US History Unit 6

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Election of 1848 candidates and respective parties

- Lewis Cass, Democrat
- Zachary Taylor, Whig
- Martin Van Buren, Free-Soil

Who was Lewis Cass and what was his position on slavery in his campaign?

- War of 1812 veteran
- Secretary of War under Jackson administration
- Michigan senator
- popular sovereignty position

Zachary Taylor and position on slavery

- chosen by Polk to occupy land between Nueces and Del Norte
- Mexican-American War hero
- he was a slaveholder himself so he tried to avoid the issue of slavery so he wouldn't alienate those opposed to it

Martin Van Buren and position on slavery

- former president, didn't have a particularly good time in office
- made a difference in election outcome
- didn't want expansion of slavery into Western territory under any circumstances
- Southerners are expanding slavery at the expense of White laborers trying to work in the West (free labor)

Election of 1848 results

- Taylor wins by a slim margin
- Buren got some NE and Atlantic states that Cass could have gotten
- the outcome could have been switched
- emergence of more 3rd parties after this election-\> more differing opinions on slavery

Why could Cass have won the states of New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont over Taylor?

Taylor was a slaveholder and Cass wasn't

Popular Sovereignty (Lewis Cass' position)

Let the people decide whether a state is a slave state or free state

Free-Soil Party

- anti slavery
- didn't want slavery to expand West
- argued for free labor society in West so no competition with slavery
- precursor to Republican parties

The concept of free labor

- NOT slavery
- the freedom to labor; you can chose whether or not to work for someone
- Free Soil wanted White laborers to move West without being in competition with enslaved workers

Know-Nothing Party

- didn't run a candidate in 1848
- won congressional seats and gained traction in 1850s
- similar to Free Soil but anti-immigrant
- only wanted "Native Americans" (White people born in America) to work in West
- anti German, Irish, Catholic

Nativists

Americans who feared that immigrants would take jobs and impose their Roman Catholic beliefs on society; White people whose families have lived in America for a long time

What's the issue when California applies for statehood in 1850?

- question of whether it's slave or free state
- parts of California are above and below the 36'30' line
- if free, their representation in congress could boost the anti slavery faction

Why did California want to be a free state?

People came in 1848 for the gold rush, not plantations

John C. Calhoun extreme Southern position on California

California can be free IF...
1) slavery won't be disturbed where it already exists
2) recognize slaves as property of state and adopt new fugitive slave law
3) constitutional amendment that allows 2 presidents, Southern and Northern that have veto power over each other (Crazy- nothing would ever get done)

New fugitive slave law (Bloodhound Bill)

- gives federal credentials to slave catchers to go into north and get escaped slaves
- makes it a federal offense to hide slaves (puts pressure on White sympathizers)
- free Black people were also hunted down

William Seward extreme northern position on California

- California should be free no questions asked
- slavery should already be abolished
- it's inconsistent with GOD and the constitution
"Constitution of slavery"

Negotiators during compromise of 1850

Henry Clay and Daniel Webster

Henry Clay during compromise of 1850

- softens Calhoun's argument
- agrees that slavery should be left untouched in other states + fugitive slave law

Daniel Webster during compromise of 1850

- softens Seward's stance
- plays of off Seward's references to God and appeases him that God has already ordained California to be free

Terms of the Compromise of 1850

1) California IS a free state
2) Western territory south of 36' 30' is open to popular sovereignty
3) slave trade is outlawed in DC
4) Bloodhound Bill (fugitive slave law)
5) federal gov buys portion of Texas above the 36'30' line to make it a complete slave state (Texas uses the money to pay its national debt)

Aftermath of 1850 compromise

the problem isn't really solved; people continue to challenge the inhumanity of slavery

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

- historical fiction novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a northern abolitionist
- commented on slave life in the Deep South based on testimonies of escaped slaves
- damning for Southerners
- Southerners respond that the book is a lie-\> banned
- South felt attacked, saw the book as a spread of abolitionist radicalism in the North

according to Lincoln, she's the "little lady that caused the war"

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Stephen A. Douglas

- sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Illinois senator, wanted Chicago (north) to be the midpoint between East and West
- South wanted it to be from Memphis
- Douglas tells South that if the line is in Chicago, they'll get rid of the 36' 30' line and open the K-N territory to popular sovereignty

Tanscontinental Railroad

- pre Kansas-Nebraska Act there were already railroads from the Atlantic to the midwest
- trying to decide whether the new railroad from midwest to pacific will connect in the North or the South

Where did the North and the South (respectively) want the railroad to be connected?

