American History Tellers - Political Parties - The Turbulent 1850s | 3

Episode Date: December 5, 2018

The United States won the The Mexican–American War in the 1840s, and with it vast new stretches of western land. But in the 1850s, the question of what to do with this land – and whether to allow slavery in the new territories or not – became a redning issue for politicians of all stripes.While the Whig Party collapsed over the issue, Democrats split into Northern and Southern factions, and a new Republican Party tried to bind the Union with an appeal to old Jeffersonian values. But in the houses of Congress and across the nation, negotiations fail, compromise is abandoned; and the issue of slavery will overshadow all else, leading to Civil War.Support this show by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's April 17th, 1850. You're an aide to Democratic Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. You and another aide are by his side today in the Senate chamber as lawmakers attempt to hammer out a contentious issue. What to do with the new Western land won from Mexico? It's an issue that immediately brings up slavery.

Right now, the Union has an even number of slave and free states, but permitting slavery in any of the new territories could upset that delicate balance. A committee has been formed to draft a compromise bill, but it's running into trouble. Your boss has proposed telling the committee that they are not allowed to consider the abolition of slavery in the southern states. It's a bizarre proposal. Of course the abolition of slavery, where it already exists, is not on the table. The western states are the issue. Your fellow aide leans over to you. What do you think Benton is up to? His proposal seems pointless. I think the old man is playing politics. The South has tied itself in a knot over this, convinced the

North is just bent on abolition. I think he's intentionally trying to antagonize them, make them look foolish or petty. Nearly 70, Benton is the longest serving senator in history. He's also a slaveholder, but recently angered many of his southern allies by opposing the spread of slavery to the new western territories. Mississippi Senator Henry Foote has been especially antagonistic. The two men already hate each other, and now Foote thinks Benton has betrayed the party and the South by opposing Western slavery. Lately, they've been trading insults in the chamber. Benton stands up to take the floor. The Senate has decided not to instruct

the committee on my proposed rules, but I still have the right to discuss them. My purpose is to show the people of the South that there's no intent to interfere with their institutions. That's the very thing that's caused all this trouble in the last few months. The late Minister Calhoun's agitations have convinced Southerners that the Senate is going to take away their slaves. Benton is talking about the recently deceased John Calhoun of South Carolina and his final speech to the Senate. He was too sick to give it himself, so it was read aloud for him. In it, Calhoun accused the North of intending to abolish slavery and urge secession if a compromise couldn't be reached. Since then, Southerners have been in an uproar, threatening secession and accusing the North of scheming to infringe on Southern rights.

By seeming to criticize Calhoun, your boss is deliberately attacking a Southern hero. But he doesn't seem to care. In fact, he seems to be enjoying himself. You hold your breath as Benton continues. Our Southern brethren are delicate in their sensibilities, and I simply want to reassure them that no harm to their traditions is intended or permitted. It seems like your suspicions about Benton are right. He is taunting the South, and sure enough, his enemy Henry Foote takes the bait. Foote stands up to speak and is recognized by the chairman. He's clearly angry. The senator from Missouri insults the memory of Mr. Calhoun and is recognized by the chairman. He's clearly angry. The senator from Missouri insults

the memory of Mr. Calhoun and his work for the South and Southern rights. If the senator is trying to reassure Southerners, he is sorely mistaken. His reassurances are no safety valve to the dangerous and aggressive agitations of the North. And this from the oldest member of the Senate, the so-called father of the Senate. Foote is getting more and more worked up. A neighboring senator attempts to pull him to his seat, but it only seems to enrage him more. Foote turns to point across the chamber at Benton. The senator from Missouri is a coward and a traitor to the South and to his party.

Before you can do anything to stop him, the 70-year-old Benton has shoved his chair into the aisle. Then, moving with the speed of a much younger man, he heads straight for Foote's desk. How dare you? You jump to your feet and follow your boss. Foote retreats in front of the chamber. As you and several others attempt to stop Benton's progress, Foote suddenly reaches into his coat and pulls out a revolver, aiming it at Benton's chest. Several men, including the sergeant at arms, tackle Foot and take him to the floor, yanking the gun out of his hand. Breaking free from your grasp, Benton moves forward, unbuttoning his coat to thrust out his chest.

