The Civil War

Events leading up to and during the Civil War

I. Sectionalism

• Each region of the United States gradually evolved its own distinct social system

• South– Slavery (“peculiar institution”); invention

of the cotton gin and the increased demand for raw cotton lead to an expansion of slavery

– 1/3rd of the population in the South were slaves

I. Sectionalism

• Northwest– Dominated by small, independent farmers– The “bread basket” of the U.S.

• Northeast– Center of manufacturing

Section Population in 1850 Leading Economic Activities

Northeast (9 states; Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey)

9 million Manufacturing (textiles, ironwares, and machinery), shipping, small farms and fishing

South (15 states; Florida, Texas, Louisiana, up to Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri)

9 million (including about 3.5 million slaves)

Small farms and large plantations using slave labor to grow cash crops like cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar for export

Northwest (6 states; Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin)

5 million Family farms on fertile lands produced wheat, corn, oats, and livestock for sale in the Northeast and South

II. Slavery

• Abolitionists – saw slavery as a moral evil • Many former slaves, such as Frederick

Douglas, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman gave speeches and wrote books about what they had experienced

• William Lloyd Garrison wrote The Liberator

• Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin

II. Slavery

• Pro-Slavery Southerners– Believed slaves were better treated than

factory workers in the North– They feared that emancipating millions of

slaves might lead to social disorder and violence against whites

III. Westward Expansion

• Expansionist Policies– Annexation of Mexican territory gave rise

to the question “should these territories have slave or free labor”?

– Republican Party formed in 1854 to stop the spread of slavery

– Slave states wanted to keep control in the Senate

IV. The Breakdown of Compromise• The Missouri Compromise, 1820

– Missouri admitted as slave state– Maine admitted as free state– No other slavery was to be allowed in the

area north of the southern boundary of Missouri (36˚30’ N line of latitude)

IV. The Breakdown of Compromise• The Compromise of 1850

– California was admitted as free state– Popular sovereignty was applied to the

other territories taken from Mexico– New and stricter fugitive slave laws was

passed (greatly resented in the North)– Sale of slaves was banned in

Washington, D.C.

Activity

Examine the maps on the handout and answer the

questions on the Compromises of 1820

and 1850

IV. The Breakdown of Compromise• Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1954

– Stephen Douglas wanted to build a rail road through Nebraska/Kansas territory

– Applied popular sovereignty which would repeal The Missouri Compromise

– Republican Party was formed in direct response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act

IV. The Breakdown of Compromise• “Bleeding Kansas”, 1855 – 56

– Both pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces tried to influence the outcome in Kansas

– Two rival governments formed, one pro-slavery and one anti-slavery

– Federal government eventually had to send in troops to restore order

IV. The Breakdown of Compromise• The Dred Scott Decision, 1857

– Dred Scott sued for his freedom after living in Illinois and Wisconsin for several years (free states)

– Chief Justice Roger Taney announced the decision:• As an African American, Scott was not a U.S.

citizen and therefore had not right to sue• Prohibition of slavery in northern territories by

the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional – Congress cannot take citizen’s property away

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)“[African Americans] had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise, whenever profit could be made by it. [Referring to language in the Declaration of Independence] it is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration…” – Chief Justice Taney

Activity

• Pretend you are putting Chief Justice Roger Taney on trial for his opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford. – Did the Supreme Court act fairly and

reasonably in reaching its decision?– Did the Justices follow the U.S.

Constitution, based on the views of that time?

– Should they have reached a different decision?

V. Differences in Constitutional Interpretation: States’ Rights

• Southerners were strong supporters of states’ rights

• Each state had joined the Union voluntarily, it also had the power to withdraw

• Northerners believed that the Constitution was the work of the American people and not individual states

Election of 1860

Secession

• South Carolina was first to secede

• Six other states quickly followed; FL was the third

• Southern states became the “Confederate States of America” with Jefferson Davis as president

Shots Fired at Fort Sumter

• Lincoln wanted to send food and supplies to Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina

• South fired upon Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861

• After this attack Virginia and 3 other states joined the South and the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware sided with the North

• West Virginia was created

Firing on Fort Sumter

ACTIVITY

Debate on the proposition that the Southern states had the right to secede from the Union.

The Course of the Civil War

Advantages of the North• More industrialized with

more railroads, factories, mines, roads, and canals

• More coal, iron, gold, and other natural resources

• Merchant ships and control of U.S. Navy

Advantages of the South• Strong military leadership• Fighting for their way of

life

General Winfield Scott’s “Anaconda Plan”“Strangle” the South with a naval blockade of Southern ports and the use of Northern naval power to seize control of the Mississippi and divide the Confederacy in two

The Emancipation Proclamation• After Antietam victory Lincoln issues the

Emancipation Proclamation• All slaves in those states still in rebellion

would be freed• Did not actually free any slaves at all in

states that recognized federal gov’t• Result: Made the war about slavery,

encouraged slaves to join the Union, and discouraged Britain and France from helping the Confederacy

Turning Point of the War

• July 1863 – Gettysburg• Confederate forces were defeated• 50,000 troops were injured or killed• Lee never advanced into the North

again• Day after Battle of Gettysburg, farther

to the west, Grant won the Battle of Vicksburg giving the North control over the Mississippi River Valley

ACTIVITYRead, answer, and discuss the Gettysburg Address

The Last Year of the War

• Ulysses S. Grant became commander of Union army

• General Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah, GA and then up the coast into the Carolinas

• “Total War” – destroy everything in your path so enemy cannot use or steal back

The Surrender

• Grant takes the Confederate capital of Richmond

• April 9, 1865 – Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox

• President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth less than one week later

Florida in Focus

• In 1860, the population of FL was just over 140,000 people

• 40% were slaves• Seminole Indians had been confined to

reservations a half century earlier• North sought to control FL’s coastline• Occupied Fort Pickens near Pensacola• Lee wanted FL’s agriculture and cattle• 1864 – Battle of Olustee; 5,200 Confederate

troops defeated 5,500 Union soldiers

ACTIVITY

Make a chart summarizing the effects of the Civil War. Consider the war’s political, economic, and social effects