Transcript Life Before the American Civil War

Life Before the
American Civil War
By Jihan Habeeb
The American Civil War was:
 A military conflict between the United States
of America (the Union), and the Confederate
States of America (the Confederacy) from
1861-1865
 North- the Union
 South- the Confederacy (the south was also
called the ante-bellum which stood for “before
the war”)
Major Differences
North
 Industry

 Middle Class

 Immigrant labor

 Protected Tariff (a tax

placed on imported
goods)
South
Agriculture (cotton)
No middle class
Slave labor
No protected tariff
Free States and Slave States Before the
Civil War: Red- slave states, Green- free states,
Beige- territories open to slavery
Let’s Start with the South:
 Economy was based on cotton production
which depended on slave labor.
 Southern economy was weak and vulnerable
because it depended entirely on cotton but
was still very profitable.
 The period of cotton growing was called King
Cotton.
Southern Population
 11 states
 9,000,000 people
 3,500,000 slaves
3 Classes of Southern Society:
 Gentry- Highest class; Small group (2500
people) that owned large farms.
 Yeomen- Large group that owned small
farms, usually less than 100 acres. They were
poor and depended on the gentry to do
business with.
 Slaves- Lowest class whose lives were
completely controlled by the gentry.
Slavery
 Slaves originally came from Africa; they were
taken by white colonists to America and
became personal property of the gentry.
 The main purpose of having slaves was to
serve white people’s every need, especially
picking cotton from the cotton plantation
fields.
Slaves Working on a Plantation, 1862
Slavery cont.
 Slaves were a big investment for wealthy
plantation owners; in 1860, a slave could cost
$2,000.
 Slave masters had total control over slaves’
lives.
 Slaves were often physically abused and
raped.
Slavery cont.
 Slave owners also threatened to kill slaves
and their families if they tried to escape.
 Plantations had codes, or customary
treatment, to control slaves.
 If you would like to read first-hand accounts of
slaves and how they lived during the time, go
to
http://xroads.virginia..edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpah
ome.html
Codes
 Slaves could not own guns.
 Slaves could not strike a white person.
 Slaves could not testify in court.
 Slaves could not leave the master’s
plantation without permission.
 Slaves were not allowed to read or write.
Other Characteristics
 Not many big cities
 Not many schools (people hired tutors)
 The very rich studied at universities or the military
and became kernels.
 Government- the main political party of the south was
the Whig party.
 Southern Whigs were pro-slavery.
 Popular Sovereignty- idea suggested by southern
states that people of a certain territory should have
the right to decide whether the territory should be
admitted as a slave or free state.
And now the North…
 Economy was based on industries and major
businesses, commerce and finance.
 North had many manufacturing factories that
dealt with textiles, lumber, clothing,
machinery, leather, and wooden goods.
 The biggest business of the north was in
railroad construction. Transportation was
easier because of railroads.
The North
 23 states
 23,000,000 people
 Bigger cities than the south such as New York
and Boston
The North cont.
 Unlike the south, the north had tariffs on their
products in order to protect them from cheap
foreign competition.
 The south opposed tariffs because it
increased the price of manufactured goods.
 Labor for industries and factories depended
on immigrants that came mainly from Europe.
The North cont.
 In addition to having a strong economy, the
north had a strong government as well.
 They had better representation in Congress
than the south did.
 Democrats- the main political party of the
north. They were abolitionists- people against
slavery.
Acts and Bills
 Wilmot Proviso- 1846; named after David
Wilmot, Democrat from Pennsylvania, this bill
stated that the Mexico territory that belonged
to America should be free territory without
slavery. Southerners opposed this bill but it
was passed anyway.
Bills and Acts cont.
 Compromise of 1850- Stated that California
should enter the Union as a free state.
 Kansas-Nebraska Act- 1854; Created by
senator of Illinois, Stephan Douglas, this act
was to organize the rest of the Louisiana
territory so that it would steer the meeting of
railroads in Chicago.
References
 Shi, David Emory and George Brown Tindall.
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America: A Narrative History. W.W. Norton &
Company: New York; 2000
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia; 2000
Civil War Traveler- www.civilwar.org
From Revolution to Reconstruction…and what
happened afterwardshttp://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/H/1994/ch6_p2.htm
The Civil War- www.teacheroz.com/civilwar.htm
Slavery in America- www.slaveryinamerica.org
The History Place- www.historyplace.com/civilwar