 5. Taking Notes on the Political Divisions Make
Lincoln-Douglas debates? some notes on the Republican Party, the Dred
b. Make Inferences Despite his loss in the election, Scott decision, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
how did Lincoln become the leader of the Republi- Decide how your character feels about each of
can Party? these. How do these events affect your
character?

492 Chapter 15