Chapter 17MANIFEST DESTINY AND

ITS LEGACY

Americans want Texas, remote backwater of Spanish Empire

US abandoned claim in 1819

1823- new Mexican government gives land to Stephen Austin to bring settlers

2 conditions settlers had to become Mexican citizens, become Catholic

Ignored by settlers, annoyed by presence of Mexican soldiers and government

Settlers typical American individualist, did not want to be pushed around

Slavery an issue, outlawed in Mex., settlers brought slaves anyway

1836 Mex. Leader Santa Ana attempts to repress Texans independence

GONE TO TEXAS

Early 1836 Texans declare independence

Santa Anna attacks Alamo and Goliad become ral lying cries for Texans, galvanized Americans behind Texas cause

Gen. Sam Houston lures Mexicans east to San Jacinto (near present day Houston), and defeats Santa Anna

Forces Santa Anna to sign treaty giving land to Rio Grande to Texas and removing troops from region

Mex. does not recognize agreement

Texas becomes an independent republic but wanted to be par t of the United States

Refused admission, abolit ionists did not want new slave state

Seen as a plot against slavery to Southerners

THE LONE STAR REBELLION

1840’s territorial expansion dominated politics, diplomacy

War with Mexico, gained territory from Texas to California and questions of status of slavery

1841 William Henry Harrison (Whig) elected and died in office

Real leaders of Whigs Clay, Webster tried to push agenda, thwarted by John Tyler (VP, now president)

Tyler supporter of states rights

Clay and others tried to push nationalistic political agenda

Whigs pushed for new bank, tarif fs; all vetoed by Tyler

THE ACCESSION OF “TYLER TOO”

British looked down on Americans, increased tension with America

Americans borrowed extensively from British banks (many defaulted on loans during Panic of 1837)

1837 Caroline incident with Canada, 1841 slaves offered asylum in Bahamas (southern fear of Caribbean becoming haven for escaped slaves), 1842 border disputes in Maine (settled by Webster-Ashburton Treaty)

WAR OF WORDS WITH BRITAIN

1 836- Texas ach ieves independence , not recognized by Mex ico

Britain, France interested in Texas as place for cotton production, check American power

Texas as independent nation threatened US

Presidential campaign 1844 issue of expansion

Texas annexed by joint resolution of Congress 1844

James K. Polk won election on expansion platform

Texas became state 1845

Oregon

enormous wilderness

Claimed by many different countries until 1825, then only US and Britain

British claims based on occupation

American claims based on exploration and occupation

1830’s American missionaries settle Willamette Valley, stimulates interest of Americans

1840’s number of Americans increases, came over Oregon Trail

British had few settlers, weaker claim than Americans

TEXAS AND OREGON

Election of 1844 between Henry Clay and James Polk

Major election issue Manifest Destiny

Feeling that America’s duty was to spread ideals of democracy across continent ( idea of expansion and l iber ty)

Expansion ignored national boundaries, came at the expense of others

Expansionist Democrats won election felt they had a mandate to take Texas and Oregon

New President James K. Polk had 4 point program – lower tarif f , create independent treasury, acquire Oregon and California

1846 US and Britain compromise on Oregon territory border (dying fur trade made Brit ish lose interest in Oregon)

MANIFEST DESTINY AND THE ELECTION OF

1844

Americans wanted San Francisco and San Diego Bays as por ts on Pacific and to expand American trade to Asia

Americans saw weakness in Mexican control of borderlands

Polk eager to buy California, Mexicans would not sel l

Wanted California to balance admission of Texas with a free state

US/Mexico issues over boundary of Texas

Mexican claim was boundary at Nueces River, American claim was Rio Grande

Rumors of Brit ish wanting to purchase California, could not be tolerated under Monroe doctrine

1846 Polk sends troops to Texas, march from Nueces River to Rio Grande

April 1846 US soldiers ki l led and Polk asks for war, Congress overwhelmingly supports i t

WAR WITH MEXICO

Many nor therners and Whigs saw this as a land grab and war for extension of slavery

Lincoln (then Rep. from Il l inois) pushes “spot resolutions” to show where blood was shed on American soi l

Both sides wanted war, America to teach Mexicans a lesson, Mexicans saw US a bully to the nor th

South and West supported warThe US unprepared for the war. I l l equipped volunteers fi l led the American armyAdvantages over the Mexican mil itary that had outdated equipment and l i tt le

motivation to fight.American industrial base to prepare and equip an army, superior leadershipUnited States won easi ly over the Mexican forces in 1847California- John Fremont led a revolt against Mexican rule and declared the state “The Bear Flag Republic”

WAR WITH MEXICO

1848- War ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Gave US vast new territory, paid Mexico $15 mill ion dollars for land

