Transcript A Country Divided - Endicott College

A Country Divided
Was Slavery the Key Issue in the Sectional
Conflict Leading to the Civil War?
Was Abraham Lincoln America’s
Greatest President?
http://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/5087
The Inescapable Sectional Tensions Leading to the Civil War
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Slavery:
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Compromises
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States’ Rights
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Economical Issues
• Economic Liberty is arguably the most influential of the
founding principles – the right of individuals to acquire and
maintain property at a level that would allow for economic
independence was an essential component to the revolutionary
Era – it was manifested through rural development, urban
expansion and the promotion of the market economy
Manifest Destiny:
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The 19th century marked the westward movement
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A reveal of a deep sectionalism
A Bitter Divide:
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North and South
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Free v. Slave
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Henry Clay : The Missouri Compromise 1820
• Henry Clay, the “Great Compromiser”, proposed that Missouri
would be admitted as a slave state and Maine as a free
state. The South opposed the admission of free states unless they
were balanced by the admission of an equal number of slave
states. With Clay taking the lead with this compromise, he
stated, “Yet it avoided catastrophe and earned me kudos
throughout the country as a compromiser or whom Union is his
motto, conciliation his maxim.” Although this compromise did
not solve the slavery issue, it allowed time for negotiation in
order to work out a better solution.
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The Compromise of 1850
• Henry Clay
• California – free
• Utah and New Mexico could vote to determine whether they
would be free or slave states.
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Sectional Controversy
– The idea that the territories could decide the slavery
issue themselves became known as popular
sovereignty.
– Clay also proposed that the Fugitive Slave Law would be
strengthened.
– This stirred up more intense arguments and disputes
about slavery. Clay explained how this compromise
postponed the unavoidable conflict developing between
the pro-slavery South and abolitionist North
– For a few years following the Compromise of 1850 it
appeared that the issue of the expansion of slavery had
been effectively addressed. Slowly, however, the
question began to creep back into the national
consciousness.
– Slavery was effectively ignored by the major parties in
the Election of 1852, but the joint issues of California,
the railroads, and the Gadsden Purchase ended the
short-lived serenity. The Kansas-Nebraska Act ignited
tensions resulting in “Bleeding Kansas.”
» Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Rise of the
Republican Party 1854-1856:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_nOjkyzU
rA Video from the history Channel: Civil War's
Greatest Myth (2:41) TV-PG
http://www.history.com/topics/kansasnebraska-act/videos#civil-wars-greatest-myth
– The Election of 1856 brought James Buchanan to the
presidency. He wrongly interpreted the Dred Scott case
as a solution to the expansion of the slavery issue.
Sectional issues were also aired in the Lincoln-Douglas
debates in Illinois. The degree to which the nation had
fractured was evident in the reactions to the events at
Harper’s Ferry in 1859; the slavery issue was interpreted
vastly differently in the North and South.
– The Election of 1860 ushered in the presidency of
Abraham Lincoln, but also touched off a secession crisis
and the formation of the Confederacy. The first shots of
the Civil War were exchanged at Fort Sumter in April
1861.
– At the outbreak of war the opposing sides possessed
starkly differing aims, strategies and prospects.
Was Abraham Lincoln America’s Greatest President?
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Self-Reliance –
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Shrewd Military Strategist–
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Self-taught Illinois lawyer and legislator
A backwoods Politian
A reputation as an eloquent opponent of slavery
Wins the Republican Party's nomination for president in 1860
His election that November pushed several Southern states to secede by the time of his inauguration in March 1861, and
the Civil War began barely a month later.
Contrary to expectations, Lincoln proved to be a shrewd military strategist and a savvy leader during what became the
costliest conflict ever fought on American soil.
The Great Communicator –
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Abraham Lincoln's 1858 "House Divided" speech catapults him into the national consciousness with its bold moral
assessment of the future of American slavery. “A House Divided” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05kl4DWrMEU
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His Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863, freed all slaves in the rebellious states and paved the way for slavery's
eventual abolition, while his Gettysburg Address later that year stands as one of the most famous and influential pieces of
oratory in American history.