Chicago IL, Memphis Tenn

What territory would the railroad cut through if it connected in Chicago?

the Kansas - Nebraska territory

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

- eliminate 36' 30' line and K-N territory is open to popular sovereignty
- pro and anti slavery people star coming into the territory for pop sovereignty-\> violence

"Bleeding Kansas"

- faction in K-N territory start fighting
- horrible violence that makes national news
- fights in congress too

Brooks-Sumner Dispute (1856)

- Charles Sumner was a Mass. Senator + abolitionist
- Sumner spoke in Senate about K-N Act and criticized Southerners for supporting the K-N Act; accused them of wanting to expand slavery
- insulted Andrew Butler (SC senator)
- Butler's cousin, Preston Brooks from House of Rep. went to Sumner's office and almost beat him to death
- People are shocked but Southerners applauded Brooks
- things are deteriorating

Dred Scott v Sanford (1857)

- Dred Scott born into slavery in VA; owned by a man in military and moved around a lot in free territory
- Scott felt like he should be free after his master dies
- ended up be inherited by master's relative in Missouri
- Scott disputes this and gets abolitionists to finance his case up to Supreme Court
- court ruling rejects humanity of Black people
- ignited more controvery

Justice Roger B. Taney ruling

- ruling based on dual federalism (shared power between federal and states)
- goes with state of Missouri and denies Scott's freedom
- AND declares there's nothing constitution about Black rights so he won't address these cases anymore

John Brown

- known for massacre at Pottawatomie Creek, killed pro-slavery settlers
- failed businessman who got into abolitionism, religious
- wanted to get slaves to support him in mass insurrection

Harper's Ferry Raid (1859)

- led by John Brown
- he and some men seized federal arsenal in West VA to bring weapons to slaves to start insurrection
- problem was that there aren't many slaves in West VA
- federal forces under Robert E Lee captured Brown and executed him and his men
- John Brown was a "martyr" for the abolitionist movement
- Southerner grew angry, wouldn't tolerate Northerners coming into the South
- presidents in 1850s didn't do anything to cool tensions

"The Doughface Effect" and Doughface presidents in 1850s

- Northern politicians who failed to stand up to Southerners
- Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore (NY), Franklin Pierce (NH), James Buchanan (PA)
- their inaction angered people; put more pressure on 1860 election to see whether secession would happen
- South planned to secede if Lincoln won the election

Republican Party

- "free soil, free labor, free men"
- free soil \= slavery shouldn't expand Westward
- free labor \= freedom for Whites to work in the West
- free men \= hints that they are fundamentally opposed to slavery

Abraham Lincoln's views on slavery

- NO intention to mess with slavery where it already existed
- but said a house divided cannot stand (the US can't be half slave, half free)
- Southerners see Lincoln as a veiled abolitionist and planned to secede if he won presidency

1860 election candidates and parties

Lincoln - Republican
Steven A. Douglas - Northern Democrat
John C. Breckenridge - Southern Democrat
John Bell - Constitutional Union Party

Difference between Northern and Southern Democrats

N. Democrats agree with popular sovereignty
S. Democrats plan to secede in order to maintain slavery

1860 election results (popular votes)

Lincoln: 39.7%
Douglas: 29.5%
Breckenridge: 18.1%
Bell: 12.8%
-Lincoln wins with

Secession

Formal withdrawal of states or regions from a nation; to break away

First States to secede

1. South Carolina
then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas
- created their own government

Confederate States of America

- newly seceded states write new constitutions, elect a president (Jefferson Davis)
- original capital is Montgomery Alabama; eventually moved to Richmond after VA secedes
- new constitution is similar to US constitution except more state sovereignty

Jefferson Davis

- former Mississippi US Senator, educated at West Point, military background w/ Mexican-American war
- president of confederacy
- huge plantation owner
- wants Lincoln to leave Confederacy alone, doesn't want a fight

