Transcript Lead Up to the Civil War

Match the events to their description
• A. Louisiana Purchase
• B. Manifest Destiny
• C. The Alamo
• D. Mexican-American War
• E. Monroe Doctrine
1. Texan fort that was
destroyed by Santa Anna
2. Fight over New Mexico
Territory
3. Belief the US should be
from coast to coast
4. US to stay out of Europe’s
problems and vice versa
5. Territory bought from
France that doubled the
size of the US
Life Before the
American Civil War
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 18611865
• 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
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. 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
afterwards- http://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