Unit 3=1861-77:The civil war and reconstruction

Divisions over slavery and the causes of the civil war

North South Divide – North was economically jealous of the south as the south did not pay their enslaved workers and so benefitted financially from slavery. North had a growing abolitionist movement and more Christians

(Quakers/Methodists) who opposed slavery. Fugitive Slave Act – meant the north had to capture escaped slaves and send them back. This led to long-term tension between the North and South

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 – These states were given a vote to decide whether they would have slaves. Destroyed the

Missouri Compromise. This led to increased migration to the areas because people wanted to influence the vote and led to violence in Kansas (Bleeding Kansas). Led to more tension as the abolitionists won the states.

Election of Republican President Lincoln 1860 – Republican Party formed after K-N Act. Lincoln was elected and he promised to prevent the expansion of slavery. South were worried that he may end slavery. The states did not want to lose their state(local) rights over federal (government) rights. This led to the formation of the Confederacy in Feb 1861 when South Carolina seceded (left) and war broke out at Fort Sumter in April 1861 as Lincoln ordered the Union army to bring Confederacy back to the Union with force.

African Americans in the civil war:Limited involvement 1861-62

• Black soldiers could not work as soldiers (Federal Militia Act) , the worked as labourers moving supplies

• Mitchelville 1862: Union troops granted the slaves their freedom and they were allowed to keep the land to farm it for themselves. Northern volunteers moved to the area to provide education and healthcare including Harriet Tubman.Some tried to escape the south to help the north

African Americans in the civil war:Total war

• Emancipation Proclamation 1863: President Lincoln said that

a Union victory would bring the emancipation (freedom) for

enslaved people.

• 33,000 northern black men join the Union Army (although

they could not be officers and did not get equal pay)

1864 protests led to equal pay for black and white soldiers

As Union took land from the Confederacy, slaves were freed

and were taught to read and write by Christian missionaries

– 200,000 black Americans by 1865.

Reconstruction:

Goal of reconstruction was to rebuild USA back together and help freed Black Americans

Presidential Reconstruction 1865-66 Lincoln and Jackson

Did not improve lives or bring equality for black people – Mitchelville was returned to the original white owners, Black

Codes were passed in states in 1865. Black people by law could not marry whites / carry guns, own land.

Radical Reconstruction 1866-77

Did bring some changes for African Americans as Congress began to undo Johnson's

changes

Freedman's Bureau 1866 – organisation that supported freed black Americans by giving them land and acted as a

bank

14th Amendment 1866: All people born in the USA are automatically citizens

Reconstruction Acts 1867 in the south: forced southern states to allow black men to vote and ordered the US army to

stay in the south and protect black people.

15th Amendment 1870: You cannot stop someone from voting based on race.

Why did the radical reconstruction fail?

1873 Supreme Court ruled that black and white people can be treated differently under the constitution.

1875 Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can't stop states from black Americans from voting.

Southern resistance – KKK and White league violence, Landowners remained in control over black farmers

Segregation and Black Codes

Lack of support from north – removed army in 1877 , Freedman bureau shut in 1872