Transcript Lincoln`s Decision

Background to
the Conflict
Pre-Civil War Days
The Slave Economy & King Cotton
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Many people began to turn against slavery
Cost of owning slaves was too high for most
Most slaves worked on large plantations.
Very few white Southerners could afford to own slaves.
Cotton was hard to prepare for market
– The little seeds had to be separated from the cotton.
– This was very hard to do and took a LOT of TIME
– Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin
• Made cleaning cotton easier
• Farmers grew more cotton and made more
money
• Needed more slaves to work the cotton
North and South Disagree
• States’ Rights
– South didn’t like depending on the North’s
manufactured goods
– Thought the North was getting RICH off of them
– Settlers from the South who moved west took their
slaves
– Settlers from the North didn’t own slaves and thought
slavery was wrong.
– WHO would WIN???
– Would there be slavery in the new territories or
NOT???
The Underground Railroad
• The Underground Railroad
was an informal network of
secret routes and safe
houses used by slaves to
escape to free states in the
US and to Canada with the
aid of abolitionists
• Harriet Tubman is the
most famous “conductor”
of the Underground
Railroad.
Fugitive Slave Laws
• Fugitive Slave Laws make escaping
even harder.
• A new law that said:
– Anyone caught helping slaves escape
would be punished.
– If you found a runaway slave, you had to
return them to their owner.
Harriet
Beecher
Stowe
(1811 – 1896)
So this is the lady who
started the Civil War.
-- Abraham Lincoln
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1852
Sold 300,000 copies in
the first year.
2 million in a decade!
John Brown’s Raid
on Harper’s Ferry, 1859
John Brown’s rebellion at
Harper’s Ferry, Virginia
*A white abolitionist
*Stole guns from Harper’s Ferry
warehouse to give to slaves
*Caught by Robert E. Lee, tried,
and hanged
Presidential
Election of 1860
Worried White Southerners
• Many in the South were afraid if Lincoln
were elected, slavery would be
outlawed.
• Some even said they would LEAVE the
Union if Lincoln was elected.
Election Results:
Lincoln WINS
• November 6, 1860
• December 20, 1860 South Carolina’s
leaders seceded from the Union.
• Later SIX other southern states secede
and form the Confederate States of
America.
The Confederate States of
America
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South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida
Louisiana
Alabama
Georgia
Texas
What to Do about the CSA?
• Some advised Lincoln to “Let the states go”
• Others said, “Give in on the slavery question.”
• Still others said, “Use the ARMY to end their
revolt!”
• He wanted to prevent war.
• “We are not enemies, but friends.”
• THE VERY NEXT DAY an important
message came
from Major Robert Anderson commander at
Fort
Sumter.
Urgent!
• The message from
Commander Anderson to
President Lincoln was:
Supplies at the Fort
are almost gone. If
new supplies are
not sent soon, we
will be forced to
surrender the fort
to the Confederacy.
What should
Lincoln do???
If I send supplies…Southerners
might attack.
If I send troops….Southerners
WILL attack.
If I do nothing…the commander
will have to surrender.
Lincoln’s Decision
Lincoln decided to send supply
ships and see what the
Southerners would do.
Confederate President Davis
• Davis decided to take over the fort
BEFORE the supply ships arrived.
• He demanded them to surrender.
• Their response: NEVER!
• The Confederate troops FIRED on the
fort, Major Anderson and his men ran
out of ammunition and had to give up.
Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861
The Civil War has Begun!
• Lincoln called for Americans to join the
army to stop the rebellion.
• Frightened southern states not in the
Confederacy now joined with the other 7
states.
• Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and
North Carolina
• Now the CSA is
States Strong
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