Leave him be. Let the assassin fire. He's come here to kill me. Let him do it. He knows I don't carry arms. Let him kill me if he has the guts to do it. You and several others finally pull Senator Benton back to his desk, while the sergeant-at-arms takes Foote's gun and locks it in a drawer. Order is eventually restored to the Senate chamber, but the scene has shaken everyone. You take your handkerchief from your pocket and give it to Senator Benton to wipe the sweat from his face. As you do, you can't help but feel that this ugly scene doesn't bode well for the future of the union. I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns

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Buy it now. Stream free on Freebie and Prime Video. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. Thomas Hart Benton's clash with Mississippi's Henry Foote came during the tense debates over the Compromise of 1850. Benton had been in the Senate since Missouri became a state 30 years earlier. One of the original Jacksonian Democrats, he'd ultimately come to oppose the expansion of

slavery to the West. He believed pro-slavery Southerners had become too extreme and that their views would ultimately lead to a breakup of the Union. As a result, he was seen as a traitor to his party. A year after Foote pulled a gun on him on the Senate floor, Benton lost his bid for re-election. It wouldn't be the last time that violence would break out on the floor of the Senate over the question of slavery's expansion. In the years to come, slavery would drive a wedge into American party politics, leading to a complete realignment of the political order. In this episode, we'll explore the turbulent 1850s, a pivotal decade in the history of America's political parties that saw the collapse of the Whig Party, the rise of a new Republican Party, and a new

third party, the American Party, fueled by anti-immigration sentiment. But it was the issue of slavery that came to overshadow all else, leading us into civil war. In the war with Mexico in the 1840s, America seized a vast stretch of Western land. This went a long way towards fulfilling the Democratic Party's vision of manifest destiny, the almost divine obligation of the United States to expand westward and encompass the whole of the continent. The war to win this territory for Mexico had been controversial, but now that it was over, there was half a continent waiting for Congress to divide

and administer. A number of proposals were brought forward. The most controversial was the so-called Wilmot Proviso. Authored by Pennsylvania Democrat David Wilmot, it called for the banning of slavery in all the new territory acquired from Mexico. Wilmot was no abolitionist or advocate of civil rights. Instead, he believed slave labor in the new territories would interfere with the ability of white people to purchase and farm their own land. Like many moderate Democrats, he also believed that slavery degraded the act of honest labor

itself by associating it with servitude and bondage. Passed initially by the House of Representatives, the Wilmot Proviso stalled in the Senate, where it was sharply opposed by Southern Democrats. They viewed the Proviso as an unconstitutional attack on Southern rights. Far from degrading white labor, these Democrats believed slave labor helped to elevate white labor from lowly work. In their review, it prevented the class conflicts that happened in Northern cities and Europe. John C. Calhoun summed up the Southern Democratic view by saying, Instead of an evil, slavery is a positive good, the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world.

By forcing lawmakers to take a firm position, the Wilmot Proviso brought the issues surrounding slavery into sharp focus. Prior to this time, divisions in Congress had typically fallen along party lines. Now, lawmakers' personal views on slavery and its expansion across the continent became more influential than party loyalty. But the Wilmot proviso was only one of many options on the table before Congress. The question was how to find a solution that lawmakers could agree on. In 1848, America had continued its tradition of electing war heroes to the presidency. Zachary Taylor, who was widely viewed as having won the war against Mexico, was elected president as a Whig. Taylor was a Southerner and a slave owner,

owning several large plantations throughout the South. But like Thomas Hart Benton, Taylor was stringently opposed to the spread of slavery into the new Western territories. And as president, he had the power to stop it. Taylor supported a plan to skip the territorial phase altogether. He proposed splitting the new Western lands into two large states and immediately bringing them into the Union, knowing both were likely to outlaw slavery. California, in fact, was already in the process of drafting an anti-slavery constitution. Added to this storm was the South's demand for stronger fugitive slave laws. Southern states argued that northern states were actively helping slaves escape. They proposed a series of bills to require northern officials to assist in

the recapture of fugitive slaves. Taylor refused to bend. As Henry Clay began working in the Senate to hammer out a deal, Taylor vowed to veto any bill that included fugitive slave laws or the expansion of slavery into the new territories. Southerners began talking more and more of secession if their demands weren't met. As things came to a head during the contentious summer of 1850, President Taylor met with a group of Southern leaders. It was a tense meeting. He told them, if it becomes necessary, I'll take command of the army myself, and if you are taken in rebellion against the Union, I will hang you with less reluctance than I hang deserters and spies in Mexico. Just as it was beginning to look like no compromise would ever happen, Taylor suddenly fell ill after attending July 4th festivities at the construction site of the Washington Monument.

