Unit 5 apush

5.1, Contextualization, pp 260-261

Major Changes in the United States

• between 1844 and 1877 sectionalism expanded due to the debate over slavery in the new western lands

• 1861 civil war broke out

• 4 years of fighting, ended with “new birth of freedom” but racism remained

• first ½ of the 1900’s included political, economic, demographic, territorial developments

• new tech lead to market revolution, increase in who can vote lead to an increase in voting in general, alas challenges still remained

Growth in Land and Population

• 1844-1877 US expanded West

• acquired land through negotiations, purchase and war

• rapid expansion attracted immigrants, specifically those from ireland and china

• caused political organizations that blocked immigration and citizenship

Political Conflicts over Slavery

• each side became more insistent and strong

• slave owners wanted federal laws that would return slaves

• Free-soilers did not want slavery on territories

• underground railroad developed

• congress passed a series of compromises trying to settle slavery in new land

The Civil War and Reconstruction

• 1860, Republican Abram Lincoln became pres.- election fighteneed slave holders

• end of Civil War shifted power from the states gov’s to the states

• 12 years after the war ended were reconstruction, marked by conflict between state and federal government

• reshaped how people thought of Federalism and power among different branches of government

Racism and Discrimination

• black codes were passed that restricted the basic rights of black citizens

• sharecropping emerged- kept black farmers relient and subservient to while landowners

• Whites trying to be superior killed thousands of black citizens

• nation would continue to grow expand and industrialize

• struggle for equal treatment remained

Analysis Questions

• The Civil War was the more significant event as it was the result of decades of building tensions and changed the way many viewed government and the social systems and classes once it concluded.

• The debate over slavery had been ongoing since the 1700’s when the the US first declared independence from Britain. Over the years the tensions grew, especially with expansion and the question of it it would be allowed in these new territories. Some fixes worked temporarily such as the Missouri Compromise but eventually the tensions were bound to explode.

• Reconstruction was not as successful in the South as they attempted to keep their control over black citizens by enforcing systems such as sharecropping and black codes. Therefore the mixed results stemmed from the white people in power trying to stop any advancements.

• Period 5 is defined from 1844 to 1877 as in 1844 Texas was annexed from the United States, as it threatened the balance of slave vs. free states. And in 1877 the Compromise of 1877 was enacted which removed military support in the South and shortly thereafter many pro-reconstruction bills were not passed by Congress, marking the end of reconstruction

5.2, The Idea of Manifest Destiny, pp 262-270

• O’Sullivans quote supports the main idea stated as it argues that the United States has the right to Western land and supports the idea of Manifest Destiny. He agrees that the United States in superior and therefore deserves the land

• (1850s) some expansionists wanted the US to expand into Mexico, Cuba and Central America

• by the 1890s they also wanted the pacific islands and the caribbean

Manifest Destiny

• the belief that the United States had the divine mission to rule over all of North America

• Enthusiasm reached a peak in the 1840’s driven by: nationalism, population increase rapid economic developments, technological advancements, reform ideals

• some believed that expansionism was bad and would spread slavery into new territories

Conflicts over Texas, Maine, and Oregon

• US pushing south onot Texas (Mexico) and West onto the Oregon territory (British) was due to migration onto these lands in the 1820’s and 30’s

• Texas

• 1823 Mexico won national independence from Spain and was looking for settlers

• Moses Austin gained a large grant to do this but died so his son, Stephen Austin who brought 300 American families into Texas and started a steady stream of immigrants into Texas

• both white farmers and enslaved Black people, eventually outnumbered americans 3-1

• 1829 when they outlawed slavery tensions increased and many settlers continued to bring slaves in ignoring the laws

• Revolt and Independence

• in 1834 General Antonio López de Santa Ana made himself dictator of mexico intensifying tensions

• Santa Ana tried to enforce Mexican law in Texas, American settlers led by Sam Houston revolted + declared Texas an independent nation in march 1836

• said new nation made slavery legal

• Mexican army led by Santa Anna captured the town of Goliad and attacked the Alamo killing every single American settler

• but after at the Battle of San Jacinto River Houstons army coight the Mexicans by surprise + under the threat of death forced their leader to sign a treaty recognizing Texas’ independence

• When news reached Mexico City they rejected the treaty and insisted Texas was still part of Mexico

• Annexation Denied

• Houston was the first pres. of the Republic of Texas (Lone Star Republic) applied to join US

• Jackson and Van Buren put it off due to fears that the North would see it as an expansion of slavery

• the # of states the land could have been divided in posed to greatly upset the free vs slave balance in congress, strongly in the pro-slave favor

• the thought of an expensive Mexico was also posed an issue

• John Tyler who took office after ores. William Henry Harrison died tried to annex Texas due to fears of British influence but it was denied by Senate

• Boundary Dispute in Maine

• 1840’s- ill defined boundaries between Maine and Canadian providence, Canada which was still under British rule, many americans saw Britain as their #1 enemy

• rival groups of lumber workers started fighting known as the Aroostook War of the battle of the maps

• Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 split Maine and British Canada as well as setting the boundary for the Minnesota territory, putting the iron rich Mesabi Range on the US side

Boundary Dispute in Oregon

• British-US dispute

• Oregon territory claimed by 4 different nations- Spain, Russia, Great Britain and US

• Spain gave it up in the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 with the US

• Britain’s claims were based on a fur trade with natives but by 1846 less than 1,000 of british settlers lived north of the Columbia RIver

• US based it claim on: exploration of Columbia River by Captain RObert Gray in 1792, Lewis and Clark in 1805, fur trading post + fort in Astoria Oregon established by John Astor

• Protestant missionaries and farmers settled in willamette valley in the 1840’s

• success due to fertile land caused 5,000 Americans to catch “Oregon Fever” so they went and settled

• many believed taking this land and annexing texas was apart of manifest destiny

• also wanted mexican parts of cali

The Election of 1844

• The possibility of annexing texas and allowing slavery to expand split the democratic party in 1844

• Northern Whigs opposed the immediate annexation and wanted former pres Martin Van Buren to re run

• Southern Pro-Slavery Whigs who were pro annexation wanted former Vice Pres. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina

• ended up nominating james K. Polk of Tennessee, protegé of Andrew Jackson who was strongly for manifest destiny, annexation of texas, acquisition of California, the reoccupation of the Oregon territory all the way to border with russian alaska at latitude 54 40

• Democratic slogan, “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!” became very popular

• Henry Clay of Kentucky the Whig nominee flipped on his position on texas

• caused a group of voters in New York to be alienated and switched to the anti slavery Liberty Party

• Whigs loss of New York was detrimental and Democrats Polk won

• Democrats saw this as a mandate to add Texas to the union

Annexing Texas and Diving Oregon

• Current pres. John Tyler saw this as a sign to push the annexation of Texas through to congress

• persuaded both houses of congress to pass a join annexation, which only needed a majority of each house

• Polk made a deal with the british that did not go all the way tp alaska but the parallel line that had been established with the louisiana territory

• was delayed until they granted vancouver islands the rights to use the Columbia river

• Some Northerners saw this as a cop out out of free states but since at this time the US was already at war with Mexico (1846) Senate accepted the treaty

Settlement of the Western Territories

• the area between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast was called the Great American Desert and were quickly passed over causing them not to be settled til years after the west coast

• Fur Trader’s Frontier

• fur traders or mountain men were the earliest non native people in the Far West

• in the 1820s they would trade with natives for animal skins

• James Beckwourth, Jim Bridges, Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith provided early information about the land and trails that later settles would use

• Overland Trails

• Others made the trip hpong to farm the land and clear the forests

• 1860’s hundreds of thousands had come over, following the Oregon, California, Santa Fe and Mormon trails

• these usually started in St.Joseph, Independence Missouri, Council Bluffs, Iowa and followed the river valley through the great plains

