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Compromise of 1850
Permitted California to join the Union as a free state
Introduced the Fugitive Slave Act - runaway slaves would be captured in the North and returned back into slavery
Popular sovereignty
the people vote to decide whether to allow or prohibit slavery in their state
Henry Clay
Was the leader of the Compromise of 1850
Stephen A. Douglas
Lead the Compromise of 1850 because Clay was too weak
John C. Calhoun
Also helped with the Compromise of 1850
Was against allowing California to enter as a free state
Daniel Webster
Henry Clay’s old rival
Supported the Compromise of 1850
Urged northerners to try to compromise with the South by passing a stricter fugitive slave law
William Seward
Was opposed to any compromise on slavery
Believed that slavery was immoral and unjust
Was established as a radical on the issue of slavery
Frederick Douglass
Taught to read and write by the wife of one of his owners
Escaped after a disagreement with his owner and took the identity of a free black sailor
Was an excellent speaker
Started his own anti-slavery newspaper, The North Star
Thought abolition could be achieved through peaceful political actions
Harriet Tubman
A conductor of the Underground Railroad
Made 19 trips back to the South and is said to have helped 300 slaves
Was never captured
Became an ardent speaker for abolition
Fugitive Slave Act
Runaway slaves who escaped to the North would be arrested, sent back to the South, and forced back into slavery
End of the Whig Party
Whigs were divided over slavery
Northern and Southern Whigs took opposing positions on slavery legislation
Northern Whigs, anti-slavery Democrats, and Free-Soilers met to form a new political party: Republican Party
Primary goal of Liberty Party
Pursue the cause of abolition by passing new laws
James Buchanan
Won presidency via southern support
Endorsed the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution
Kansas and Nebraska: “Bleeding Kansas”
Anti-slavery settlers founded a town called Lawrence, and a fight between pro-slavery and anti-slavery activists caused the death of an anti-slavery activist
A pro-slavery grand jury condemned Lawrence’s inhabitants as traitors and called on the local sheriff to arrest them
The 800 pro-slavery men burned down the anti-slavery headquarters, destroyed two newspapers’ printing presses, and looted many houses and stores: Sack of Lawrence
In revenge, John Brown and his followers killed five men in the pro-slavery settlement of Pottawatomie Creek
Became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre
Harpers Ferry
John Brown led 21 men into Harpers Ferry
Their goal was to seize federal arsenal, give the captured arms to slaves, and start a general slave uprising
No slaves joined
Local troops killed 8 of Brown’s men
Robert E. Lee led marines to Harpers Ferry and quickly captured Brown and his men
Brown was hanged for treason
Dred Scott Decision (short answer)
Roger B. Taney ruled that slaves were property, not people. As a result, they did not have the rights of citizens and could not sue in court.
Lecompton Constitution
The constitution of the pro-slavery government in Lecompton, Kansas
Was rejected by Free-Soilers who outnumbered pro-slavery settlers
The legislature called for a referendum
President Buchanan endorsed the constitution, and requested Congress to pass it and allow Kansas to be admitted as a slave state
Angered Stephen Douglas because it did not respect the idea of popular sovereignty
Abraham Lincoln
The 16th president of the United States
Was not an abolitionist but believed that slavery was wrong and should not be allowed to spread
Rose to popularity through his debates with Douglas
Issued the Emancipation Proclamation which declared that all slaves living in areas currently under Confederate control were now free
Lincoln/Douglas debates
Douglas believed in popular sovereignty
Lincoln believed that slavery was based on greed and was immoral
Douglas believed that popular sovereignty would allow slavery to pass away on its own
Lincoln doubted that slavery would stop spreading without legislation outlawing it in the territories
Election of 1860
Northern Democrats backed Stephen Douglas
Southern Democrats backed John C. Breckinridge
The Constitutional Union Party backed John Bell
Abraham Lincoln was the winner but received less than half of the popular vote
He received no electoral votes from the South
He had sectional support, not national support
In most slave states, his name didn’t even appear on the ballot
Dilemma for Lincoln and Jefferson Davis at Fort Sumter (short answer)
If he ordered the navy to shoot its way into Charleston harbor and reinforce Fort Sumter, he would be responsible for starting a war and the slave states still in the Union might secede.
If he ordered the fort evacuated, he would be treating the Confederacy as a legitimate nation. This would anger the Republican Party, weaken his administration, and endanger the Union.