Fort Sumter (1861)

- Confederacy started taking control of US military bases in the South
- Fort Sumter is a military base where the US forces refused to yield; confederacy delivers an ultimatum: give up the fort or take it by force
- Lincoln wants US to hold their ground at the fort b/c he wants the South to fire the 1st shots, doesn't want to be seen as the aggressor
- April 12th 1861: Southern forces under PT Beauregard fire artiller on Sumter
- Union troops are under Anderson (Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point)
- Edmund Ruffin traveled to Charleston to be the fire the first shot
- Confederates won Sumter, not many casualties
- Lincoln declares war

Effects of Sumter

- Civil War begins
- Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers for Union army
- VA, NC, Arkansas, TN join confederacy
- Confed capital moved to Richmond (better infrastructure/population)

Constitutional Union Party

- upper South, wanted to protect slavery but not at the expense of the Union
- viewed secession as unconstitutional
- wanted to compromise to keep the country together

Robert E Lee

- Virginian
- Lincoln recruited him for Union army but Lee didn't want to turn his back on his family and state
- 1862, led Northern VA army

Confederate advantages and disadvantages

advantages:
- better military leadership, former Mexican-American War officers
- home-field advantage (most battles were fought in south0
- believed they were "bred to fight" - worked with their hands, could easily take out the delicate city northerners
disadvantages:
- no manufacturing base for weapons/materials
- not many railroads
- hyper inflation 9000% + bad currency

Union advantages and disadvantages

advantages:
- better wartime production manufacturing
- transportation
- well-established army
- established economy and currency
- control with border states
disadvantages:
- not great officers

Lincoln and the border states

- people in border states (MD, KY, DE, MO) were kind of neutral, could tip North or South
- Lincoln carved advantage by suspending writ of Habeas Corpus in border states to arrest Southern sympathizers and control border states
- slavery is protected in border states
- Union gets access to waterways

First Battle of Bull Run (summer 1861)

- Union thinks it'll be an easy win
- lots of Congress members and their families come to watch the battle for fun
- the battle started off okay but the South got reinforcements for the 2nd half
- Union retreated back to DC and spectators ran for their lives-\> chaotic bloodbath
- both sides were shocked
- North felt defeated

Rifled Muskets

- smoothboard muskets were standard in the past, less accurate
- now rifled muskets were standard
- spiraled grooves in the gun barrel spin the minie ball really fast
- more accurate shot
- does a lot more damage when it hits
- battles start having 50-60% casualties

Winefield Scott

Lincoln consulted with him on Civil War strategy

Anaconda Plan

- planned by Winefield Scott
- surround the entire South with a giant water snake to choke porches resources
- needed to strike first and then strangle

George McClellan

- led the army of the Patomac (Eastern Union army; most active part of conflict)

Peninsular Campaign of 1862 (McClellan)

- idea to trick South into thinking the Union will attack NOVA from the North but instead moves large Union force down peninsula and attack from the SE (back door)
- seemed like it was a solid plan; McClellan was a good trainer but got nervous in battle
- Union force landed in a swamp near Yorktown but didn't know where they were b/c their maps weren't very accurate
- Southern army under Magruder tricked McClellan into thinking they had bigger numbers (skeleton army)
- McClellan wanted reinforcements but Lincoln wanted him to attack
- by the time McClellan moved, Magruder had gone to protect Richmond
- Robert E Lee had Richmond stand their ground; held off Union forces

What direction is the war going by late 1862 and what does Lincoln do?

- Southerners look the could have a shot at winning
- Frederick Douglas told Lincoln he should make the war about slavery and recruit former slaves to fight for Union
- Lincoln doesn't want to free the slaves yet because it would seem desperate; needs a union victory first

Battle of Antietam (late summer 1862)

- Lee wanted a victory on US soil in MD
- McClellan had Lee's battle plans but was slow to act
- bloodiest single day of the war 23,000 casualties
- stalemate, Lee retreats into VA
- Lincoln calls it a victory (now he can emancipate)

