Period 5

Whigs vs. Democrats (1844)

Internal improvements and manufacturing cities vs. Expansionists, private ownership of land, no government involvement in newly added land

Election of 1844

Polk (Democrat) vs. Clay (Whig), Polk wins

Polk Presidency

Marked as getting more territory for the United States such as Texas, Oregon, and California

Polk Presidency Goals

Restore government funds in Treasury, reduce tariffs, accomplished by the end of 1846

Texas and Oregon

dispute over the sheer size of Texas, Northeners worried that the South would have too much land and more states, demands for annexation of Oregon, “54 40 or Fight”, leading to signing of the Oregon Treaty with British Canada in 1846 that settled the border conflict.

Causes of the Mexican American War

Land dispute over Texas, Polk tried to buy but was declined, Polk declared war which the Whigs (Lincoln) doubted and questioned

Mexican American War and Public Opinion

Northeners doubted legitimacy of the intentions of the war, claiming it as “Slave Power”, gag rule, but ended in success and gained Mexican Cession and the Gadsden Purchase

Gag Rule

A regulation that prohibited discussion or debate on a particular issue, specifically to silence anti-slavery petitions in Congress.

Defeat of Wilmot Provisio

Congressional Bill to prohibit extension of slavery of territories gained from Mexico, resulted in Free-Soil Party

Free-Soil Party

regional, single issue party opposed to slavery expansion

Spot Resolutions

Demand by Lincoln (Whig) to see where exactly the American blood had been spilled to see the justification of the Mexican-American War

Background on the Compromise of 1850

Gold Rush in California caused many to settle in California and wanted no slavery in their constitution, and southerners began to openly discuss secession

Henry Clay and Compromise of 1850 (Whig)

Whig senator from Kentucky, Drafted and proposed, helped to clarify the boundaries of Texas, originally proposed banning slavery in the entire Mexican Cession, wanted an stringent Fugitive Slave Act

John Calhoun and Compromise of 1850 (Democrat)

Democrat senator of South Carolina, defender of slavery, opposed Compromise of 1850, advocated for state's’ rights and secession, spurred notion of popular sovereignty for Mexican Cession Territories

Daniel Webster and Compromise of 1850 (Whig)

Whig senator from Massachusetts, supported compromise in order to preserve the Union and avert Civil War, risked offending his abolitionist voter base by accepting the compromise

Compromise of 1850

Made by Stephan Douglas and Clay, admitted California as a free state but made the Fugitive Slave law stricter, allowed Utah and New Mexico to decide slavery via popular sovereignty, abolished slave trade in DC, was released in different bills in order to be accepted by Congress

Issues with the Compromise of 1850

Definition of popular sovereignty was vague and North and South interpreted it differently, fugitive slave law made it easier to retrieve escaped slaves but required cooperation from citizens of free states

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, damned plantation and slave life, awakened anti-slavery in millions

Kansas Nebraska Act

established civil authority and secure land, allowed residents to decide via popular sovereignty, repealed Missouri Compromise

Effects of Kansas Nebraska Act

Angered anti-slavery activists, split the Whig party and those who advocated for anti-slavery formed the Republican Party, they wanted to keep slavery out of new territories

Republican Party

formed after the Whig split, did not want expansion of slavery into the new territories, merchants, farmers, settlers, and importers, won majority of Congressional seats in 1854

American Party/Know Nothing Party

hated foreigners, nativism, anti Irish, German, and Catholic, dissolved quickly due to more popular debate over slavery

Bloody Kansas

Violence and raids across Kansas at the debate of slavery and territory voting, John Brown murdered 5 pro-slavery, more than 200 died

Election of 1856

James Buchanan Democrat won election, did his best to oppose anti-slavery activists

1858 Illinois Senate Race

Race between Lincoln and Douglas, Lincoln gave his “House Divided” Speech and Douglas damaged his political career with ambiguous stance on popular sovereignty

John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry and execution

sparked northern abolitionist support

1860 Democratic convention

split between Northern Democrats supporting Douglas and Southerners supporting Breckenridge

