What caused the Civil War?Take 3- minutes and free-write your thoughts. Your answers do not have to be composed/formulated neatly, I want you to write your train of thought.

Slavery and the Antebellum SouthRoad to the Civil War

“King Cotton”

Cotton production surged because of cotton gin, westward expansion, and industrialization

Economic Consequences South too dependent on one crop Plantations mean population is spread out, no cities 2/5 of the people are slaves (poor, do not buy goods,

no industry)

Cultural Consequences Lack of education- slaves not educated, white

illiteracy Only ¼ of southern whites owned slaves, and most

of those had fewer than 10 slaves Defense of slavery as a “positive good”

Slaves treated better than factory workers in the North?

Defending Slavery

The SouthNecessary for the agricultural economy

Northerners benefit from it (ship cotton for textiles)

Said paid employees in North always fighting about wages

Slavery better b/c masters and slaves depend on one another

There is slavery in the bible, so it must be okay

Even Southerners who did now own slaves defended it

Hoped to have slaves one day

Afraid freed slaves would take revenge

Defending Slavery

The NorthWhite workers did not want to

compete with free black workers Industrialists did not want to lose the

cotton businessNortherners didn’t want to deal with

problems freeing the slaves would cause

The Gag Rule passed in Congress 1836

No debate on the subject of slavery allowed in Congress

Passed by Southerners w/ help from Northerners

Life under slavery

1830, 2 million slaves in the South

Most worked all day in cotton fields, loading docks, or taking care of their masters

Overseers made them work Physical punishment: Beatings

Mental punishment: Separating from family

Basic necessities (food, shelter, clothing) typically provided, but not guaranteed and depending on the master may not be enough

Resisting Slavery

Many slaves coped with miserable conditions

Worked to keep connected to family and friends, keep traditions and stories alive, religion as a source of comfort

Others resisted via sabotage or escape

Some fought back 200 slave revolts in first half of the 1800s

1822, former slave Denmark Vesey planned revolt in Charleston, SC

News leaked, organizers caught and hanged

Resisting Slavery

Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831) in Richmond, VA

Turner believed God had told him to lead slaves to freedom

Attempted to capture armory (to secure weapons)

His group killed 55 people on way there

Captured by militia after 6 weeks and executed

Led to states adopting tougher laws for slaves

Not allowed to read

Can’t gather in unsupervised groups

Free African-Americans

Free African American population in the North grew

Worried slaveholders, thought it would make slaves want freedom

American Colonization Society founded to encourage free blacks to move to Africa, est. country of Liberia

But most stayed in US

Persistent racial discriminationBlack churches and schools in the

North tried to help enslaved African Americans in the South

Slavery Divides the Nation

North and South develop differently North: Cities, industry, factories w/ paid labor,

immigrants South: Agrarian (cotton), slave labor

Problems as the country expands westward: should slavery spread?

Slavery Divides the Nation

Northern views of slavery: Blacks still seen as inferior

Varied opinions on slavery Indifference

Few Abolitionists

Okay b/c of economic reasons (cotton, need to keep jobs)

Southern views of slavery: Better than “wage labor” in the North, happier

than factory workers

Slaves in the bible

Slaves 2/5 of the population

Causes of the Civil WarRoad to the Civil War

California and the Compromise of 1850

Gold rush increased population of California but wants to be added as a free state

Calhoun calls for South to secede

Daniel Webster urges compromise and popular sovereignty (let the people choose)

Compromise of 1850 proposed by Henry Clay preserved the Union for another decade

1. California= Free state

2. Utah and New Mexico: “popular sovereignty”

3. Slave trade outlawed in D.C.

4. Fugitive Slave Act requires citizens to return escaped slaves or face fines/charges

Fugitive Slave Act

Resisted by the North Required citizens to catch and return runaway slaves

Enraged many in North Forced to support slavery

Some captured “slaves” were really free people

Many white bystanders refused to help officials reclaim fugitives

Underground Railroad Escape system for slaves to reach freedom in the North

“Conductors” would hide and move slaves hundreds of miles

Harriet Tubman: Born in MD as a slave, called “Black Moses” because she led hundreds of slaves to freedom

