Advanced Placement U.S. History

Summary• The Civil War was not simply a war that

began in the middle of the 19th Century, but rather began with the inception of the United States government and its various policies.

• The North and South developed as two very distinct regions with their own ideologies pertaining to economics, social mores, and political leadership.

THE NORTH• The North developed with a

capitalist economic base, where free labor was not acceptable.

• Immigration flowed into the North, where 19th century factory workers made textiles for the international market

• The Common Man was revered after the Jacksonian era,yet there was social stratification that divided the rich from the working poor.

• Social and religious movements worked to end the existing slave system to the south.

THE SOUTH• The South developed a farming

economy, with the majority of the wealth coming from cotton production, and the free labor system that worked to produce the cotton.

• Politically the region was adamant about states rights, the right to property, and right to nullify federal law.

• During the 19th century the area is predominantly rural and does not experience the industrialization of the North, however is an economically successful region.

• Socially there is an aristocratic-like hierarchy that believes in honor, pride, and tradition.

Part I: Political Events Leading to the Civil War

• Constitution of the United States

• Missouri Compromise, 1820

• Wilmot Proviso, 1846

• Compromise of 1850

• Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Dred Scott Decision, 1857

                              

Constitution of the United States1. Constitution of the

United States, 1787

• The Constitution of the United States never mentions the word ‘slavery’ but there are articles and clauses that ensure the right to property.

• Use Doc. A to find information about the constitutional compromises for slavery View of Independence Hall,

Philadelphia, 1780s. Courtesy of National Archives

2. Missouri Compromise, 1820• With the country expanding

westward following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the issue of slavery moving into the new territories became an issue in Congress.

• The slavery issue was not a moral discussion as it was a representation issue as more slave states entered the union, it would lessen the impact of the issues the free states brought Congress.

Henry Clay, The Great Pacificator

Map of the Missouri Compromise

1. What is the status of Missouri when it enters into the Union?

2. What allows the compromise to occur?

3. Where is the geographic border established between free and slave states?

http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog10/feature/index.html

3. Wilmot Proviso, 1846

• In 1846 as the United States became embroiled in a war with Mexico, David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania Congressman brought forth the idea that any land gained from the conflict should remain free from slavery.

• Read Doc. B and discuss what the Southern response would be to a suggestion like this.

David Wilmot

4. Compromise of 1850• Following the Mexican

American War the U.S. settles the issue of slavery in the newly acquired territory with the Compromise of 1850.

• These 3 men brought their regional issues to the government in their last debate as long time congressmen.

• Who are they?• What region do each

represent?

What the Compromise Says…

1. California will be entered as a free state, but other former Mexican territories will determine slavery issue through popular sovereignty.

2. Texas is admitted as a slave state, but ceded New Mexico Territory in return for its $10 million in debts to be paid by the federal government

3. Slave trade is ended in the District of Columbia

5. Kansas-Nebraska Act• Based on the proposal by

Stephen Douglas that the territory of Kansas and Nebraska be entered into the Union under the principle of popular sovereignty.

• This measure became a divisive move, which killed the Whig party and hurt the Democrats.

• “Bleeding Kansas” The Kansas territory erupted in violence in 1854.

•

6. Dred Scott Decision,1857

• Dred Scott sued the government for his freedom and that of his family after he had been relocated into free territory.

• The Supreme Court determined….

Part II: Social Movements Leading To the Civil War

• Abolitionist Movement

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Preston Brooks vs. Charles Sumner

• John Brown’s Raid

1. Abolitionist Movement

• Religious and social movements to end slavery occurred throughout American history. Leaders in the Nineteenth century movements include William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher, and Harriet Tubman. The abolitionists worked to show the immoral, antichristian, anti-democratic message that slavery voiced.

• While abolitionists worked to end slavery, southern proslavery voices discussed the positive effects of slavery on slaves.

2. Uncle Tom’s Cabin"So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this

Great War!“~

Abraham Lincoln • The book written by Harriet

Beecher Stowe caused great controversy among the sections. It was read by thousands, and was used as a great abolitionist tool.

• Why do you think the book was so effective?

3. Congressional Violence• In 1856, the Senate floor

was the epitome of the climate in the country and the sectional divide that was becoming so clear.

• Preston Brooks of South Carolina attacked Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane after Sumner had insulted Brooks’ uncle.

• To Sumner this was the Southern temperament, to Brooks, he was defending his family’s honor.

Senator Brooks canes Senator Sumner to near death

4. John Brown’s Raid• Anti Slavery vigilante, John

Brown, led a murderous raid through Kansas in 1856.

• In 1859 he planned to raid the South and incite a massive slave rebellion. His plan took form at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia by taking over the federal arsenal. It was an unsuccessful raid leading to his conviction and death.

1. How did Northerners react to John Brown’s Raid?

2. What was Southern reaction?

John Brown’s Raid

American painter John Stuart Curry's mural, Tragic Prelude, depicts abolitionist John Brown during the "Bleeding Kansas" decade of the 1850s.

Industrialization of the North

• “American System of Manufactures”• Putting Out System-Commercialization• Free Labor• Factory system- textile mills: Lowell,

MA• Growth of Cities and Immigrant

populations

• The market revolution of the nineteenth century incorporating all the previously mentioned components worked to transform the way people worked, lived, and in time thought about American ideals, values, and lifestyle.

The Transportation Revolution• The building of the Erie Canal

(1825), the National Road (1808), and the improvements in the steamboat and railroad allowed Americans to see beyond their provincial lives and belong to a national community.

• Effects of this transportation revolution evidenced a shift in national politics; the linking of the North with points West rather than with the South marked a distinct shift in political alliances.

Economic Causes of the Civil War

• Tariff of 1816, 1824

• Tariff of Abominations

• Issue of Nullification

Tariff of 1816 and Tariff of 1824

• Tariff of 1816Tariff of 1816– This was the first substantial

protective tariff in United States History; it taxed imported woolens and cotton, iron, leather, hats, paper, and sugar

– Following the War of 1812 and the lift on the embargo on British goods, American manufacturers complained that the British were dumping goods into U.S. markets that were below cost to deliberately hurt American growth.

– The government responded with the tariff

• Tariff of 1824Tariff of 1824– Southern politicians voted for the

Tariff of 1816 believing it was a temporary measure, however in 1824 the government raised tariff rates higher and included more goods under the tariff.

– Southern cotton farmers feared their chief export, cotton, would in turn be taxed by countries abroad in retaliation for the American tariffs

Tariff of Abominations• The Tariff of 1828 was a dividing factor between

Northern and Southern politicians for these reasons:

1. It imposed especially high tariffs on imported textiles and iron

2. Southerners in Congress lacked the majority to block the measure and became increasingly aware that their regional interests would be ignored by the national political scene.

3. Southern opponents insisted that the tariff was unconstitutional because it was not a national measure but a sectional one, helping certain interests while harming others.

Nullification• The economic provisions enacted by Congress to protect

American manufacturers led to a political discussion between Southern politicians who feared the national government’s power to change the climate of the South politically, economically, and socially.

• Led by John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, the state claimed that they had the right to “nullify” or make void any national legislation that was in the best interest of an individual state. Therefore South Carolina could ignore the tariffs and allow duty free shipping into ports like Charlestown.

• Southerners belief in nullification will again be raised when the issue of slavery and its expansion become a national issue.

Immediate Cause of Immediate Cause of The Civil WarThe Civil War

• 1860 Abraham Lincoln is elected President

• December 20, 1860 South Carolina Secedes from the Union

• “The Irrepressible Conflict” has begun