Within five days, the hero of the Mexican War was dead from food poisoning, and his vice president, Millard Fillmore, ascended to the presidency. The Whigs' luck had run out again. Taylor was the second Whig to win the presidency, but now the second to die in office. This time, at least, the party had a vice president who was a Whig through and through. Millard Fillmore had started his political life in the anti-Masonic party, but became one of the early supporters of the Whigs in the 1830s. Critically, though, Fillmore had a different perspective on slavery in the territories than Taylor. Though he believed slavery was a moral evil, he didn't think the federal government had any right to interfere with it. Upon taking office, Fillmore

replaced Taylor's cabinet and vowed to do whatever it took to get Clay's deal passed. With Clay too ill to attend the sessions, Democrat Stephen Douglas took over. He shepherded a series of compromise bills through Congress in September of 1850. Fillmore promptly signed them into law. Passage of these bills would come to be known as the Compromise of 1850. While California was admitted as a free state, the New Mexico and Utah territories were allowed to use popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery. Popular sovereignty was a policy that left the choice of slavery up to the territorial government, leaving the federal government out of it.

Finally, a harsher Fugitive Slave Act was passed, requiring officials and even citizens in free states to assist in the capture of fugitive slaves. With these compromised bills, secession and civil war had been avoided, for the time being. But the issue of slavery, and the increasing bitterness between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, was hardly put to rest. The controversy and debates about what to do with the Territory One in the Mexican War gave rise to a new political party known as the Free Soil Party. It started out in the election year of 1848 as a coalition of anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats. The so-called Conscience Whigs refused to support Taylor because he owned slaves.

The Democratic faction was known as the Barnburners and primarily based in New York. They walked out of the Democratic convention in a dispute over delegates. The two factions came together and began calling themselves the Free Soil Party. The coalition put aside its differences on traditional issues like banking and tariffs. Ohio Congressman and Free Soiler Joshua Gidding summed it up, Many Free Soilers, like David Wilmot, skirted the moral issues of slavery completely. Instead, they argued that the U.S. economy did not need slavery to thrive. Free men, working on their own free land on small farms, were better suited to strengthen the U.S. economy did not need slavery to thrive. Free men working on their own free land on small farms were better suited to strengthen

the U.S. economy than slaves working on enormous plantations owned by a single person. The party nominated former President Martin Van Buren, a barn burner, for the presidency. For vice president, they nominated Charles Francis Adams. He was a conscience Whig and the son and grandson of former anti-slavery presidents. While the ticket failed to win any electoral votes, it did win 14% of the popular vote in the North. But the Compromise of 1850 hampered any continued growth of the Free Soil Party. The deal had, for the moment, put to rest the central issue that the party was founded on, the expansion of slavery. But the Compromise of 1850 was still only a compromise. While the Democrats enjoyed

a period of political unity in their ranks after the bills passed, the lingering moral question of slavery was tearing the Whig Party apart. Imagine it's June of 1852. You're an Ohio delegate to the Whig Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. You and your delegation are seated on uncomfortably hard benches in the convention hall, listening to the chairman as he reads proposals for the party's platform. The problems in your party have come to the forefront at this year's convention. Pro-slavery Southern Whigs want to nominate current President Millard Fillmore, who helped get the Compromise of 1850 passed. Northern Whigs like you and the other Ohio

delegates prefer Winfield Scott, another war hero like Taylor, who is known for his anti-slavery views. All 22 of your fellow Ohioans are ready to cast your ballots for General Scott, with the exception of your friend from Cincinnati, Samuel Houchens. He's a Fillmore man, and like the Southern delegates, doesn't share your strong opinion against slavery. He turns to you, shaking his head. Another soldier president. Is that really the best we can come up with? And not just any soldier, but the very same general we skipped over four years ago in favor of old Zach. Now Zach's dead, so we're going with second best? Fillmore's already in the White House. How can we expect the country to vote for our

candidate when we won't even support the Whig who currently holds the office? Yeah, but we didn't choose to put Fillmore there. He's another accidental president, like John Tyler before him. And Fillmore's the reason that awful fugitive slave law was put into effect. He signed it with his own hand. Well, if old fuss and feathers gets our nomination, we'll probably end up with another accidental president. He's older than Tyler was when he took office, and almost as old as Harrison. For once, can't we nominate someone who doesn't have the word general before his name? We tried that already. Clay failed us in 44. That's because the abominable