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, pub. 1852

Ugly description of slavery

Sold 400,000 copies in just a few months Turned many northerners against slavery

Many Southerners (like John C. Calhoun) thought it unfair and argued slavery was a good, not an evil

Presidents of the 1850s

1850: President Zachary Taylor dies of stomach disorder, VP Millard Fillmore becomes President

Stressed flexibility and Compromise

Supported free CA (angered South) and Fugitive Slave Act (angers North)

1852: Parties choose obscure non-sectional candidates Dem. Franklin Pierce won because some Whigs voted for Free-

Soil party (anti-slavery)

Avoided divisive issues

Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas

Kansas-Nebraska ActSoutherners blocked statehood applications

K-N Act passed, overriding Missouri Compromise Allowed slavery by “popular sovereignty” only

Resulted in a rush by pro- and anti- slavery settlers, violent confrontations known as

Bleeding KansasNortherners went in to stop

slavery, southerners in to support it

Violence erupted between them (abt 55 people died)

Opposition to slavery led by John Brown and his sons

Sumner-Brooks Debate

Violence on the SENATE FLOOR!

Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) gave an offensive speech about Southerners

Preston Brooks (South Carolina) beat him with a cane Removed temporarily from Senate, but reelected

Sumner got 200+ letters of support, Brooks was sent canes

The Republican Party

Republican Party created 1854 to unifyAnti-slavery Democrats

Anti-Slavery Whigs

Free-Soilers (abolitionist)

Know-Nothings

Believed slavery was immoral and bad for industry

But, Democrat James Buchanan wins 1856 election with the promise to stop conflicts over slavery

Dred Scott v. Sandford(1857)

The Situation: Scott was a slave in Missouri

(slave state). Master brought him with him to

Illinois (free state), and Louisiana Territory (free) for 10 years

When he returned to Missouri, he sued for his freedom.

Supreme Court rules: Slaves aren’t citizens so they

can’t sue Missouri Compromise

Unconstitutional, Congress can’t ban slavery based on 5th

Amendment Can’t deprive people of their

property without due process

Lincoln-DouglasDebates

1858 Senate Race (Illinois)Douglas supported popular sovereignty

“The Union was established on the right of each State to do as it pleased on the question of slavery, and every other question”

Lincoln thought slavery was a moral wrong that should be stopped by Congress

“There is no reason in the world why a negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence… I hold that he is as much entitled to these as a white man”

LINCOLN LOSES, but gains many followers/supporters

Key reason why he will win Presidency in 1860

Harper’s Ferry (1859)

Violent abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers raided US Arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, VA

Brown ends up being caught and executed “The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away

without very much bloodshed”.

Caused suspicion and rumors of war

Secession and WarRoad to the Civil War

Election of 1860

Northern Democrats: Douglas- Popular Sovereignty

Southern Democrats: Breckenridge- Supported Slavery

Constitutional Unionists: Bell- let things be

Republicans: Abraham Lincoln- no slavery in the territories Was not on ballot in 11 states, but won with 60% electoral vote

The South Secedes

Lincoln only won because the Democratic Party split!

7 states seceded right after Lincoln was elected Led by South Carolina Formed the Confederate States of America

President Jefferson Davis

Lincoln took office and promised not to attack, but to preserve the union.

Attack on Fort Sumter

April 12, 1861

South Carolina ordered the federal (national) Fort to surrender to the Confederate States of America

Union troops refuse to surrender, so Confederates open fire

April 15th, Lincoln calls this an “insurrection” and the Civil War begins

Advantages

Union (North) Confederacy (South)

Population-22 million compared to South’s 9 (and 2/5 of South’s pop. Is slaves!)

Strong Leaders-Gen. Robert E. Lee

Industrialized-Coal and Iron mines-Manufacturing

Defensive War-Resisting Northern Aggression, defending homes

Larger Railroad Network Familiar territory

Navy Short Supply lines