Many Americans thought that US should not stop with Mexico

European countries had new respect for American militaryThe Mexican American War was a blatant war of conquest that would have occurred through migration eventuallyThe war also trained the next generation of generals (Lee, Grant) to fight America’s next war – the Civil WarTurning point in US relations with Latin America, became suspicious of “Colossus of the North”War aroused issue of slavery and its expansion1846- David Wilmot tr ies to introduce amendment that slavery should not exist in new territory, never passed the Senate but symbolized issue of slavery in territories (Wilmot Proviso)

WAR WITH MEXICO

Chapter 18

RENEWING THE SECTIONAL

STRUGGLE

1848-1854

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND

SOUTH

1848 war with Mexico ends, issue of extending slavery

opened up, split politics along sectional lines, North and

South

Political parties had appealed to people across sectional

lines, during this period it was split by northern abolitionists

and southern fire-eaters

Election of 1848- Democrats turn to Lewis Cass, war hero,

Democratic platform was silent on the issue of slavery

Lewis Cass was not, he supported “popular sovereignty” to

determine status of slavery

Idea took question of slavery out of national politics and

made it a series of local issues; followed democratic ideal of

self determination

POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY PANACEA

Whigs nominate Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor (Clay was old, had too many enemies)

Pushed personality of candidate

Anti slavery people not satisfied with either candidate, establish own party “Free Soil” Par ty

Free Soil Par ty - for Wilmot Proviso, broadened appeal by advocating federal aid for internal improvements, free government homesteads for sett lers in new territory

Party attracted industrialists from North, those who wanted cheap land in west to allow free white workers a chance to make money

Nominate Van Buren as candidate

Foreshadowed emergence of Republican par ty

POLITICAL TRIUMPHS OF GENERAL

TAYLOR

1848 gold discovered in California, Americans flock to region to strike it rich

300,000 go to CA (forty -niners)

Most money made by those that provided services to miners

Influx of settlers overwhelm territorial government, to bring order they draft a constitution in 1849 (it excluded slavery), and tried to bypass territorial stage, Taylor saw it as a way to end stalemate over slavery

He felt slavery could be permitted where it existed but not expanded

Supported by free soilers; appalled Southern politicians, knew it would upset balance of slave and free states

“CALIFORNY GOLD”

1850- South relatively well off, cotton prices high, political sentiment was in their favor, president was southern, political sectional balance was well maintained

South worried that new territory would be free and upset the sectional political balance (California, New Mexico, Utah)

Texas and New Mexico dispute over border, Texas threatened to send troops to take Santa Fe in defiance of federal government

SECTIONAL BALANCE AND THE UNDERGROUND

RAILROAD

Southerners angered by runaway slaves and assistance of Underground Railroad

Assisted by abolitionists it was a series of “stations” where slaves were safe during their escape to freedom

Southerners upset at prospect of abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia

Southerners wanted stronger fugitive slave laws, free states refused to cooperate to capture slaves

Upset with moral righteousness of abolitionists

Said Constitution protected slavery and laws that Congress passed to provide for slave catching

SECTIONAL BALANCE AND THE

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

1850- Congress needed to act decisively on issue of slavery before country fell apart

Last of second generation statesmen- Webster, Calhoun, Clay were at center of fixing issue (or arguing against it)

Clay and Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced a series of compromises to solve problem

Wanted north and south to make concessions Calhoun upheld Southern position of states

rights and political balance, argued that slaves were property and protected by 5 th Amendment and Article IV of Constitution

March 7 th speech- Webster gave impassioned speech about compromise and was accused as being a traitor to the north, speech helped turn tide for compromise in north

These politicians were the last of a generation to support union at all costs ,new breed more sectional in outlook

TWILIGHT FOR THE SENATORIAL GIANTS

Young Guard from north led by William Seward of NY argued

sections could no longer compromise

Said there was a “higher law” to be followed

President Taylor also believed in higher law and was bent on

vetoing any action by Congress

Taylor dies suddenly in 1850 and new president Millard

Fillmore signed series of compromise measures known as

Compromise of 1850

Many eager to compromise because of prosperity brought by

gold riches from California and growing spirit of goodwill

Southern extremists still opposed to concessions and

planned to meet in Nashville to secede from Union

DEADLOCK AND DANGER ON CAPITOL

HILL

Compromise 1850- series of bills passed to end slavery question, for the most part it favored the North

a) California admitted as a free state

b) New Mexico, Utah organized a territories, open to slavery on basis of popular sovereignty (not going to be slave)

c) Land dispute between Texas and NM settled, NM given land, TX receives $10m to pay off government debt

d) Slave trade outlawed in D.C.