Liberty Party took votes away from us in New York. They would have gone to Clay. If not for the abolitionist agitators, Clay would have won New York and the presidency. Before you have a chance to respond, you realize the party chairman is about to read the eighth and final plank of this year's platform. It's the one you've been waiting to hear. The series of acts of the 31st Congress, the act known as the Fugitive Slave Law included, are received and acquiesced in by the Whig Party. Gentlemen, received and acquiesced in by the Whig Party of the United States as a settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting question which they embrace. You had known this was coming, but it was still hard to hear it.

The party has proposed a platform that practically endorses the despicable fugitive slave law. It's just another way that the party is caving to pro-slavery sentiment. Next to you, Samuel is chuckling under his breath. Booing like this is not going to do you any good. The convention will approve the plank. I know they will. That's why I'm so mad. This damn fugitive slave nonsense. It's bad enough they want the free states to help them recapture their runaways, but now they're forcing regular citizens to assist as well. It's preposterous. And the fact that Whigs are acquiescing in such a thing is just too much to take.

Just then, you hear a murmur go through the crowd. Across the convention hall, one of the delegates from Massachusetts stood up and slapped a delegate from Alabama. And now the two men are wrestling one another to the floor. You see, this is what the agitation over abolition gets us. And they call Southerners violent. The two men are finally pulled apart and order is restored to the convention. But passions are high, the split over slavery obvious. And you wonder, when it's all over, is there going to be any party left? In the end, it took 53 ballots, more than in any previous party's convention, for the Whigs to nominate General Winfield Scott to the presidency. The platform, with the plank expressing acquiescence in the fugitive slave law,

was adopted by the convention, though 70 northern delegates voted against it. But if the convention had been 70 northern delegates voted against it. But if the convention had been contentious, the election was a disaster. Low voter turnout among Whigs led to a landslide victory for Democrat Franklin Pierce, who won all but four states. Following 1852, the Whig party began to splinter. Democrats continued to hold both chambers of Congress, and they now had the White House too. In addition, 1852 saw the death of Henry Clay, the architect and leader of the Whig Party. Just a few months later, another prominent founder and leader, Secretary of State Daniel Webster, also died. The loss of these two figures was a blow to an already foundering party. Southern Whigs began to defect to the Democrats,

while many Northern Whigs, such as Abraham Lincoln, took a break or simply left politics altogether. As the death knell began to ring for the Whig Party, two new political parties would emerge from its ashes, one seeking greater freedom for all people, the other united in fear. Now streaming. Welcome to Buy It Now, the show where aspiring entrepreneurs get the opportunity of a lifetime. I wouldn't be chasing it if I didn't believe that the world needs this product. In each episode, the entrepreneurs get 90 seconds to pitch to an audience of potential customers. This is match point, baby. If the audience like the product, they pitch them in front of our panel of experts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Anderson, Tabitha Brown,

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Woo! Buy It Now. Stream free on Freebie and prime video. In a quiet suburb, a community is shattered by the death of a beloved wife and mother. But this tragic loss of life quickly turns into something even darker. Her husband had tried to hire a hitman on the dark web to kill her. And she wasn't the only target. Because buried in the depths of the internet is The Kill List, a cache of chilling documents containing names, photos, addresses and specific instructions for people's murders.

This podcast is the true story of how it ended up in a race against time to warn those whose lives were in danger and it turns out convincing a total stranger someone wants them dead is not easy follow kill list on the wandry app or wherever you get your podcasts you can listen to kill list and more exhibit c true crime shows like morbid early and ad free right now by joining wandry plus check out exhibit c in the wandry app for all your true crime listening. Imagine it's August 6th, 1855. You and your brother Donovan are Irish immigrants living in the second floor of a boarding house at the corner of Main and 11th Street

in Louisville, Kentucky. It's election day in the city, and the members of the so-called Know-Nothing Party have vowed to keep Irishmen like yourself from voting. You're not a citizen yet, so you can't vote anyway. But the Know-Nothings have convinced themselves that Irish and German immigrants in the city are planning to vote illegally, and they intend to stop it.