• 15 miles a day the trip took months

• the final challenge would be to get through the mountain passes of the Sierras and Cascades before the first heavy snow

• Native attacks happened but disease was a more common and prevalent killer

• Mining Frontier

• 1848 discovery of gold in California set of the first of many mineral driven migrations

• gold or silver rushes were in Colorado, Nevada, the Black Hills of the Dakotas and other Western territories

• mining towns popped up quickly and many were short lived

• gold rush caused california’s pop to soar from 14,000 in 1848 to 380,000 in 1860

• attracted people from all around the world

• by 1860s 1/3 of miners were Chinese

• Farming Frontier

• most moved west to farm and homestead

• Congresses preemption acts of the 1830s and 1840s gave squatters the rights to settle public lands and purchase them for low prices from the govt

• gov’t made it easier for people by offering plots as small as 40 acres

• expensive trip to make, at least middle class not for the poor

• isolation was difficult at first but soon communities developed

• institutions were established like schools and churches modeled after those from the people’s homelands or the west

• Urban Frontier

• cities were a result of railroads, mineral wealth, and farming and attracted professionals and business owners

• San Francisco and Denver became cities due to gold and silver rushes

• Salt Lake City grew bc it offered travelers supplies

• Foreign Commerce

• Growth in manufactured goods and agricultural products from both western grain and southern cotton caused a large growth in exports and imports

• other factors included

  • by establishing a ship schedule shipping firms encouraged trade and travel across the atlantic

  • 1830-1860 need for whale oil boomed in middle class homes and New England merchants got the lead

  • New ship designs could cut off months of travel just in time for the rush west, clipper ships

  • steamships took the clipper ships place in the mid 1850’s as they had better storage, followed a more reliable schedule and were cheaper to maintain

  • trade expanded to asia, New England had profitable trade for tea, silk and porcelain, Matthew C. Perry was sent by gov’t to Japan which has been closed to foreigners for over 2 centuries, convincing them to sign the Kanagawa Treaty which allowed Us vessels to enter 2 Japanese ports to take coal- later lead to a trade agreement

Expansion after the Civil War

• 1855-1870 slavery, post war, civil war and union took priority over further expansions

• manifest destiny continued to play a role in US foreign policy as Secretary of State William Seward succeeded in buying Alaska when the nation was still recovering from the civil war

Analysis Questions

• President Jackson’s reasoning behind refusing to admit Texas was valid as the state of slavery in the country was extremely fragile and risking messing up the balance of slave states and free states in congress would have had significant consequences.

• The Texas War was mostly caused by slavery as the outlawing of slavery was what set off the fighting. However one could also argue that the war was caused by American settlers just wanting Texas to be independent of Mexico. Therefore. they would gain more power and freedom to do whatever that want and used the outlawing of slavery as an excuse to fight.

• The Aroostook War and the Texas War were similar as both of them were guided by Manifest Destiny and the idea that the US deserves land further South and Further North. However they differ as the Aroostook war was more easily concluded and an excess of territory was not gained. While in the case of the Texan War eventually it led to Texas joining the Union however the debate of this divided politics in the country for years.

• Andrew Jackson was very strongly for Manifest Destiny and expanding while Polk did as well he was more intense as he strongly supported the annexation of Texas, the acquisition of California and making the oregon territory all the way up to Alaska.

• Polk kept all of his promises.

• The document praises former President Polk for his success in office while also recapping how he won the election.

• The song seems to be written after Polk died in remembrance to him.

• History should remember James K. Polk as a truthful president who ruled during a very politically unstable time due to sectionalism and slavery increasing.

• The most significant reason for westward expansion was wanting new farm land and opportunities. This remained a pattern throughout history, people following opportunities.

• effect as it allowed political decisions to be made that would not have been otherwise such as the purchase of Alaska.

5.3, Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War, pp 271-275

• US annexation of Texas led to diplomatic trouble with Mexico

• Mexico’s anger over the annexation and new pres. polk’s desire to expand brought both to the brink of war

Conflicts with Mexico

• polk took office in 1845

• put John Slidell as his special envoy to the gov’t in mexico city, he wanted him to

  • convince Mexico to sell US cali and New Mexico

  • settle the mexico-texas border

• Mexico did not sell either

• Mexico said the border was the Nueces river while US said it was further South along the Rio Grande

• Immediate Causes of the War

• Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move an army towards Rio Grande across Mexican claimed territory

• April 24 1846 Mexican army crossed the the Rio Grande captured an American army patrol and killed 11

• polk used this an excuse to send his war message to congress

• Northern Whigs opposed this and said that american blood had not been spilt on American soil

• large majority of both houses approved

• Military Campaigns

• most of the war was fought on Mexican territory with small american armies

• general Stephen Kearney took New Mexico and southern cali

• John C Frémont overthrew mexican rule in cali and declared it an independent republic known as the Bear Flag Republic

• Zachary Taylor’s army drove the Mexican army from Texas crossed the Rio Grande and won a major victory at Buena Vista (February 1847)

• Polk has General Winfield Scott invade central Mexico

• successfully captured Vera Cruz then mexico City in September 1847

Consequences of the War

• For Mexico was a mess and had not choice but to agree to US temrs after the fall of mexico city

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

• treaty by diplomat Nicholas trist

• favorable to US

  • Mexico recognized Rio Grande as Southern Border

  • US took former Mexican Cali and New Mexico- the Mexican Cession

  • US paid 15 million for the land

• some Whigs saw it as a war to expand slavery and opposed

• Southern Democrats disliked it as the US did not take all of Mexico

• Due to Missouri compromise slavery could expand there

• passed by senate

• Wilmot Proviso

• slavery drove the war

• 1846 Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot proposed that a bill be amended to forbid slavery in the new territory from Mexico

• appealed to many who wanted to. save the land for white settlement

• Passed in the house where the northern states had greater power but it was defeated in the senate where the south had more power

• Prelude to Civil War

• gaining western land renewed the sectionalism debate over the extension of slavery

• many northerns saw the war as a plot to extend “slave power”

• Southerns realized the North would not accept an expansion of slavery

• Wilmot Proviso was the round in escalating political conflict that eventually led to the civil war

Historical Perspective

• Historians stress the accomplishments of early western settlers

• mountain men and pioneering families

• Attitudes about race

• as a result of the civil rights movement people later saw the racist undertones of the language of this time in speeches that argued for expansion into native territory Mexican and Central American

• some say racism is why US withdrew troops from mexico

• instead of occupying it bc they thought it was undesirable to put a large number of non-white people into the country

• Diverse Contributions

• recent historians focus more on

  • impact on natives whose land was taken

  • influence of mexican culture on us culture

  • contributions of african and asian americans

  • role of women in the development of western family and community life

• The Impact on Mexico

• Treaty of Guadalupe took ½ of mexico’s territory

• many argue that the war led to manu long standing economic and political problems that affected their development as a nation

• Economics over Race

• some argue that the war was motivated by imperialism not racism

• they say that US wanted Cali as a base for trade with Japan and China

• they feared cali would go to Great Britain or another European power if they did not move fast

Analysis Questions

• Polks aggression for more land was the greatest motivation for the war as it is what increased the tensions between the US and Mexico until war exploded.

• The US took california and New Mexico in the Mexican Cession, Whigs saw this as a Southern attempt to expand slavery and Democrats were upset that more land was not acquired.

• This supports the idea that the war was inevitable as it shows how many Americans had settlers there so conflict was bound to occur.

