United States History Student Edition

Southerners feel threatened. Then, an act of violence added to their fears. On October 16, 1859, the abolitionist John Brown led 21 men in an attempt to take over the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. An arsenal (AHRS•nuhl) is a storage site for weapons. Brown hoped to arm enslaved African Americans and start a nationwide revolt against slaveholders. Local citizens and federal troops defeated and captured Brown. He was tried and convicted of treason and murder and sentenced to death. Brown’s hanging rallied abolitionists and shook the North. Some antislavery Northerners rejected Brown’s use of violence. Others saw Brown as a martyr (MAHR•tuhr)—a person who dies for a cause. When white Southerners learned of Brown’s abolitionist ties, they believed that their fears of a great Northern conspiracy against them had been confirmed. The nation was on the brink of disaster. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Analyzing Why did some people consider John Brown a hero? LESSON ACTIVITIES 1. Argumentative Writing Suppose you are an abolitionist at the time of the Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court decision. Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, expressing your opinion about the case and the Court’s ruling. Defend your position through logical argument. Include facts from the lesson in your letter. 2. Collaborating With a partner, create an annotated time line that charts the events from this lesson that resulted in increased tensions between the North and the South. For each event, provide a description of the event and an explanation of how and why it increased tensions.

This illustration depicts the Lincoln-Douglas debate at Charleston, Illinois.

During one debate in Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln pressed Douglas about popular sovereignty. Lincoln asked whether the people of a territory could legally exclude slavery before becoming a state. Douglas’s response became known as the Freeport Doctrine. He said that voters could exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws that protected the rights of slaveholders. This cost Douglas support in the South. Douglas claimed that Lincoln wanted African Americans to be fully equal to whites. Lincoln denied this. Still, Lincoln insisted that African Americans should enjoy rights and freedoms: “But in the right to eat the bread . . . which his own hand earns, [an African American] is my equal . . . and the equal of every living man.” The real issue, Lincoln said, was “between the men who think slavery a wrong and those who do not think it wrong. The Republican Party think it wrong.” Following the debates, Douglas narrowly won reelection. Lincoln lost, but he had gained a national reputation as a man of clear thinking who could argue with force and persuasion. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Analyzing Why do you think Lincoln won national fame in spite of losing the race for the Senate? The Raid on Harpers Ferry GUIDING QUESTION What occurred at Harpers Ferry? Despite Lincoln’s loss, the Republican Party made gains in the 1858 election—enough to make

arsenal a storage facility for weapons and ammunition martyr a person who dies or suffers for a cause

PHOTO: Pictures Now/Alamy Stock Photo; TEXT: 1. Lincoln, Abraham. “First Joint Debate, at Ottowa, August 21,1858,” Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois. Columbus, OH: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860. 2. Lincoln, Abraham. “Sixth Joint Debate, at Quincy, Oct. 13,1858,” Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois. Columbus, OH: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860.

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