e) Most controversial part was Fugitive Slave law

Escaped slaves could not testify on their behalf or given a trial by jury, bounty paid to federal commissioners, people found aiding slaves were subject to criminal penalties

BALANCING THE COMPROMISE SCALES

Northerners became galvanized around issue of slavery and many states passed personal liberty laws

Many would not support law, further turned tide against south; it became a moral issue

Sectional balance would favor north and growing population would insure it

North was more industrial and wealthy

Through the 1850’s they gained moral and material strength

South dug in their heels to protect their way of life

BALANCING THE COMPROMISE SCALES

Published in 1852, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe (daughter of anti slavery minister) united northerners against slavery

Made slavery seem “real”, not removed from everyday life

Showed indignity of slavery from cruel masters to the ripping apart of slave families

Best selling novel of the 1800’s

UNCLE TOM’S CABIN

1852- Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire nominated by Democrats, held pro southern views, wanted territorial expansion, endorsed Compromise of 1850, seen as compromise candidate

Took votes away from southern Whigs, also he was a weak and indecisive man

Whigs nominate another war hero Winfield Scott

Campaign based on personality and Pierce wins

Spelled the end of the Whig party, end of national politics

Legacy was it was the party of union and great leaders (Clay and Webster)

DEFEAT AND DOOM FOR THE WHIGS

Expansionist impulses of the late 1840’s led to the Young America movement

Thought they could transform world through spreading of “American” institutions (democracy, capitalism; part of reforming impulse of antebellum America)

Latin America- Clayton- Bulwer Treaty of 1850 with Brit ish to secure r ight of transit across isthmus of Panama ( later used to justify land grab for Panama Canal)

Southerners wanted new slave territory, looked to Central America

William Walker briefly was president of Nicaragua and made slavery legal (he was eventually executed)

Cuba had a large population of slaves but i t was controlled by Spain

1850, 1851 two fi l ibustering expeditions sent to Cuba but were repelled and tension escalated between Spain and US

Secretly US, France and Britain draf t Ostend Manifesto that recommended US could take Cuba if cer tain conditions met

Northern free soi lers protested and the Pierce administration backed of f of plans

EXPANSIONIST STIRRINGS SOUTH OF THE

BORDER

West coast possessions made US Pacific power

Americans wanted to enter Asian markets

1844 Americans gain entry to Chinese trade and

missionaries (compromised cultural integrity of China in the

long run)

1852 Millard Fillmore sends US navy under leadership of

Matthew Perry to open trade with Japan

Japan had been closed off from the rest of the world for 200

years but show of American military forced open society,

within a decade the “Meiji Restoration” would modernize

Japan

THE ALLURE OF ASIA

New western territory needed to be connected to rest of country, transcontinental railroad was a necessity

Northern and southern sections competed to see would have the railroad and the wealth that went with it

James Gadsden purchased piece of desert from Mexico in 1853 for 10 million

Purpose was for southern rail route that would have been easier to build and it went through already organized territory, easier to protect with US military

PACIFIC RAILROAD PROMOTERS AND THE GADSDEN

PURCHASE

1854- Stepen Douglas “The Little Giant”, sought to break the deadlock of western expansion

Called the Kansas-Nebraska Act He proposed a northern route for the railroad,

it would begin in Chicago and spread a string of settlements to the Pacific

To gain southern support he split the Nebraska Territory into two parts -Kansas and Nebraska, their status regarding slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty

Problems- it contradicted the Missouri Compromise, a sacred sectional pact

President Pierce supported the plan Douglas also had other motives - he owned land

along the proposed route and he wanted to be president

Douglas defeated the free soil group in Congress and pushed the bil l through

DOUGLAS’S KANSAS -NEBRASKA SCHEME

Kansas-Nebraska Act greased the slope to the Civil War

Northerners saw the events of the previous decade as a southern conspiracy (popular theme in American history)

Compromise was harder to come by , each side would not give in to the other

Democrats torn apart by the Kansas -Nebraska Act and would not put another president into the White House for 28 years

Caused the Republican party to emerge, it consisted of anti -slavery groups, Know-Nothings, Free-Soilers

It quickly gathered strength in the years leading up to 1860, the party was supported only in the north

CONGRESS LEGISLATES A CIVIL WAR

Chapter 19

DRIFTING TOWARD

DISUNIONTHE 1850’S

Hope for compromise and keeping Union together fell apart

in the last half of the 1850’s

Kansas erupted into violence, the Supreme Court in the Dred

Scott decision validated feeling of a “Southern conspiracy”

Attitudes on both sides hardened

1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin published, novel had great political

force- no Northerner wanted to support “peculiar institution”;

also popular across Europe

1857 Impending Crisis of the South by Hinton Helper tried to

prove that non-slave holders in South suffered the most from

slavery (poor whites could not get ahead)

