Transcript Abolitionists & prior Civil War Events

What message is the
painter trying to
convey in the picture
below?
What was
the above
device used
for?
Economic Differences between
the North and the South
In terms of economics,
the north was much more
industrial than the south
which was agricultural
(agrarian).
Manufacturing in the
north caused northerners
to favor high tariffs to
protect their products
from low priced
European imports.
High tariffs caused southerners to pay
more for finished goods since there
were few factories in the south. The
south hated tariffs. Remember South
Carolina and nullification (they
believed they could ignore federal
laws)!
In 1832, a tariff was
passed and South
Carolina argued that
since it was a sovereign
state, it had the right to
cancel or “nullify” any
federal law it deemed
unconstitutional. Guess
which state’s rights
President told
southerners to stick it?
The
Nullification
Crisis
The biggest social difference was the institution of slavery in the south.
With the growing abolitionist movement, many southerners were worried
that northerners would end their southern way of life. Uncle Tom’s
Cabin and John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry made many southerners
believe northerners would try to end slavery in the south.
The Power Struggle in DC
Starting with the Constitutional Convention, Southerners worked to
keep control of Congress. They wanted to protect their lifestyle &
they worked extremely hard to make certain that southern states did
not lose any power in the Congress. If they did, they knew tariffs
would increase. Well, as more northern states were added to the
union, the South did lose control of Congress. So southerners knew
it was very important for new states from the south to enter the
Union as slave states. There were three very important events which
helped keep the United States from entering a Civil War before 1861.
Virginia Slave Revolts
Gabriel Prosser
August 30 1800: A large scale slave
uprising led by Gabriel Prosser was aborted
due to betrayal and bad weather. The slaves
who lived near Richmond had recruited up
to 1000 fellow slaves to participate in the
armed rebellion. After they were betrayed
by two slaves, Governor Monroe declared
martial law in Richmond and called out the
militia. Prosser was captured, and he and 55
others were executed. John Randolph of
Virginia, who interrogated Prosser, stated:
"the accused have exhibited a spirit, which
if it becomes general, must deluge the
southern country in blood. They manifested
a sense of their rights, and contempt of
danger."
In August 1831, Nat Turner, an
illiterate slave and preacher,
organized and led a slave revolt.
More than 50 whites were killed
over the course of the revolt.
Three thousand armed men
pursued Turner and his
supporters, killing most of them,
as well as many innocent
African Americans. Turner
escaped capture until
November, when he was
captured and hung.
In response to the uprising,
alave states tightened their
restrictions on slaves.
Nat Turner
Abolitionists: those trying to
end slavery.
In the very first issue of his antislavery newspaper, the Liberator,
William Lloyd Garrison stated, "I
do not wish to think, or speak, or
write, with moderation. . . . I am in
earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I
will not excuse -- I will not retreat a
single inch -- AND I WILL BE
HEARD." And Garrison was
heard. For more than three
decades, from the first issue of his
weekly paper in 1831, until after the
end of the Civil War in 1865 when
the last issue was published,
Garrison spoke out eloquently and
passionately against slavery and for
the rights of America's black
inhabitants.
William
Lloyd Garrison
Harriet Beecher Stowe &
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Antislavery novel focusing on the
lives of slaves. Simon Legree was
the cruel overseer of Uncle Tom.
Northerners read it with great
interest while southerners read it
with disdain. In response, George
Fitzhugh wrote Cannibals All,
about how Northerners take
advantage of their employees. To
many Southerners, working in a
northern factory or mill was
worse than slavery.
Harriet Tubman
Not afraid to use
force, Tubman used
the underground
railroad to free over
300 hundred slaves.
At one point, a
bounty of $40,000
was placed for her
capture.
Frederick Douglas
Frederick Douglass was one of the
foremost leaders of the abolitionist
movement, which fought to end
slavery within the United States in
the decades prior to the Civil War.
A brilliant speaker, Douglass was
asked by the American AntiSlavery Society to engage in a tour
of lectures, and so became
recognized as one of America's first
great black speakers. He won
world fame when his
autobiography was publicized in
1845. Two years later he began
publishing an antislavery paper
called the North Star.