5.4, The Compromise of 1850, pp 276-281

• Abolinsts and white people wanted to settle in the west without the competition of slavery

• they opposed the growth of slavery

• most americans hoped for a compromise

Southern Expansion

• Southerns were eager for more land and never were content

• Ostend Manifesto

• Polk tried to but Cuba, spain refused, tried to take it, were unsuccessful

• Franklin Pierce was elected ot pres. in 1852 adopt prosouthern policies

• he sent 3 american diplomats to Ostend Belgium where they secretly negotiated to buy cuba from spain

• the agreement was called the Ostend Manifesto

• leaked to the press and angry anti slavery members of congress pressues pierce to drop it

• Walker Expedition

• Southerners tried to take more land without the goverments’s support

• William walker, tried to take baja cali from mexico in 1853

• had plans to create a pre slavery giant country in central america

• collation of central american governments ended this

• killed by honduran authorities

• Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)

• wanted to build a canal through central america

• would avoid sailing around south america

• British wanted to as well so they agreed to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

• this said that neither would try to take control and do it

• stayed in place until 1901 Hay-Pauncefote treaty gave the US the right to without Britain’s participation

• Gadsden Purchase

• bought a small strip of land from Mexico for 10 million in 1853'

• was good for building railroad

• present day southern sections of New Mexico and Arizona

Conflict over status of territories

• 3 different ideals

• Free soil movement

• Northern Whigs and democrats thought that all african americans, free or enslaved should be excluded from the Mexican cession

• many who opposed slavery in the west did not mind it in the south

• 1848 northerns who opposed slavery in new territory former the Free-Soil Party

• free homesteads and internal improvements such as roads and harbors

• Southern Positions

• Slave owners saw this as a restriction of bring their property wherever they wanted and thought it was unconstitutional

• wanted slavery in the west

• Popular Sovereignty

• Democratic senator from michigan Lewis Cass proposed a compromise

• he thought that the gov should not decide if slavery would be legal in the west but the people who lived there would take a vote

The Election of 1848

• vital issue of the 1848 presidential race

  • Democrats nominated Senator cass who adopted popular sovereignty

  • Whigs nominated Mexican war hero Zachary Taylor who had no political experience and had no position on slavery

  • Free-Soil Party opposed expansionism, nominated former pres Martin Van Buren- party consisted on anti slavery Whigs and democrats, later nicknamed “barnburners” as they threatened to destroy the democratic party

• taylor won due to vote from free soil party in New York and Pennsylvania

Compromises to preserve the union

• 1848 gold rush caused a need for law and order in the West

• 1849 cali drafted a constitution that banned slavery

• Pre. Taylor supported Cali and New Mexico as free states

• Taylors plan sparked talk of secession amon radicals in the south

• Henry Clay proposed a compromise

  • admit cali to the union as a free state

  • divide remained to mexican cession into utah and new mexico and have a popular vote decide on slavery

  • give the land that was being fought over by texas and new mexico to new territories in return for government taking texas 10 million dollar debt

  • ban the slave trade in DC but let whites own slaves there

  • adopt a new fugitive slave law and enforce it heavily

• Daniel Webster of Mass argued for it to save the union but alienated the abolitionists who supported him

• John C Calhoun argued against and insisted that the south be given equal rights in the acquired territory

• northern opposition came from younger law makers such as senator william H Seward who argued that a law higher than the constitution existed

• President Taylor did not approve by once he died his vice pres Fillmore did and signed it into law

• Passage

• The compromise of 1850 bought time

• cali added as a free state so it added to the north’s power

• fugitive slave law and popular sovereignty were very converisal

Analysis Questions

• Manifest Destiny was completely responsible for intensifying the sectionalism in the Untied States. This is because it threatened the balance of slave and free states in Congress which caused both the north and the south to belive that the other was trying to gain more power.

• The South’s primary goal was to expand slavery while the norths was to offer more places for white settlement.

• Popular Sovereignty was the idea that no matter where a territory was the people there could vote on if it would be free or states. Completely different from the compromise of 1820 where a line was drawn across the US and below would be slave and above would be free.

• Both the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican Cession both added a great deal of land to the US which raised the issue of slavery.

• The most continuous aspect of the compromise was that slavery was more allowed in the new territories but was tightened up in the rest of the country.

5.5, Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences, pp 282-288

• immigration divided the people as well, particularly roman catholic

Immigration Controversy

• as immigration increased especially from Ireland and Germany many disliked their faith and ethnicity and others feared they would take jobs

• Irish

• ½ of the immigrants came from Ireland almost 2 million

• mostly tenant farmers driven by the potato famine

• came with few skills and little money

• discrimination due to being roman catholic

• physical jobs

• strong communities developed in Northern cities in Boston, New York and Philadelphia

• most spoke english and understood electoral politics

• many entered local politics

• Tammy Hall, NY’s democratic organizagtion was run by the irish by the 1880s

• Germans

• 1 million germans to come to US

• economic hardship and failed democratic revolutions pushed them

• most had means and skills

• moved west to look for farmland

• strongly supported public education and opposed slavery

• also formed close knit communities in cities were german was spoken

Nativists Opposition to Immigration

• many native born Americans feared for their jobs

• closely tied to religion, americans were protestant while germans and irish were roman catholic

• nativism- hostility to immigrants

• formed an anti foreign society, the Supreme Order of the Star Spangled banner evolved into the political organization, the american party commonly called the know nothing party

• wanted to increase the time from 5 to 21 years to gain citizenship

• only naive born can hold office

• in 1850’s know nothings gained power in new england and mid atlantic states and whigs lost power

• 1850s this faded and slavery came onto the forefront of the issues

• would periodically return

Ethnic Conflict in the Southwest

• American Indians and mexican americans also faced discrimination

The Expanding Economy

• era of territorial expansion coincided with a period of economic growth from 1840s to 1867

• Industrial Technology

• after 1840 industrialization spread rapidly past the usual textiles in New England

• new factories produced shoes, sewing machines, ready to wear clothes, firearms, precision tools and iron products for railroads

• sewing machine invented by elias howe took clothes into factories and out of homes

• electric telegraph demonstrated in 1844 by samuel F. B morse went with railroads in speeding up transportation and communication

• Railroads

• rail lines were built especially along the Northeast and midwest

• became americas largest industry

• needed immense amounts of capital and labor

• local people would buy stocks to connect to the outside world

• gov’ts gave them special tax breaks

• 1850 US gov made its first land grant

• gave 2.6 million acres of land to build the illinois central railroads

• cheap transportation

• linked everything

• gave north civil war advantages

• Panic of 1857

• caused by a decrease in prices in midwestern agricultural and a sharp increase in unemployment

• south was unaffected

• made some southerners believe that their economy was superior

• Agitation over slavery

• between the compromise of 1850 and the kansas- nebraska act in 1854 was a bref period of political calm

• the question of slavery remained in front of the public though

• Fugitive Slave Law

• made many southerns accept that cali would be free’

• many northerners resented the law

• Enforcement

• removed slave cases from state courts and made them federal jurisdiction

• had to enforce

• Opposition

• anyone who tried to hide people had heavy penalties

• northerns tried to protect

Underground Railroad

• many people who operated were free african americans

• harriet Tubman

• Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth pushed for emancipation

Books on Slavery- pro and Con

• Uncle Toms Cabin in 1852 by northern Harriet Beecher Stowe

• pushed people to see the cruelty of slavery

• south said it was lies

• in response Mary Eastman wrote AUnt Phillis cabin where she depicted nice slaveowners and happy slaves

• Impending Crisis of the South by Hinton R Helpers 1857 attacked slavery from another angled

• used stats to show that slavery weakened the souths economy

• banned the book

• Southern Reaction

• argued that slavery was good and was sanctioned in the bible

• brought up the low wages and bad working conditions in factories and mines

• George Fitzhugh best known pre slavery author wrote Sociology for the South and Cannibals All

Effect of Law and Literature

• polarized the nation

• many northerns began to see this as a moral issue

• Southerners became convinced that Northerners could abolish slavery

Analysis Questions

• Similarities: Roman Catholic, escaping bad situations in their homelands, got involved in politics

• Differences: Irish spoke english, few skills, did not farm, german mostly spoke German, farmers

• It is similar as both groups of people are seeing refuge and an escape from terrible situations.

