{"id":1580,"date":"2017-07-11T02:46:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T02:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/ushistory1os\/chapter\/primary-source-images-the-sectional-crisis\/"},"modified":"2017-07-11T02:46:38","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T02:46:38","slug":"primary-source-images-the-sectional-crisis","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-tc3-ushistory1os\/chapter\/primary-source-images-the-sectional-crisis\/","title":{"raw":"Primary Source Images: The Sectional Crisis","rendered":"Primary Source Images: The Sectional Crisis"},"content":{"raw":"

Introduction<\/h2>\nSlavery had long divided the politics of the United States. In time, these divisions became both sectional and irreconcilable. As westward expansion continued, these fault lines grew unstable, particularly as the United States seized more lands from its war with Mexico. Violence in Kansas and in the United States capitol demonstrated how dangerous these divisions had become. As the country seemed to teeter ever closer to a full-throated endorsement of slavery, however, an antislavery coalition arose in the middle 1850s calling itself the Republican Party. Eager to cordon off slavery and confine it to\u00a0where it already existed, the Republicans won the presidential election of 1860 and threw the nation on the path to war. By 1861 all bets were off, and the fate of slavery and the Union depended\u00a0upon\u00a0war. These sources offer glimpses into a nation on the verge of collapse.\n

Effects of the Fugitive Slave Law<\/h2>\n[caption id=\"attachment_955\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1000\"]\"Lithograph Theodore Kaufman, \u201cEffect of the Fugitive Slave Law,\u201d 1850, via Library of Congress.[\/caption]\n\nThis lithograph imagines the consequences of the Fugitive Slave Act, part of the Compromise of 1850.\u00a0 Four well-dressed black men are being hunted by a party of white men, seen in the background.\u00a0 There are a number of ambiguities in the image \u2013 are the black men slaves or free?\u00a0 Are they trying to escape or not?\u00a0 Where exactly are they?\u00a0 These ambiguities speak to the concerns many abolitionists had about the law, which required free citizens to return escaped slaves to their masters.\n

Sectional Crisis Map<\/h2>\n
\n\n\"Republican

William C. Reynolds and J. C. Jones, \u201cReynolds\u2019s political map of the United States, designed to exhibit the comparative area of the free and slave states and the territory open to slavery or freedom by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,\u201d 1856, via Library of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nThis piece of Republican propaganda from the 1856 election makes clear distinctions between free states, slave states, and territories. Featured at the top of the page are engravings of John C. Fremont and his running mate, William C. Dayton. A vibrant red sets off the free states. The chart, \u201cFreedom vs. Slavery,\u201d demonstrates the North\u2019s economic and cultural superiority over slave states in terms of everything from population per square mile, capital in manufactures, miles of railroad, the number of newspapers and public libraries, and value of churches.","rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Slavery had long divided the politics of the United States. In time, these divisions became both sectional and irreconcilable. As westward expansion continued, these fault lines grew unstable, particularly as the United States seized more lands from its war with Mexico. Violence in Kansas and in the United States capitol demonstrated how dangerous these divisions had become. As the country seemed to teeter ever closer to a full-throated endorsement of slavery, however, an antislavery coalition arose in the middle 1850s calling itself the Republican Party. Eager to cordon off slavery and confine it to\u00a0where it already existed, the Republicans won the presidential election of 1860 and threw the nation on the path to war. By 1861 all bets were off, and the fate of slavery and the Union depended\u00a0upon\u00a0war. These sources offer glimpses into a nation on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n

Effects of the Fugitive Slave Law<\/h2>\n
\"Lithograph<\/p>\n

Theodore Kaufman, \u201cEffect of the Fugitive Slave Law,\u201d 1850, via Library of Congress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This lithograph imagines the consequences of the Fugitive Slave Act, part of the Compromise of 1850.\u00a0 Four well-dressed black men are being hunted by a party of white men, seen in the background.\u00a0 There are a number of ambiguities in the image \u2013 are the black men slaves or free?\u00a0 Are they trying to escape or not?\u00a0 Where exactly are they?\u00a0 These ambiguities speak to the concerns many abolitionists had about the law, which required free citizens to return escaped slaves to their masters.<\/p>\n

Sectional Crisis Map<\/h2>\n
\n

\"Republican<\/p>\n

William C. Reynolds and J. C. Jones, \u201cReynolds\u2019s political map of the United States, designed to exhibit the comparative area of the free and slave states and the territory open to slavery or freedom by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,\u201d 1856, via Library of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This piece of Republican propaganda from the 1856 election makes clear distinctions between free states, slave states, and territories. Featured at the top of the page are engravings of John C. Fremont and his running mate, William C. Dayton. A vibrant red sets off the free states. The chart, \u201cFreedom vs. Slavery,\u201d demonstrates the North\u2019s economic and cultural superiority over slave states in terms of everything from population per square mile, capital in manufactures, miles of railroad, the number of newspapers and public libraries, and value of churches.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>