welcome back to our discussion about the pivotal events that led to the civil war in the last lecture you learned about the failed Missouri compromise and compromise of 1850 the inflamatory anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and the uproar and violence surrounding the Kansas Nebraska app next on the list was one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in American history the Dred Scott decision Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri who was brought to the free state of Illinois by his Onan because he was brought to a state that did not allow slavery Dred Scott sued for his freedom and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court the result of this case would have important ramifications on the issue of whether or not slavery could spread in 1857 Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney delivered the court's decision and it was not a favorable one for Dred Scott or any other slaves first the Court determined that since Dred Scott was not white he was also not a citizen thus establishing that no african-americans free or slave were citizens and therefore were not protected by the Constitution secondly Tanny wrote that Dred Scott a slave was his owner's property and the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution protects a citizen's right to their property in essence what this decision said was that slavery was considered a constitutional right that the federal government cannot take away this meant that now slavery was technically legal throughout the whole United States this decision outraged abolitionists throughout the country and caused further division between the north and the south one of those abolitionists who was outraged by the Dred Scott decision was a man named John Brown John Brown was a pretty extreme abolitionist in fact you could say that he was a bit radical he was in Kansas during the violence of Bleeding Kansas and it is believed that he and his sons were responsible for a few murders there in in 1859 he took the abolitionist cause to the south Brown and several followers raided and captured the federal Arsenal in Harpers Ferry Virginia he hoped to incite a slaver goal in the region Brown and his followers were captured by federal troops in his raid was unsuccessful since Brown technically took up arms against the federal government he was executed for treason however it wasn't so much what Brown did but rather the reaction to his execution in the north that angered and frightened southerners Southerners of course thought Brown got exactly what he deserved but many in the north viewed Brown as a martyr someone who died for a righteous cause as southerners read northern headlines that hailed John Brown as a hero their trust of northerners eroded even further the straw that broke the camel's back was the presidential election of 1860 during this election the extension of slavery into western territories was the major issue in the years prior to the election a new political party called the Free Soil party emerged like their name would suggest the Free Soilers were opposed the spread of slavery members of the Free Soil party eventually formed the new Republican Party which also opposed the spread of slavery in 1860 they chose as their presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln the election of 1860 was between four candidates the slavery issues split up the Democratic Party into northern and southern factions Stephen Douglas ran for the Democratic Party while John Breckinridge ran for the new southern Democratic Party also throwing his hat into the ring was John Bell who ran for the new constitutional Union Party Abraham Lincoln won the election despite not receiving any electoral votes in the south after the election Southerners saw the writing on the wall regarding the future of slavery state governments throughout the south began holding secession conventions in South Carolina was the first to secede followed by ten other southern states they declared themselves a new country the Confederate States of America and chose Jefferson Davis as their president after the secession of South Carolina Abraham Lincoln decided to resupply to federal court in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina rather than surrender it to the Confederates on April 12 1861 Confederate forces bombarded the port and the Civil War had begun [Music] [Music]