Planter elite feel attacked from all sides

STOWE AND HELPER: LITERARY INCENDIARIES

Kansas issue on popular sovereignty came to a head

Various groups came to Kansas - regular pioneers, groups financed by nor thern abolit ionists (some armed by New England Emigrant Aid Company)

Southern spokesmen under the impression Kansas would be slave, Nebraska free and began to sponsor slave owning famil ies to move to Kansas (r isky to take slaves to region)

1855- crisis in Kansas blows up (Bleeding Kansas)

Elections for fi rst territorial legislature, many came over border from slave state Missouri to vote (early and of ten)

Slavery forces won election, free soi lers see this as an i l legal conspiracy and set up own government

State home to two separate governments

Tension increased when proslavery raiders attacked free town of Lawrence

THE NORTH-SOUTH CONTEST FOR

KANSAS

1856- John Brown, insanely dedicated abolitionist, moved to Kansas

Led a band of abolitionist to a pro slavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek and hacked to death a group of five proslaveryites and brought swift retaliation from proslavery forces

Civil war erupted in Kansas after this attack

1857 Kansas applies for admission to US with proslavery constitution (Lecompton Constitution) approved in 1857

Constitution supported by President Buchanan, many saw this a popular fraudulency

Issue divided Democratic party along north -south l ines and broke last strands that kept Union together

KANSAS IN CONVULSION

1856- US Senator Charles Sumner (MA) and

Congressman Preston Brooks (SC)

demonstrated how inflamed the political

passions had become

Sumner gave a two day long speech on

slavery and the Kansas issue

During the speech he insulted a relative of

Brooks and he attacked and beat Sumner

with a cane on the Senate floor

Brooks resigned and was reelected, Sumner

had to leave office because of his injuries

and his Senate seat remained empty

“BULLY” BROOKS AND HIS BLUDGEON

1856 presidential election Democrats nominate James

Buchanan a Pennsylvania lawyer not tainted by Kansas

controversy

Republicans nominate John Fremont who had little political

experience, also not part of Kansas dispute

Republican platform against extension of slavery under any

circumstances

Democrats supported popular sovereignty

Know Nothings and their stand against foreigners also

nominated Millard Fillmore, party cut into Republican

strength

OLD BUCK VERSUS THE PATHFINDER

Buchanan won easily

Democrats won because of threats of secession if anybody else elected

Many northerners wanted to preserve Union and keep business connections with South

Events had not gotten bad enough to see no chance for reconcil iation (KS trouble had yet to explode)

Democrats were losing strength as evidenced by election of 1854

THE ELECTORAL FRUITS OF 1856

Dred Scott l ived with master in I l l inois and free terr itory of Wisconsin, master died and he sued for his freedom on basis of his residency on free soi l

Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

Pro southern Supreme Court said he could not sue in federal cour t because he was a black slave and not a cit izen

Said slaves were private property and they could be taken to any territory (free or slave) and they were st i l l slaves

Basis was the 5 th Amendment, i t protected private property from the government

Southerners happy with decision, fur ther drove a wedge between nor th and south

Used as a ral lying cry for anti slavery forces, refused to fol low decision

South wondered how they could exist with a group wil l ing to defy the Supreme Court

THE DRED SCOTT BOMBSHELL

1857 economic panic

CA gold had artificially inflated

currency

Over production of grain to feed

Europeans (Crimean War over and it

was no longer needed), grain prices

dropped

Over-speculation in land and railroads

Hit north harder than south,

Southerners saw this as proof cotton

was king

THE FINANCIAL CRASH OF 1857

Northerners called for free land to help out (provide employment), met opposition from industrialists because it would drain away people needed for factories

Opposed in the South because plantation agriculture could not flourish on small homesteads and if territories fi l led up it would further tip sectional balance

1860- Congress does pass Homestead Act , public lands available for 25 cents an acre

Panic caused clamor for higher tariff rates, surplus funds caused Treasury to lower tariff rates and panic wiped out surplus

North wanted higher tariffs, Southern politicians blocked tariff increases

Events gave Republicans two issues to focus on in election of 1860 that were not slavery, tariff protections and farms for farmless

THE FINANCIAL CRASH OF 1857

1858 Senatorial election takes national spotlight

Abraham Lincoln (R) and Stephen Douglas (D) running for Senate seat in Il l inois

Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates, Douglas was known a great debater and Lincoln was expected to fall

Freeport, IL major debate Lincoln questioned how could popular

sovereignty survive with Dread Scott decision Douglas’ reply became known a Freeport

Doctrine, where public opinion does not support law it is almost impossible to enforce (slavery would stay down if it was voted down)

Douglas defeats Lincoln but Lincoln becomes a national figure

Douglas and his support for popular sovereignty splinters Democrats - How could they vote for him if he supported what they opposed?

