Detailed Notes on Period Five: Slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction

Overview of Period Five

• Focuses on division over slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.
• Key Themes:
• Division over slavery shaped events and tensions during this era.
• Mexican American War shows expansion and subsequent territorial disputes regarding slavery.

Tensions Over Slavery

• Slavery is central to sectional tensions.
• Missouri Compromise (1820) addressed slavery in Louisiana Purchase but new territories from the Mexican Cession required new solutions.
• Introduction of popular sovereignty: people in territories decide on slavery rather than predetermined by Congress.

Legislation and Compromises

• 1850 Compromise viewed as the last major compromise failing to resolve tensions.
• End of compromises: leadership shifts with death of key figures (Henry Clay, Calhoun, Webster).
• Result: Increased sectional divisions leading to Civil War.

Long-Term Causes of Civil War

• Sectionalism, slavery, westward expansion, states' rights are intertwined.
• Northern economy is different: without slavery due to lack of agriculture.
• Southern economy increasingly dependent on slavery, creating deep ideological divides.

Breakdown of Compromises

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) repeals Missouri Compromise; introduces popular sovereignty fueling conflict (e.g., Bleeding Kansas).
• Dred Scott Decision (1857): Supreme Court rules slaves as property, further escalating tensions.
• Rise of radical abolitionists like John Brown and violent actions leading to heightened divisions.

Election of 1860 and Secession

• Lincoln elected, platform focused on preventing the expansion of slavery; did not propose abolishing it outright.
• Southern states react by seceding, culminating in the formation of the Confederacy.

Civil War Dynamics

• North advantages: larger population, more resources.
• South advantages: defensive strategy, experienced generals (e.g., Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson).
• Major battles: Turning point at Gettysburg and Vicksburg (1863).
• Emancipation Proclamation: Freed slaves in Confederate territories as a wartime measure.

Reconstruction Era

• Aims to reintegrate Southern states and address the aftermath of slavery.
• Three phases:
• Presidential Reconstruction
  • Led by Andrew Johnson, generally lenient towards the South.
• Congressional Reconstruction (Radical)
  • Radical Republicans seek to impose stricter measures on the South; include military oversight and civil rights legislation.
  • Rise of the KKK; amendments (13th, 14th, 15th) ratified.
• End of Reconstruction
  • North faces its own challenges, leading to withdrawal of military presence in the South by 1877.

Key Points for Review

• Causes of Civil War and effectiveness of compromises.
• Role of government during Reconstruction: Federal power expansion, especially under Lincoln.
• Major political events and characters influencing this period:
• Lincoln’s debates, Southern perceptions of Northern political movements, and the implications of the Civil War amendments.