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

- does NOT free all slaves or end the institution of slavery in US
- said slavery is abolished in secession states
- didn't address border states
- only as good as slaves' belief in it
- major blow to confederacy; many people escaped slavery and joined the union army that had moved into South
- changed what the war was really about
- United States Colored troops
- treated slaves as contraband; freeing the confederate's "property"
- Union war aim is liberation

Bad generals after McClellen

John Pope, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker

Battle of Gettysburg (1863)- huge Union Victory

- George Meade vs Robert E Lee
Day 1: Confederates and Union meet by chance and start fighting, Union has high ground
Day 2: southern advance to take high ground failed
Day 3: Lee commanded Picket's charge over open field, Lee thought the Union had a weak spot in the center from reinforcing the flanks-\> failed artillery barrage on Union
- ridiculous casualties on Confederate side
- Lee retreated and Meade didn't follow (Lincoln was disappointed that Lee wasn't captured)

Ulysses S Grant won a battle in \_______ the day after Gettysburg

Vicksburg Mississippi, Confederate trade center

Gettysburg Address

- military turning point, Lincoln attended a commemorative ceremony at Gettysburg to honor the dead
- delivered a short address
- US was established as a nation and will stay intact, people who died didn't die in vain
- US was created for freedom of men

William T Sherman

Union general in Georgia

After Gettysburg Lincoln puts army of Potomac under \_________

Grant

Grant & Sherman Total War Strategy

- wage war creatively, bring non-combatants into the equation, more ruthless toward Southerners
- Grant starts pushing Lee South and Sherman moves North to sandwich the Southern army
- union armies destroy everything in their path
- Grant refused to retreat despite astronomical casualties, losing battles but winning the war
- trapped Confederates in Petersburg, end 1864-spring 1865
- Petersburg falls, the Union takes Richmond after the Confederates burn it down
- Lee tried to move army to Appomattox
Courthouse
- his army is surrounded and presented with terms of surrender

Appomattox Court House Surrender April 1865

- both sides negotiate at Wilmore McClain's house
- lenient terms toward South, wanted the fighting to stop, the South was about to be part of the country again
- give up arms and ammunition
- keep your horses and go home
- Union gave food rations to confederates
- fighting continued at little after but not major battles

economic aftermath of civil war

North: minimal damage, manufacturing had thrived during war, more jobs, not much inflation, Western prospects

South: confederate war bonds and currency were worthless, hyperinflation, looted and burned farms, not much infrastructure like North, no more slaves- lost about 2 billion from loss of slaves

Physical aftermath of civil war

North: fighting didn't take place on Northern battlefields
South: devastation to landscape/infrastructure b/c most fighting was in South

emotional aftermath of civil war

- soldiers on both sides have PTSD, trauma, effects their families
- people want something to blame for their experiences
- South blames the North and North sees South as traitors
- fundamental disagreements on reconstruction

What did Reconstruction deal with?

newly freed slaves and their state as citizens

Wartime Reconstruction timeframe

during Lincoln's presidency and Civil War (1862-65)

Presidential reconstruction timeframe

Andrew Johnson-special field order 15 (1865-67)

Radical reconstruction timeframe

Reconstruction Act of Congress - military occupation of South (1867-77)

Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address 1864-65 election

- the war was ending
- wanted to unify the nation, no animosity
- reconciliation
- consistent with peace terms after the war

10% Plan

- Lincoln's wartime reconstruction plan
- Union-occupied Southern states can be readmitted into Union if 10% of adult White male population pledges allegiance to US
- they can have their state gov again under federal supervision
- no slavery
- Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana joined during war

John Wilkes Booth

- saw Lincoln as arch-nemesis of the South even though Lincoln was pretty fair
- wartime reconstruction ends after Booth shoots Lincoln
- shot him in Ford's Theatre in DC
- Booth was working with other ppl, also tried to kill Secretary of State Seward, VP Andrew Johnson, Grant
- the entire direction of reconstruction changed after Lincoln was killed

Andrew Johnson background

- grew up poor in NC
- resented rich planter aristocracy in South
- moved to Tennessee and became a good tailor and politician
- "working man"
- people talked about politics in the tailor shop-\>> developed political following
- didn't accept secession; Lincoln made him in charge of Tennessee readmission into Union

Johnson as Vice President

- Lincoln made Johnson VP for 2nd term to have Southern support

Andrew Johnson's presidency

- Johnson disliked Black people
- opposite reconstruction policies from Lincoln
- even though Congress wasn't in session, Johnson didn't convene congress into special session
- made executive orders to address reconstruction (circumvent congress)

Johnson's 3 conditions for the South

1) Southerners in secessionist states must swear allegiance to US to gain citizenship
- only applies to ppl with

13 Amendment

- abolished slavery
- ratified by 3/4 of the states

How did Johnson's conditions/executive orders for the South pan out?