Freeport Doctrine

Douglas’ attempt to defend popular sovereignty

Election of 1860

Lincoln won presidency, and the southern legislatures began to propose bills of secession

Crittenden Compromise

an unsuccessful proposal to permanently enshrine slavery in the United States Constitution, and thereby make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery, were shut down when Lincoln refused to soften the Republican demand that slavery not be extended to the territories

Fire-Eaters

group of radical pro-slavery southerners who warned secession and the creation of the Confederacy, Robert Barnwell Rhett was most prominent but Calhoun was most famous member, sought to reinstate the international slave trade

Confederate States of America

South Carolina seceded first and when 6 other states followed, formed the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis as president

Civil War Background

Slavery was not the only reason as to why the Civil War started (states rights and preservation of the Union), 4 border states fought, as of 1862, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union, not abolish slavery

Battle of Antietam

First battle fought in the East where Union wasn’t completely defeated, gave Lincoln platform to announce Emancipation Proclamation

Battle of Gettysburg

most northern point the Confederacy had reached at the time, boosted confidence for the Union as Lee’s troops suffered massive casualties

Gettysburg Address

Delivered four months after the Battle, redefined War as a struggle for human equality, not just preservation of the Union

Control under the Confederacy

Confederate government brought states under greater central control, Davis imposed taxes and controlled economy, transportation, and bureaucracy, martial law, suspended habeas corpus,

Habeas corpus

traditional protection against improper imprisonment

Economic Modernization and Challenges in the Confederacy

Davis tried to modernize, inflation and poverty due to rapid economic growth, imposed conscription, and tensions with the wealthy and poor

Northern economy during Civil War

boosted due to war economy, loss of southern markets initially harmed, corruption widespread and prompted congressional investigation, war profiteering, inflation

Workers and unions

workers concerned about job security, formed unions, businesses opposed unions, blacklisted members, broke strikes, Republican part supported businesses, opposed to regulation

Government Powers in the Union

Increase in central government power, Lincoln’s actions for economic development programs, championed government loans and grants, raised tariffs, suspended habeas corpus, national currency, greenbacks, went without congressional approval

Salmon P. Chase

issued green-backs which were a precursor to modern currency

Lincoln argued for

gradual emancipation, compensation to slaveholders, and colonization of freed enslaved people

Radical Republicans wanted

immediate emancipation and introduced confiscation acts

Confiscation Acts

first gave the government the right to seize any enslaved people used for insurrectionary purposes, the second allowed the government to liberate any enslaved person owned by someone who supported the rebellion in any way, had little effect as Lincoln never enforced it

Emancipation Proclamation

liberated all slaves in states of rebellion, allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union without giving up slavery, declared the war as a war against slavery and changed its purpose

Thirteenth Amendment

amendment that prohibited slavery

Lincoln Reelection

Lincoln tried to negotiate a sentiment with the Southern leaders for reentry into the Union and voting on the 13th amendment

Election of 1864

Both North and South wanted the war to end already and McClellan lost due to opposing majority of Democrats, Lincoln was reelected

Southern Population and slave ownership

Less than 1% owned over 100 enslaved people, non-slaveholding farmers resented Confederacy and war

War Democrats believed that

war was necessary to preserve Union

Copperheads

accused Lincoln of national social revolution

Draft Riots

riots against military draft, particularly violent in New York, racial/ethnic/class antagonisms were the most opposing of the draft, fearing that their jobs would be taken over by freed people

Freedman’s Bureau

Established by the Union to help newly liberated Black people, known as the first federal, social welfare program in U.S history

End of Civil War

Confederate leaders surrender in April 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln, devastating consequences for reunited nation

War Cost

Over 3 million fought and 500 thousand died or wounded, ran up huge debts, South ravaged by Union soldiers, Sherman’s March, foreshadowed wide-scale warfare of 20th century