AN ILLINOIS RAIL-SPLITTER EMERGES

John Brown hatches scheme to invade south,

cause slave rebellion and arm them

1859- Invaded a federal arsenal in Harpers

Ferry, VA and failed

Quickly captured and hanged

South viewed him as a murderer and guilty of

treason, , moderate northerners agreed

Abolitionists were upset by his execution and

viewed him as a martyr for their cause

“ How can a barbarous community and a

civilized community constitute one state. We

must either get rid of slavery, or get rid of

freedom” Ralph Waldo Emerson

JOHN BROWN: MURDERER OR MARTYR?

Election of 1860 hung on issue of peace or war

Democrats divided could not choose presidential nominee

Southern states would not support Douglas and they

nominated their own candidate John C. Breckinridge

Middle of the road group wanted compromise candidate to

keep country together nominated John Bell from Tennessee

Northern Democrats platform for popular sovereignty, and

supported Fugitive Slave Law

Southern Democrat platform foe extension of slavery into

territories and annexation of Cuba

DISRUPTION FOR THE DEMOCRATS

Republican choice between Will iam Seward and Lincoln

Seward seen as too radical, Lincoln had fewer enemies

Republican platform for non-extension of slavery, higher tariffs, free homesteads and internal improvements at federal expense

Southern secessionists said if Lincoln elected they would leave Union, thought federal government would get rid of slavery

Lincoln elected as a minority president, was not even on the ballot in 10 states

Election of 1860 essentially two elections- North and South

RAIL-SPLITTER SPLITS UNION

Chain of secession began to erupt

Dec. 1860 SC calls special convention and unanimously votes to secede from Union

Over the next 6 weeks six other states follow

Feb. 1861 meet in Montgomery, AL to establish government and choose former Senator Jefferson Davis from MS as president

Buchanan, did nothing

He was surrounded by pro-southern advisers and he could find no authority in Constitution to keep states in Union

Public opinion in North not for fighting to keep Union together, so there was still hope for reconciliation

Ideas proposed by James Crittenden (KY)

Crittenden Compromise proposed Constitutional Amendments designed to appease South

Slavery permitted south of Missouri Compromise line and open to popular sovereignty in all other territory

Lincoln rejected plan and hope of compromise evaporated

THE SECESSIONIST EXODUS

South left for a variety of reasons

1. Slavery, loosing sectional balance that was a threat to

slaveholding minority

2. They though departure would be unopposed

3. Northern economic interests would not put up a fight to

maintain business relations

4. South had a dif ferent culture and they could form a

country that fit their ideas

5. Develop own economic relations with Europe, keep tarif fs

low

6. Felt it was their destiny and they were not doing anything

immoral or wrong

FAREWELL TO UNION

“ The Greeks did not understand each other any longer, though they spoke the same language” Thucydides

THE CIVIL WAR AND

RECONSTRUCTION

1860-1877

Lincoln Conciliatory toward the south in his inaugural address. He had no intention to interfere with slavery where it existed, but he would preserve the Union.

There would be no war unless the south started it, the north did not want to be viewed as the aggressor

Southern states seized federal forts and arsenals. 1861- South Carolina seized Fort Sumter, by April 1861 they needed

food and supplies and Lincoln notified the government of South Carolina that he was sending supplies.

Confederates were suspicious of his motives and they wanted the total surrender of the fort. They began to fire on the fort and Lincoln declared this an act of war

April 15 Lincoln asked for 75,000 Union troops to fight against the confederacy The Confederacy began to raise troops and Arkansas, Tennessee, and

North Carolina left the Union

Both sides predicted a short war…..

END OF THE WAITING GAME

Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and later West Virginia

Huge strategic prize in population and manufacturing capacity

KY and WVA strategic because of Ohio River

Maryland- Lincoln sent in troops and declared martial law

To keep border states on side of Union Lincoln would not declare publicly he was fighting to free slaves

Indian Territory - Five Civil ized tribes fought on side of Confederacy because many owned slaves

War became “brothers war” in many families

BORDER STATES

ADVANTAGE FOR NORTH AND SOUTH

Europe’s ruling classes sympathetic to Southern cause (agreed with southern social order)

So why did King Cotton diplomacy fail them?

