THE CIVIL WARGrowing Divisions

Secession vs. Union

Slavery vs. Freedom

Main Issues• Growing contradiction between white freedom and black

slavery• Growing divide between north and south• Lack of compromise solutions• Southern secession vs. Union goals• Lincoln and Emancipation• Role of slaves in Civil War and emancipation• Course and outcome of the war• Main Issue: Would America live up to its ideals of

freedom, equality, and democracy?

Causes of the Civil WarMajor Questions:

•What were the major political and social events that led up to the Civil War?

•What caused the divide between North and South to grow?

•Why were they unable to work out compromise?

Ideological and Political Divisions

Pro-Slavery South

• Slavery good institution• Protected blacks• Christian institution• Profited whites

• White male political patriarchy

• States rights to protect slavery

• Western expansion of slavery

Free Soil North

• Northern states and territories stronger w/o slavery

• Slavery morally and economically corrupt

• Free Soil = land of free white laborers

• Freedom from slavery, freedom for whites

• Against western expansion of slavery

Political Failures and Conflicts• Constitutional Convention – institutionalized slavery, did

not tackle abolition at the time, pushing it on later generations

• Missouri Compromise (1820) – free and slave state tit-for-tat

• Mexican-American War – war of territorial expansion• Compromise of 1850 – tried to appease both sides, but

offended both• Bleeding Kansas – civil war over slave/free state status• Dred Scott Decision – blacks had “no rights which the

white man was bound to respect” – C.J. Taney• Dred Scott Decision – Congress had no right to outlaw

slavery in territories

Group Work• Split up into 7 small groups and briefly summarize the

importance of these incidents or issues as causes of the Civil War:• Group #1: Wilmot Proviso, 395• Group #2: Clay’s Compromise Efforts, 396• Group #3: Fugitive Slave Act, 398• Group #4: Kansas-Nebraska Act, 401• Group #5: Bleeding Kansas, 403• Group #6: Dred Scott Decision, 407• Group #7: John Brown’s Raid, 410

• Your summary should fit on one PowerPoint slide

Wilmot Proviso• Amendment attached to a bill banning slavery from

territories gained in war with Mexico (1846-48).• Cause: Preserve Western land for white settlement.• Whigs and Democrats supported• Paralyzed Congress for years in late 1840s• 4 Positions 

• Ban• Calhoun - no right to interfere• Missouri Compromise with property.• Popular Sovereignty rights

• Summary: Caused a threat of secession & escalated regional conflicts 

Henry Clay’s Compromise Efforts• Henry Clay proposed eight resolutions to balance the different

interests in the North and the South, his “Omnibus Bill”:• California to be admitted as a free state• Mexican territories could not attach any conditions of slavery to their

application of statehood.• In return for the govt assuming Texas debt, limitations were put on slave

states that could be carved from it's territory.• Slave trade in Washington to be abolished but slavery itself protected from

federal interference.• Formal promise not to interfere with inter-state slave trade and fugitive

slave law.

• The proposal failed because extremists on both sides believed solely in their own interests.

• Antislavery supporters believed it supported slavery and pro-slavery believed it restricted slavery.

Fugitive Slave Act• The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of

1850, requiring that fugitive slaves be returned to owners• The 1850 statute gave jurisdiction for fugitive slave cases

to federal commissioners and took it away from northern courts

• Southerners supported the fugitive slave act• The federal commissioners were paid by southerners to

return blacks back to slave catchers regardless if they were free or not

• FSA escalated regional divisions – northerners feared “slave power conspiracy” of southern slave owners

Kansas-Nebraska Act• In 1853 the House of Representative banned slavery in Nebraska, however

the senate killed the bill.• Stephen Douglas reintroduced “the principle of popular sovereignty” so they

(residents of state) were able to decide if it was going be a Free State or a Slave State.

• Stephen Douglas’s idea became law – free states thought that it was pro- slavery, and the southerners mistrusted the law.

• Law backfired for Stephen Douglas and the northern Democrats in Congress; their number fell from 91 to 25.

• A major result of this act: the emergence of Abraham Lincoln – tried to reestablish the “Missouri Compromise”

• Lincoln was against slavery because he thought it was dehumanizing of slaves, showed greed and selfishness.

• This act was a major cause of the Civil War because it reopened the controversy of slavery and led to battle in Kansas over whether it would be a free state or slave state.