Importance of border states to Union
Lincoln believed that these states would be essential to the success of the Union if war broke out
They had thriving industries and good access to important rail and water routes
Their location bordering both North and South made the four states crucial to the movement of troops and supplies
Maryland almost surrounded Washington DC, the seat of government
Advantages and disadvantages of Union/Confederacy
The Union had a much larger population than the Confederacy
The North had more factories, greater food production, and a more extensive railroad system which meant that Northern armies would have easier access to weapons and transportation than their opponents
The North had a better wartime president, Lincoln was patient, skillful at balancing factions, and trustworthy
The South earned profits through cotton
The South had first-rate generals, a strong military tradition, and soldiers with high morale because they were defending their homeland
Ulysses S. Grant
Was a tough Union military commander
Was nicknamed “Unconditional Surrender” Grant because he demanded unconditional and immediate surrender
Was promoted to commander of all Union armies by Lincoln
Monitor and Merrimack
Monitor was the North’s ironclad ship and Merrimack was the South’s ironclad ship
The battle was a draw
Robert E. Lee
The Confederate military commander
Opposed secession
George McClellan
Cautious Union military commander
Did not go after the battered Confederate army in the Battle of Antietam
Was fired by Lincoln
Emancipation Proclamation: Why does it have little practical application? (short answer)
The proclamation did not free any slaves immediately
Its terms applied only to areas behind Confederate lines, outside Union control
It did not apply to southern territory already occupied by Union troops or to the slave states that had not seceded
Union and Confederate armies (draft)
Heavy casualties and widespread desertion led to conscription
The Confederate law drafted all able-bodied white men between the ages of 18 and 35
This was eventually changed to 17 and 50 due to the Confederacy suffering more losses
The law exempted planters who owned 20 or more slaves
The Union law drafted white men between 20 and 45 for three years
NYC Draft Riots
Caused by resentment over the drafts
Angry men thought it was unfair that poor whites would have to fight a war to free slaves who they believed would take their jobs
The rioters wrecked draft offices, Republican newspaper offices, and the homes of anti-slavery leaders
They attacked well-dressed men on the street and African-Americans
Battle of Gettysburg
Lasted for three days
Union held the high ground and won
Crippled the South so badly that General Lee would never again possess sufficient forces to invade a northern state
Battle of Vickburg
Vicksburg was one of only two Confederate holdouts preventing the Union from taking complete control of the Mississippi River
Two Union attacks on the city failed
Grant settled for a siege — heavy artillery fire, city was surrounded, food ran low
Confederate commander of Vicksburg asked Grant for terms of surrender and the city fell on July 4
5 days later Port Hudson, Louisiana, the last Confederate holdout on the Mississippi, also fell and the Confederacy was cut in two
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Lee and Grant met to arrange a surrender on April 9, 1865
Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent them home with their personal possessions, their horses, and three days’ rations
Within two months, all remaining Confederate resistance collapsed
Life of Soldiers
Soldiers had poor living conditions, diet, and medical care
Food was not very appealing
Disease was common
Medical care was extremely primitive
Dorothea Dix
Nation’s first superintendent of women nurses
Clara Barton
Union nurse who cared for the sick and wounded at the front lines
Collected and distributed supplies and dug bullets out of soldiers’ bodies
Was good at anticipating troop movements and sometimes arrived at the battlefield before the fighting had even begun
Was described as the “angel of the battlefield”
Effects of the Civil War
After the war, no state had ever seceded again
Greatly increased the federal government’s power
The economies of northern states boomed
Devastated the Southern economy
360,000 Union soldiers and 260,000 Confederates died
275,000 Union soldiers and 225,000 Confederates were wounded
Veterans with missing limbs became a common sight nationwide
Disrupted soldiers’ education, careers, and families
Union and Confederate governments spent a combined total of about $3.3 billion during the war
Union & Confederate war strategies
Mostly defensive for the Confederates
Goal was to survive as a nation
Encouraged their generals to attack & even invade the North if the opportunity arose
Total war
It was essential to fight the Confederate government & the civilian population as well
Civilians produce the food, weapons, and transported the goods to the soldiers
Strength of the people’s will kept the war going
Destroy that will and they believed the Confederacy would surrender
Anaconda Plan (short answer)
Blockade southern ports: Prevents the South from exporting cotton and importing manufactured goods
Seize the Mississippi River: Split the Confederacy in two
Seize Richmond: Capture the Confederate capital
Cotton diplomacy
Confederate diplomats asked Britain (a major importer of Southern cotton) to formally recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation but Britain remained neutral
Confederacy initiated an embargo on selling cotton to Britain, but it failed
Britain was no longer dependent on the South for cotton, already had a large inventory, and found other sources such as India and Egypt
Northern blockade prevented the South from selling their surplus cotton on the world market
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