• Regional identities depend on the business that they did and as the economy changed so did their identity.

• Abolitionists pushed against slavery and made it much less socially acceptable in the North.

• The arts had a strong grasp on the peoples opinions and helped to make slavery a moral issue as well as an economic one.

5.6, Failure of Compromise, pp 289-296

• by 1861 many compromises to avoid war were tried

• 3 issues divided the north and the south

  • morals of slavery

  • constitutional rights of slavery and the right to protect slavery

  • different economic policies

National Parties in Crisis

• increased political instability

• democrats and whigs grew weak and divided

• the application of popular sovereignty in Kansas ended in disaster

• The Election of 1852

• Whigs started to become weak when the nominated another military hero for pres.

• ignored slavery and focused on infrastructure

• Democrats nominated a compromise candidate Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire

• acceptable for southerners due to his support of the fugtitive slave laws

• won in all but 4 states marking the extreme weakness of the Whig party

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• Democrats were in control of both the White House and Congress

• Senator Stephan A Douglass wanted to build a railroad that cuts through the middle of the country

• went through chicago

• southerners wanted it to go through the south

• to win their support douglas’s proposed cutting the nebraska territory in half and then each ½ can vote on if they want slavery

• north was against as it was above the missouri compromise line

• exactly why south said yes

• pres. pierce signed it into law

Extremists and Violence

• repealed Missouri Compromise

• tensions exploded

• Bleeding kansas

• People flooded to Kansas to have a vote

• New England Emigrant Aid Company (1855) was founded and it payed to bring anti slavery people to kansas

• fighting broke out

• pro slavery missourians called border ruffians crossed the border to make pro-slavery legislation in Nebraska

• 1856 proslavery forces attacked the free soil town of Lawerence killing 2 and destroying homes and businesses

• John brown, stern abolistionst retialied

• attacked a pro slavery settlement at Oittawatomine Creek killing five

• pres.pierce did nothing

• as Kansas became bloodier the Democratic party became more divided

• Caning of Senator Sumner

• 1856 Mass Senator Charles Sumner attacked Democratic admistration in a viltrolic speech

• included personal charges aginst SC senator Andrew Butler

• His nephew congressman Preston Brooks defned his honor by breaiing sumner with a cane in the senate chamber

• Sumner never fully recovered

• outraged the north

• south applaud it

• Sumner-Brooks incident was another sign of growing tensions

Birth of the Republican Party

• increased tensions completely broke apart the Whig party and divided northern and southern democrats

• ex-whigs scattered, those who were scared about immigration joined the know nothing party

• did not become a large party due to slavery overpowering immigration

• former whigs who opposed slavery formed a new party

• Republican party was formed as a reaction to bleeding Kansas

• purpose to oppose the spread of slavery in the territories not to then slavery

• called for the repeal of the fugitive slave act and the nebraska kansas act

• as kansas got more violent more people joined

• strictly northern and alienated the south

Election of 1856

• Republicans conomated cali senator John C Frémont, called for no expansion of slavery, free homesteads and pro business protective tariffs

• know nothings former pres Millard Fillmore won 20% of the popular votes

• Democrats nominated James Buchanan of pennsylvania

• Democrats won a majority popular and electoral college vote

• Frémont carried 11/16 free states

• foreshadowed the emergence of a powerful political party that would win all but 4 elections between 1860 and 1932

Constitutional Issues

• Both democrats popular sovereignty and Republicans stand against expansion received serious blow outs during the Buchanan administration (1857-1861)

• Republican attacked Buchanan as a weak Pres.

Lecompton Constitution

• one of Buchanan first presidential challenges was whether to accept or reject a proslavery Kansas state constitution submitted by the Southern legislate at lecompton

• asked congress to approve it, congress did not bc so many so many democrats including stephen douglas joined with the republicans trying to reject it

• the next year it was overwhelmingly rejected by Kansas citizens

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

• Supreme Court angered north

• Dred Scott had been held in slavery in Missouri then taken to the free state or Wisconsin where he lived for 2 years before returning to Missouri

• he argued that living on free soil made him a free citizen

• sued for his freedom in Missouri in 1846

• decision made in March 1857 2 days after pres was sworn in

• chief justice Roger Taney a southern democrat

• decided against and gave these reasons

  • Scott has no right to sue bc the framers of the constitution did not intend african americans to be US citizens

  • congress did not have the power to deprive any person of their property without due process

  • the missouri compromise was unconstitutional bc it excluded slavery from Wisconsin and other Northern territories

• North thought they planned it to settle the question of slavery

Lincoln Douglas Debates

• 1858 the focus was on Stephan Douglass campaign for reelection as a senator from illinois

• challenging him was abraham lincoln a republican

• Lincoln saw slavery as moral issue

• a house divided speech made south view him as radical

• Freeport Doctrine was Douglass’s response to Lincoln asking him to reconcile popular sovereignty with the scott decisions

• he responded that slavery cannot exist if local citizens do not pass laws

• angered the southern democrats as the thought it did not defend the supreme court decision enough

• he won reelection but lost ground as he alienated southern democrats

Analysis questions

• Similarities: both split territory in two and both tried to fix the intense sectionalism

• Differences: the Missouri compromise was very well received and worked for years, Nebraska-Kansas Act was a bloody failure.

• The Missouri compromise was more successful as it kept peace for decades.

• If the caning occurred in modern time it would likely be a much bigger deal that would have severe consequences. This shows how high the tensions were at that time.

• The Dred Scott ruling was the worst ruling in american history as it inly worsen an already incredibly tense situation and helped led to a civil war.

• The 1803 Marbury V. Madison was a more significant case as it established judicial review which continues to be the primary function of the supreme court today over 200 years late. While the issue of slavery was decided once the civil war ended.

5.7, election of 1860 and Secession, pp 297-303

• In northern stated where Lincoln was defeated Republicans did well in the election of 1858

• This greatly alarmed many southerners

• they not only feared slavery issues but also economic differences

The Road to Secession

• south feared that is a republican won in 1860 their economy and “constitutional rights” would be threatened

• adding to their fears was northern radicals supporting John Brown a man who had massacred 5 farmers in Kansas

• John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry

• tried to start an uprising of enslaved people in virginia

• In October 1859 he led a small band of followers including his son and some former slaves to an attack on harpers Ferry

• federal troops under Robert E Lee captured him after 2 days

• he was tried, spoke calmy of wanting to free slaves but was tried and hanged

• he divided the north, some condemned his use of violence others saw him as a martyr

• south saw it as proof that the north wanted to use slave revolts to destroy the south

The Election of 1860

• tested the union

• Breakup of the Democratic party

• democratic party represented the last hope for compromise

• have a convention in Charleston South Carolina, Douglas is the best candidate but angry southerners and supporters of pres. Buchanan blocked this

• a second convention in Baltimore, many delgats from slave states walked out

• left stuck to nominated douglass

• southern democrats held their own convention in Baltimore and nominated vice president John C Breckinridge of Kentucky

• The Republican Nomination of Lincoln

• hoped for an easy win

• drafted economics that appealed to north and west

• exclusion of slavery from the west

• protective tariffs, free land for homesteading, internal improvements for the west

• opted for Lincoln to appeal to moderates

• knew he could carry the midwest

• southern states threatened to succeed if he wins

• A fourth political party

• a group of former whigs, know nothings, and moderate democrats formed a new party called the constitutional union party

• they nominated John Bell

• Election results

• Lincoln got every free state in the north

• 59% electoral votes

• Breckinrige carried the deep south

• left Douglas and Bell with a few electoral votes in border states

• lincoln only won 39.8% of the popular vote

• Secession of the Deep South

• 1860 republicans controlled neither the senate or the supreme court

• december 1860 a special convention in south carolina all voted to secede

• within 6 weeks state conventions in georgia, florida, alabama, mississippi, louisiana and texas did the same

