North and South - Civil War and Reconstruction Notes

1820: USA had 7.2 million inhabitants, including 1.2 million slaves.
Southern states defended slavery; Northern states, not needing slaves, had abolitionists seeking legal abolition.
Early 19th Century: Many Northern states abolished slavery within their borders.
1808: Congress banned the import of new slaves from Africa.
1820s: Politicians debated slavery; Missouri Compromise allowed slavery in Missouri and Arkansas but prohibited it elsewhere.
1830s: Arguments arose over import duties (tariffs).
- Northern states favored duties to protect industries.
- Southern states opposed duties, which raised prices on imported goods.
1850: California became a free state; Utah and New Mexico could decide on slavery.
- Fugitive Slave Act: Southerners could recapture escaped slaves; penalties for assisting slaves.
1854: Senator Stephen Douglas ended the Missouri Compromise.
1858: Pro-slavery forces gained ground.
- Dred Scott Case: Court denied citizenship to slaves in free states.
Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery.
February 1861: 11 Southern states seceded to form the Confederacy.

March 4, 1861: Lincoln became President, urging Southern states to remain in the Union.
April 12, 1861: Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, starting the Civil War.
Lincoln called for 75,000 troops.
Jefferson Davis sought Confederate fighters.
Union warships blockaded Southern ports.
The North had advantages: larger population (22 million vs. South's 9 million), more food crops, and greater manufacturing capacity.
The Union's main objective was to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital.
Key figures: Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson (Confederacy).
April 1862: The Union captured New Orleans.
September 1862: Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves in Confederate areas free starting January 1, 1863.
June 1863: Lee's advance into Pennsylvania was stopped.
1864: The South faced shortages of men, equipment, food, and money.
November 1864: General William T. Sherman marched through Georgia, destroying infrastructure.
1865: End of Civil War.
- Slavery abolished by the 13th Amendment.
- The United States confirmed as one indivisible nation.
- The Civil War resulted in 635,000 deaths.
- April 14, 1865: Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

1865: Andrew Johnson became President, addressing the reintegration of the defeated South.
- Southern whites resisted changes and equal rights for former slaves.
Black Codes: restricted rights for blacks (no voting, jury service, land ownership).
July 1866: Congress passed a Civil Rights Act and established the Freedmen’s Bureau to protect black rights.
14th Amendment: Granted full citizenship to blacks, including voting rights.
March 1867: Reconstruction Act placed Southern states under military rule.
Most Southern whites supported the Democratic Party.
Ku Klux Klan used violence against blacks.
1877: Reconstruction ended; federal troops withdrew from the South.
- White Democrats regained control.
- Poll taxes and grandfather clauses prevented black voting.
- Segregation laws enforced racial separation.
1890s: Approximately 150 blacks killed each year.
The 14th Amendment formed the basis for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.