The Emancipation Proclamation : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh3-9R7Q0OE ; The Primary Source:
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http://www.nps.gov/ncro/anti/emancipation.html
The Gettysburg Address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZixvQAYWd8; http://www.history.com/topics/gettysburgaddress/videos#273-words-to-a-new-america ; http://www.history.com/topics/gettysburg-address/videos#lincolns-mostpivotal-speech ; The Primary Source: http://www.gettysburg.com/bog/address.htm
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Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyNP-B95M1Y Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas : House Divided Speech Springfield,
Illinois June 16, 1858: http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/house.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/kansas-nebraska-act/videos#gilder-lehrman-house-divided
In November 1863, President Abraham Lincoln was invited to deliver remarks, which later became known as the Gettysburg Address, at
the official dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, on the site of one of the bloodiest and most
decisive battles of the Civil War.
Though he was not the featured orator that day, Lincoln's 273-word address would be remembered as one of the most important speeches
in American history.
In it, he invoked the principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence and connected the sacrifices of the Civil
War with the desire for "a new birth of freedom," as well as the all-important preservation of the Union created in 1776 and its ideal of
self-government.
Empathy to His Adversaries –
The Road to Civil War
• The Industrial Revolution:
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Makes the South
Cotton is King
Slavery is Critical
North v. South
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Moral issue
Economic Issue
Territorial Issue
North and South become polarized
South Carolina leads the charge
Feb, 1861 – the Confederate States are born
– The New West
– “America Divided”:
http://www.history.com/topics/gettysburg-address/videos#america-divided
– One Word to Define the Civil War: http://www.history.com/topics/gettysburg–
address/videos#meaning-of-the-civil-war
America and the Civil War: http://www.history.com/topics/gettysburg-address/videos#civil-war
The Civil War
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http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h69.htm
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The Union plan for victory included three components:
– 1. A blockade of the South –
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an effort to deny supplies from and trade with outside sources; it appeared for a while that Britain was receptive to
Confederate aims in the construction of the Alabama, which preyed upon Union shipping; France toyed with
recognition of the South, but contented itself with an invasion of Mexico.
– 2. A move to split the Confederacy in two –
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beginning with U.S. Grant’s victories at Forts Henry and Donelson,in February 1862.
The war in the West continued with New Orleans, guardian of the mouth of the Mississippi, falling to Union forces
in April. Both sides suffered heavy casualties at Shiloh.
An indecisive encounter at Perryville was followed by a Union victory at Murfreesboro, ending a Confederate push
into Kentucky.
The West was sealed off from the remainder of the Confederacy following the Union victory at Vicksburg in July
1863.
Northern forces began a thrust into enemy territory in the Chattanooga campaign and later in the Atlanta campaign.
William T. Sherman’s “March to the Sea” ended with the occupation of Savannah in late 1864.
– 3. A campaign to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital:
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required nearly the entire course of the war to accomplish, due in large part to Robert E. Lee's skillful maneuvers.
The First Battle of Bull Run showed that the conflict would not be won easily.
In the spring of 1862, Union General George B. McClellan opened a lackluster Peninsular Campaign, which was
intended to take Richmond.
A Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run opened the door to an invasion into Maryland.
A long-awaited Union victory occurred at Antietam, providing a morale boost for the North and an opportunity for
Lincoln to announce his Emancipation Proclamation.
Fortunes again turned in favor of the South in a stunning victory at Fredericksburg.
In 1863 the Confederates won a costly victory at Chancellorsville, but their northward push ended at Gettysburg in
July.
A war of attrition took place in the Wilderness Campaign.
The siege of Petersburg and the fall of Richmond occurred in early April 1865. Lee surrendered on April 9. Less than
a week later President Lincoln was assassinated.
The Legacy of the Civil War
• Legacy of the Civil War:
– http://www.history.com/topics/gettysburg-address/videos#legacy-of-thecivil-war
• Understanding Civil War Legacy : The Civil War was a pivotal event in
American history.
• Many agree that it helped unify the nation and led to the institution of
slavery being abolished, but there is a great deal more to be said about
its legacy.
• In 1961, during the War's centennial (and at the height of the Cold War
and Civil Rights movement), Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and
scholar Robert Penn Warren explored the War's impact, and considered
how it shaped modern America in The Legacy of the Civil War.
• He talked about popular myths, criticized both the North and the South,
and questioned whether we had learned anything from the struggle.
– http://www.ycp.edu/offices-andservices/advancement/communications/york-college-magazine/fall2012/understanding-civil-war-legacy/