The Union Collapses Igniting the Rebellion The violence often accompanying the ongoing national debate over slavery escalated in the fall of 1859 when the fanatical abolitionist John Brown attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown's quick conviction on treason charges and subsequent execution created a martyr for northern abolitionists and aroused fears in the South that the Republicans were ready to unleash more assaults on slavery. Video: John Brown This video examines John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry and the consequences of this action. Look for answers to these questions when watching the video: Why did John Brown organize a raid on Harpers Ferry? Why did Brown fail to accomplish his immediate objective? How and why was John Brown's hanging turned into a major event? Was he crazy? Was he a traitor? Was he a martyr? What did the South think of his exploits? Video script: Music introduction Actor, John Brown: Talk, talk, talk! That will never free the slaves. What is needed is action action. Narrator: The abolitionist movement of the 1850s was filled with editors and orators who spoke out passionately against slavery at every opportunity. But John Brown believed actions spoke louder than words. And, following no one s conscience but his own, he took actions that would eventually eclipse all the words of all the abolitionists in America.
Actor, John Brown: Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Narrator: For many years John Brown had been developing a plan he believed would destroy slavery once and for all. Brown would invade the South and by arming the slaves, ignite a rebellion. Paul Finkelman, University of Tulsa: After raising money and gathering some men to join him in 1859, John Brown goes to Maryland, sets up a campsite, and in October of 1859, he and nineteen other men seize the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Sounds of screaming and gunfire. Paul Finkelman: And their plan is the slaves will come to them and then they will go off into the mountains and fight the guerilla war. Slaves don t come to them. In part, because the slaves don t know that he s there and in part because the slaves aren t stupid. They can see that John Brown is totally outnumbered. John Brown managed to get himself surrounded. He lets a train go through at one period. Harpers Ferry is a railroad stop, and so the train goes through and informs people that they re under attack. And eventually, the United States marines show up under the command of an Army Colonel, Robert E. Lee, who will later, of course, become confederate general. Narrator: When Brown refused to surrender, the troops stormed the engine house. Paul Finkelman: Brown is captured. He s tried; the trial is something of a sham. Brown is suffering from wounds that he d received during the battle. He asks for a delay of a couple of days so his lawyer from Ohio can arrive and the judge refuses to delay the trial. Narrator: Weakened by his wounds, Brown appeared in court every day on a cot. Knowing the conclusion was foregone; he listened, but said little. John Brown was sentenced to death by hanging. Paul Finkelman: In the month between the time he s convicted and the time he s hanged, Brown writes hundreds of letters across the country and essentially creates himself into an almost Christ-like martyr for northern opponents of slavery. Actor, John Brown: I ve been whipped, but I am sure I can recover all the lost capital occasioned by that disaster by only hanging a few moments by the neck; and I feel quite
determined to make the utmost possible out of a defeat." Narrator: John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859. Across the North meetings, prayer vigils and church services were held to observe his death. These public displays of mourning outraged the South. Actor, from Debow s Review: The North has sanctioned and applauded theft, murder, treason. Paul Finkelman: The South believes its own propaganda about John Brown. Southerners say all Northerners are like John Brown. In other words, they create John Brown to be in their mind the personification of the North. He s not. He s about as far out on the fringe as you could possibly get, but Southerners believe in their own minds that Brown is really the North. They refer to the John Brown Republicans. Narrator: Threatened Southerners joined military companies and Southern states appropriated funds to purchase arms. Yankees were tarred and feathered or run out of town on a rail. A few were lynched. The support for secession reached a critical mass. On his way to the gallows, John Brown handed a final note to his jailer. Actor, John Brown: I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. End of video. Music for the Troops Early in the Civil War, a regiment of Union soldiers adapted a camp song to commemorate the story of abolitionist John Brown. The song, "John Brown's Body" quickly became a popular marching song for the Union army. At the urging of a friend, Julia Ward Howe wrote new verses to the song, transforming it into the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Throughout the war, it rallied the troops in Union army camps. The anthem continues to stir emotions today. Some people object to it because of its association with Union troops while others see the song as an uplifting source of inspiration.
Video: Election and Secession Raging emotions spilled over into the election year of 1860 when Lincoln and the Republicans achieved a remarkable victory. Seven states in the lower South quickly proceeded to enact ordinances of secession. This video analyzes the presidential election of 1860 and its results, including the secession of the seven southern states. Look for answers to these questions when watching the video: Why did the Democratic Party split into three factions prior to the presidential election of 1860? Who were the candidates of each faction and what did they stand for? How did the split among the Democrats open the way for Republican victory? How did the Republicans broaden their political base in 1860? Why did they choose Lincoln as their nominee for president? Why was the presidential election of 1860 unique in American politics? What was at stake? Why did Lincoln win? What did the results indicate about the political state of the nation? Why did the states in the lower South proceed to secede from the Union during the winter of 1860 61? What was the historical and philosophical basis for the idea of secession? To what extent were Southerners united on the issue of secession? What did President Buchanan and Congress propose to do about secession during the winter of 1860 1861? What was President-elect Lincoln's position on the issue? How did Lincoln address the issue at his inauguration? Video script: Music introduction Narrator: In the tense and fateful spring of 1860, the presidential election got underway. Just four months after the execution of John Brown, the Democratic Convention met in the overheated political atmosphere of Charleston, South Carolina. James Roark, Emory University: By 1860, finally what in fact had occurred gradually over the 1850s came to a head. It became clear that the Democratic Party was no longer a national party, that there were Northern Democrats and that there were Southern Democrats. And Stephen Douglas candidacy for the democratic nomination finally brought it to a head.
