U.S. History Final Exam Review

Northern (Industrial)

Factories became very popular

Industrialize and create factories along rivers to create textiles

New England industries

Factories across the states began to grow, specifically the factory in Waltman

The technology began to spread to other New England towns and textile production began to compete with England

In 1822, the town Lowell (named after Francis Lowell Cabot) in Massachusetts was established, became the manufacturing hub of the country - they employed many young women

This meant less farming jobs and more people working in factories

• Southern (King Cotton/ Agricultural Economy)

Slavery was used along with the machines to produce textiles and cotton

Cotton became the most important cash crop in America; it fueled the industries in the North East and became our most important export to England

Francis Cabot Lowell

He was a New England manufacturer

He took a trip to the UK from 1810-1812 to tour manufacturing sites

During this time, he memorized the design of the British power looms and how they connected to the water wheels - he brought this technology back to New England and built a textile factory in Waltman, Massachusetts

Considered stealing because he took their ideas without permission

The Power Loom

One of the most important inventions in this time

It was invented during the British industrial revolution

The power loom used the power of a river to power a loom to create textiles

This allowed workers to create 8x the amount of textiles than a traditional hand-held loom

The Cotton Gin (cotton engine)

This was a device invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 which helped make it easier to remove seeds from cotton

Cleaned the cotton

This was done so the cotton could be made into textiles and fabric

The cotton gin made cotton significantly more efficient:

One worker could clean fifty pounds of cotton per day instead of one pound per hand

It also made cotton more profitable

Each slave you own, you produce 50x more cotton

Slavery became essential to the economy

• Cotton's effect on slavery

Due to the advancements of cotton, slavery became more popular. Because cotton was so labor intensive, they needed more people to clean and pick out the seeds

From 1790 - 1810, cotton production went from 3,000 bales a year to 178,000 bales a year

The slave population grew from 700,000 to 1.2 million during the same period of time

Many slaves were now living on cotton plantations in the deep south

“Sold Down the River” - Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Slaves from the upper south (Virginia, Maryland) started to sell their slaves to the deep south (Louisiana, Mississippi, etc.) in order for those states to have enough slaves to continue growing cotton

Although international slave trade was illegal at this point, domestic slave trade was allowed, which is why the slave auctions were held

As a slave, it was much worse to be in the deep south rather than Virginia and Maryland

Virginia and Maryland did not have the correct climate to grow cotton, hence why they started to trade their slaves to the deep, southern states

The American System (Internal Improvements, Tariffs, National Bank)

The US began to expand, and many leaders began to plan for a unified national economy connecting the different parts of the country

President Madison presented a plan to unify the country - Senator Henry Clay will call this the American system

The federal government develops internal improvements, establish a protective tariff

Internal improvements:

The erie canal - an NY state government project that connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie - connected the New York region to the Atlantic Ocean

Became a model for future projects, many states began to build canals

The national road - a federally funded road that connected Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois; built between 1811 - 1838

Tariff of 1816 - after the war of 1812, textiles and iron began to be imported into the USA and were sold as a lower price than most American goods; Madison and Clay were able to convince Congress to pass the Tariff of 1816, which placed a tariff on 25% on most imported goods

The money from the tariffs would be used to fund internal improvements, and the south did not support the tariff

The Second National Bank

The first national bank dissolved in 1811 (under the Jefferson administration), and this presented many economic problems:

No national currency - made trading very difficult between states

Smaller bank failures - National bank has been able to lend to commercial banks and stop them from going bankrupt

Not enough lending to support the industrial USA

Led a democratic-republican congress and President Madison to charter the second national bank of the United States in order to solve problems - HAMILTON WON

Gibbons v. Ogden

Robert Fulton has devised a coal powered steamship that helped increase trade by making it possible to travel upstream along rivers such as the Hudson and Mississippi

Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston received a charter from the state of NY that gave them a monopoly (only one person controls the company or materials - think of the board game) on running steamships in the state, meaning they were the only ones who would run the steamships

Aaron Ogden bought a license from NY state to operate a steamship on the Hudson between NJ and NY

