Transcript Unit 10: Road to the Civil War

Unit 10: Road to the Civil War
Lesson 3: Secession
Remember Bleeding Kansas?


Violence over slavery
continued there
Then, in October
1859, abolitionist
John Brown brought
his fight against
slavery into Virginia
John Brown’s Raid


John Brown was
almost 60 years old
He thought of himself
as an angel acting on
God’s behalf by
destroying slavery

Even if it meant he
had to kill people


He’d formed a
small army of 18
men
On the night of
October 16, 1859,
they invaded
Harpers Ferry, VA
(now WV)
What did they do there?
They occupied a
federal
storehouse for
weapons
 Then they seized
a rifle factory &

took several
hostages
Why?

They wanted to use
the guns & rifles
they’d obtained to
arm all enslaved
persons in the area
and start a slave
revolt that would
result in freedom for
all African Americans

By morning, local farmers
& militia had rushed to
Harpers Ferry, fearing a
slave rebellion


Brown & his men probably
could have escaped, but
Brown refused
He instead tried to
negotiate with the militia,
but by then they
had trapped him


Rumors spread in
Washington of a huge
slave rebellion
President Buchanan sent
in army troops & a
company of marines,
commanded by Colonel
Robert E. Lee

On the second morning,
the marines, plus a huge
crowd,
surrounded Brown
and captured him

John Brown’s raid on
Harpers Ferry had
lasted 36 hours



No local people joined
his cause
10 of his men,
including 2 of his sons,
were killed
Brown’s men had
killed 4 civilians, 1
marine, & 2 slaves
John Brown’s Fate


Gov’t authorities
convicted him of
treason & murder
He was sentenced to
hang on December 2,
1859
Effects of John Brown’s Raid


Some Northerners
admired & supported his
attempts to end slavery
Southerners’ reactions
consisted of fear,
anger, & hatred for
the North

Many feared the possibility
of a slave rebellion, and
were convinced that the
North hoped to produce
one
Brown’s raid even affected the
Election of 1860

To hurt the
Republican campaign,
Democrats said the
raid was a “Black
Republican” plot,
meaning they were
accusing Republican
leaders of helping
Brown plan the raid

This was upsetting to
Republicans, many of
whom admired
Brown’s ideals,
but not his actions

They viewed what
he had done as a
crime
What else did the Republicans
stand for in the 1860 Election?

They wanted a
homestead act, a
transcontinental railroad,
and a protective tariff

These goals, and thus the
Republican candidate
Abraham Lincoln,
appealed to
farmers,
Westerners, &
manufacturers
How did the South feel about
Lincoln & the Republicans?


Many hated Lincoln
They saw him as an
abolitionist & thought he
and the Republicans
wanted to declare war
on the South

They feared that if Lincoln
became President, they
would lose their voice in
the national gov’t

His name didn’t even
appear on the ballot in 10
Southern states
Interesting…

Can you think of
anything that
Abraham Lincoln and
John F. Kennedy had
in common???




Lincoln was elected to
Congress in 1846
Kennedy was elected
to Congress in 1946
Lincoln was elected
President in 1860
Kennedy was elected
President in 1960


Both were particularly
concerned with civil
rights
Both wives lost a child
while living in the
White House




Both presidents were
shot on a Friday
Both presidents were
shot in the head
Lincoln’s secretary
was named Kennedy
Kennedy’s secretary
was named Lincoln




Both were assassinated
by Southerners
The President that
followed each of them
was a Southerner named
Johnson
Andrew Johnson, who
succeeded Lincoln was
born in 1808
Lyndon Johnson, who
succeeded Kennedy, was
born in 1908




John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated
Lincoln, was born in 1839
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated
Kennedy, was born in 1939
Both names are composed of 15 letters
Both assassins were known by their 3
names