Narrator: Douglas platform advocating popular sovereignty to settle the question of slavery in the territories infuriated Southerners. When it was passed, most of the delegates from Alabama and seven other Southern states walked out of the convention. The Democratic Party had split in two. After months of wrangling, the Northern Democrats would give Stephen Douglas the nomination, and the Southern Democrats would nominate their own candidate, John C. Breckenridge. In May, the Republican Convention took place in Chicago, Illinois--Abraham Lincoln s home state. Michael Johnson: The Republican Party in 1860 is running a candidate for president only for the second time in American history. In the previous election in 1856, they failed to carry five key Northern states; and they knew that if they could carry those states, they could win, and they needed in order to carry those states, somebody who was a moderate. Actor. Horace Greeley: An anti-slavery man per se cannot be elected, but a tariff, river-andharbor, Pacific railroad, free-homestead man may succeed although he is anti-slavery. Narrator: Five candidates competed for the nomination at the Republican convention. On the first ballot William Seward led by a strong margin. Lincoln ran second. On the second ballot Lincoln drew to within several votes of Seward. On the third ballot, Lincoln took the lead, coming within one and a half votes of the number needed to win the nomination. In the breathless silence, the chairman from Ohio stood on a chair and announced the change of four more votes to Lincoln. Actor, Convention Delegate: There was a rush of great wind in the van of a storm and in another breath; the storm was there, thousands cheering with the energy of insanity. Narrator: The increasing likelihood that Lincoln would be elected provoked a kind of hysteria in the South. The Republican Party represented an unacceptable threat to slavery and the Southern way of life. In the North, Lincoln and the Republican Party represented the only hope of resisting Southern domination. Actor, Ex-Whig Voter: I will vote the Republican ticket next Tuesday. The only alternative is everlasting submission to the South. I want to be able to remember that I voted right at this grave crisis. The North must assert its rights now, and take the consequences.
Narrator: The election results reflected the almost complete separation of North and South. Lincoln swept the North, receiving not a single electoral vote in the South. Breckinridge won all of the states of the Deep South. John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party took the border states of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. And Stephen Douglas, Lincoln s longtime rival, won only Missouri, and half of New Jersey. But the electoral votes masked the more complex results of the popular vote. Robert Johannsen: Bear in mind, in the final results Lincoln only carried thirty-nine percent of those who voted. He was very much one of the most minority candidate presidents we ve ever had. Narrator: Lincoln s election triggered an immediate reaction in the South. States began to arm themselves. Thousands joined Southern home guards and state militias. On December 13th a caucus of Southern states met and issued a proclamation: Actor, Southern Caucus Member: The argument is exhausted. All hope of relief in the union, through the agencies of committees, congressional legislation, or Constitutional Amendments, is extinguished. Narrator: Seven days later the first state seceded. Actor, South Carolina Declaration of Secession: We, the people of the state of South Carolina, do declare and ordain that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states under the name of the The United States of America is hereby dissolved. Narrator: Over the next two months, South Carolina was followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. But not all the citizens living in the South supported secession. Actor, Herschel Johnson: And so the Rubicon was crossed and the state of Georgia was launched upon a dark, uncertain and dangerous sea. The secessionists were jubilant. I never felt so sad before. Narrator: When Sam Houston, the governor of Texas refused to take an oath of loyalty to the confederacy, he was evicted from the governor s office. Actor, Sam Houston: The die has been cast by your secession leaders, and you must ere long
reap the fearful harvest of conspiracy and revolution. Narrator: On February 8th, 1861 in Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from the seceded states founded a new nation. It was called the Confederate States of America. Its elected president was Jefferson Davis. Actor, Jefferson Davis: The time for compromise has now passed. The South is determined to maintain her position, and make all who oppose her smell Southern powder and feel Southern steel. Narrator: The vice-president of the Confederacy was Alexander Stephens. Actor, Alexander Stephens: Our new government rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man. This government is the first in the history of the world, based on this great physical and moral truth. Actor, Lucius Quintus: Thank God we have a country at last, to live for, to pray for, and, if need be, to die for. Narrator: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis left their respective homes on the same day; Davis departing for Montgomery, and Lincoln for Washington, D.C. For Lincoln, the departure was bittersweet. More than half his life had been spent in the town of Springfield, Illinois. He did not know when or if he would see it again. Threatened with assassination, Lincoln slipped into Washington under the cloak of night. On March 4, 1861, he was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States. Actor, Abraham Lincoln: I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the union of these states is perpetual. I therefore consider that the Union is unbroken. Michael Johnson: Lincoln never recognized that secession had actually occurred. He always maintained that he was the president of Alabama and Georgia and Mississippi. Narrator: His inaugural address was intended as much for Southern as for Northern ears. Actor, Abraham Lincoln: Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of their nature.
Actor, Emma Holmes, Southern Diarist: Old Abe Lincoln was inaugurated today. His speech was just what was expected from him, stupid, ambiguous, vulgar, and insolent, and is everywhere considered a virtual declaration of war. End of video. Activity: Check Your Understanding In 1859, John Brown organized a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia in order to incite a slave rebellion. While the precise objectives of Brown s raid remain hazy, it does seem clear he hoped his attack would spark a massive slave rebellion in the area. The raid failed and slaves did not rebel. However, sectional tensions intensified as a result of the raid. Brown s actions made him a martyr to northern abolitionists and a terrorist to southern slave owners. When Democrats met in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860 to choose a presidential candidate, they divided into southern and northern factions. The issue of slavery in the territories, which had apparently been settled by the Dred Scott decision, would not go away. Stephen Douglas ambivalence on the issue caused southern Democrats to reject him, and they nominated their own candidate. The Democrat party was now split, opening a path for victory by the Republicans in the 1860 presidential election.