Thomas Gibbons began to operate a steamship in the same area as Ogden, but he did not buy a license

Ogden claimed this was illegal because he did not buy a license

Gibbons defense:

Commerce clause of the Constitution

This was illegal because the state of NY could not regulate trade in other states because that is a power for the federal government

Example: New York trade with New Jersey

The decision:

The supreme court overturned the NY law under the commerce clause - the Hudson river connected states, it was Congress who had the authority to regulate trade, now New York state

This decision sets the precedent that Congress has the power to regulate trade between states and will lead to future rulings where similar monopolies are overturned

Strengthened the power of the federal government and encouraged free trade

McCulloch v. Maryland

After Congress charted the second national bank, in 1818, the state of Maryland passed legislation to impose taxes on the bank

James W. McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank, refused to pay the tax

The state appeals court held that the Second bank was unconstitutional because the Constitution did not provide a textual commitment for the federal government to charter a bank

McCulloch believed Maryland’s actions were unconstitutional because he had a loose interpretation of the Constitution, and he believed in the necessary and proper clause

The decision:

Unanimously, the court decided that Congress had the power to incorporate and bank, and that Maryland could not tax instruments of the national government employed in the execution of constitutional powers

Precedent: the national government is supreme, the states cannot decide and control things such as taxes, banks, etc.

Monroe Doctrine

Spain was trying to take back their American territory

Russia claimed control of the entire Pacific ocean, controlling the land of Alaska

They were involved with the western hemisphere, which President Monroe and secretary of state John Quincy Adams did not like

The Monroe Doctrine states that the western hemisphere belonged to the United State’s sphere

Spain should not try and colonize the United States

In return, the United States promised that they would stay out of the eastern hemisphere and not get involved in foreign policy and trade

Because the US could not ratify this doctrine, the Royal Navy passed and enforced the Monroe Doctrine

Missouri Compromise

In the years following the Louisiana purchase, many Americans wanted to move to that territory because of the idea of more opportunities, farming jobs, and land

When the population got to 60,000 people, they could write a state constitution petition for Congress to admission into the Union which would allow them to send representatives to Congress and vote in presidential elections

Slavery was the main issue in admitting new states

Slavery divides the nation:

Up until 1818, the US was split evenly with 10 slave states and 10 free states (this was important to have it equal because of the senators, 2 per state)

In 1818, Illinois entered as a free state, which made the total 11

In 1819, Alabama entered as a slave state, which made the count equal

In 1818, Missouri applied as a slave state

Important for the south to have an extra state because they were afraid if they became outnumbered, slavery would be abolished, and it was important for the north to have the extra state because they wanted to abolish slavery

NY Congress representatives introduced a bill saying that Missouri could be a slave state, but they had to abolish slavery slowly overtime - made the south very angry

Sectionalism intensifies over Missorui debate

The south accused the North of trying to abolish slavery

The north accused the South of trying to spread the institution to the new states - which almost started the civil war

This conflict created serious threats of disunion and civil war which will eventually come 41 years later

Henry Clay and the Missouri Compromise

Henry Clay - speaker of the house created a compromise deal between the North and South which stated:

Missouri would enter as a slave state and Maine would be administered as a free state, maintaining the balance in states

A line would be drawn (called the Missouri Compromise line) where future states south of the line would enter as slave states and future states north of the line would enter as free states (for the exception of Missouri as a slave state)

Henry Clay earned the nickname the Great Compromiser for his leadership in Congress on this issue

• The Age of Jackson:

Election of 1824 and the Corrupt Bargain

Andrew Jackson vs. John Quincy Adams

Andrew Jackson:

Grew up poor in Tennessee without a college education and degree and was an orphan

He was a hero during the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812 - helped conquer Spanish Florida for the USA

Served as a senator for Tennessee

Fought in duels

He became a folk hero for many ordinary white American men

Many elites in Congress saw him as dangerous for a democracy

John Quincy Adams:

Son of John Adams

Graduated from Harvard

Spoke 7-8 languages because he was a diplomat

Secretary of state under Monroe where he formulated the Monroe doctrine

RESULTS:

Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, and he also won the electoral college vote, but not by majority - it went to the House of Reps to decide

Although Jackson won most of the electoral votes, Henry Clay feared a Jackson presidency and forced most people to vote for John Quincy Adams - this was called the corrupt bargain of 1824

John Quincy Adams wins the election of 1824 and Jackson is furious

Jackson’s Campaign

The Campaign of 1828:

A vicious campaign filled with many attacks

Jackson’s campaign portrayed Adams as an elite, out of touch with the common person

Adams’ campaign portrayed Jackson as a reckless person highlighting his military career and history of dueling

To promote his campaign, Jackson hosted many barbeques and social events

Benefited Jackson because the common white male felt connected to him and his background

Indian Removal

The Indian Removal Act:

A law passed by Congress that funded the negotiation of treaties that forced Native Americans to sign treaties that required them to move West and give up their land to White Americans

If the Native Americans refused, Jackson was prepared to use the Military to force them to move West

He pressured the Choctaw tribe to sign a treaty that forced them out of Mississippi

US troops were ordered to remove the Sauk and Fox tribes from their tribal land

The Seminole tribe of Florida fought back against the US military when they were forced to leave but eventually the tribe moved West to the Reservation lands

Worcester V. Georgia

Samuel Austin Worcester was a white missionary, supporter of the Native Americans, and was living on Cherokee land before Georgia has passed their law

The law stated that anyone living on Cherokee land without a permit was considered illegal

Samuel was arrested, and he sued Georgia and said that the state could not control Cherokee land because Native Americans were sovereign over their own land

The supreme court ruled that the Cherokees were a sovereign independent nation and the state of Georgia could not legislate on their land, invade their land, or control their land

The aftermath:

The SCOTUS’ decision was not enforced by Jackson or the state of Georgia

John Ross (the Cherokee leader) tried to use the case to continue the fight against relocation in court, but a small group of Cherokee members signed a treaty forcing the tribe to move out west

Tariff of Abominations

The Tariff of 1828:

Congress passed a new tariff that increased taxes on manufactured goods

The north supported the tariff because it sheltered their factories and protected them from foreign competition. The south did not like it because it was making their goods more expensive and called it “the tariff of abominations” and this tariff strengthened sectionalism

Sectionalism

putting the interest of your region (state) over the interests of the country

The Nullification Crisis

John C. Calhoun and the Nullification Theory:

Calhoun was VP under the Jackson and John Quincy Adams administrations. He supported the American system and the high protective tariff and internal improvement projects

He changed positions and became an advocate of state’s rights and sectionalism

Nullification theory

a legal theory devised by Calhoun and stated that the Constitution was a compact between thirteen sovereign states, and each state had the right to nullify (reject) federal law if it believed it was unconstitutional. He also states that states have the right to leave the Union if their rights are violated

The Supremacy Clause invalidates the Nullification Theory

Connects to slavery because the states could reject the ban of slavery in their state if the federal gov. made it illegal

A constitutional debate broke out in 1830 about the Nullification theory and whether states had the right to reject federal law and leave the union

The Crisis:

In 1832, South Carolina said federal tariffs were unfair and threatened to remove themselves from the Union.

Andrew Jackson called this treason and pushed the Force Bill, allowing him to use the military to enforce federal law.

In 1833, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun created a compromise tariff that gradually lowered tariffs over 10 years.

South Carolina then repealed the Nullification Ordinance, avoiding conflict.

The Bank War

Jackson thought the national bank was used to help the wealthy and elites over the common people

Jackson won the election of 1836 and replaced Calhoun with Martian Van Buren

Jackson destroyed the second bank of the United States

The Second Bank of the United States was set to expire in 1836, but Henry Clay and Daniel Webster tried to renew it early in 1832 to make it an election issue.

Andrew Jackson opposed the bank, calling it a “monster” that helped the rich and powerful instead of ordinary people.

Many voters liked this because more common citizens were voting at the time.

Jackson easily won reelection, showing that the public supported his anti-bank views.

Andrew Jackson ordered the money moved to state banks called “Pet Banks.”

This weakened the national bank because it lost its main source of money.