Enormous cotton exports of late 1850’s, caused oversupply of fiber

Hoped for “cotton famine” never happened,

Union supplied Britain through captured cotton, British turned to India and Egypt for cotton production

Northern states supplied England with corn and wheat

Foreign Policy

Confederate government wrote Constitution similar to US Constitution, except it protected slavery

Fatal weakness in Confederate government was tension between Southern idea of state’s rights vs. the need for a strong central government

Problems with Confederate Government

North had an established and internationally recognized government

Congress not in session when war started, Lincoln proclaimed blockade and increased size of army

Lincoln did suspend some freedoms protected by the Constitution

Suspended habeas corpus (jailing somebody without telling them of crime) so anti-Union sentiment could be controlled

“Supervised” voting in the border states, suspended the press

Union Government During Wartime

When war first started volunteers filled ranks, by 1863 pace had dropped off and Union Army began to draft soldiers

Many were immigrants, poor

Wealthy could pay substitute to go in their place

1863 draft riots in NYC

South had fewer men to draw from and needed manpower more quickly, rich could also buy their way out of service

Deserters problem in both armies

Volunteers and Draftees

North customs fees and tarif f fees major sources of revenue

Without southern opposition Morrill Tariff Act passed (1861)

Money backed by nations credit, not gold

Bonds sold to finance war

National Banking System established to back bonds and provide sound credit (existed until 1913)

South had customs duties choked off because of blockade

Had to increase taxes, resisted by states righter's

Government printed money was worthless, inflation was a huge problem

Confederate government had little international credit or revenue stream

South had 30% of national wealth in 1860, 12% ten years later

South experienced food and material shortages during the war

Many southerners turned to stealing from northern army and blockade running to supply basic necessities

War Economy

Wartime prosperity for northProtective tariffs, need for war

time goods stoked manufacturing

Many speculators profited from war

Lack of labor caused innovation, made factories more efficient

Westward settlement kept growing, Homestead Act 1862

New opportunities for women due to labor shortage in factories

War Economy

The Civil War was the first modern war.

New technologies and devices mobilized men and materials- railroad transport, artillery, repeating rifles, ironclad ships, telegraph, trenches, wire entanglements were all battlefield devices used for the first time

Photography brought the war to others not involved in fighting living far away

Brought violence and life of war home

Fighting the War

Anaconda Plan gradually began to work and the Union began to make progress in the western part of the Confederacy by late 1862. They began to cut supply lines, destroy crops and rail lines.

The first major blow to the south occurred at Antietam in Maryland in 1862

By the beginning of 1863 the north was beginning to use its advantages of men and materials to defeat the Confederacy

War Turns for the North

Lee took tried to take the war to the north in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July of 1863. He was defeated and retreated south.

Ulysses Grant was named commander of Union forces in 1864 and he began to purse Lee until he was defeated

Union General Will iam T. Sherman led 60,000 troops on a march through Georgia and South Carolina in the fall of 1864.

400 mile “march to the sea” used a strategy called total war - targeted troops, support and supplies needed to feed, clothe and support the army.

Troops burned crops, destroyed railroad tracks, homes and plantations. They burned the city of Atlanta in the fall of 1864

By the spring of 1865 the south was exhausted and Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox courthouse April 9, 1865

War Turns for the North

When the war began Lincoln did not think he had the authority to abolish slavery- his chief goal was to preserve the Union

In the fall of 1862 after the Battle of Antietam he decided the time was right to issue the Emancipation Proclamationthat freed the slaves

January 1, 1863 all slaves in the south were declared free.

It did not apply to free states or areas of the south already under federal control (to keep border states happy)

Union army began to actively recruit former slaves to join their cause

This changed the nature of the Civil War from something to preserve the Union and redefined it as to being about slavery, gave war a moral tone

Removed any chance of negotiated settlement to war

Emancipation Proclamation

1864 presidential election fell in the midst of war

Many Northerners did not support Lincoln

Resented expansion of presidential power and the war itself

Democrats against the war (Copperheads) obstructed the war efforts in Congress

Election of 1864 between Lincoln (R) and George McClellan (D)

Lincoln choose Andrew Johnson of TN as his running mate to attract war Democrats and border state vote

Lincolns election was secured by a series of Union victories in the months before the election

1865 Five days after Lee’s surrender Lincoln was assassinated at the pinnacle of his fame by a fanatically pro -southern actor John Wilkes Booth

Politics of War

600,000 died; 1 million wounded or maimed

Generation of men lost to war Idea of states’ rights moot Passage of 13 th Amendment officially

ended slavery, 14 th Amendment guaranteed civil rights

US became a singular nation, not a collection of states

Power of federal government expanded, banking, judicial system became more powerful, government expected to protect rights above state powers

Industrial growth kick started because of war effort

National legal, industrial and governmental institutions came out of war

Aftermath

Results of War

1865-1877

Spring 1865 war was over. War that began as a way to preserve the Union, became a war fought for the abolition of slavery. The next twelve years were known as Reconstruction

By the end of 1865 Lincoln had been assassinated, Thirteenth Amendment had been passed guaranteeing the end of slavery

The north had developed economically, the south was devastated, and over the next three decades civil rights and citizenship became redefined

The questions that faced the country were; how would the south be rebuilt? How would liberated blacks fare as free men and women? How would the South be reintegrated into the Union, and who would be in charge of it?