Your brother sighs. It's all these editorials and the Daily Journal that have got them all up in arms, spreading false claims about immigrants trying to vote. The only Irish and Germans I know who plan to vote are citizens who have the right. Yeah, and they'll be stopped from voting too. That's the real goal here. Illegal voting is just to cover. Running Mayor Speed out of office wasn't enough for them, I guess. James Speed was Louisville's first Catholic mayor, but his term was cut short when the Know-Nothings convinced the city council to hold an early election. Speed refused to run, calling the election invalid, and the Know-Nothings elected John Barbie in his place,

who has refused to take threats against Irish and German voters seriously. You're worried about violence. There is already smoke on the horizon coming from the direction of Butchertown, where their stockyards are, an area heavily populated with German immigrants. Armed men walk the streets outside, and scattered gunshots ring out in the distance. Over your shoulder, you hear the shattering of glass and men yelling. Turning towards Main Street, you see a large group of men, many holding weapons and torches, Turning towards Main Street, you see a large group of men, many holding

weapons and torches, moving towards your block. Some neighbors step out of their doors to curse at them as they pass. One is jerked out of the doorway and thrown to the ground, but no one can help him. The know-nothings wave their guns menacingly, keeping the crowd at bay. Suddenly, a shot rings out. It takes you a minute to realize that it's coming from your own room. Donovan is at the other window, firing down at the crowd. More shots ring out from nearby windows, and the know-nothings begin to return fire. Some fall in the street as they take cover. You leap back from the window just as a shot whizzes by your head.

Then you smell smoke. They're throwing torches through the windows. Out the window, you see the whole block is on fire. A pair of men fleeing their burning building to the street are shot down by the Know-Nothings. They've got us trapped. We'll make a run for it. You go first and I'll cover you. Get out and run as fast as you can towards 11th Street. You leap through the flames, down the stairs and out to the street. Immediately, your brother begins firing on the Know-Nothings from above, allowing you to escape. But as you run, you realize no one is going to be covering

Donovan as he tries his escape. A quick glimpse of your shoulder is the last you ever see of him. The official death toll from the Louisville riots of 1855 was 22, though the number was more likely closer to 100. Members of the Know-Nothing Party burned hundreds of houses and buildings and intimidated countless voters at various polling places around town. Catholic churches were shot at and vandalized while mobs attacked immigrants in the street. Editorials in the city's newspaper in the days leading up to the election

had helped spur the Know-Nothings into a frenzy. George Prentiss, editor of the newspaper, had complained about the pestilent influence of the foreign swarms, who are loyal to an inflated Italian despot who keeps people kissing his toes all day. He had warned of a plot by immigrants who turned the entire nation into a Catholic constituency of the Pope. The Know-Nothing Movement had its roots in nativism, an anti-immigration ideology that began to appear in the 1830s. Nativists were Protestant, English-speaking Americans with mostly British ancestry. They were concerned with the increasing number of Catholic immigrants arriving in American cities.

They saw Catholicism as incompatible with American values of independence, democracy, and freedom. In their minds, Catholic loyalty to the Pope was indistinguishable to loyalty to a foreign king. The Know-Nothings represented the culmination of this nativist movement. The party ultimately grew out of several secretive anti-Catholic orders that operated throughout the 1830s and 40s. When members of these secret orders were asked about their beliefs, they replied, I know nothing. The Know Nothing movement swept into national prominence in 1854 when it took control of the Massachusetts state legislature. In that same year, Know Nothings won 52 seats in the House of Representatives, and one of their men, Nathaniel P-Nothings won 52 seats in the House of Representatives,

and one of their men, Nathaniel P. Banks, was elected Speaker of the House. Following these successes, the movement rebranded itself the American Party. It very quickly attracted new members, drawing on the general distrust of foreigners and Catholics among many Americans. The party also drew support from former Whigs, as well as disaffected Northern Democrats. Its opposition to the sale of liquor brought it widespread support from Prohibitionists. It was strongest in the North, where most new immigrants lived, but also gained support in the South from many former Whigs. But though the party was growing and gaining rapid popularity in the mid-1850s, there was also a strong backlash against the extremity of its views.