• large slave owners convinced everyone to

• February 1861 representatives from the 7 states that were the deep south met in montgomery Alabama and created the confederate states of america

• constitution was similar to the US constitution but it placed limits on federal power to impose tariffs and reduce slavery

• elected president and vice were jefferson davis and alexander stephens

• Crittenden Compromise

• Buchans had 5 months in office before Lincoln came in and did nothing to stop the states from leaving

• congress was active

• in a last ditch effort senator john crittenden of Kentucky proposed a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to hold slaves in all territories south of the old missouri compromise line

• Lincoln said no bc it violated the republican position of no slavery extended there

• many who seceded saw it like the american revolution

• A Nation Divided

• took office in march 1861

• said in inaugural address that he would not touch slavery where it already is

• warned that no state has the right to leave

• Fort Sumter

• was in the harbor of Charleston South Carolina and was cut off by southern control of the harbor

• had the choice to give it up or go defend it

• sent food to give SC the chance to let them throw or to fire

• They fired and on April 12 1861 the war began

• the attack on fort sumter and its capture 2 days later united north

• Secession of the Upper South

• after it became clear that lincoln would use troops virginia, NC, Tennessee and Arkansas joined the confederacy confederates moved their capital to richardmond virginia

• western virginia stayed loyal to the union becoming their own states in 1863

• Keeping the Border States in the Union

• 4 slave owning states did not leave the union

• delaware, Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky

• Union army resorted to martial law to keep maryland under federal control

• troops were able to keep missouri

• Kentucky wanted to stay neutral lincoln respected it at first but waited for the south tp violate it before moving in federal troops

• keeping the border states in the union was a military and political control

• their loss would increase the confederate pop by 50% and weaken the Norths strategy position

Historial Perspective

• many agree that southerners attachment to slavery was the cause of the war

• others thinking it was an argument over the constitution

• others though economic interests were to blame

Analysis Questions

• Because slavery was so valued to the south there was no peaceful way to get rid of it.

• Lincoln was not a tyrant and did not abuse his power by engaging in the civil war and later emancipating slaves. Lincoln did not violate property laws but rather upholded the phrase “all men are created equal”.

• Lincoln means that having these border states is so important as it gives him a tactical advantage as well as keeping the numbers for the confederacy down.

• I think they still ended up losing even though they were all skilled military men because they did not plan their attacks sufficiently enough.

• I support that slavery was the leading cause of the war. Economic issues is very valid as well but these economic issues would not be in place if slavery was not. Therefore slavery caused the civil war.

5.8, Military Conflict in the Civil War, pp 304-312

• war lasted from 1861-1865

• 750,000 died

• freed 4 million enslaved

• accelerated industrialization and modernization in the North and destroyed much of the South

• some refer to the war as the Second American Revolution

War

• US entered the war with strengths and weaknesses

• Military Differences

• South started with advantage as the only had to defend while the North had to conquer

• Confederacy could move troops and supplies shorter distances than the Union

• Union pop of 22 million vs confederacy of 5.5 million free whites

• 800,000 immigrants and 180,000 free African Americans added to the Union

• Union also had a loyal navy

• Economic Differences

• Union dominated the nations economy as they controlled banking and capital of the country

• 85% factories, 70% railroads, 65% farmland→ Union

• skilled Northern bookkeepers and clerks

• Confederates counted on outside help and a European need for cotton

• Political Differences

• states were a liability for the confederates as they needed a strong central government with strong support which they did not have

• Union had an established central government

• Confederates hoped that the people of the Union would turn against Lincoln and that the Republicans would abandoned the war bc it was too costly

• The Confederate States of America

• confederate constitution was similar to US but denied the right to levy a protective tariff and appropriate funds for internal improvements

• forbad foreign slave trade

• pres was Jefferson Davis

• Davis tried to increase his executive power, southern governors held him back to protect their own states

• Vice pres. Alexander H. Stephens urged Georgia to succeed due to the actions of the Confederacy

• Confederacy was always short on money

• used loans, income taxes and impressment of private lands but only provided a portion of needed funds

• gov issued more than 1 billion in paper money → severe inflation

• by end of war a confederate dollar was worth less than 2 cents

• Confederate gov nationalized railroads to promote industrial growth → was not enough

• just needed to last until fighting stopped

First Years of a Long War; 1861-1862

• expected to be a brief (weeks) war

• “On to Richmond” was the cry

• Union Strategy

  General in Chief Winfield Scott, veteran of war of 1812 and mexican war made a three part plan

  • Anaconda Plan": Use the US Navy to blockade the Southern ports, cutting off supplies from reaching the confederacy

  • Take control of the Mississippi River diving the confederacy in 2

  • Raise and train an army of 500,000 strong to conquer Richmond

• Third was the hardest but all 3 were important to Northern victory

• After Union defeat at Bull Run federal armies experienced a succession of cursing defeats across Virginia

• First Battle of Bull Run

• July 1861

• first major battle of war

• 30,000 federal troops matched from D.C to attack Confederate forces near Bull Run Creek at Manassas Junction Virginia

• last minute Confederate reinforcements under General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson sent the Union fleet back to D.C

• Peninsula Campaign

• General George B. McClellan, the new commander of the Union army in the East insisted his troops have a long training period before battle

• McClellan army invaded Virginia March 1862

• Stopped by tactical moves by Robert E Lee, commander of Souths eastern forces

• after 5 months McClellan was forced to retreat and was ordered back to the Potomac where he was replaced with General John Pope

• Second Battle of Bull Run

• Lee drew Pope into a trap in Northern Virginia, struck the enemies flanks and sent the Union back to Bull Run

• Pope withdrew to defend Washington

• Antietam

• September 1862

• following his victory Lee led his army across the Potomac into Maryland

• Hoped a Confederacy victory in a Union state would convince the British to support

• McClellan had been restored to command

• McClellan knew Lee’s plan as a confederate officer had dropped a copy

• Union officers incerpeted the Confederacy at Antietam Creek in Maryland

• bloodiest single day in combat

• 22,000 injured or killed

• Lee retreated to Virginia

• Lincoln was disappointed that McClellan did not follow so he was removed for a final time

• essentiality a draw on the battlefield

• significant bc Confederacy failed to get recognition and aid from Britain and France

• Lincoln found enough encouragement as a Union win

• Lincoln used the partial triumph to announce a direct assault on the institution of slavery

• Fredericksburg

• General Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan, very aggressive

• December 1862 Union army under Burnside attacked Lees army at Fredericksburg Virginia

• 12,000 Union dead or wounded vs 5,000 Confederacy

• Both Union and Confederate Generals did not understand that improved weaponry meant that slow charges against entrenched positions did not work

• 1862→ bad year for the Union except for 2 engagements, one at sea and one in the rivers of the West

• Monitor vs. Merrimac

• Unions hopes for winning rested on Anaconda Plan

• during McClellans Peninsula campaign a confederate ship the Merrimac attacked and sank many union ships

• it was plated in metal which was unusual as ships of the time were usually wood

• March 9 1862, the Unions version of this ironclad ship the Monitor and the Merrimac had a 5 hour duel

• ended in a draw but the Monitor prevented the Confederates from breaking the U.S naval blockade

• turning point in naval warfare as ironclad ships replace wood

• Grant in the West

• Western Tennessee

• Union trying to take control over Mississippi

• lead by Ulysses S. Grant

• starting south in Illionis in early 1862, Grant used a combination of gunboats and army maneuvers to capture Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River (a branch of the mississippi river)

• 14,000 confederate soldiers were captured

• opened the state of Mississippi for attack

• later, a confederate army under Albert Johnson surprised Grant at Shiloh Tennessee but Union forced confederate to retreat after terrible( 23,000) losses on both sides