- they backfired; the South yielded too easily, said what he wanted them to say
- Johnson got overwhelmed with written requests for citizenship so he accepted all the rich planters
- poor Whites keep voting for rich planters
- rich planters in gov start working towards restoring 1850s southern society even though no slavery

Herrenvolk Democracy

- Johnson's democracy based on consent of all White men (incl. poor)
- his response to the South's "rich man's war, poor man's fight"
- believed US democracy is corrupt by elite interest
- confederacy was orchestrated by Southern planters but most confederate soldiers didn't own slaves (ppl with 20+ slaves were exempt from war)

Black Codes

- Southern laws during reconstruction era under Johnson administration
- police behavior and movement of newly freed Blacks
- could be jailed for joblessness; had to be extra polite to Whites
- couldn't serve on juries/testify against a White person
- Blacks are technically free but they have legal shackles

Special Field Order 15

- military order from William T. Sherman during march into VA
- so many runaways had attached themselves to the Union army that he had a meeting with slave leaders (ministers) and Secretary of War Stanton
- Sherman asked what the slaves wanted, Black ministers said they wanted freedom + some land to live on their own devices
- Sherman ordered that confiscated land in GA and SC coast + livestock would belong to freed Blacks (40 acres and a mule)

Revocation of Special Field Order 15

- after the Civil War, Southern planters returned to their land and want to take it back from the Black ppl living there
- Johnson give the White planters their land by revoking the military order
- Black ppl are kicked out but planters need laborers so they get Black people to stay on the land as sharecroppers
- congress is angry; Republicans wanted Johnson to be harsher on South

Radical Republicans

- thought Johnson was too soft on South and too hard on Black ppl
- tried to overturn Johnson's action
- 2/3 majority in both houses can override presidential vetos
- congress gets enough votes to override Johnson's veto on the Reconstruction Act of 1867

Leader of Radical Republicans in House

Thaddeus Stevens

Leader of Radical Republicans in Senate

Charles Sumner

Reconstruction Act of 1867

- from Radical Republicans
- organize South in 5 military districts with 20,000 Union soldiers/district
- South must ratify 14th amendment
- Southern states must create new constitutions that are approved by Black citizens
- furthered Freedmen's Bureau
- undo Johnson's reconstruction

14th Amendment (1868)

- full citizenship rights for Blacks + equal protection under law

15th Amendment (1870)

- voting for all men regardless of race

Johnson's impeachment

- 1st president to be impeached
- Johnson tired to sabotage Reconstruction Act by firing Stanton (sec of war) and hiring someone who would pull troops from south
- presidents can't make cabinet appointments alone, has to be approved by senate
- congress brings articles of impeachment against Johnson but senate still has to vote to remove him from office
- not enough votes to be voted out of office but Radical Republicans make sure he doesn't sabotage reconstruction act

Effect of Radical Republicans enforcing Reconstruction Act

- Black voting numbers increase
- military actively advocates for Black rights
- South resents federal gov, carpetbaggers, and scalawags for loss of Black Codes

Carpetbagger

- Northerners who move to South during reconstruction
- South sees them as greedy, opportunistic benefiting off of Southern disadvantage

Scalawags

- Southerners who support Republican Party or engage with carpetbaggers
- like "blood traitors"
- Republicans were in the South to get Black votes

"Negro Rule"

- term thrown around by White Southerners
- Radical Republicans (Charles Sumner) are going hard on the South
- Southerners think the goal of the Republicans is to have Black people ruling over White people (Black president)
- Louisiana and SC had majority Black legislatures
- In reality, Blacks were just using their rights; it wasn't a Republican agenda