Transcript Class Notes
Unit 3: The Civil War and Reconstruction Slavery Becomes an Issue Important questions of the time Social: Was slavery moral or immoral? Economic: What economic factors allowed slavery to remain in the South? Political: How will the US decide the slave status of its new western territories? Economic Factors Supporting Slavery Agricultural necessity Northerners had farms too So why the discrepancy? COTTON! The Civil War: Why Secession? Election between Lincoln, Douglas, and Breckenridge Votes split leaving Lincoln the winner The South viewed Lincoln as an abolitionist president SC secedes first Virginia followed after Fort Sumter Ft. Sumter: Southern forces take the fort in 1861 Lincoln retaliates with force Two Nations: The United States a.k.a. the Union President: Abraham Lincoln General: Ulysses S. Grant Advantages: More men, money, manufacturing, and railroads Strategies: Naval blockade, control Mississippi River The Confederate States of America a.k.a. The Confederacy President: Jefferson Davis General: Robert E. Lee Advantages: Fighting defensive war Better military leaders Knowledge of land Major Events of the Civil War Battle of Manassas Merrimack & Monitor Battle of Antietem Emancipation Proclamation Battle of Shiloh Battle of Vicksburg Battle of Gettysburg Gettysburg Address Election of 1864 Appomattox Courthouse Lincoln’s Controversial Wartime Actions Issued 1st Draft Suspended Free Press Suspended Habeas Corpus Ex Parte Merriman Ex Parte Milligan Reputation as the “Great Emancipator” Allowing African-American Regiments to Fight 54th Massachusetts “Glory”- Movie The Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863 “Freed” slaves in rebelling states (not border) Made ending slavery an official war goal Pushing for the Ratification of the 13th Amendment- “Lincoln”- Movie Lincoln’s With Malice Towards None Speech- March 1865 Lincoln wants to Forgive With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan -- do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations” “ March 1865 Abraham Lincoln Lincoln’s Assassination- 1865 At Ford’s Theater in Washington DC Shot by John Wilkes Booth Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat, becomes 17th President The Funeral Train Plans for Reconstruction Lincoln’s Plan – When 10% of voters swore an oath to the Union, they could return if they adopted the 13th Amendment Congressional Plan – Required a majority of voters to take an oath to the Union Freedmen’s Bureau – set up to help former slaves adjust to freedom (gave food, clothes, supplies, settled disputes, etc.) Radical Republicans & Radical Reconstruction 13th Amendment (1865) – ended slavery in the US 14th Amendment (1866) – gave African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law 15th Amendment (1870) – gave voting rights to males of all races over 21 Reconstruction Acts of 1867 – created 5 military districts in the South. Forced South to accept 14th Johnson’s Impeachment House impeached Johnson on a minor offense Was not removed Precedent: president wouldn’t be removed due to disagreements and minor offenses Left powerless after impeachment Reconstruction in the South Carpetbaggers – nickname given to white Northerners who traveled to the South thought to be taking advantage of the political situation in the South Scalawags – nickname for southern whites who sided with the northern view of reconstruction Reconstruction Amendments • 13TH AMENDMENT- ABOLISHED SLAVERY 14TH AMENDMENT- EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW, DEFINES CITIENSHIP 15TH AMENDMENT- VOTING RIGHTS CANNOT BE DENIED BASED ON RACE, COLOR OR PREVIOUS CONDITIONS OF SERVITUDE Gains of the Freedmen Sixteen African Americans won Congressional seats in southern states. Hiram Revels was the 1st African American Senator from Mississippi followed by Blanche Bruce Compromise of 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes won presidential election based on a promise to Southern Democrats to pull all remaining federal troops out of the South Ends Military Reconstruction Start of the Jim Crow South Southern Whites Fight Back Ku Klux Klan- set out to terrorize and prevent Af. Am. from exercising their new freedoms and voting. Sharecropping – Af. Am. & poor white farmers that worked on someone’s farm for a small share of the crops as payment. (seen as an alternative to slavery) Tenant Farming- farmers that paid cash to farm a portion of a plantation owners farm. Poll Taxes- fee required to vote that made it hard for the poor to vote. Literacy Tests- reading test that needed to be completed in order to vote. Southern Whites Fight Back Cont. Grandfather Clause – exemption to the literacy test if your grandfather had voted before 1867. Jim Crow Laws – local laws that allowed segregation to be legal in places like school, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, train, etc. Plessy v. Ferguson- upheld laws which segregated based on race as long as “Separate but Equal” conditions existed .