Transcript The Antebellum South

The Divisive Politics
of Slavery
I AM GRAY!
I AM BLUE!
The
Industrial North
Industry and Immigration in the North
–Factories produced textiles, sewing machines, farm
equipment, guns.
–Railroads (20,000 miles) was laid during the 1850’s.
Railroads carried raw
materials east and
manufactured goods
west.
Chicago was a railway
city that grew overnight
due to the volume of
goods and people
arriving by railroad.
They were more
reliable than rivers or
canals.
Railroad Lines by 1860
–Telegraph wires strung along railroad tracks
provided a network for communication for the North.
–Immigrants from Europe entered the workforce
Mostly Irish and German
Many opposed slavery
1.Slave labor was in competition with people who
worked for money.
2. It threatened to reduce the status of white workers
who could not successfully compete with slaves.
Characteristics of the South
1. Primarily agrarian and rural society
•
Small Farms and Large Plantations
2. “King Cotton”
* 1860 5 mil. bales a yr.
(57% of total US exports)
3. 1/3 of the U.S. population lived in the
South yet under 10% of all
manufactured goods
4. Very slow development of
industrialization
5. Lack of development in
transportation system
•
Still using rivers/canals
Rating the North & the South
Slave/Free States
Population by 1861
Resources: North & South
Southern Society (1850)
6,000,000
“Slavocracy”
[plantation owners]
The “Plain Folk”
[white farmers]
Black Freemen
Black Slaves
3,000,000
Total US Population  23,000,000
(9,250,000 in the South = 40%)
250,000
Graniteville Textile Co.
Founded in 1845, it was the South’s first attempt
at industrialization in Richmond, VA
Southern Agriculture
Slaves Picking Cotton
Slaves Using the
Cotton Gin
Changes in Cotton Production
1820
1860
Slave Auction Notice, 1823
Slave Master
Brands
Slave Cabin
Slave-Owning Population
(1850)
Slavery in the Territories
Provided, territory from that, as an
express and fundamental condition to
the acquisition of any the Republic of
Mexico by the United States, by virtue
of any treaty which may be negotiated
between them, and to the use by the
Executive of the moneys herein
appropriated, neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall ever exist
in any part of said territory, except for
crime, whereof the party shall first be
duly convicted.
Congressmen
David Wilmot
(D-PA)
Senate Debates
• Northerners wanted to abolish slavery in Washington D.C.
• Southerners accused the North of failing to enforce the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.
• Some Southerners began to threaten secession- or the
formal withdrawl of a state from the Union.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT THE U.S. FROM
BECOMING TWO NATIONS???
Compromise of 1850
• Henry Clay- “The Great Compromiser”
•Wanted the North and South to come to a
Compromise.
•Had help from former rival, Daniel Webster
•John C. Calhoun strongly opposed it.
•He was a supporter of Popular Sovereigntythe state is subject to the will of its people.
Terms of the Compromise
Calhoun’s Goals
He believed in states’
rights
•He blamed the situation
on anti-slavery
Northerners.
• He did not think the
South should give up
slavery.
•
Webster’s Goals
Terms
Cali= free state
• UT & NM = Popular
Sovereignty
• D.C. bans slave sales
•Fugitive Slave Act required
in the free states.
•
No slavery in territories.
• Supported the
Compromise to keep the
Union together.
•
The Compromise is Adopted
• The Senate rejected Henry
Clay’s compromise.
• He left Washington,
discouraged.
• Stephen A. Douglas picked
up where Clay left off.
• He unbundled the
Compromise and passed
each section individually.
• This allowed Congressmen
to chose.
Is the issue of slavery really settled?
• President Taylor dies
suddenly.
• Millard Fillmore becomes
President.
– He supported the
Compromise of 1850.
• John C. Calhoun died too.
– This allowed the South
room to compromise.
• It was eventually voted
into law.
• For the moment, the
slavery issue was settled.
Southern Pro-Slavery Propaganda
Reasons for the Civil War…
so far…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Slavery
Underground Railroad
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Kansas-Nebraska Act
“Bleeding Kansas”
Dred Scott Court Case
“A House divided
against itself,
cannot stand.”
Stephen Douglas
Famous from the Compromise of 1850.
Leading candidate for President in 1860.
He believed in Popular Sovereignty.
He did not think slavery was immoral.
He did think it was not going to be used in the territories.
Seemed self-confident, pacing back and forth.
Pounded his fists to make points more dramatic.
He accused Lincoln of being an abolitionist and
advocating racial equality.
Who is Lincoln?
He was a self-educated man.
He was known locally as a successful lawyer.
At first he was a Whig. He didn’t agree with the K-N Act and
later switched to the Republican party.
Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of 7 open debates to be
held throughout Illinois on the issue of slavery in the territories.
Lincoln was direct and used plain language.
Wanted legislation to outlaw slavery.
Believed slavery was immoral.
He tried to make Douglas look like a defender
of slavery.
Freeport Doctrine
Lincoln asked Douglas a crucial question.
Could the settlers of a territory vote to exclude slavery before the
territory became a state?
Dred Scott decision said NO. Territories couldn’t exclude
slavery.
So, how did Popular Sovereignty make sense anymore?
Douglas said, “Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere,
unless it is supported by local police regulation.
He was basically saying that people could get around the Dred Scott
decision.
Douglas won the Senate seat over Lincoln but his response
further separated the North and South.
Harpers Ferry
John Brown
Came back on the scene
Ended all hopes of
compromise between the
North and South.
He agreed with slave
uprisings.
•
Got money from Northern abolitionists.
Oct. 26, 1859, he led 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
He wanted to seize the federal arsenal, distribute the captured arms
to slaves in the area so they could start uprisings.
He held 60 citizens hostage.
Harpers Ferry
Local troops killed 8 of Brown’s men.
Colonel Robert E. Lee took a detachment of marines down there.
They stormed the room where Brown and his men were, killed 2 more
and captured Brown.
He was turned over to the state to be tried for treason.
He was hanged on Dec. 2, 1859.
The South feared the
North was inciting and
supporting slave uprisings.
Lincoln is Elected President
√ Abraham Lincoln
Republican
Stephen A. Douglas
Northern Democrat
1860
Presidential
Election
John Bell
Constitutional Union
John C. Breckinridge
Southern Democrat
1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!
Election Results
Southern
Secession
Lincoln’s victory convinced Southerners:
They lost their voice in the national government.
South Carolina was the first to secede.
December 20, 1860
Southern states were now wanting complete independence from
the federal gov’t.
Mississippi followed on January 9, 1861, and Florida the next day.
Within a few weeks, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
The Confederacy
On February 4, 1861, delegates from the
states met in Montgomery, Alabama.
The formed the Confederacy or Confederate
States of America.
They wrote their own Constitution but it
protected and recognized slavery.
On February 9, Jefferson Davis was
elected as President.
He was from Mississippi.
Alexander Stephens was vice-president from
Georgia.
Fort Sumter
Confederate soldiers immediately began taking over courthouses, post offices,
forts, etc.
The most important fort was South Carolina’s For Sumter.
On an island in Charleston Harbor.
Lincoln’s Dilemma
Should he reinforce the Fort?
If he evacuated the fort, then he would be treating the Confederacy as a
legitimate nation and threat.
That would just anger the Republican Party, weaken his administration,
and endanger the Union.
He decided not to do either one. He only sent food in for the men stationed there.
This made Jefferson Davis have to deal with the situation and become
responsible for the outcome.
If Davis did nothing, then he would damage the image of the
Confederacy as an independent nation.
If he ordered an attack to take the fort, he would turn peaceful
secession into a war.
Davis chose war.
4:30 am on April 12, 1861, Confederate soldiers bombarded the fort
with gunfire and cannons.
The fort commander, Major Anderson surrendered.
More Secession…
The North united.
Lincoln asked for volunteers in the
army.
The border states:
Virginia was unwilling to fight
against the Confederacy, so they
joined them.
Arkansas, Tennessee, and
North Carolina followed
Virginia= 11
Part of Virginia separated into
West Virginia.
Lincoln’s Generals
Joseph Hooker
Winfield Scott
Irwin McDowell
George McClellan
Ambrose Burnside
Ulysses S. Grant
George Meade
George McClellan,
Again!
McClellan: I Can Do It All!
The Confederate Generals
“Stonewall” Jackson
Nathan Bedford Forrest
George Pickett
Jeb Stuart
James Longstreet
Robert E. Lee
Americans Expect a Short War…
Union strategy = The Anaconda Plan
Navy would blockade Southern ports
Union riverboats and armies would move down the Mississippi River and
split the Confederacy in two.
Union armies would capture the capital of Richmond, Virginia.
Battle of Bull Run
July 21, 1861, 3 months after Fort Sumter
30,000 Union soldiers marching toward Richmond, only 100 miles from D.C.
They came upon a Confederate camp of soldiers.
• General McDowell VS. General “Stonewall” Jackson
The South won the battle as the North retreated.
Southerners became confident they were going
to win the war.
Lincoln’s response
Calls on 500,000 men to enlist for 3 years
3 days later, he calls for another 500,000
He appointed General George McClellan
February, 1862
Union invaded western Tennessee
General Ulysses S. Grant
His forces captured 2 Confederate forts
Ft. Donelson and Ft. Henry
The Confederates surrendered.