Civil War Era and Antebellum South

The South and Slavery in the 1800s

  • Around 1800, the South shifted from tobacco to cotton production due to its profitability.
  • England had close ties with the South because of cotton.
  • Most Southerners did not own slaves because they were expensive.
  • Those who did own slaves typically had fewer than 10.
  • Only a small percentage of Southerners owned large plantations.

Economic Disparities and Dependence

  • The South produced approximately 50% of the world's cotton.
  • The South did not industrialize, which became a major problem.
  • Lack of industrialization led to no transportation infrastructure.
  • The South hoped for foreign support due to their dependence on slavery.

Perspectives on Labor

  • The South depended on enslaved labor, while the North relied on wage labor.
  • Northerners viewed their system as “wage slaves,” which, while exploitative, was not equivalent to slavery.

Influence of Literature

  • Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin significantly shifted public opinion, particularly in the North.
  • Abraham Lincoln reportedly said to Stowe, "You're the little lady that started this war.”

Geographic Distribution of Slavery

  • The Deep South had the highest concentration of slaves.
  • States like Little Rock, Tynote, and Louisiana faced continued issues related to civil rights.

The Underground Railroad

  • Harriet Tubman was a key figure, but not the only participant, in the Underground Railroad.
  • The Underground Railroad led to Canada due to the Fugitive Slave Laws.
  • During the day, escaping slaves sought refuge in churches and homes, traveling at night.

Slave Revolts

  • Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner led revolts.
  • Nat Turner's revolt was the most successful of its kind but resulted in stricter control over slave populations after the killing of women and children in Virginia.
  • The Amistad: Enslaved Africans seized control of the ship, and John Quincy Adams defended them in court, ultimately leading to their return to Africa.

American Colonization Society

  • The American Colonization Society aimed to send freed slaves to Liberia.
  • Monrovia, Liberia, was named after President Monroe.
  • Some freed slaves chose to emigrate, while others did not, leading to complexities in Liberian society.
  • American-born blacks developed a distinct culture that combined slave and West African traditions.

Political Tensions and Abolitionism

  • Frederick Douglass was a prominent abolitionist who wrote an autobiography.
  • The Gag Resolution suppressed discussion of slavery in Congress to prevent division.
  • Northern states had financial interests in Southern slavery through investments in banks and factories that used Southern cotton.
  • Henry Clay and Daniel Webster advocated for concessions to the South to preserve the Union.

Expansion and Statehood

  • The California Gold Rush led to rapid population growth in California.
  • California became a state as part of the Compromise of 1850.
  • Henry Clay's American System was adopted by the Whigs.
  • Daniel Webster's March 7th speech argued for appeasing the South to maintain the Union.

Compromise of 1850

  • California was admitted as a free state.
  • The remaining Mexican Cession territories were open to popular sovereignty.
  • The slave trade was prohibited in the District of Columbia.
  • A stricter Fugitive Slave Law was enacted, though Northern states passed personal liberty laws to undermine it.

Treaties and Territorial Ambitions

  • The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty initially prevented the U.S. and Britain from building a canal in Central America; later overturned by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, leading to the construction of the Panama Canal.
  • The Ostend Manifesto aimed to acquire Cuba and divide it into multiple states to increase Southern power in the Senate, House of Representatives, and Electoral College, but the plan was blocked by Northerners.

Cuba

  • The U.S. never officially obtained Cuba but had significant business interests there before the Cuban Revolution.
  • After Castro's takeover, relations deteriorated due to the lack of individual rights and civil liberties in Cuba, leading to sanctions.

Gadsden Purchase and Railroads

  • The Gadsden Purchase was intended to facilitate a southern railroad route, but the Civil War disrupted these plans.
  • Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act to enable a northern railroad, requiring Southern support.
  • To gain Southern support, the Kansas-Nebraska Act implemented popular sovereignty, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise.

Kansas-Nebraska Act and Political Realignment

  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the possibility of expanding slavery, angering the North.
  • Stephen Douglas needed Southern support to pass the Act, leading to the adoption of popular sovereignty.
  • The Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, upsetting the balance of interests.

Rise of the Republican Party

  • The Whig party collapsed due to disagreements over slavery.
  • The Democratic Party began to split into Northern and Southern factions.
  • The Republican Party emerged as an anti-slavery party, with Abraham Lincoln as a prominent leader.
  • The Know-Nothings and Free-Soilers also opposed slavery for various reasons, including moral objections and economic concerns about job competition.