Bank president Nicholas Biddle tried to fight back by calling in loans early, but it didn’t work.

The bank survived a few more years but was very weak.

This would have represented an existential threat because no one could get loans from the Bank

Could be seen as unconstitutional and that Jackson was overstepping his Presidential authority because he did not get approval from Congress to do this - he did it himself with no help

Long term effects:

The Bank of the United States helped keep the economy stable and provided a common currency.

After it closed, Pet Banks printed too much money and gave risky loans.

This caused the Panic of 1837, where banks failed and people lost savings.

The crisis happened during Martin Van Buren’s presidency, and he was blamed and nicknamed “Martin Van Ruin.”

Later, the government created an Independent Treasury to hold its own money.

The U.S. didn’t get another national bank until 1913 with the Federal Reserve.

The Whig Party

Also known as the “anti-Jackson” party

The US only had the Democratic-Republicans for many years - Jackson’s presidency lead to the creation of the Whigs

Platform of the Whig party:

Supported a national bank and national currency

Supported a high tariff

Supported the federal government spending money on internal improvements to roads, rail roads, canals, and other transportation projects

Supported a strong national government and opposed nullification and state rights

Westward Expansion:

Oregon Trail

Marcus and Narcissa; two methodist missionaries proved that wagons could travel on the oregon trial

Contributed to the expansion because it created wagons, expanded the amount of people moving west and created an accessible route

Santa Fe Trail

one of the most well-known avenues of trading, contributed to the expansion of American settlers bc it facilitated trading

Linked Missouri to New Mexico, which opened the United States to Southwestern cultural influence

• Mormon Migration

After Joseph Smith (founder of the LDS Church: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) was killed, Brigham Young led the Mormons by wagon through Nebraska to Salt Lake (present day Utah)

Helped establish a permanent, thriving agricultural area in a city that was only mountains - more people wanted to move west after this

Manifest Destiny

Means the obvious destiny

Manifest destiny was a popular idea first introduced by the journalist John O’Sullivan in the News paper

The idea inspired many Americans to move west

The expansionist foreign policy of the US government in the 1840s

What drove America West?

Population growth - US population grew, land was needed for people to have economic opportunity in a still primarily agricultural economy

Panic of 1817 - the severe depression caused a loss of wealth and high unemployment causing many people to take risks and move to unsettled territory

Manifest destiny - the idea that it was America’s destiny to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and spread democratic values

Was very popular in the 1840s and inspired many to move West

• Empresario System and White American Migration to Texas 

• The Empresarios were able to convince thousands of Americans to take the risk and move to Texas 

• Stephen Austin (Austin, Texas) established a successful colony bringing in hundreds of Americans 

• The Empresarios distributed propaganda throughout the US, which sold benefits of Texas and the cheap land you would get

• By 1836, there were 45,000 English speaking US settlers in Texas with 3,500 Tejanos and 12,000 Native American settlers - THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT WOULD REGRET THIS 

• Causes of the Texas Revolution

• The Texas Revolution (1835–1836) was caused by a combination of political, cultural, and economic clashes between the Mexican government and Anglo-American settlers

• The primary catalysts were Mexico's shift to a centralized dictatorship, disputes over slavery, and increasing restrictions on immigration

The Alamo

• First battle of the Texas Revolution 

• March 1836 - Santa Anna’s large Mexican army came into conflict with the Texas Army at the Alamo 

  • Santa Anna killed every US settler that was defending the Alamo - this gave the Texas settlers something to fight for because they wanted to bring Justice to those who were killed fighting for the Alamo: WHAT MADE THEM FIGHT BACK? - the alamo.

• Texas annexation to the United States

• Most Texans did not want to remain independent - they wanted to become a state in the US

• The south favored the annexation of Texas because it would be another slave state, and it would strengthen the slave narrative 

• North did not favor the annexation because they did not want slavery to spread further 

• Texas was formally annexed in December 1845 - became the 28th state, eventually pushed for the Mexican American war which would lead to the US gaining most of the western states

• Mexican-American War: 

• Causes of the Mexican American-War

  • Many Americans believed it was their manifest destiny to expand the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans

  • 11th President James Polk served from 1845-1849:

    • Campaigned on a position of territorial expansion

    • He negotiated the Oregon treaty

      • Gave the US Oregon and Washington State

  • He believed that taking the Northern territories from the weak Mexican government was necessary for the prosperity of the United States - which is not a justified reason to take land and go to war

• James Polk

• 11th President James Polk served from 1845-1849:

  • Campaigned on a position of territorial expansion

  • He negotiated the Oregon treaty

    • Gave the US Oregon and Washington State

• He believed that taking the Northern territories from the weak Mexican government was necessary for the prosperity of the United States - which is not a justified reason to take land and go to war

• Why was the cause of this war controversial? 

  • People believed the United States was only in the war for the expansion of the country.

• Treaty of Guadalupe- Hidalgo, New Territory from the Mexican-American War

  • Ended the Mexican American War

  • USA purchased the following states:

    • California

    • Nevada

    • New Mexico

    • Utah

    • Arizona

    • Parts of Colorado and Wyoming 

  • Treaty guaranteed religious freedom and property protection for Mexicans living in those territories

• Transcendentalism

• A 19th century New England intellectual movement emphasizing individual intuition, self-reliance, and a deep, spiritual connection to nature over rationalism and organized religion 

• Ralph Waldo Emerson:

  • Poet, preacher, philosopher, etc., and he is known best for his books, Nature and Self-Reliance; which emphasize the beliefs in Transcendentalism

• Women’s Suffrage (Seneca Falls Convention)

• Seneca Falls Convention:

  • First women’s rights convention in the U.S. in July of 1848

  • Helped to launch the first women’s rights movement 

  • Ensured women the right to vote years later 

  • The women who were involved in the convention also were abolitionists

    • Called for an end to slavery and racial discrimination

  • The Declaration of Sentiments (created at the convention)

    • Declared that women should have equal rights as everyone else

    • This included the right to vote, education, and property rights 

    • Mainly claimed that “all men and women were created equal”

• Temperance

• Second great awakening

• The temperance reform movement was a 19th and early 20th-century social and political campaign in the U.S. that advocated for the moderation or complete elimination of alcohol consumption

• It aimed to reduce social problems like poverty, domestic violence, and public disorder associated with excessive drinking

• Prison Reform (Dorothea Dix)

• Prisoners were kept in dirty cells (they were arrested for having mental disabilities)

• Dorothea Dix:

  • She helped find and expand over 30 hospitals for mental illnesses

  • She advocated for the creation of separate institutions for the mentally ill

  • Researched and created reports on the state of the mentally ill in MA

  • Emphasized reforming criminals instead of locking them away

  • Spoke out against harsh and inhumane ways in which criminals were treated and advocated for “moral treatment”

• Education Reform (Horace Mann)

• Horace Mann:

  • First American educator that believed education should be free for everyone 

  • He grew up in poverty, but he was tutored and self taught until college

    • He went to Brown and accomplished many things, going off to be a lawyer

  • Mann was a part of the House of Reps, but he later became a crucial part of the first ever state board of education in Massachusetts, which changed everything 

• Paternalism

• The idea supported by Calhoun and other white slave owners that slavery was good because the slaves had a “father figure” to care for them 

  • They stated that the Southern lifestyle is superior to the Northern lifestyle 

• How the South defended slavery

  • a benevolent, father-like institution where white masters provided care, protection, and guidance to enslaved people, whom they characterized as perpetual children

• John Calhoun

  • Author of the paternalism text, radical Democrat because he wanted slavery to stay in the south and spread to the new states 

• Abolition: 

• Frederick Douglas

  • He was a slave that escaped to the North and wrote several hit memoirs that exposed the evils of slavery 

  • He became famous as an orator and writer spreading the abolitionist movement 

  • One of the most famous Americans in the second half of the 19th century: Frederick Douglas 

• William Lloyd Garrison

  • Influential Boston abolitionist who started the Liberator, a newspaper dedicated to racial equality and abolition 

  • The most radical of Northern abolitionists and he was seen as too extreme by most Northerners 

• Slave Narratives

  • Ludsford Lane:

    • He explains that as a slave, you were not allowed to read because the masters believed that reading was power, and if they could read, the slaves would realize that slavery is not normal and they could escape, so they could not write to each other and communicate and plan an escape plan

  • Harriet Tubman:

    • Harriet Tubman describes that as an enslaved woman, she was sexually assaulted

    • Her account is very traumatic, filled with fear, anger, and disgust 

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin

  • an influential 1852 abolitionist novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  • It vividly depicted the brutal reality of slavery, galvanizing anti-slavery sentiment in the North and deepening the political and social divisions that ultimately led to the American Civil War

• The Republican Party

  • They formed after the Whig party died 

  • They stood for keeping slavery where it was but preventing the expansion of slavery to new territories (the ones gained after the Mexican American war)

• Radical Republicans

  • They wanted slavery to be abolished completely in the south and wanted to prevent the spread of slaver 

    • Considered radical because not every Republican believed in this during the time (although it was the correct belief)

• The Gag Rule and Rep. John Quincy Adams

  • They would not pass anti-slavery petitions and this was against the first amendment 

  • John Quincy Adams served in Congress and got the gag rule appealed which was an early win for abolitionists 

• Compromise of 1850:

• Mexican Cession

  • The End of the Mexican American War saw The United States conquer a large territory on the West Coast called the Mexican Cession

    • Similar to when the US got the land from the Louisiana purchase - should the states be slave or free? - the missouri compromise as a result 

• California

  • Admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850 which pushed more for the anti-slavery movement for abolitionists in the North 

    • Tipped the balance from 15 free 15 slave states to 16 free 15 slave states 

• Fugitive Slave Act

  • A law that protected federal (or “bounties”) money from slave catchers, compelled Northern compliance, allowed capture of slaves from free states

• DC Slave Trade

  • It was made illegal to buy and sell slaves in D.C. (the nation's capital), although slavery was still used in D.C.

• Bleeding Kansas

• Fights about if Kansas should be free or slaved

• Many people from both sides (from the North or from Mississippi/Missouri) marched into Kansas and they started attacking each other 

  • Many consider this the first battle of the Civil war, although it technically is not 

• Popular Sovereignty

  • The idea that laws and political authority was created and centered around their beliefs

    • This would determine if future states entered as free or slave states because the people in each state would vote on it instead of the government deciding 

• Stephen A. Douglas

  • The little giant from Illinois

  • He supported slavery and the expansion of it if people in the states voted on it 

    • He was the creator of popular sovereignty 

  • He passed 4 bills through congress 

• Kansas-Nebraska Act

  • Proposed by Stephen A. Douglas

  • Many northerners wanted the government to put the land up for sale, and they also supported the transcontinental railroad

    • Looked to settle slavery disputes by replacing federal regulation with popular sovereignty, which allowed the states to decide on issues such as slavery

• Fighting in Kansas

• Dredd Scott Decision

• Pro slavery decision 

• Stated African Americans were not eligible to be citizens

• Sets the precedent that it did not matter if an African-American person was free or slaved - they would not be a citizen, and they could never be able to vote

• Key Events leading to the Civil War:

• John Brown’s Raid

  • John Brown led a raid on a federal armory at Harper’s Ferry Virginia 

  • He wanted to steal weapons and begin a slave rebellion that would free slaves 

  • Brown and his army captured the armory - they were ultimately captured by Federal and Virginia troops 

  • He became a symbol of freedom and justice for African-Americans and radical abolitionists 

    • This raid led many to become “fire eaters” and they were not willing to accept any more compromises on slavery and they thought a lot about secession

• Lincoln-Douglass Debates

• In 1858, there was an election for Senator representing the state of Illinois

• The central issue: should slavery expand to new territories

• Abraham Lincoln represented the new Republican party and Stephen A. Douglas represented the Democratic party

• They traveled across Illinois together and debated each other in widely followed debates: their speeches were printed across the country

  • Douglas: popular sovereignty, the spread of slavery

  • Lincoln: did not want to abolish slavery, but wanted to prevent the spread of it

• Election of 1860

• Democrats vs. Republicans 

• Democrats:

  • After John Brown’s raid, many Democrats had become fully radicalized and were moving away from compromise and towards secession: called the fire eaters 

  • Northern Democrats wanted compromise 

  • Democratic party was fractured and they put forth 2 candidates for the 1860 election:

    • John C. Breckinridge: VP of Buchanan, candidate of the fire eaters, wanted a federal slave code in territories which would allow slavery to exist, supported popular sovereignty

    • Stephen A. Douglass: Northern Democrat candidate, continued supporting popular sovereignty and the Freeport doctrine as a way to solve the sectional divide, he did not support slave code

• The Republicans:

  • They put forward Abraham Lincoln who was not favored to win - most thought it would be Seward but he was too radical

    • Lincoln did not want to abolish slavery in the areas it already existed in, he only wanted to stop the spread of it which at the time was considered the moderate perspective 

  • Lincoln’s only experience in politics was in the House of Representatives and it considered the best president of all time 

• Lincoln wins!

  • He won none of the South, only the North, mid-west, and West

• His win triggers secession with South Carolina going first

• South Carolina Secession

• After Lincoln wins the election, South Carolina secedes from the Union because they believe that Lincoln will try to abolish slavery in the South, although he never said that - he states he aligned with common Republican beliefs 

• They claimed to secede from the Union because the North is not following the law by capturing free slaves in the North, they also think that Lincoln will be hostile toward slavery and they want to leave the Common Government 

  • They saw his election as a threat to their common life 

• When did the Civil War happen?

• 1861 - 1865

• Lincoln’s First Inaugural

• In this Inaugural, Lincoln states that it is illegal for the South to secede because the United States is a country

  • Says its illegal because it is not in the Constitution

• He says that Democracy works by the decisions of the majority: Majority rules

• He says that the Union is perpetual, and the Democracy cannot fall apart just because of disagreement 

• He states that they are fighting the Civil war for Unionism although it will eventually be for abolition 

• Fort Sumter

• Federal military fort in Charleston, South Carolina 

• Controlled by the federal government and became a flash point in the impending crisis

  • The south wanted control because it was their territory

  • Lincoln and the government wanted to maintain it

• Federal troops had run out of supplies, so Lincoln sent a US Navy ship to restock - he sent a telegraph to the Confederates, but they saw this as an attack and they shot first

  • LINCOLN wanted this to happen because he wanted the South to look like the aggressor because they shot first

  • After:

    • North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas all seceded 

• Northern and Southern Advantages and Disadvantages in the War

• The Union:

  • The Union had more of a population advantage: 20 million in the north to 9 million in the south

  • The north had advantage in industrial production because they had more the ability to produce weapons and equipment 

  • The union had more rail and telegraph lines which made communication and transportation easier  

  • The union had the majority of naval ships

• Downside to the union:

  • Their army lacked leadership because Lincoln went through several poor generals in the first few years before Ulysses S. Grant and William Sherman which lead winning campaigns in the north

• The Union Army:

  • Anaconda plan:

  • The union navy would blockade southern ports to stop the export of cotton 

  • The union used river boats to travel down the Mississippi River and split the confederacy in two

  • They wanted to capture the Confederate Capital at Richmond 

• The Confederacy:

  • The war was fought almost entirely in the South

  • The confederacy will have better knowledge of the land 

  • They will be fighting for their “homeland”

  • King Cotton - the South could sell cotton to world markets providing them with money from all around the world 

  • Disadvantage for the north because they couldn’t get cotton for textiles and other materials

• The Confederate Army:

  • They wanted to defend their home territory

  • They were going to attack and disrupt Union Supply lines

• Battle of Bull Run

• The first major battle of the Civil War

• Fought in Northern Virginia near D.C.

• There were spectators from both the North and South that came to watch while the soldiers fought

• The battle showed some of the new weapons of this conflict; a rifle that could fire accurately across 500 yards, new canon and heavy artillery, mines, and rudimentary hand grenades

• This battle was bloody and hard fought, which showed Americans how dangerous this war would be 

• In the end, the battle was a southern victory but the Confederacy failed to capture Washington D.C.

• Battle of Antietam

• Fought near a creek in Maryland in September of 1862

• George McClellan led the Union army and Robert E. Lee led the Confederate army 

• This was the bloodiest battle in the Civil war and the bloodiest day in American History; 26,000 men were killed 

• The Confederates lost more men but both sides fought to a standstill 

  • This made Robert E. Lee retreat back to Virginia 

• McClellan did not force his army to chase the Confederates and march to Richmond, he stayed in Maryland instead 

• Many believe this could have ended the Civil War with a Union victory because they would have captured the Confederate capital and Lincoln fired McClellan for his inaction

• Emancipation Proclamation

• After the victory at Antietam Lincoln had decided to issue the emancipation proclamation

• This would become the most important executive order in U.S. history

• Background information:

  • West Virginia had separated from Virginia by 1863 and fought on the Union side 

  • Parts of Louisiana including New Orleans had been captured by the Union army in 1862

• The Emancipation Proclamation stated that slavery would be abolished in every territory that did not belong to the Union (abolished slavery in the Confederacy). It also stated that any enslaved person could leave the Confederacy and come to the Union and fight in the Union army (giving them jobs)

• The Battle of Gettysburg

• Union victory

• Turning point of the American Civil War 

• Only battle fought in the North 

• Joshua Chamberlin was the general of the Union His flank ran out of ammunition, almost costing all of their lives. Saved them with a bayonet charge that saved them from being flanked (also look at Robert E. Lee he's somewhere on this doc im not writing it again)

• Stopped Lee from invading the North because the Union won 

  • Shifted the momentum of the war because it made the Union army more powerful 

• General Ulysses S. Grant and Total War

• Ulysses S. Grant became the overall commander of the Army in 1864

• He had begun a “total war” strategy which used everything at the country’s disposal (industrial, military, and human resources) to bring about victory in the war

• He had a ruthless campaign attacking the Confederates on many fronts (this was in different locations) in order to destroy their will to fight 

• Sherman’s March to the Sea

• Union victory

• This march destroyed cotton fields in the South and freed thousands of salves 

• He marched across Georgia destroying thousands of acres of cotton plantations, warehouses, and farms along the way

• He freed 25,000 enslaved people on the march

• Their goal was to destroy the Confederates will to fight using the vast advantages that the Union army had

• Appomattox Court House

• In March 1865, Grant’s army in Virginia had captured Richmond

• This was significant because it was the capital of the Confederacy

• On April 9th, 1865, Grant and Lee met to arrange a surrender at Virginia village called Appomattox court house

• The civil war is over (yay!)

• Lincoln’s Assassination

• On April 14th, 1865, Lincoln was shot by an actor and southern sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth while attending a play in Washington D.C. and he died the following morning 

• Lincoln’s body traveled by train from D.C. to his burial in Springfield, Illinois where millions of people gathered to pay their respects 

• Presidential Reconstruction: 

• Black Codes

  • Laws passed by southern states after the Civil War during Reconstruction

  • Restricted the rights and freedoms of formerly enslaved people

  • Kept African Americans in a position of economic and social dependence

• Restoration

  • The process of getting the Confederate states back into America

  • States had to create new governments and recognize the end of slavery

• Johnson’s Plan

  • Created by Andrew Johnson

  • Offered a quick and lenient return to the Union for the Southern states

  • Required states to ratify the 13th Amendment (ending slavery)

  • Allowed many former Confederate leaders to regain power

• Radical/Congressional Reconstruction:

• 14th Amendment

  • birthright citizenship for all people born in America

  • Equal protection under the law

  • Protected the civil rights of formerly enslaved people 

• 15th Amendment

  • Prohibited from denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude

  • Gave Black men the right to vote

  • Did not extend voting rights to women

• Military Districts

  • The South was divided into five military districts

  • Union troops enforced Reconstruction laws

  • Southern states had to protect African American rights before rejoining the Union

• Overall Goal of Radical Reconstruction

  • Rebuild the South

  • Protect the rights of formerly enslaved people

  • Ensure Southern states followed federal laws and constitutional amendments after the Civil War