The Road to Fort Sumter

1. Introduction--The Potential for Conflict
   1. The Abolitionist Issue
      1. Abolitionists as Threat to Southern Security
      2. Southerners as a Threat to Free Speech
   2. The Fugitive Slave Issue
      1. South: "Slave Catching" as "States' Rights"
      2. North: "Slave Catching" as Assault on Human Rights
   3. Conflict of Interest: The Struggle for Land
2. Slavery and Expansion
   1. The Missouri Controversy
      1. Conflict
      2. The Missouri Compromise
   2. Texas
   3. The Mexican Cession
      1. Conflict
      2. The Compromise of 1850
   4. The Crisis of the 1850s
      1. The Collapse of the Second Party System
      2. New Issues
         1. Nativism
         2. Sectionalism
            1. Northern Politics--The "Slave Power Conspiracy"--The Republican Party
            2. Southern Politics--The Yankee Threat
               1. The "Black Republicans"
               2. The "Turncoat" Northern Democrats--the Party Split of 1860
         3. The Outcome--The Election of 1860
      3. The Secession Crisis
         1. Occasion--The Election of Lincoln
         2. The Failure of Compromise
            1. Republicans--The "Slave Power" vs. Democracy
            2. White Southerners--The "Compact" Violated--Jefferson Reprised