In a letter from 1855, Abraham Lincoln wrote, As a nation, we began declaring that all men are created equal, except Negroes. When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics. When it comes to this, I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty. To it comes to this, I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty. To Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure and without the base alloy of hypocrisy. At the same time that the American Party was gaining traction as the strongest opponent of the Democratic Party, another party was also forming. It sprang up in opposition to another controversial piece of legislation,

the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In the spring of 1854, the Democratic Congress, under the direction of Illinois Democrat Stephen Douglas, passed legislation establishing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Both territories were expected to be free from slavery as they were in the area north of the old Missouri Compromise Line, established in 1820, that set the precedent that slavery could only exist in territories south of the line. But the Kansas-Nebraska Act effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise by permitting popular sovereignty in the territories. That is, it allowed settlers in the territories to decide themselves whether or not to have slaves. Anti-slavery advocates in the North were infuriated. They saw the law as yet

another victory of the Democrats and the Southern slave power system over free labor and free men. Many Northerners were still sour about the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Now they were fighting mad. In a speech later that year, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, The proposition to repeal the Missouri Compromise was a breach of honor. The right of each man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the basis of all social and political right. How brass-fronted and shameless is that impudence which, while it aims to rob men of their liberty, screams itself hoarse to the words of popular sovereignty. Opposition in the North coalesced quickly into a new political faction.

By June of 1854, New York journalist Horace Greeley gave the movement its name. We should not care much whether we are called Whigs, Free Democrats, or something else, though we think some simple name, like Republican, would more fitly designate us. And so the Republican Party was born. The name intentionally recalled the old agrarian party of Thomas Jefferson, with its values of liberty, land, and justice for all. Early on, abolition and opposition to the spread of slavery was the party's main platform. The new coalition attracted former Northern Whigs and Free Soilers, as well as a few anti-slavery Democrats. In 1856, the party nominated former California Senator John C. Fremont to run against Democrat James Buchanan. The election was split into three, however, by the candidacy of former

President Millard Fillmore, who was nominated by the American Party, formally the Know-Nothings. Fillmore attempted to run as a compromise candidate, a moderate voice between the anti-slavery Republicans and the pro-slavery Democrats. But with their opposition split between the American Party and the Republicans, the Democrats and their candidate Buchanan took the presidency. During Buchanan's term, the issue of slavery came to dominate virtually all political discussions. Following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a minor civil war broke out in Kansas as anti-slavery and pro-slavery settlers raced to buy up land. Each hoped to get enough like-minded individuals into the territory to affect the eventual decision

on slavery, and the two groups inevitably came to blows. People were killed and homesteads destroyed on both sides. During this bleeding Kansas crisis, Massachusetts Republican Charles Sumner gave an impassioned speech against slavery. He specifically mentioned several senators associated with the Kansas-Nebraska Act, including Andrew Butler of South Carolina. Sumner said, The senator from South Carolina has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him. Though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight. I mean the harlot, slavery. The insult was enraging to many in the House of Representatives, but especially to Butler's

cousin, Preston Brooks. Two days after Sumner's speech, Brooks attacked Sumner with a cane on the floor of the Senate, nearly beating him to death. It would be three years before Sumner was well enough to return to his duties. The attack sparked a national furor. Southerners lionized Brooks as a hero for defending his cousin's honor, while those in the North sought as evidence of the South's inherent brutality. Then, on March 6, 1857, the Supreme Court ruled on a controversial case. Dred Scott was a slave who had sued for his freedom after living in free territory for several years. He lost in a 7-2 decision and remained a slave. In denying Scott his freedom,

the court declared that African slaves or their descendants, regardless of their status as slave or free, were not U.S. citizens. It also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional because it had outlawed slavery in some territories. The Compromise had already been repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, but the Supreme Court's decision ensured it could never be resurrected as many Republicans had hoped. On the issue of slavery, Compromise was proving hard to find, difficult to maintain, and now unconstitutional. More and more people were forced to pick a side. In the shifting political tides, the Republican Party began to swell in numbers, helped along by

the collapse of the American Party after 1856, when unease about Catholic immigrants faded, and concerns over the South and slavery mounted. Most former know-nothings joined the Republicans too, not because of abolitionist sentiment, but because the Catholics and immigrants that know-nothings despise widely supported the Democratic Party. The 1850s came to a close amid rising tension and a growing polarization in politics. The issue of slavery was driving everyone into just two corners.