Lincoln was shot in
Ford’s Theater
Kennedy was shot
while riding in a Ford
Lincoln was shot in a
theater, and his
assassin ran & hid in
a warehouse
Kennedy was shot
from a warehouse,
and his assassin ran &
hid in a theater

Both assassins
were
assassinated
before their trials
Creepy




Lincoln, one week before his death, had a
dream of someone crying in the White
House
When he found the room, he looked in
and asked who had passed away
The man in the room said the President
When he looked in the coffin,
he saw his own face
Election Results

Lincoln won every
free state except NJ


This gave him the
majority of electoral
votes
However, because it
was a 4-way race, he
received only 40%
(less than a majority)
of the popular votes
How did the South react?


The U.S. senators
from SC resigned
from Congress
The state legislature
called a convention to
decide
what steps to take in
seceding from the
Union


Not all Southerners were
as eager to leave the
Union, though
Some thought the South
could better defend their
rights if
they stayed part of
the Union
As a result, Maryland,
Delaware, Kentucky,
& Missouri never left
the Union

Others proposed
several amendments
to the Constitution,
which included
guaranteeing the
continuance of
slavery
in the states where it
already existed
Desire for secession seemed to
spread,

and by February,
1861, Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, &
Texas had voted to
leave the Union like
South Carolina had 2
months earlier


How was his election a cause of the
Why did the South Civil War?
dislike him?
They thought he:



They feared they:


was an abolitionist
wanted to declare war
on South
would lose their voice
in national gov’t
What happened after
he was elected?

Southern states
started seceding

On February 4, 1861,
delegates met in Alabama
to form a new nationthe Confederate States
of America, or the
Confederacy
The line dividing the
North and South was
called the MasonDixon Line

The Confederacy
elected Jefferson
Davis, a former
member of
Congress & the
cabinet, as
president
 This did not
make the North
happy
The Civil War Begins


The federal gov’t
(now pretty much the
gov’t of the North)
still had 2 forts in the
South
One of them, Fort
Sumter, in
Charleston, SC, was
short on supplies

The fort’s commander
sent word to Lincoln
that they needed
more soldiers &
supplies

Lincoln knew that
sending soldiers would
anger the South,
so he only sent the
supplies
Fort Sumter

Southerners, though,
viewed Lincoln’s orders to
send supply ships as an
act of war

The South had surrounded
the harbor with cannons,
and when they heard of
the approaching Northern
ships,
they started to
bombard the fort
April 12, 1861

After 34 hours of
bombardment, but
with no lives lost,
the North
surrendered Fort
Sumter

The South raised their
flag on the fort
and fired their
weapons in victory

Almost immediately,
Lincoln began
mobilizing the North
for war
Advantages/Disadvantages for
Both Armies

Northern Advantages:

More people




(about 22 million,
total)
Under “Southern
Disadvantages” you
can put:
Fewer people
(about 9 million)

3 million of whom were
African American, and
most of them weren’t
armed for fear they
would revolt
Northern Advantage:


Southern
Disadvantage:
Less industry


More industry

($1.5 billion value)

($155 million value)
Couldn’t produce all
equipment they
needed
Northern Advantage:

More railroad mileage


Could rapidly transport
soldiers & supplies
Southern
Disadvantage:

Less railroad mileage
& couldn’t maintain it
 Hurt their defense
Northern Advantage:


More ships
Southern
Disadvantage:

Fewer ships
Northern Advantage:


More firearms
Southern
Disadvantage:


Fewer firearms
32:1 ratio between
North & South
Northern Advantage

Used the telegraph
for communication



15,000 miles of telegraph
cable was laid in the North
purely for military purposes
Mobile telegraph wagons
reported and received
communications from just
behind the frontline
President Lincoln would
regularly visit the Telegraph
Office to get the latest news
One more Southern
Disadvantage:

Less food production
Southern Advantages:


Strong support from
the people
Only had to wage a
defensive war
One Northern Disadvantage:

Unfamiliar with the
territory