5.6 Failure of Compromise

Slavery in the western territories remained unresolved after the Compromise of 1850. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, and political realignment deepened sectional conflict and made compromise harder by the late 1850s.

Image Courtesy of Nebraska Public Media

What to Know About Failure of Compromise

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and let settlers decide whether to permit slavery in Kansas and Nebraska.
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act split the Whig Party along sectional lines, and the new Republican Party formed to oppose slavery's expansion into the territories.
• Popular sovereignty led to violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas, while Preston Brooks's attack on Charles Sumner brought sectional conflict into Congress.
• Buchanan urged Congress to accept Kansas's pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution, but Stephen Douglas and other Democrats joined Republicans in rejecting it.
• The Dred Scott decision denied African Americans U.S. citizenship and ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.
• John Brown's failed raid sought to spark a slave rebellion, and Northern and Southern reactions to it divided along sectional lines.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

The Kansas-Nebraska Act represented a major shift in how the federal government approached the question of slavery in the territories, effectively abandoning earlier compromises and opening new areas to potential slavery expansion.

• Sponsored by Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas
• Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
• Repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had banned slavery above the 36°30′ parallel
• Established "popular sovereignty" - allowing settlers to decide whether to permit slavery
• Intended to open territories for settlement and economic development
• Signed into law by President Franklin Pierce
• Sparked intense debate and protests throughout the country
• Congressional votes cut across both party and section: most Northern Democrats supported the act, while Northern Whigs opposed it and Southern Whigs largely backed it

The End of the Second Party System

The Kansas-Nebraska Act had profound effects on American political parties, breaking down old coalitions and creating new ones based primarily on sectional interests rather than traditional political affiliations.

• Whig Party split over slavery, including within the North:
  • Conscience Whigs (Northern) - opposed slavery expansion on moral grounds
  • Cotton Whigs (Northern) - had economic ties to the South (such as textile manufacturers) and sought to avoid antislavery agitation
• New Republican Party formed in 1854, combining:
  • Former Conscience Whigs
  • Free Soil Party members
  • Anti-slavery Democrats
  • Some former Know-Nothings (the anti-immigrant nativist movement)
• Nativism, like slavery, weakened voter loyalty to the Whigs and Democrats. Anti-immigrant feeling pulled voters toward the Know-Nothings, and slavery pulled them toward sectional parties, which helped end the Second Party System.
• Republicans existed primarily to oppose slavery expansion in territories
• Democrats became increasingly dominated by Southern interests
• American political system reorganized into the Third Party System (1854-1890s)
• Political parties now largely regional rather than national

Bleeding Kansas

Image Courtesy of History.com

The principle of popular sovereignty, when applied in Kansas Territory, led not to peaceful democratic resolution but to violence and chaos as pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces competed for control.

• Violent conflict in Kansas Territory (1854-1861)
• Struggle between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers
• Both sides rushed to territory to influence vote on slavery
• Pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" from Missouri illegally voted in Kansas elections
• Anti-slavery "Free-Soilers" also flooded territory to vote against slavery
• Multiple elections marked by fraud and intimidation
• Two competing territorial governments emerged:
  • Pro-slavery government in Lecompton
  • Anti-slavery government in Topeka
• Violence included raids, murders, and destruction of property
• John Brown, radical abolitionist, participated in killing of pro-slavery settlers

Caning of Senator Sumner

The violence in Kansas soon spilled over into the halls of Congress itself, demonstrating how sectional tensions were undermining the normal political process.

• On May 22, 1856, Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina attacked Senator Charles Sumner
• Sumner had delivered speech "The Crime Against Kansas" condemning slavery
• Speech included insulting references to Senator Andrew Butler (South Carolina)
• Brooks, a relative of Butler, approached Sumner at his desk and beat him with a cane
• Sumner was so badly injured he didn't return to Senate for three years
• Incident reflected growing breakdown of civility in national politics
• Many Southerners celebrated Brooks' actions
• Many Northerners viewed attack as evidence of Southern brutality

The Lecompton Constitution

President James Buchanan's handling of the Kansas situation further inflamed tensions and divided his own Democratic Party.

• Pro-slavery territorial legislature in Lecompton drafted state constitution
• Constitution would have permitted slavery in Kansas
• Most Kansas settlers opposed this constitution
• President Buchanan asked Congress to accept document anyway
• Many Democrats, including Stephen Douglas, joined Republicans in rejecting it
• Kansas settlers later overwhelmingly rejected the constitution
• Kansas eventually admitted as a free state in 1861
• Episode damaged Buchanan's presidency and split Democratic Party

The Dred Scott Decision (1857)

The Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott case represented a dramatic victory for Southern interests and a shocking setback for those hoping to contain slavery's expansion.

• Dred Scott was an enslaved man who sued for freedom
• Argued he should be free because his owner had taken him to live in free territory
• Supreme Court ruled against Scott in March 1857
• Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered majority opinion:
  • African Americans (free or enslaved) were not U.S. citizens and could not sue in federal court
  • The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional
  • Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in territories
  • Slaveholders had right to take their "property" anywhere in U.S. territories
• Decision effectively legalized slavery in all territories
• Republicans and many Northerners condemned the ruling
• Eventually overturned by 14th Amendment
• Widely considered one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)

John Brown's failed attempt to spark a slave rebellion marked the final breakdown of compromise and set the nation on the path to civil war.

• Occurred on October 16-18, 1859
• Brown led a group of 21 men (both Black and White)
• Seized federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia)
• Hoped to arm enslaved people and start a rebellion
• Local enslaved people did not join the uprising
• U.S. Marines, led by Colonel Robert E. Lee, captured Brown
• Brown was tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged on December 2, 1859
• Reactions divided along sectional lines:
  • Many Northerners viewed Brown as a martyr
  • Southerners saw raid as proof the North supported violent overthrow of slavery
  • South increasingly feared for its safety within the Union

The failure of these various compromises and attempts to resolve the slavery issue demonstrated that the fundamental differences between North and South had grown too great for normal political solutions. The breakdown of these efforts set the stage for the 1860 presidential election and the secession crisis that would follow.