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Each month, Apple Podcast editors spotlight one series that has captivated listeners with masterful storytelling, creative excellence, and a unique creative voice and vision. To recognize Ghost Story being chosen as the first series essential, Wondery has made it ad-free for a limited time, only on Apple Podcasts. If you haven't listened yet, head over to Apple Podcasts to hear for yourself. Imagine it's November 9th, 1860. You're standing in a crowd outside the South Carolina State House in Columbia. It's a cold fall afternoon, and you blow into your hands to keep them warm. You and your friend Andrew Patton work together in one of the local warehouses.

But you've taken the day off to come and see firsthand what the legislature decides to do about the election of Abraham Lincoln. The crowd is mostly behaving itself as it waits, but there's a nervous excitement in the air. How long do you think they're going to be in there? That's hard to say. They've been going since 10 o'clock this morning. Surely they'll make a decision by suppertime. Do you think they'll really do it? Do you think they'll really vote to secede and break up the union?

I don't think they can do that. Not by themselves, anyway. But they can call for the state to hold a convention to debate the issue. Debate? There's not a soul from here to Charleston who doesn't think Lincoln is a threat to southern rights. Yeah, that's true. But it'll never happen at all unless the legislature gives the go-ahead. It's no small thing thing dissolving the union.

South Carolina is the only state in the country that doesn't hold an election for president. Instead, state lawmakers decide who to give the state's electoral votes to. If you'd had a say in the matter, you'd have probably voted for John Bell, who ran on a platform of keeping the country together. But now that the election is over, and Lincoln has won, you find yourself caught up in the fervor of secession spreading across the South. I can't see how we can choose any other path. It's either leave the Union or become the servants of Republican agitators. It's been a long time coming. South Carolina has always treasured its liberty and rights. I don't think our leaders will betray our values now. If only old John C. Calhoun were here

to see it. Just then, the front door to the statehouse opens. A hush falls over the crowd as everyone strains to see who it is. A young man steps out, holding a piece of paper. It's one of the legislative aides. The South Carolina House of Representatives has adopted a resolution to call the election of Abraham Lincoln a hostile act. The text is as follows. Resolved that it is the sense of this General Assembly that South Carolina is now ready to dissolve her connection with the government of the United States and earnestly desires and hereby solicits the cooperation of her sister slaveholding states in such movement. As the crowd continues to cheer, you feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. They've actually done it. They've called for secession.

You can hardly believe it. For years, this has been coming, and now it's finally happened. The agitators in the North have finally pushed too far. You feel a sense of community with the people around you, with the people of South Carolina. For too long, the fear of what the North might do has weighed on the Southern soul. Now you can finally look ahead with optimism,

knowing wonderful things are right around the corner for you and if they join you, all the people of the South. All the political and social drama of the 1850s finally came to a head during the election of 1860. For only the second time in history, four different candidates ran for president on major party tickets. In the years preceding the election, the Democratic Party, united after the Compromise of 1850, had slowly begun to splinter. While disagreements on slavery had completely destroyed the Whig Party, Democrats managed to keep their party identity. But the issue did eventually split the party between Northern and Southern factions. Northern Democrats were led by Stephen Douglas of Illinois. He was a young, charismatic leader who helped update the Democratic Party for a new era.

Under his leadership, the party in the North began to move away from the traditional agrarian politics of the Jacksonian era and embraced issues like commerce, technology, and internationalism. They promoted local jobs and infrastructure and were strong supporters of American art and literature. But they maintained the traditional Democratic views of states' rights, demonstrated in Douglas' support of popular sovereignty as part of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. By permitting the territories to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery or not, Douglas was taking the choice out of the hands of the federal government and giving it back to the people.

As for the problem of slavery in general, Douglas' northern faction sought ways to avoid war with the South while keeping in check the pro-slavery push to expand. They believed that slavery would eventually die out on its own, as it had in the North, and they preferred this strategy rather than a full confrontation. Southern Democrats, on the other hand, had no intention of letting slavery die out. Not only did they want slavery to expand to the West, they dreamed of an expansion of their slave empire even farther South. They imagined taking over Mexico, Cuba, and other island nations in the Caribbean, and even wresting control of South America from the Spanish. South Carolina Senator Robert Rett had replaced John Calhoun

