Dred Scott case, election of 1860, secession in Georgia and Alexander Stephens's Role

     The Dred Scott case infuriated the Northerners about slavery even more than they were already. This case ruling also bolstered many anti-slavery followers' views. Dred Scott, a slave, worked on a plantation for most all of his life. However, in 1864 Scott and his wife Harriet tried to sue Irene Emerson (formerly known as Irene Sanford) for their freedom after Emerson attempted to hire out Scott and his family to work for other families. Scott had lived in free slave territories for almost nine years, although he never bought his freedom. Scott believed he deserved to be a free slave. After eleven years fighting in court, Dred Scott was determined as Irene Emerson's property, and had no right to be a free slave. Property is property, and it must return to its owner. Dred Scott was treated like an animal in this case, and the ruling infuriated many Northerners. However, Dred Scott was (and still is) viewed as a hero for standing up to his owner and all slavery supporters. 

     The election of 1860 was an extremely controversial one between the Southerners and the Northerners. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was sworn in due to a major rift in the Democratic Party.  Obviously, many Southerners were extremely upset at Lincoln winning the presidency. They believed that Lincoln would try to abolish slavery as soon as possible. It turns out, Lincoln had a completely different idea of what to do. Lincoln believed that slavery was wrong, however he accepted how it was a part of the Southern culture, and the key to its existence. Lincoln believed that the Union could not separate, that it must stay as one, although the Illinoisan native did believe that slavery either needed to be abolished completely, or legal everywhere. Abraham Lincoln went on to become the greatest president of all time. 

     Georgia was the only Southern state that was not all for secession from the Union. Alexander Stephens blazed the trail of attempting to convince the other Southern states that secession was not the answer. For a while, Georgia tried to convince the Southern states throughout many conferences that they could not secede. Alexander was a true Union loyalist, however even he knew that secession was inevitable. During the month of January in 1861 on the 19th, Georgia finally seceded. The finishing vote tallies were 208 for secession, and 89 for the Union. Even though the secessionists won, Georgia was still the only state to have qualms about seceding. The rest of the Southern states were overjoyed at the fact of Georgia seceding. As it turns out, Georgia also reinvented their Constitution for the first time ever in January, when it was established in 1798.

Some Civil War Stats:

• Bull Run was the first major battle to occur
• The war started in William McLean's front yard, and ended on his front porch
• The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places
• Three million men fought- 600,000 of them died
• The Civil War made some rich, and some incredibly poor
• "The war was about a new birth of freedom," said Abraham Lincoln
• Fewer than 4 out of 100 slaves lives to be 60
• Slaves were treated like dogs
• In 1860, 1 out of every 7 individuals were slaves
• In 1860 4 million men, women, and children are enslaved

Sources:

In Class Video 2/ 8/13

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/dredscott.htm

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3250

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLean_House_(Appomattox,_Virginia)

http://www.illinoiscivilwar150.org/images/chronos_images/1861%20Jan%2019%20Georgia%20secession%20LOC.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Alexander_Stephens.jpg/220px-Alexander_Stephens.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/dredscott.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg/220px-Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg