Civil War Era Study Notes: Compromises, Slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction

Political Compromises prior to the Civil War

  • What is a compromise? A settlement in which opposing sides concede differences to resolve a dispute and move forward.

  • Two ways the U.S. acquired territory west of the Mississippi River:

    1. 18031803 — Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the U.S.

    2. 18481848 — Mexican Cession following the Mexican-American War, formalized by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

  • The major issue dividing the nation in new territories: the expansion of slavery into new territories and states.

  • Missouri Compromise (Compromise of 1820):

    • Maine admitted as a free state; Missouri admitted as a slave state.

    • Slavery prohibited above the line of latitude 36∘30′ N36^{\circ}30'\text{ N}.

  • Which states did not want a tariff on imports? The Southern states (opposed tariffs on imported goods).

  • Free vs Slave States: in what two years were there more free states than slave states, and how might this contribute to the outbreak of the Civil War?

    • Likely years: 18501850 and 18601860 (after California and other free-forces expanded influence); increasing free-state majorities intensified sectional tensions and debates over slavery in new territories.

  • Most controversial provision of the Compromise of 1850: the Fugitive Slave Act, which required the return of escaped slaves even in free states.

  • What did some states enact to prohibit this provision? Personal liberty laws and other anti‑kidnapping statutes in northern states.

Compromise of 1850 — Four Provisions (and context)

  • 1) California admitted as a free state.

  • 2) The territories of New Mexico and Utah would decide slavery by popular sovereignty.

  • 3) The federal government would assume the debts of Texas and settle boundaries with New Mexico.

  • 4) The Fugitive Slave Act strengthened the capture and return of runaway slaves (tension with free states).

  • Note: The Compromise also included provisions related to the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia; this is sometimes listed among the Compromise, but the four main provisions above cover the central elements.

Placard/Primary Source prompt (contextual note)

  • Cautionary placard directed at free Black communities in Boston about interactions with Watchmen and police — reflects the hostile, coercive atmosphere around abolitionist activity and slave-catching rhetoric in some locales.

  • Higher level prompt: interpret what this placard represents about race, law, and civil rights during this era.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) and its consequences

  • The act proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas:

    • Created two new territories: Kansas and Nebraska.

    • Repealed the Missouri Compromise's provision prohibiting slavery above the line of 36°30' N by allowing popular sovereignty in these territories.

  • Purpose: partly to facilitate construction of a transcontinental railroad with a northern route.

  • Key provisions and effects:

    • Popular sovereignty allowed residents to decide the status of slavery in Kansas and Nebraska.

    • Repeal of the Missouri Compromise opened new conflicts over slavery in these territories.

  • Impact and legacy:

    • Bleeding Kansas: violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions.

    • Political upheaval: contributed to the decline of the Whig Party and the rise of the Republican Party that opposed the expansion of slavery.

    • Increased sectionalism and pushed the nation closer to civil war.

  • National Archives note: the Kansas-Nebraska Act is widely seen as a major precursor to the Civil War due to its disruption of sectional balance and escalation of conflict over slavery.

The Election of 1860 and the Start of the Civil War

  • Party nominees for 1860:

    • Republican Party: Abraham Lincoln

    • Southern Democrats: John C. Breckinridge

    • Northern Democrats: Stephen A. Douglas

    • Constitutional Union: John Bell

  • John Brown raid (Virginia): seized the federal armory at Harpers Ferry to arm local enslaved people.

  • Reactions to John Brown's Raid:

    • North: mixed or supportive in some anti-slavery circles; saw Brown as a martyr in some narratives, while others condemned the violence.

    • South: alarm and fear of Northern abolitionist plots; escalated tensions.

  • How many Southern states voted for Lincoln? 00

  • If Lincoln won only 39%39\% of the popular vote, how did he win the election? He carried enough electoral votes from free states to reach a majority in the Electoral College, despite not winning a majority of the popular vote nationally.

  • Which states seceded after the election of Lincoln? The Deep South and others followed suit: South Carolina first, then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and additional states later.

  • The three S's that helped start the Civil War:

    1. Slavery

    2. States' rights

    3. Sectionalism

Primary Source: Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

  • Description of case: Dred Scott, a enslaved man, sued for freedom after living in free territory (Illinois) and free territory (Wisconsin).

  • Supreme Court ruling (Chief Justice Roger B. Taney):

    • Slaves, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens and could not sue in federal courts.

    • The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional; Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.

  • Aftermath notes: The decision was later overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments.

  • Questions to answer (from transcript):

    • What compromise did the Dred Scott decision declare unconstitutional? The Missouri Compromise.

    • Who was the Chief Justice, and what did he support? Roger B. Taney; he supported slavery protections and states' rights to permit slavery in the territories.

    • What does the decision say about black people as citizens? Black people, enslaved or free, were not citizens.

    • What two main rulings did the decision state about slavery? (1) Slaves are not citizens; (2) Congress cannot prohibit slavery in the territories.

Early Civil War Battles and Turning Points

  • Key focus: Union strategy and turning points of the war.

  • Secede definition: to break away from the United States (the Confederacy seceded from the Union).

  • Start of the Civil War: Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

  • Southern states seceded after Fort Sumter included Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

  • The Anaconda Plan (Winfield Scott): two main provisions

    1. A rigorous blockade of Confederate ports along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

    2. A thrust down the Mississippi River to cut the Confederacy in two and control its supply lines.

  • The bloodiest single day of the war: the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg).

  • Emancipation Proclamation: January 1, 1863; declared slaves in rebelling states free; did not apply to border states; allowed the recruitment of African Americans into the Union Army and Navy (approximately 180,000 African Americans served in the Union Army and 18,000 in the Navy by the war's end).

  • Slave-owning states not in rebellion: Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware (and other border states with slaves that did not join the Confederacy).

  • Major Union victory that gave control of the Mississippi River and completed the Anaconda Plan: Vicksburg, Mississippi.

  • Major turning point battle on northern soil where Lee could not recover: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1863).

  • The method of warfare affecting civilians and soldiers: Total war.

  • Surrender to end the Civil War: Appomattox Court House, Virginia, where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.

1861 Blockade and Emancipation context (primary source prompts)

  • When the blockade takes effect, ports blockaded include major Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports such as Charleston, Wilmington, Savannah, New Orleans, Mobile, and others along the coast.

  • The city that Scott says should be strongly occupied: New Orleans.

  • How the Emancipation Proclamation changed the war: shifted the war aims from preserving the Union to also ending slavery; authorized enlistment of Black soldiers.

  • What the proclamation authorized for African Americans: recruitment into the Union Army and Navy; many served in integrated units.

Freedman's Bureau cartoon analysis (primary source)

  • The Freedman's Bureau is depicted as an agency to keep Black people idle at the expense of white men, and the cartoon notes it was twice vetoed by the president but made law by Congress.

  • 8. Is the African American in the center portrayed positively or negatively? Negatively in this cartoon.

  • 9. What did President Johnson do to the Freedman's Bureau Bill twice? He vetoed the bill twice.

  • What are the white figures doing to the left of the cartoon? They are depicted as working and paying taxes; the cartoon implies a conflict over who bears the cost of Reconstruction.

  • Is the artist in favor of the Freedman's Bureau or against it? The cartoon argues against the Freedman's Bureau, portraying it as harmful to white labor and priorities.

Reconstruction era and its aftermath

  • Reconstruction Act of 1867: establishes military districts in the former Confederacy, requirements for readmission to representation (including new state constitutions with civil rights protections, ratification of the 14th Amendment, and suffrage provisions).

  • Who was the first African American in the U.S. Congress? Hiram Rhodes Revels (Senate, 1870). Note: Joseph Rainey was among the first Black members of the House (1870s).

  • Key terms:

    • Sharecropper: a tenant farmer who works land owned by someone else in exchange for a share of the crop; often left the worker in debt or dependence.

    • Debt peonage: a system where a worker is bound in servitude to the landowner due to unpaid debts.

  • What did sharecropping and debt peonage do to African Americans? They trapped many African Americans in cycles of debt and dependence, limiting economic and political mobility.

Black Codes and Jim Crow era

  • 5. What did the Southern states enact to keep African Americans from voting? Black Codes (early post‑Civil War restrictions on rights).

  • 6. What were the laws that replaced the Black Codes to enforce racial segregation in public spaces called? Jim Crow laws.

  • 7. Cartoon prompt: analyze the image labeled worse than slavery. Write a three‑sentence analysis explaining why the portrayal calls this system worse than slavery; consider clues in the imagery and captions.

Quick reference: key dates and facts (selected)

  • Missouri Compromise: 1820; line at 36∘30′ N36^{\circ}30'\text{ N}.

  • Compromise of 1850: California free; New Mexico and Utah via popular sovereignty; Texas debt resolution; Fugitive Slave Act strengthened.

  • Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1854; popular sovereignty; repealed Missouri Compromise; led to Bleeding Kansas.

  • Dred Scott v. Sandford: 1857; slaves not citizens; Congress cannot prohibit slavery in territories.

  • Lincoln elected: 1860; Lincoln carried no southern state votes; triggered secession.

  • Emancipation Proclamation: January 1, 1863; slaves in rebelling states declared free; allowed Black soldiers to serve.

  • Civil War turning points: Gettysburg (1863); Vicksburg (1863) gave control of the Mississippi.

  • End of Civil War: 1865; surrender at Appomattox Court House.

  • Reconstruction acts and era reforms: beginning in 1867; readmission requirements; 14th Amendment (1868) and 15th Amendment (1870s) later expanded civil rights and suffrage.

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