Dred Scott Decision• The Dred Scott case of 1857 addressed the issue of whether a slave

was a citizen or property• Dred Scott, a slave, sued for his freedom based on the fact that he

had been transported by his owner to a free state• The Supreme Court’s Decision: Dred Scott’s case would not be

heard b/c he was not a citizen• The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property and could not

hold citizenship, regardless of where they resided• As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, slave-states found the

legal protection to oppose the abolition of slavery• Supreme Court upheld state’s rights: the federal govt. could not

infringement on a state's sovereignty or an individual's right to hold property

• This protection allowed them to draw the proverbial line in the sand, which only escalated tensions between the north and the south

John Brown’s Raid, 1859• Raided federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA (now WV)• Hoped to arm slaves for slave rebellion• Raid a failure and Brown executed• Applauded by northerners; denounced by southerners• Indicates growing divide, animosity, and hatred between

regions• Conspiracy theories on both sides

• Fears of southern Pro-Slavery power• Fears of northern abolition and slave insurrection

• Link to John Brown reenactment video: PBS, Meet the Past: John Brown

• Link to PBS, John Brown’s Holy War

Slavery & the Civil War: Review of the Data

• Analyze the statistics on slavery in the U.S. leading up to the Civil War

• What conclusions can you make?• Questions?• What statistics are most useful in understanding the onset

of the Civil War?

Slaves in the Original Thirteen Colonies (1750-1860)

Slaves as Percentage of Southern Population (1750-1860)

Slaves as Percentage of Southern Population (1750-1860

Slaves in the South (1790-1860)

Political Divisions: 3rd Party System• Solid South white male Democratic Party• Northern urban Democrats (immigrants/workers/Irish)• Constitutional Union Party (1860) – Whigs, Democrats,

and Know-Nothings who supported Union, but didn’t want slavery to be major issue

• New political party: Republican Party formed in 1854 by anti-slavery activists• Opposition to slavery in Kansas and Nebraska• Free Soil ideology• Pro-Union• Equal rights• Big Government for social and economic goals

1860 Election

1860 Election Effects• Lincoln ran on nationalist platform – Union most important• But his anti-slavery views were well-known: slavery was

immoral; eventually, nation would become all slave or all free• Lincoln won 1860 election, which was unacceptable to most

southerners• Southern states rejected federal authority over slavery in any

form – led to secession from Union• South Carolina first to secede from U.S. on Dec. 20, 1860,

followed by MS, LA, GA, AL, FL – formed Confederacy• Secessionists rejected Lincoln’s offer of compromise in 1861

Inaugural Address: “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists.”

Fort Sumter, SC• Confederates fired on U.S. fort on April 12, 1861

Official beginning of the Civil War

Why Did Southern Whites Fight in the Civil War?• Non-slaveholding whites?• “way of life” threatened• Anti-northern/urban/

industrial• Something in common with

slaveholders• Social connections between the

classes of whites• Economic connections: renting

slaves, foremen on plantations, debt

• Fears of black people and slave rebellion

• The vote & political participation• Ideas of white racial superiority• States rights

Why Did Poor Southern Whites Fight in Civil War?

• Many lower-class whites bought into southern hierarchy – household

• Control of land, household, labor, and political rights• White male authority, honor, power, and monopoly of

violenceMale Planter Elite

/\White Women & Children

/\White Laborers

/\Slaves & Free Blacks

Poor White Landowner or Renter

/\Wife & Children

/\Slaves and Free Blacks

Why Did Northerners Fight?

• Abolitionist minority – fund. opposed to slavery – slavery was an evil, a stain on the nation – represented belief in full INCLUSION of blacks into nation

• Free Labor majority – opposed to expansion of slavery• Slavery hurts free labor • Free labor = economic and political independence• Free people would not allow themselves to be enslaved• Republican and “republican”• Pro-Union – unification of nation [under free labor ideals]• Belief a pivot point to judge whether people are worthy of citizenship

or rights

Important Points about Civil War• Change from limited to “total” war• First “modern” technological war• More casualties (1 million) and deaths (620,000) than any

other U.S. war• War for the future of the country• War of competing ideals

• Would the U.S. live up to the ideals of democracy, freedom, and equality?

• Would the union of states survive?