• Grants drive down the Mississippi was completed in April 1862 by the capture of New Orleans under naval officer David Farragut

Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy

• Confederate relied on Britain and Frances need for cotton to gain their support

• some wealthy British aristocrats also wanted to end the american democracy

• important for Union that Confederacy did not get any foreign support

• Trent Affair

• Britain came close to siding with Confederacy due to issue at sea

• Confederate diplomats James Mason and John Slidell were traveling to England on an English ship, the Trent

• US ships stopped them, removed Mason and Slidell and kept them as POW’s

• British threatened war if they were not released, Lincoln obliged

• Confederacy failed to be recognized by France or Britain

• Confederate Raiders

• British allowed Confederates to purchase warships from British shipyards

• did serious harm to US merchant ships

• the Alabama captured more than 60 vessels before it sunk off the coast of France by a Union warship

• after the war Britain agreed to pay US 15.5 million for damages caused by British built warships

• Failure in Cotton Diplomacy

• Europe did not need Southern cotton as they quickly obtained some from Egypt and India

• as well as using other textiles

• 2 reasons Britain did not recognize Confederacy:

  • Lee’s setbacks at Antietam

  • Emancipation Proclamation (January 1863) made the end of slavery an objective to the Union which appealed to Britain’s working class so while conservative leaders were sympathetic to the Confederacy they could not deny the majority of Britain

The Union Triumphs 1862-1865

• early 1863 fortunes were turning to the confederacy

• Confederate economy was struggling as planters lost control of their slave labor

• an increasing number of starving soldiers also deserted the army

Turning Point

• turning point happened in the first week of July when the Confederacy suffered 2 crushing defeats

• Vicksburg

• In the West, spring 1863, Union forces controlled New Orleans + most of the mississippi river

• Union almost had all of mississippi when Grant began to siege (he placing of an army around a fortified place or city to force it to surrender) the heavily fortified city of Vicksburg mississippi

• Union bombarded for 7 weeks until they surrounded the city and almost 29,000 soldiers on July 4

• federal control of mississippi cut off Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas

• Gettysburg

• in the East Lee took the offense in the by leading an army into Maryland and Pennsylvania

• hoped to destroy the Union army or captured a Union city to try and force the Union to call for peace

• July 1 1863 Confederates surprised Union at Gettysburg in Southern Pennsylvania

• most crucial battle of the war

• 50,000 casualties

• unsuccessful but famous charge led by George Pickett on Union forces that destroyed part of the confederate army

• Lee retreated and never returned

Grant in Command

• early 1864 Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies

• grant→ war by attrition (he action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.)

• wanted to destroy confederates line of supplies

• fighting for months meant Grants army suffered more casualties than Lee

• Succeeded tho in reducing his army in each battle and forcing it into a defensive line around Richmond

• become more like a modern total war not a small scale gentleman's war over land

• victory depended on undercutting civilian support for the opponent’s military

• Sherman’s March

• Veteran general William Tecumseh Sherman was a main player in Grants aggressive tactics to subdue the South

• Sherman lead a force of 1000,000 men and lead a force of destruction across the south, starting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, going through Georgia and ending in South Carolina

• a tactic of total war

• destroyed everything, burning cotton fields, barns and houses- everything the enemy needs to survive

• Sherman took Atlanta in September 1864 in time to help Lincoln’s re-election

• marched into Savannah in December and finished in Feb. 1865 by setting Columbia the capital of SC on fire

• was successful on its fronts of breaking the spirit of the confederacy and destroying its will to fight

The End of the War

• union blockade + Sherman’s march lead to mass destruction, and hunger throughout the winter 1864-65

• in Virgina Grant continued to outflank (move around the side of (an enemy) so as to outmaneuver them) until Lee’s lines collapsed around Petersburg resulting in the fall of Richmond on April 3 1865

• Surrender at Appomattox

• confederates tried to negotiate for peace but Lincoln would accept nothing less than restoring the union and Confederate pres. Jefferson Davis demanded nothing less than independence

• as Lee retreated to Richmound with less than 30,000 men his escape to the mountains was cut off and forced to surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia April 9 1865

• allowed Lees men to return home with their horses(very respectful)

• many long term changes

• america’s democracy? 4 million freed slaves? Impact of Lincolns changes?

Analysis Questions

• Confederacy had more victories in the first year.

• Improved technology such as ironclad ships and improved guns lead to bloodier battles and for long trusted tactics to change.

• Scotts plan likely wasn’t taken seriously at first as it treated the South as an opponent when many saw this as a quick war. They also could have seen it as too ambitious.

• Antietam prevented the Confederacy from receiving European aid as they retreated and made themselves look weak. The Emancipation Proclamation contributed to this as well as it appealed to the general British public therefore the government could not side against its people.

• Sherman’s March was the most significant in the Union’s victory as it corraded the will and the spirit of the confederacy not just the resources.

• I would say that both are true as Lincoln called for Sherman’s March so his word was extremely important.

5.9, Government Policies During the Civil War, pp 313-319

• Lincoln was very unprecedented, often acting without authorization or approval from congress

• ex. right after the fort sumter crisis he called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the insurrection in the confederacy

• authorized spending for a war

• suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus

The End of Slavery

• Though he spoke out about slavery he was hesitant to take action

• his concerns were

  • wanted to keep the support of border states

  • constitutional protections of slavery

  • racial prejudice of many Northerners

  • fear that premature action could be overturned in the next election

• were eventually freed as a result of military events, governmental policy and their own actions

Confiscation Acts

• early in the war (may 1861) several enslaved people escaped to the union lines

• general benjamin butler refused to return to them to their confederate owners arguing that there could benefit the confederacy

• they were contraband and he was not required to return them

• building on this congress passed 2 laws known as the confiscation acts

  • passed in august 1861, union army power to seize enemy property including enslaved people, used to wage war against the US, law empowered the pres. to use those freed in the union army in any capacity

  • law passed in july 1862 freed persons enslaved by any individual in rebellion against the United States

• bc of this many escaped to the union for freedom

• added pressure on the union to end slavery

• deprived the confederacy of badly needed laborers to grow food to avoid starvation

Emancipation Proclamation

• july 1862 Lincoln freed all slaves

• justified as military necessity

• worried it would alienate pro-slavery northerners

• also scared it might look desperate

• encouraged border states to plan for emancipation

• after confederates retreated at Antietman on September 22 1862

• Lincoln issued a warning on Januaray 1 1863 that all slaves would be free

• on January 1st 1863 he issued the emancipation proclamation

• Consequences

• only freed 1% of slaves

• enlarged the portion of the war by adding the weight of the confiscation acts

• by the end of the war hundred of thousand of enslaved people had found freedom from escaping to the union

African Americans in the War

• union had thousand of new rercuits

• 200,000 African Americans most who recently escaped served in the army and navy

• in all black units → Massachusetts 54 Regiment

• won the respect of white union soliders

• more than 37,000 died

Effects of the War on Civilian

• both during the war and the years after american society underwent deep and sometimes wrenching changes

Life…Political Change

• Republicans in majority in both senate and house

• northerners were split into several factions

  • radical republicans who demanded an end to slavery

  • free-soil republicans focused on economic opportunities for whites

  • most democrats supported war but criticized Lincolns conduct of it

  • some democrats called peace democrats or copperheads opposed the war and wanted to negotiate a peace deal

Civil Liberties

• Lincoln focused more on prosecuting the war than on protecting the constitutional rights

• 13,000 were arrested on suspicion of aiding the enemy but as Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus many were held without trial

• democrats accused him of tyranny

• only congress has this power

• after the war ex parte milligan (1866) a supreme court case said that the government had impropriety subjected civilians to military trials

• declared that procedures could only be used when regular civilian courts were unavailable

The Draft

• when volunteers ran out both sides set up a draft

• Unions was march 1863 Conscription Act made all men from ago 20 to 45 liable for military service

• could avoid by paying a 300$ fee

• fiercely opposed by poorer ppl who were mostly irish and german who feared that freed african americans would take their jobs while they were away

• july 1863 protests against the draft in NYC became riots against black residents

• 117 were killed before it was federally put down

The Election of 1864

• Democrats pres candidate was General George McClellan→ platform of calling for peace had wide appeal among millions of war-weary voters

• Republicans renamed their party the Unionist Party as a way to attract “War Democrats” who disagreed with the Democratic platform

• brief “ditch Lincoln” moment fizzled

• Republicans (Unionists) chose Lincoln as pres. candidate

• loyal war democrat Tennessee senator andrew johnson as vice pres.

Political Dominance in the North

• military union triumph came a clearer definition of the nature of the federal government

• old arguments of nullification and secession receded

• after civil war few people doubted the supremacy of the fed gov’t

• end of slavery advanced the democracy + inspired some around the world

Economic Change

• cost of war was staggering

• both men and money

• extrionardy measures by gov’t

Financing the War

• Union financed by borrowing 2.6 billion in federal bonds

• to gain funds congress raised tariffs, added excise taxes and the first income

• tax

• US treasury issued $430 million in paper currency called greenbacks not backed by gold, causing inflation

• northern costs rose 80%

• congress created a national banking system

Modernizing Northern Society

• war accelerated many aspects of a modern industrial economy

• war profiters made alot of money by selling shaddy goods at a high cost

• mostly ended when the fed gov’t took control of the contract process from the states

• millionaires were made who then went to finance the norths industrialization in the post-war years

• congress (republicans and pro business whigs) a program that was designed to stimulate industrial and commercial growth

Morrill Tariff Act

• raised tariffs to increase revenue + protect american manufacturers

• initiated a Republican program of high protective tariffs to help industrialists

Homestead Act

• promoted the settlement of the great plains by offering parcels of 160 acres of public land free to anyone that farmed that land for at least 5 years

• helped many white settlers but few african americans

Morrill Land Grant Act

• encouraged states to use the sale of federal land grants to found and maintain agricultural and technical colleges

• educated farmers, engineers and scientists

• also became centers of research and innovation

Pacific Railway Act

• authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad over a northern route

• this ordered the economies of cali and the western territories with eastern states

• 4 years of total war

• 750,000 human losses

• 15 billlion in war costs and property damages

• war acted as a catalyst to transform american into a complex industrial modern industrial society of capital, tech, national organizations and large corporations

Assassination of Lincoln

• assassinated April 14

• John Wilkes Booth

• embittered actor and confederate sympathizer

• on the same night a co conspirator attacked and wounded Secretary of State William Seward

• furious northerners

• grieved but the full effect was not understood til the issues of reconstruction

Analysis Questions

• The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the South but the 13th amendment made it a national policy

• African Americans were crucial to the success of the Union as they made up regiments of the army and as they escaped to the north they weakened the south.

• The Draft showed federal policies at the time as it reflected the determenice of the borth ot win the war.

• The Gettysburg Address was a turning point as it redinied the purpose of the war. It gave meaning to the thousands dead and brought freedom to the forefront of the war.

• The Homestead Act had effect beyond the war as it settled more Western land which helped to increase it’s economy. As well as increasing agriculture as people could only get the free land of they first farm it for 5 years. The Pacific Railways Act also worked to connect the entire country which connected their economies and societies which would continue to be beneficial even after the war.

5.10, Reconstruction, pp 320-331

• the end of the war left many questions

• how would the south rebuild

• what about the millions of now freed people

• should the south be treated as conquered enemy land or as if they never left

Post War Conditions

• people of Texas heard slaves were free June 19→ Juneteenth

• south was devastated by the war

• had lost 1/3 of its horse cattle and hogs

• chronic food shortages left people specifically african americans weak and susceptible to diseases

• regional political and economic difference from before the war still existed

• little economic care was given to black or white southerners as they believed they had to make their own way

• physical rebuilding was left to states

• federal gov’t focused on political

Reconstruction Plans of Lincoln and Johnson

• Lincoln believed that the states could not constitutionally leave so in turn they never did

• Johnson tried to carry out Lincolns plan

Lincoln’s Policies

• Lincoln believed that the South just needed to pass a minimum political loyalty test

• Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863)

  • full presidential pardon would be granted to most confederates who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and constution+ accepted emancipation

  • state government could be re established and recognized by US goc is 10% took a loyalty oath

• wanted each state to rewrite constitution to abolish slavery

• lenient to shorten war

• Wade-Davis Bill (1864)

  • required 50% of voters to take a loyalty oath

  • permitted only non-confederates to vote on a new state constitution

  • lincoln pocket vetoed

• Freedmen’s Bureau

  • created in March 1865

  • a welfare agency 'providing food water and medical aid for both black and white americans affected by the war

  • greatest success was in education

  • established 3,000 schools for freeded people

  • befroe federal funding was cut in 1870 200,000 African Americans were taught to read

Johnston and reconstruction

• only senator from a confederate state that remined loyal

• Southern Democrat

• white supremacist

• Johnston reconstruction policy

  • May 1865 issued his own reconstruction plan

    • disenfrancment of all former leaders and office holders in the confederacy and confederares with more than 20,000 dollars in taxable property

  • granted individual pardons to disloyal Southerners

  • used this escape clause for wealthy planters

  • due to this many former confederate leaders were back in office by fall 1865

Johnons’s Vetoes

• veoted 29 bills(more than all of the three presidents combined before him)

• Alienated even moderate Republicans with his veto of

  • a bill that increased the services and protection of the freedmen bureau

  • a civil rights bill rhat would nullify the black codes and guarentee citizenship and give full rights to African americans

• marked the end of the first round of reconstruction

• it included

  • restoring 11 sates to the union

  • ex-confederates returning to high offices

  • Southern states beginning to pass black codes

Congressional Reconstruction

• second round of reconstruction by spring 1866

• lead more by congress

• harsher on southern whites

• more supportive of freeded African Americans

Radical Republicans

• republicans had long been divided

  • moderates→ economic gain for the white middle class

  • radicals →civil rights of black citizens

• most were moderate but slowly became more radical as they feared the democrat party may regain strength due to black citizens now being counted towards the souths pop

• more strength in congress and electoral college

• leading radical in senate was mass’s Charles Sumner

• radicals tried to extend civil rights

• never fully implemented

• Thirteenth amendment

• abolished slavery

• needed bc laws not the constitution allowed it

• December 1865

• after Lincoln’s death

• 4 million people were freed

• 3.5 in the south .5 in border states

• Civil Rights Act of 1866

• nullified Dread Scott decision as it made all african americans citizens

• attempted to be a shield against black codes

• fearing that it could be repealed if democrats ever took power they made the 14 amendment

  • Fourteenth Amendment

    • birthright citizenship

    • naturalized persons were citizens

    • required states to protect and acknowledge the rights of all citizens

    • disqualified former confederate leaders from holding state or federal office

    • refused to recognize or pay the debts of the defeated govements of the confederacy

    • penalized a state if they kept any eligible persons from voting by reducing that states proportional representation in congress and the electoral college

• Report of the Joint Committee

• joint committee between house and senate

• denied reorganized confederate states representation in congress

• also said that congress not the president had the right to determine the conditions for reconstructed states to rejoin the union

• by this report congress rejected the presidential plan of reconstruction and promised to make their own plan which was embodied in the 14 amendment

• The Election of 1866

• Johnson could not work with congress

• decided to attack his opponents

• very racially prejudice + attacked in speeches that allowing african americans to become citizens would Africanize society

• Republicans counterattacked by saying he was a drunk and a traitor

• Republicans branded the democrats as a party of rebellion and treason

• Republicans had an overwhelming majority

• Reconstruction Acts of 1867

• over Johnson’s vetoes congress passed 3 reconstrucion acts that placed the south under military occupation