Across the south: most of the fighting occurred there

railroads were destroyed

land values were worthless

labor pool was wiped out

cotton and tobacco production dropped

many southerners left homeless

Southern planters no longer had a voice in politics and many remained defiant towards the “Yankees”

What was the meaning of freedom for the former slaves?

Many planters resisted emancipation either through violence or refusing to recognize it until the local government did so

Most were forced to recognize emancipation by the Yankee army of occupation

Freed blacks began to take matters into their own hands, some sought to legalize their marriages, work in towns and cities away from their former masters

Many settled in black communities that offered mutual protection and assistance

Many went north and west

1878-1880 mass exodus to Kansas by free Southern African Americans (Exodusters)

Church became focus of black community

Formed own churches and they grew rapidly

Also mutual aid societies were established, helped blacks

protect their newly won freedoms

Opportunity to have an education for the first time

Purchased land to build schools and hire teachers

Most freed slaves had few skills, no property

or money

Did not know how to live like free people

To cope with problem Congress creates

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

Primitive welfare agency - provided food,

clothing, medical care and education to freed

slaves and white refugees

Greatest success was education

Tried to provide former slaves with 40 ac. of

land, little passed to them and many blacks

were tricked into signing labor contracts with

their former masters

President Johnson tried repeatedly to kill it

and it expired in 1872

Johnson was a self made man from

humble beginnings

Used by Lincoln in 1864 to garner

votes from war Democrats

Supporter of the Constitution and

states’ rights

Not up for job of Reconstruction ,

supported by nobody

Lincoln believed that south never really left the Union

and he wanted to reunite it as quickly as possible

Formal restoration would be simple

1863 came up with 10% Plan-10% of voters would

pledge allegiance to the Union, pledge to abide by

emancipation and formally elect a new state

government they would be restored to the Union

Many in Congress wanted to punish the South

1864 Wade-Davis Bill required 50% to sign oath of allegiance,

stronger safeguards for emancipation

Congress refused to seat a delegation from Louisiana in that

followed Lincoln’s 10% plan

Felt that South had forfeited all rights and were conquered

provinces

Minority radical group wanted to uproot social structure and

protect freed blacks with federal legislation

Group became known as Radical Republicans

Johnson agreed with Lincoln’s plan and came up

with his own plan

Took away right to vote for leading Confederates,

and those with property

They could petition him for pardons (which he

granted)

States had to call special conventions and ratify

13 th Amendment that freed slaves

Last half of 1865 many southern states did

reorganize but run by the old regimes

All Republicans became furious

One of the first things the new

Southern governments did was pass

black codes

Varied in severity from state to state

All tried to regulate affairs of freed

blacks and assure a stable and

subservient labor force

Work contracts resembled slavery itself

Blacks were left out of the political

process

Although a few new rights were

recognized (freedomish, marriage) they

mocked the idea of emancipation

Freedmen lacked capital, had little to offer except labor

Many blacks and poor landless whites became slaves to soil and creditors and slipped into the status of sharecroppers (crop-lien system)

This lasted well into the 20th century

After the Civil War many in the north wondered if these people were still being enslaved, had the North really won the war?

December 1865 Congressional delegations from the south

came to reclaim their seats, northerners shut them out

Voters across south turned to experienced leaders, many

leaders were tainted with association of Confederacy

While war went on Republican leaders had a free had and

passed legislation favorable to the North

Politicians became attached to northern business interests,

western farmers and free labor.

Congress passed tarif f legislation, financing of a

transcontinental railroad, Homestead Act (of fered land to

settlers that occupied the land for 5 years), Morrill Land Grant

Act (provided land for colleges)

Republicans worried that he

South would increase power in

Congress

Blacks were now counted as a

whole person, not 3/5ths of a

person

South gained 12 electoral votes,

12 more Congressional members

Republicans feared that they

would perpetuate black codes,

get rid of Republican economic

program

1866 Republicans wanting to keep Johnson in check pass Civil

Rights Bill to strike back at the Black Codes

Johnson tried to veto, overturned by Congress

Civil Rights bill became 14 th Amendment

1. Citizenship to all persons regardless of race

2. Reduced representation if conditions not met

3. Disqualified former Confederates from federal and state

office

4. Guaranteed federal debt

5. Did not grant the right to vote

Issue between Congress and President was Reconstruction

to be carried on with or without 14 th Amendment

1866 Congressional elections showed country favored

Republican plan

Republicans won a veto proof control of

Reconstruction policy in Congress

Radicals opposed rapid restoration of

Southern states (led by Thaddeus Stevens

and Charles Sumner)