Douglass served as an adviser
to President Abraham
Lincoln during the Civil War.
He urged Lincoln to use
freed slaves as soldiers and
emancipate existing slaves.
John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s
Ferry, 1859
John Brown leads a raid on a
federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry,
VA (now West Virginia). His goal:
to get enough guns and
ammunition to start and sustain a
slave rebellion throughout the
South. The raid ended when US
troops led by Robert E. Lee
surrounded the arsenal and
forced Brown to surrender. He
was tried and executed in
Virginia. Before he was executed,
Brown said more blood would be
shed over the slavery issue. Was
he right?
Seneca Falls Conference
July, 1848
Many female abolitionists
took up another cause,
women’s suffrage (voting
rights) for women. Two
early suffragists, Susan B.
Anthony and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, held a
conference in Seneca Falls,
NY. They and 100 others
signed a declaration calling
for equal rights for women,
including the right to vote.
Most courts gave women,
especially wives, very little in
the way of legal rights.
Congressional Power and New
States
Starting with the Constitutional Convention, Southerners
worked to keep control of Congress. They wanted to
protect their lifestyle & they worked extremely hard to
make certain that southern states did not lose any power in
the Congress. If they did, they knew tariffs would
increase. Well, as more northern states were added to the union,
the South did lose control of Congress. So southerners knew it was
very important for new states from the south to enter the Union as
slave states. There were three very important events which helped
keep the United States from entering a Civil War before 1861.
The Compromise of 1820, aka the
Missouri Compromise
Remember northern and Southern
leaders in Congress did not want to
lose the power they had.
Therefore, Missouri entered as a
slave state and Maine was added to
the Union as a free state. This way
both sides still have the equal
power in Congress.
The Compromise of 1850
The question now was should
CA enter the Union as a free
or slave state. Southerners
were totally against CA
entering the Union as a free
state, but it did just that. As a
compromise, northerners
agree to the Fugitive Slave
Act. The federal government
will prosecute anyone who
does not help return run
away slaves. Also the
territories of NM and Utah
would decide by popular vote
whether or not their states
will become slave or free?
The Kansas
Nebraska
Act, aka
“Bleeding
Kansas” 1856
The Kansas Nebraska Act allowed the territories of Kan. and Neb. to
allow the voters in that region to decide whether or not their states
would be free or slave. The Act contradicted the MO Compromise.
Abolitionists were outraged. People for and against slavery flooded
into the territories. Anger led to violence. John Brown led many
raids. Lecompton was the proslavery capital and Topeka was the
antislavery capital. Whigs are replaced by Republicans.
The drawing at right shows a raid on Lawrence, Kansas by
William Quantrill's notorious band of Confederate guerillas on
August 21, 1856. The attackers killed 150 people and destroyed
over 200 buildings.
Other Foreshadowing Events of
the Civil War
Bleeding
Sumner
1856
Outraged by what Charles Sumner, a Republican, had said about
Senator Andrew Butler. Sumner charged Butler with having an ugly
mistress, slavery! Outraged by what Sumner said, Representative
Preston Brooks, Butler’s nephew, beat Sumner 30 times with his
cane. It took Sumner four years to come back to the Senate.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave who lived in
MO. His owner took Scott to
territories which were free. Scott
claimed in court that once he entered a
free state he became a free man. Slave
owners and Abolitionists believed this
case was very important. Chief Justice
Roger Taney, a southerner. The court
ruled that Scott was property and not
a citizen. Therefore the case was null
and void. However, the court further
ruled that the United States
government had no right to limit
slavery anywhere in the United States.
Northerners were outraged and
Southerners rejoiced.
The Lincoln Douglas Debates
Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) &
Stephen Douglas (Dem)
debated for one of the Illinois
senate seats in 1858. In the
debates, Lincoln said, “A
house divided cannot stand.”
He ultimately lost the
election, but became famous
throughout the country.
These debates were
instrumental in making
Lincoln the Republican
candidate for President in
1860.