• divided the former confederacy into 5 military districts each under the control of the union

• required states to ratify 14th amendment and put protects into its state constitution to protect the right to vote of all men regardless of race

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• 1867→ congress passed the Tenure of Office Act(Over johnson’s veto) → prohibited the president from removing a federal officer or military commandeer without senate approval

• Congress wanted to protect radical republicans who were in the cabinet

• such as sectary of war Edwin Stanton who was in charge of military governments in the South

• Johnson challenged the constitutionality by dismissing Santon

• House responded by impeaching him

• first president to be impeache d

• chraged with “high crimes and misdemeanors”

• 1868 after a 3 month long senate trail they were one vote short of the 2/3 needed to remove him

Reforms After Grants Election

• due to the impeachment trail democrats nominated Horatio Seymour

Election of 1868

• republicans nominated war hero Ulysses S. Grant

• won only 300,000 more votes than his democrat opponent

• the 500,000 votes of black men won the election for Republicans

Fifteenth Amendment

• Republicans in 1869 worked to secure voting rights for african americans

• prohibited any state from denying or interupting a citizens right to vote based on race color or previous condition of servitude

• ratfied in 1870

• Civil Rights Act of 1875

• last civil rights reform passed by congress

• guaranteed equal accommodations like on trains

• prohibited courts from excluding african americans from juries

• poorly enforced

• due to a unrelenting south and a fear of loosing white voters reconstruction was given up on

Reconstruction in the South

• second round republicans dominated congress

• beginning of 1867 every republican controlled government was under the military protection of the army until Congress was satisfied with where the state was

• when this was reached the military would be withdrawn

• in some states this was one year in some it was 9

Composition of the Reconstruction Governments

• Everywhere but SC whites dominated the house and senate

• Scalawags and Carpetbaggers

• Scalawags→Southern Republicans

• Carpetbaggers→ carpetbaggers

• Southern whites who supported the republicans were usually former whigs who were interested in economic developments for their states and peace

• African American Legislators

• many took moderate postitions

• elective office

• 2 african americans sent to senate Blanche K Bruce and Hiram Revels

• many more to house

• Revels was elected in 1870 to take the Mississippi senate seat once held by Jefferson Davis

• seeing African Americans and former slaves in positions of power caused very bitter confederates

African Americans adjusting to freedom

• saw freedom as a way to escape white control

• founding of 100’s of independent african american churches

• black colleges such as Howard Atlanta Fisk and Morehouse were made

• many left the south

The North During Reconstruction

• postwar norths economy continued to be driven by the industrial revolution

• south struggled to reorganize labor system

• north focused on railroads, steel, labor problems and money

Greed and Corruption

• Rise of the Spoilsmen

• in the early 1870s Republican party leadership passed from reformers (Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade) at political manipulators such as Roscoe Conkling of New York and James Blaine of Maine

• patronage→ giving jobs and government favors to their supporters

• Corruption in Business and Government

• postwar was known for corrupt schemes

• 1869 Jay Gould and James Fisk obtained the help of president grants brother in law in a gold scheme

• before they were caught Gould made a hug profit

• Crédit Mobilier affair → insiders gave stock to influenceable members of congress so they would not look into the profits they were making

• Grants loyalty to dishonest men tarnished his presidency

• In new york city William Tweed the boss of the local democratic party masterminded dozens of schemes before helping himself and his cronies to 200 million dollars

• Thomas Nast exposed him

The Election of 1872

• scandals of Grants presidency drove republicans to select Horace Greeley

• The Liberal Republicans advocated civil-service reform, an end to railroad subsidies, withdrawal of troops from the South, reduced tariffs, and freer trade

• Grant was re elected in a landslide

The Panic of 1873

• . Over speculation by financiers and overbuilding by industry and railroads led to widespread business failures and depression

• mass job and home loss

• eastern bankers

• black southerners suffered the most

Women’s changing roles

• absence of men lead to them working farms to factory jobs

• military nurses

• after the war most urban women left their jobs

Womens Suffrage

• led to women wanting more rights

• many thought that 14 and 15 amendments were not only limited to men

• 1896 Wyoming Territory gave women the right to vote

Analysis Questions

• The Presidential Plans for Reconstruction reflected the belief that primary goal was to reunite the Union as every aspect focused on how confederate states could rejoin.

• The Congressional Reconstruction was more about racial equality as congress was trying to enact freedoms and protections that Johnsons would have completely disapproved of.

• The primary reason was to make former slaves citizens.

• This created conflict as now the Souths population grew almost 4 million and with that their power in congress.

• Radical Reconstruction illustrated the US as a compact political theory as re-enterng the union lies on the states themselves

• In post war South every single aspect of life changed while in post war North most stayed the same.

• The Panic allowed for Northern support in the south as then the northers felt the weight of the souths issues and they were effecting them.

• The 15th amdmenent was disappointing as it did not apply to women

5.11, Failure of Reconstruction, pp332-338

Lincolns Last Speech

• April 11 1865

• if he lived he likely would have been progressive or radical

Evaluating the Republican Record

• Republicans track record durning their brief control of southern politics

• Accomplishments

  • liberalized state constitutions in the south by providing universal male suffrage, property rights for women, debt relief and modern penal codes

  • promoted hospitals, asylums and homes for the disables

• Failures

  • curropt

  • not just them though

The End of Reconstruction

• During Grants second term Reconstruction entered a third stage

• Southern conservatives aka redeemers took control of one state gov after another

• all agreed on

  • states rights

  • reduced taxes and spending programs

  • white supremacy

• White Supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan

• founded by Nathaniel Bedford Forrest '

• Congress passed Force Acts of 1870 and 1871 to try to stop them

• Southern Governments

• 8 months after Johnson took office all 11 states qualified to rejoin

• none of their state constitutions extended voting rights to black americans

• Black Codes

• They could not rent land or nor borrow money to buy land

• they could not testify against Whites in court

• had to sign work agreements or they could be arrested

• african americans worked cotton fields under White supervision for deferred wages

• being convicted of even a minor or made up crime would be determental and would legally allow someone to be held in slavery

• Sharecropping

• trie to force freed people to sign labor contracts

• under sharecropping the landlord provided the seed and needed farm supplies in return for a share

• The Amnesty Act of 1872

• In 1872 Congress passed a general Amnesty Act that removed the last restrictions on ex-Confederates, except for the top leaders.

• allow Southern conservatives to vote for Democrats and thus to retake control of state governments.

• Election of 1876

• all troope pulled except from SC, Florida and Lousiana

• democrats in power in all confederate states

• Republicans nominated Rutherford B Hayes

• Democrats Samual J, Tilden

• Tilden was one electoral college vote away

• special commitee decided on Hayes

• The Compromise of 1877

• made a deal

• democrats would let hayes to be president if

  • immeiadly end federal support for the Republican in the south

  • support the building of a southern transcontential railroad

• fulfilled the compromise

• most of the south remained poor farmers

• looking westward by 187

Historical Reconstruction

• blame for too much equality

• illerate black citizens and corrupt northerns abused rights of white southerns

• Praise for Accomplishments

• historians in the 60’s and 70’s stressed the significane of the civil rights lesiglation

• northern humanitarian

• Blame For Too little equality

• not radical enough

• wanted military occupation for longer

• limits of reconstruction

Analysis Questions

• They should be renamed as the effect of their actions are still felt today and people continue to suffer

• Sharecropping was slightly better as it offered them the opportunity to gain land

• They did pull out too soon as right when they did the Democrats immeadity came back to power

• I agree that there was not enough equality as they tried to walk the line but failed

Topic 5.12, Comparison in Period 5

• manifest destiny → americans and how they viewed slavery

• expansion vs abolishment and both of there cultural, economic and regional interests

• distinct views on slavery continued through reconstruction

• A