Period Five: 1844-1877

how the nation expanded, events that led to southern secession and the civil war

manifest destiny

• manifest destiny: americans had a god-given right for land from atlantic to pacific

• natural resources – economic opportunities – provide land for religious refuge (eg. mormons) – american institutions are superior

• facilitated by legislation

• preemption acts: gave squatters the right to settle public lands and purchase them for low prices once the government put them up for sale

• gold rush: huge migrations

• southerners needed more arable land due to their depletion of soil in their homelands

• ostend manifesto (failure)

• recommendation that us offer spain $20 million for cuba

• ultimately unsuccessful, partially due to cuba's probable entry as a slave state

• gadsden purchase

• franklin pierce purchased new mexico + arizona from mexico for $10 million

the mexican-american war

• texas belonged to mexico, americans settled there → slavery was illegal, settlers must convert to catholicism; settlers rebel, becomes independent

• mexico warns us that this will lead to war but we’re like idc bitch bite me or smth

• disagreement over southern border → mexican-american war

• ended with treaty of guadalupe hidalgo: establishes southern border as rio grande, mexican cession → gain huge chunk of land in west (FAMILIARIZE)

• wilmot provisio: ban slavery in all this territory – ultimately struck down but indicative of growing tension created by westward expansion

attempts to resolve conflicts over the spread of slavery

• compromise of 1850: what to do on slavery in new territories?

• southerners: slavery protected constitutionally → missouri compromise can be extended to pacific, not just over louisiana purchase
  

• free soil (northern dems, whigs): all should be free territory
  

• popular sovereignty: people living in territories can decide for themselves
  

• california + new mexico apply as free states – threats from southern legislators to secede

• compromise (henry clay) divided mexican cession into parts that would decide for themselves, california would be admitted as a free state, slave trade outlawed in dc,
  
  stricter fugitive slave law
  

• absolutely bring back any fugitive slaves → causes biggest amount of contention

• not all northerners are abolitionists, just didn’t want to think about slavery but this would make it active → radicalizes many northerners

• kansas-nebraska act: nebraska territory divided in two, popular sovereignty (both above 36’30” line – missouri compromise)
  

• overturns missouri compromise which had had scriptural authority

• bleeding kansas – further division

• crittenden compromise (late-stage)

• policy that attempted to prevent civil war by offering a constitutional amendment by recognizing slavery in territories south of the 36'30" line, congressional noninterference with existing slave states, and compensation to the owners of fugitive slaves

• defeated by republicans

immigration

• mainly irish + german, kept cultures through ethnic enclaves

• irish mainly kept to urban areas whereas germans moved out west to farm

• nativist backlash

• nativism: native-born rights protected over immigrants

• anti-catholic movement → know-nothing party to limit immigrant cultural influence

policies + events leading to secession

• differences in labor economies

• north: paid industrial labor

• south: agricultural slave labor

• many northerners didn’t object to slavery from morality – undermines their ability to work for wages

• free soil movement emerges: expansion of slavery is incompatible with labor of free workers

• abolitionism

• underground railroad: helped enslaved people escape to the north

• uncle tom’s cabin: turned northern opinion against slavery morally

• constitutionality of slavery

• southerners: constitution protected slavery; 10 amendment (any law not dictated by federal government is passed to the states)

• combined with white supremacy – less human, fuels worldview

• dred scott decision: no real free/slave states anymore

• john brown’s raid on harpers ferry, virginia

• arm enslaved people + incite slave rebellion

• southerners fear that this is the view of all northerners

• political parties

• southern democratcs: protect slavery

• northern republicans (whigs, free soilers): contain slavery

the election of 1860 and southern secession

• if lincoln won, he would contain slavery rather than abolish it

• southern pov: free states would grow + gain a political majority

• southern secession preserve slavery, protect states’ rights over federal overreach

• the confederate states of america

• convention in south carolina voted unanimously to secede in 1860

• s carolina, georgia, florida, alabama, mississippi, louisiana, and texas

• confederacy formed in 1861

• president jefferson davis, vp alexander stephens

the civil war

• south in a better position – better generals, fighting a defensive war

• north prevailed because:

• greater population, urban manufacturing hubs

• possessed industry + banks (manufacturing)

• railroads

• lincoln → good leader, war to preserve union

1. shifts scope via emancipation proclamation – military tactic, frees all slaves in confederate states – war against slavery

2. south needs british aid to win, but they’d just gone through emancipation themselves; this shift prevents their aid

• devastated southern infrastructure

1. sherman’s march – scorched earth from atlanta to savannah

• battle of fort sumter → sc, april 12, 1861

• border states: delaware, maryland, missouri, kentucky

• pros/cons of both sides

• union pros

1. had to attack

2. bigger population

3. controlled economy

4. strong central government

• confederacy pros

1. had to defend

2. better generals

• battle of bull run → not going to be a short war

• union strategy: anaconda plan (choke out the south, naval blockade, control mississippi to split south)

• know union generals!

• emancipation proclamation

• january 1, 1863

• delayed until lincoln gained support of conservative northerners

• only applied to confederate states

reconstruction

• 13th amendment: abolished slavery

• 14th amendment: states must provide everyone within their borders equal protection under the law, citizenship for all naturalized citizens

• 15th amendment: voting rights to black men

• all men can (legally) vote

• south remained under occupation by federal soldiers to make sure these requirements are met

• southerners upset by this – republicans debate southern treatment

• conquered foes or long-lost family members?

• lincoln wants reconciliation but is soon assassinated

• andrew johnson becomes president, contended with radical republicans – punish south for the war

• congress-dominated reconstruction process

• wade-davis bill

• demanding terms for reentry into the union → majority of voters must take loyalty oath for state government to be accepted back, only non-confederates could vote for new state constitutions

• ultimate failure of reconstruction

• introduction of sharecropping (still agricultural): contract former slaves

• unlimited amounts of work, bound to work on plantation

• white supremacy: secret societies to terrorize black people into submission (eg. kkk)

• black codes: prevent black people from owning land, borrowing money, getting ahead in general

• plessy v ferguson: separate but equal facilities are legal (not equal at all)

• northern weariness – election of 1876, led to compromise of ‘77

• democrats allowed rutherford b hayes (republican) to be president in exchange for federal troops to be removed from the south

• freedmen's bureau

• organization run by the union army to care for + protect black people in the south following the civil war

• amnesty acts

• allowed confederate officials back into southern governments + allowed them to vote in elections