Civil War Casualties by Battle

Odds of Dying from Combat Wounds

First “Modern” War• Increased death and brutality• Both sides fighting for causes they believed in• Length of war = increasingly hardened soldiers• Mentality of victory at all costs • New military technologies increased deaths and casualties:

• Long-barreled muskets – shot farther and more accurately than ever before

• Cannons• Arms outpaced traditional military strategies – marching in formation,

close-range fighting in long lines• Defensive strategies best, but generals refused to give up on charges• Lag in medical technology: lack of sanitation

• Became a “total war”: attacks on civilian populations

Early War: 1861-1862• Idea of limited short war on both sides• Most northerners fighting to preserve union (the nation),

not to end slavery – believed the war would be short quick victory for North

• Most southerners fighting to preserve slave system and homeland – believed quick victory would force north to give in to demands for separate country

• General George McClellan, Union military leader, believed that quick victories would convince most southerners to rejoin the Union – but he never won those victories and war dragged on

• Became a long, total war

Major Front: Eastern Front• Most battles fought in Virginia• The North wanted to capture the Confederate capital in

Richmond, VA• Virginia and Richmond defended by Robert E. Lee and

Army of Northern Virginia• Lee and Stonewall Jackson effective defenders• Union General George McClellan overly cautious – didn’t

pursue Confederates after victory at Antietam in 1862 (bloodiest one-day battle in U.S. history)

• McClellan removed from command• Union defeated at Fredericksburg in next attempt to

capture Richmond

Civil War Battles Map

Union Naval Blockade of the South• Goal: cut off south from Atlantic and interstate trade• Goal: cut off cotton trade to Europe, limit southern war funds, keep

Europe out of war

Major Front: Western Front• Between the Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi

River• North wanted to capture the MS River and use it for

invasion of the South• Succession of Union victories, led by U.S. Grant• Victories at Shiloh (April 1862), New Orleans (April-May

1862)• Needed to capture Vicksburg, MS to gain control of MS

River• Capture of Vicksburg, combined with Emancipation

Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, turned the tide of the war – South on the defensive militarily and ideologically

Siege of Vicksburg, MS

Slaves, Freedpersons, and Freedom• Slaves and freedpersons and their attempts to realize

American ideals• Slaves had already made great efforts to achieve freedom

during slavery and Civil War• Resistance during enslavement – multiple forms and

tactics• Emancipation Proc. (Jan. 1863)• Fought for Union• Fled to Union lines• Attempted to reunify with families during war

Documents: Black Christianity & Spirituals• MANY THOUSAND GO.

"No more peck o' corn for me,No more, no more,-No more peck o' corn for me,Many tousand go.

"No more driver's lash for me, (Twice.)No more, &c.

"No more pint o' salt for me, (Twice.)No more, &c.

"No more hundred lash for me, (Twice.)No more, &c.

"No more mistress' call for me,No more, No more,-No more mistress' call for me,Many tousand go."

• WE 'LL SOON BE FREE.

"We 'll soon be free,We 'll soon be free,We 'll soon be free,When de Lord will call us home.My brudder, how long,My brudder, how long,My brudder, how long,'Fore we done sufferin' here?It won't be long (Thrice.)'Fore de Lord will call us home.We 'll walk de miry road (Thrice.)Where pleasure never dies.We 'll walk de golden street (Thrice.)Where pleasure never dies.My brudder, how long (Thrice.)'Fore we done sufferin' here?We 'll soon be free (Thrice.)When Jesus sets me free.We 'll fight for liberty (Thrice.)When de Lord will call us home."

Everyday acts of resistance – What are they talking about?

Eastman Johnson, “A Ride for Liberty, the Runaway Slaves,” 1862

Brief History of the U.S. Emancipation Proclamation

• Lincoln’s mixed messages on abolition of slavery• ‘House Divided’ speech, 1858, Senate Campaign: "A

house divided against itself cannot stand" – Union would become all slave or free

• Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, 1861: “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists.”

• By early 1862, Lincoln advised Union border states to accept compensated abolition of slavery, delayed over 30 years, congressmen rejected it

• Later in 1862 had decided to announce E.P.• How and why did this happen? • Why did Lincoln and northerners shift from war for Union to

war of emancipation?

Brief History of E.P.• Preliminary E.P., Sept. 22, 1862 – slaves will be freed in

states still in rebellion on Jan. 1, 1863 – ignored by Confederate states

• Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863 – • freed all slaves in rebellious states (excluded Union slaveholders)• Intention to enlist slaves in army and navy

• Lincoln: “military necessity, absolutely essential to the preservation of the Union”

• “We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued.  The slaves [are] undeniably an element of strength to those who [have] their service, and we must decide whether that element should be with us or against us...The Administration must set an example, and strike at the heart of the rebellion.”