Wanted to transform society and economy of

south with federal government

Moderates did not want states to take away

rights of A-A’s but did not want federal

government involved in people’s everyday

l ives

Both groups wanted blacks to have the right

to vote

1867 Reconstruction Act divides south into 5 military districts controlled by Union general and policed by Union army

Had to ratify 14 th Amendment and guarantee suffrage for black men

Purpose was to create electorate that would vote states back into Union and free federal government from direct responsibil ity of protection of black rights

1870 15 th Amendment passed that guaranteed suffrage in the Constitution

Military Reconstruction of the South took away power of president as commander in chief and set up regimes that were possibly unconstitutional

By 1870 all states had met conditions of readmission into the Union

When federal troops left states they swiftly went back to old governments and became solidly Democratic (Redeemers)

Passage of 13 th, 14 th, 15 th Amendments disappointed advocates for women’s rights, many had been abolitionists and viewed the causes as similar

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton actively campaigned against passage of the 15 th Amendment

Southern black men began to

organize politically

Campaigned and ran for office as

Republicans

Union League included educated

men, churches and schools

represented black grievances in

employment and recruited militias

to protect black communities

Black and white politicians helped

write new state constitutions

Black congressmen were elected

to federal and state offices

although they were never a

majority in any government

State White Citizens Freedmen

SC 291,000 411,000

MS 353,000 436,000

LA 357,000 350,000

GA 591,000 465,000

AL 596,000 437,000

VA 719,000 533,000

NC 631,000 331,000

Southern conservatives reaction

Labeled those that helped Reconstruction as “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags”

Carpetbaggers from north came south to take advantage of them

Scalawags were southerners that were former Unionists and Whigs

Radical regime rule did make some reforms in education, tax systems, property rights for women and public works, actually rebuilt the South

Graft and corruption was rampant during Reconstruction (all across the country), many freedmen were used a pawns by white politicians

Whites resor ted to violent means to protest Union rule

Resented success of black polit icians and corruption of government

Formed secret societies, most notorious was KKK formed in 1866

Harassed free blacks and “carpetbaggers”

Congress tr ies to outlaw this with Force Acts of 1870,1871; was successful in stamping out activit ies

Work of int imidation was already done though

White resistance continued to undermine attempts to empower free blacks

Literacy tests, pol l taxes, int imidation continued to openly flourish across the south for decades

THE KU KLUX KLAN

Radicals in Congress try to impeach Johnson for his continued obstruction of Reconstruction

Basis was Tenure of Office Act which they claimed Johnson ignored (removed somebody from office without Senate’s consent)

Also had a spy in Executive branch (Edwin Stanton)

1868 House votes to impeach Johnson and case goes to Senate

In Senate they fail to get 2/3 majority

Kept alive constitutional mechanism of checks and balances

Impeachment would have destabilized government and weakened one of the three branches of government

THE FAILED IMPEACHMENT OF ANDREW

JOHNSON

One of the few successes during Johnson administration was

purchase of Alaska from Russia, although it would not be

realized for years

Alaska had become a financial and logistical l iability and they

did not want it to fall into the hands of the British

Sold it to the US for 7.2 million, for its potential profitability

and as a favor to an American ally

THE PURCHASE OF ALASKA

Many Southerners were more offended at Reconstruction than the

outcome of the war itself

Resented “Yankee” intervention in their social, racial and polit ical

affairs

Reconstruction happened without a clear plan from the beginning and

was a constant struggle between the executive and legislative branches

and of the entrenched white society

Early 1870’s many northerners lost interest in remaking the south,

focus was on other political, social, economic issues (western

expansion, Indian Wars, Panic of 1873)

Generation of leaders that wanted abolition and change began to pass

away. Many racial prejudices in the north began to reemerge. Political

scandals brought down Radical Republicans

1871 troops were withdrawn from the south and Republican state

governments were replaced with conservative Democrats .

1872 Congress abolished the Freedman’s Bureau

THE HERITAGE OF RECONSTRUCTION

Southern Democrats began to discredit African American politicians, former Confederates were elected to office and many African Americans were denied opportunity to participate fully as citizens.

Americans were united as a nation , federal power became dominant over state power

De jure segregation, legal separation of the races became law in all southern states

The election of 1876 marked the official end of Reconstruction as part of the Hayes- Tilden election compromise (Compromise of 1877), all federal troops were pulled out of the south

When troops left Democratic rule returned and many blacks faced harsher discrimination

THE HERITAGE OF RECONSTRUCTION