Key Concept 5.2 — Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war. |
I. Ideological and economic differences over slavery produced an array of diverging responses from Americans in the North and the South. |
Fugitive Slave Laws and provision for popular sovereignty became controversial Fugitive Slave Laws - Southern slave owners could track down, capture, and enslave “fugitive” slaves who escaped to the North (and deny them right of trial by jury) Fugitive Slave Laws resisted by antislavery Northerners
Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Novel about the conflict between an enslaved man and the brutal white slave owner Southern ideology - slavery as a “positive good” - contrasted the condition of Northern wage workers with the familial bonds the could develop on plantations between salves and master Antislavery and proslavery literature polarized the nation even more - abolitionists concerned about slavery as a moral issue “Bleeding Kansas” - Slaveholders from Missouri set up homesteads to win control of the territory for the South Emigrant Aid Company - organized by Northern abolitionist and Free-Soilers - paid for the transportation of antislavery settlers to Kansas Fighting broke out between slavery and antislavery gorups - both groups created their own legislatures Proslavery forces killed two and destroyed homes and businesses in the free-soil town of Lawrence John Brown, abolitionist, attacked a proslavery farm killing five settlers
John Brown’s Raid of Harper’s Ferry - John Brown led a raid attempting to arm slaves in Virginia to start a slave revolt
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II. Debates over slavery came to dominate political discussion in the 1850s, culminating in the bitter election of 1860 and the secession of Southern states. |
Many Northerners who opposed westward expansion of slavery did not oppose slavery in the South Free-Soil Party advocated for preventing extension of slavery, free homesteads, and internal improvements Popular sovereignty - determining whether to allow The Compromise of 1850 - Proposed by Henry Clay to prevent political crisis with the need for law and order in the West California is a free state Utah and New Mexico decide on slavery issue through popular sovereignty Land dispute given to new territories in return for assuming Texas’s public debt Ban slave trade, permit whites to hold slaves Fugitive Slave Laws
California added to the North’s power Debate deepened the commitment of many Northerners to saving the Union from secession Kansas-Nebraska Act - Divide Nebraska territory into Kansas and Nebraska and allow settlers in each territory to decide whether to allow slavery or not Tensions over slavery divided Northern and Southern Democrates and broke apart the Whig party American Party/ Know-Nothing Party - opposition to Catholics and immigrants who were migrating in large numbers to Northern cities Formation of the Republican Party - Founded in 1854 as a direct reaction to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act - purpose was to oppose the spread of slavery in the territories - called for the repeal of Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Fugitive Slave Law Dred Scott decision - The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott who sued for his freedom for these reasons… Scott had no right to sue in a federal court because he was not constitutionally considered a citizen They considered slaves to be a form of property so Congress could not exclude slavery from any federal territory or deprive any person of property without due process of law Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional
Southern Democrats supported ruling and Northern Republicans were infuriated Supreme Courts ruled that all parts of western territories were open to slavery Northerners suspected the the Democratic party had planned the Dred Scott decision Induced thousands of former Democrats to vote Republican Lincoln-Douglas Debates - Lincoln emerged as a national figure and leading contender for the Republican presidential nominee Election of 1860 Northern and Southern Democrats held separate nominating conventions Southern Democratic platform called for the unrestricted extension of slavery in the territories and the annexation of Cuba Republican platform called for exclusion of slavery from territories, protective tariff, free land for homesteaders, and internal improvements to encourage western settlement Southern secessionists warned that if Lincoln was elected president their states would leave the Union Constitutional Union party - wanted to preserve the Union Results concluded that the populous free states had enough electoral votes to select a president without the need for a single electoral vote from the South
Secession of the Deep South - secessionists in South Carolina voted to secede - other states in the Deep South did the same Crittenden Compromise - John Crittenden proposed a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to hold slaver in all territories south of the 36th parallel
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Key Concept 5.3- The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested Reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights. |
The North’s greater manpower and industrial resources, the leadership of Abraham Lincoln and others, and the decision to emancipate slaves eventually led to the Union military victory over the Confederacy in the devastating Civil War.
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Fort Sumter united Northerners behind a patriotic fight to save the union During the war, Lincoln drew upon powers of commands in chief In Fort Sumter he calls for 75,000 volunteers, authorized spending on war, and suspended the privilege of writ of habeas corpus
Military & political goal: keeping the border states in the Union South’s reliance on cotton exports did not gain enough traction to gain the help of a foreign nation (Europe began finding alternative nations for imports and other options for textile production such as wool or linen) Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation appealed strongly to Britain’s working class - antislavery feelings of the British majority Confiscation Act empowered freed slaves to join the Union army Emancipation Proclamation gave Union shift in motivation & goal of war to ending slavery rather than just unification Early 1863 - Confederate economy in bad shape, soldiers deserting army Sherman marched through Georgia/ the South & destroyed infrastructure
Wartime Advantages Union population: 22 million, South population: 5.5 million Union population enhanced during the war by 800,000 immigrants Emancipation brought 180,000 African Americans to the Union army (in critical years of war)
Union controlled the majority of factories, railroads, and even farmland Union had a well-established central government, experienced politicians, and a strong popular base
Union Strategy Use Navy to blockade Southern ports Take control of the Mississippi River Train an army of 500,000 strong to conquer Richmond
Antietam Turning Point Union captured Vicksburg, Mississippi & took control of the length of the Mississippi River Union won the Battle of Gettysburg
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Reconstruction and the Civil War ended slavery, altered relationships between the states and the federal government, and led to debates over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women, and other minorities.
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Lincoln’s reconstruction plan centered around the idea that Southern states could not constitutionally leave the Union - viewed confederates as a disloyal minority 10% plan or Proclamation of Amnesty was fairly lenient Goal to reconstruct southern states so that unionists were in charge rather than secessionists Required rewriting of state constitutions
1864 - Congress passed Wade-Davis bill - 50% loyal oath Freedmen’s Bureau - acted as an early welfare agency for freed people Initial authority to resettle freed blacks on confiscated land in the South This land was given back when Johnson pardoned Confederate owners Greatest success in establishing schools
Johnson’s policies gave southern state governments ability to restrict rights of black people with their constitutions (didn’t expand voting rights and were able to more easily gain seats in Congress) Black Codes restricted rights and movement of former slaves Civil Rights Act of 1866 - pronounced all African Americans to be US citizens 14th amendment - all those born or naturalized in US were citizens - obligated citizens to respect rights of US citizens Reconstruction Acts of 1867 - divided south into military districts each under the control of the Union army 15th amendment - universal male suffrage Civil rights act of 1875 - equal accommodations in public places - law was poorly enforced Sharecropping offered little economic opportunity & became a new form of servitude
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