• E.P. made the Union army an army of liberation in Confederate states

• Slavery not completely abolished until 13th Amendment to Constitution, Dec. 18, 1865

Change in War Goals• Slaves pushed Union to change war goals• “Contraband” slaves fled to Union lines, demanded role in war

effort, demanded freedom• Thousands of slaves on the move in the south• They undermined the South’s ability to sustain economy at

home on backs of slave labor• Undermined South’s ability to control population and borders• A revolution from within the Confederacy• At same time, Radical Republicans pressured Lincoln to

change goals• Confederate military victories convinced him of necessity of

different war strategies

After Vicksburg, Total War• Generals Grant and Sherman shifted war goals and

strategies towards complete subjugation and destruction of Confederate ability to fight

• Attacked economic, social, and physical infrastructure• Sherman’s March to the Sea through the South –

destroyed railroads, farms, towns – tried to break the will of the people to fight

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Gettysburg, July, 1863• While Grant and Sherman fought in west and lower south,

Lee went on offensive• Lee invaded the north, hoped to relieve pressure on

Vicksburg• Met Union forces under George Meade at Gettysburg, PA• Lee was defeated and had to retreat to VA• Called “the high water mark of the Confederacy”

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address• Address delivered Nov. 19, 1863 at dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery

• Two main issues: Constitutional Liberties & Equality• War for Union, national unity• War for human equality

• Link to text of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”• Link to video/audio of reading of “Gettysburg Address”

• Link to Library of Congress site on “Gettysburg Address”

End of the War & New Am. Revolution

• Defeats at Vicksburg and Gettysburg sealed the fate of the Confederacy

• War lasted 2 more years, however• But the Union victory signified a New American Revolution:

• Hopes of fulfillment of American ideals for all Americans• Questions about fate of freed slaves• New battles over freedpersons’ rights, citizenship, and economic

possibilities• Reaction of white southerners to black freedom – battle for soul of

the south and the country• Question of government role in sustaining equality and freedom for

all Americans – Is freedom real if the conditions for freedom don’t exist?

Definitions of Full Freedom:• Conflicts over the definition of freedom for newly-freed

slaves during and after the Civil War• What would FULL FREEDOM look like?

• How to guarantee Full Freedom?

Definitions of Full Freedom• Equality of rights• Vote• Land• Ways to provide for themselves, take care of own• Organize, form groups• Churches and schools• Right to defend country, join military (180,000 during the war)• Necessity of enforcement • Equality under law, opportunity• Money, other forms of support• Protection = military/law enforcement• Take land from someone and give it to another• Infrastructure• Peace?

Fight for Full Freedom During the War

• Slave efforts: • Fought for or worked for Union victory• Sought out family members• Geographic mobility - moved to new areas• Sought land and economic freedom

• Union confiscation of lands• General Sherman’s Field Order #15, Jan. 1865 – Sea

Islands and other lands set aside for freedpersons• Goal of 40 acres and a mule• Northern Republican support for freedmen – formation of

religious and governmental aid groups during war

Black Refugees Seeking Freedom

Post-Slavery Connections

• Goals of Emancipation continue into the present• Common goals: fight racial and economic exploitation; fight for democracy and equality

• Public expression and celebrations • Juneteenth and Emancipation Day celebrations

throughout the Atlantic

• Radicalism and Reform in the Black Atlantic or African-Atlantic• Anti-colonial activists• Civil rights activists• Human rights activists• Labor activists

Emancipation Day, 1863, South Carolina

Juneteenth

Musicians at the Austin, Texas, Emancipation Day picnic, June 19,1900

Ex-slaves at the Austin, Texas, Emancipation Day picnic, June 19,1900

Emancipation Day Parade, Richmond, VA, 1904/5

Further Resources• U.S. Emancipation Timeline:

http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/chronol.htm • Library of Congress E.P. site:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/EmanProc.html

Video Links• PBS, Ken Burns‘ Civil War, part 1, “The Cause”: Link

• PBS, Freedom, A History of US, part 5, “A Fatal Contradiction”: Link

• PBS, Meet the Past: John Brown: Link

• PBS, Harpers Ferry and John Brown: Link