after his death. Rett stated, We will expand, as our growth and civilization shall demand, over Mexico, over the Isles of the Sea, over the far-off southern tropics, until we shall establish a great confederation of republics, the greatest, freest, and most useful the world has ever seen. By the time 1860 rolled around, the two factions within the Democratic Party were deeply split. At that year's nominating convention, Northern delegates refused to approve a pro-slavery platform. As a result, Southerners walked out and held their own separate convention. The Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas, while Southern Democrats chose Vice President John C. Breckinridge. The Republicans, meanwhile, were sure to nominate an abolitionist, and the Democrats had just split

their party, almost guaranteeing their loss. Concern grew that a Republican victory would thereby lead to a secession crisis, and a convention was called to unite former Whigs and Know-Nothings who hadn't already joined the Republicans or Democrats. They called their coalition the Constitutional Union Party and nominated former Tennessee Senator John Bell as their candidate. Their platform was broad-based and moderate and completely ignored the question of slavery. Instead, their focus was the preservation of the Union and the Constitution. With four candidates from four factions running, Republican Abraham Lincoln won only 39% of the popular vote, but he earned a clear majority in

the Electoral College, sweeping most of the northern states. And, just as feared, immediately following his election, the southern states began to secede. Within a month of his inauguration, the North and South were at war. The Civil War brought four years of brutality and destruction on a scale never before seen in the United States. The country and its politics would never be the same. As the nation fractured, the political parties fragmented too. Far from wartime unity, both parties broke into factions. Democrats divided over support for the war, while Republicans split over Lincoln and his policies. The so-called War Democrats were led by General George McClellan.

They supported the war and Lincoln's objectives. McClellan had been a leading general in the first years of the war, before being fired in 1862 by Lincoln. Peace Democrats, also called Copperheads, were led by Ohio Congressman Clement Vellandigam. Insistent on peace without victory, the Copperheads sought to end the war and reunite the country through negotiations, but critics accused them of being Confederate sympathizers. Similarly, Republicans split between those who supported Lincoln and those who did not.

Called the Radical Republicans, those who opposed him believed that he was too moderate and lenient in his dealings with the South. They distrusted his appointment of McClellan, a Democrat to high command, believing he didn't have the heart to wage total war against the South. They criticized Lincoln for not moving more quickly to free slaves, and when he did issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, they criticized him for only freeing slaves in rebellious states. The Radicals controlled Congress near the end of the war, and they passed a reconstruction bill that Lincoln vetoed as too harsh. He preferred to use his own executive powers to

begin the process of bringing rebellious states back into the Union. Unlike the Radicals, he also preferred a quicker return to self-governing for the Southern states, not wishing to drag the process out. Fed up with Lincoln and unhappy with the progress of the war, the Radicals split off from the main party and nominated their own candidate for the 1864 election. Lincoln was forced to create a coalition party to run for re-election, bringing together his supporters from across the political spectrum. Called the National Union Party, they nominated Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson as Lincoln's running mate. The Democrats, on the other hand, nominated McClellan. Who better to challenge Lincoln

than the popular general Lincoln had fired two years earlier? With the war going badly, and a significant portion of his own party against him, Lincoln believed he would lose his re-election bid. He stated, I'm going to be beaten, and unless some great change takes place, badly beaten. He later told his cabinet, It seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be re-elected. But Lincoln's presidency was saved

by important battlefield victories in the fall, just before the election. His coalition party ended up winning easily over McClellan, and Lincoln began his second term in March of 1865. But he never got the chance to put his vision in place for rebuilding the country. A month later, the war was over, and Lincoln was dead. His choice to pick Andrew Johnson as his running mate

would turn out to have long-lasting consequences for the nation. The politics of the moment would test both sides and set the nation on a course for a new century. Vice President Johnson was a Southern Democrat. He faced a Congress controlled by radical Republicans, but he also faced the monumental task of reuniting a country devastated by war. On the next episode of American History Tellers, we'll see what happens when Andrew Johnson, the latest in a line of accidental presidents, confronts Republicans in Congress. Their clash over Reconstruction and the rights of newly freed African Americans will result in the first presidential impeachment in American history. Then we'll dive into the

progressive era and beyond as the Republican Party comes to dominate national politics for the next 70 years. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. From Wondery, this is American History Tellers. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

If you're listening on a smartphone, tap or swipe over the cover art of this podcast. You'll find the episode notes, including some details you may have missed. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Sound design by Derek Behrens. This episode is written by B. Scott Christmas, edited by Dorian Marina, edited and produced by Jenny Lauer,

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