Sherman’s March

From Atlanta to the sea, Union Army burned everything in its wake to destroy Confederate morale and deplete the South’s material resources, foreshadows the wide-scare warfare of the 20th century

Political Impact of the Civil War

War permanently expanded the role of the government and the government grew rapidly to manage economy and war

Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan

plan to allow southern states back into the Union after 10% of voters took an oath of allegiance and accepted the 13th amendment, but it was seen as too lenient by Republicans

Reconstruction

from 1865-1877, process of readmitting southern states, rebuilding physical damage, and integrating newly freed Blacks into society

Congress’ vision for reconstruction

Radical Republicans argued that newly acquired territory (South) was under Congress discretion, not President and enacted the Wade-Davis bill

Wade-Davis Bill

provided for military rule in former Confederate states and required 50% of the electorate to swear an oath of allegiance but was pocket vetoed by Lincoln

Andrew Johnson and Plan

called for the creation of provisional military governments to run the stars until the were readmitted into the Union, required all southern citizens to swear a loyalty oath but barred many former southern elites and prohibited participation in the new governments, was met with resistance from Congress and led to impeachment trial

Johnson’s Impeachment

first of a US president, was a result of political conflicts between Johnson and the Radical Republicans over Reconstruction policies

Failure of Johnson Plan

Johnson had pardoned many of the southern elite who were supposed to have been excluded from the reunification process and were able to be in positions of great power, including senators

Black Codes

Passed by southern legislatures, limited freedman’s rights to assemble and travel, instituting curfews, and requiring Black people to carry special passes and sign lengthy labor contracts

Special Field Order No.15

land sized from the Confederates was to be redistributed among new freedmen, but President Andrew Johnson rescinded order, and the idea of 40 acres and a mule never regained much ground

Congressional Reconstruction

drafted by Radical Republican, Fourteenth amendment

Fourteenth Amendment

Established born-right citizenship and prevented governments from denying ‘‘life, liberty, or property without due process of law’’ and ‘‘equal protection of law’’, gave states the right to vote or stop counting them among their voting population, barred Confederate from holding political office, and excused Confederacy’s war debt

Swing Around the Circle public speech

Johnson campaigned against the 14th amendment and lost

Military Reconstruction Act

imposed martial law on the south, called for new constitution conventions and forced the states to allow Black people to vote for convention delegates

Fifteenth Amendent

required states to enfranchise Black men

Failure of Reconstruction

High tax rates, propaganda war, corruption, and political scandals

Successes of Reconstruction

All southern men could vote, elected government positions replaced appointed positions, public schools and social institutions created, industrial and rail development stimulated, Black people serving in southern governments

Opponents of Reconstruction called the Southerners who cooperated

scalawags

Opponents of Reconstruction who called the Northerners who cooperated

carpetbaggers

Gilded Age

Period following the Civil War, known for political machines and ‘bosses’

Ku Klux Klan

focused on murdering freedmen

White League

focused on murdering Repiblicans

Reconstruction did little to

alter the South’s power structure or redistribute wealth to freedmen

Election of 1872

liberal republicans abandoned coalition supporting Reconstruction due to corruption, Hayes won after Tilden needed electoral vote and Compromise of 1877

Compromise of 1877

resolved election of 1876, established that if Hayes won election, he would end military Reconstruction and full federal troops out of South Carolina and Louisiana and allowed Democrats to regain control of those states

Redeemers

Southern Democrats who had regained control of most of the region’s state legislatures and intended to reverse Republican Reconstruction policies as they returned to power

Southern Blacks during and after Reconstruction

Ambiguous state of freedom, most stayed on plantations as sharecroppers and some searched for separated family members, assisted by Freedman’s Bureau, established schools, terribly underfunded and with little impact once military Reconstruction ended

Lack of Redistributed land

Freedman’s Bureau attempted to establish labor contracting system but failed and went to sharecropping, widespread at the end of Reconstruction, were not taken seriously in court

Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce

became first black senators in 1870 and 1875

Robert Smalls

Founded Republican Party of South Carolina and served in the US HOR in 1880s