Untitled Flashcards Set

• Origins of Slavery in America

  • The creation of the Cotton Gin in 1794 greatly expanded the slave trade by making Cotton processing quick and profitable

  • The Southern economy was also based on exporting cotton meaning that the South was opposed to the placing of tariffs on any foreign goods, especially British ones, fearing that other countries might place tariffs on cotton.

• Conditions of Slavery in America

  • Slaves  were considered ‘property’ rather than as fellow humans by their owners. 

  • Slaves would work long days, 6 days a week.  They were provided a meager diet based on corn and pork.  

  • Floggings took place of slaves notably for not working fast enough.

  • Families could be broken up anytime 

  • It was illegal in most southern states to teach slaves to read or give them any other form of education.

• Abolitionist Arguments

  • Moral- Slavery is opposed to the ideals of freedom that America promotes

  • Religious- Slavery is opposed to the sanctity of human life found throughout the bible

  • Legal- Slavery restricts the rights and liberties of every enslaved person, despite the protections of these rights in the Constitution

  • Slavery was causing the South to not progress economically as it was entirely reliant on slavery

• Underground Railroad 

  • System of secret routes that enslaved people could follow toward freedom either in the Northern States and Canada or towards Mexico and the Caribbean in the South

  • There were safe houses along the way

  • Those who assisted in the Underground Railroad could be imprisoned if they were caught. 

• Missouri Compromise of 1820

  • There was an equal number of Slave and Free states

  • Missouri wants to become a state. Should it be slave or free?

  • Result:  Missouri becomes a slave state, Maine comes in as a free state and after this no new state can be a slave state if it is North of the 36°30’ line 

  • Hint- this will be a problem soon

• Nullification Crisis- 1832

  • Federal Government creates Tariff that South Carolina doesn’t want to enforce- They claim they can Nullify (ignore) the tariff

  • President Jackson forces them to pay

  • Eventually a compromise lowers the tariff

• Other States Rights Arguments

  • States didn’t want to accept any federal law that infringed on a State’s right to accept slavery

• Compromise of 1850

  • California comes in as a free state

  • A new Fugitive Slave Law will be written to address runaway slaves

  • There is a suggestion that from this point forward, new states will determine for themselves if they are Free or Slave states

• Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

  • Strengthens enforcement of Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

  • Federal government was responsible for returning fugitive slaves, even if they made it to the North

  • Punishes anyone assisting a fugitive slave

  • Paid judges twice as much money if they ruled that a person should be returned as opposed to if they said the person should be free

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

  • Kansas and Nebraska Territories will allow Popular their white residents to vote on if they accept or deny slavery- Sovereignty!

  • Leads to Bleeding Kansas, where opponents and supporters of slavery move to the territory (some just to illegally vote) and engage in many acts of violence against each other

• Dred Scott (1956 Notes

  • Dred Scott, a slave, is taken to Illinois and Wisconsin (Free States)

  • Scott argues he should be free

  • Supreme Court disagrees, says he is still a slave AND that Black folks do not have the same rights as white folks.

• Union vs. Confederacy 

Union Advantages

1. Large Population

2. Industrial Advantage

3. Better Railroads + Transportation

4. More $$$

5. Abundant Food

Confederacy Advantages

1. Motivated soldiers- Fighting to protect their own land

2. Knowledge of Terrain

3. Excellent Military Leadership

• Important Leaders

  • Abraham Lincoln- Genuinely wanted to keep the Union together. Believed slavery was wrong, but didn’t immediately end it. Not the most effective bureaucrat. 

  • Ulysses Grant - Union  General. Excellent military leader. Terrible politician. 

  • Jefferson Davis - President of the Confederacy. Really believes in necessity of slavery. Struggles to lead the south during the war (partially because Southerners don’t want a strong government).

  • Robert E. Lee- Confederate General. Skilled tactician, praised by his soldiers. Supported slavery.

• Important Battles

Fort Sumter

• First Battle of Civil War

• Confederates fire on Union base near Charleston, S.C.

Gettysburg

• Largest Battle ever fought on American Soil

• Union drive the confederates out of Pennsylvania and they NEVER make it back to Northern territory

Vicksburg

• General Grant engages a siege of the town of Vicksburg leading to the deaths of 30,000 confederates

• North gains control of Mississippi valley

• Role of Foreign Nations

  • The confederacy needed Britain much more than the Union (they sold Britain cotton and purchased British ships)

  • The Union blockades the South to prevent most ships from entering or leaving the south- Anaconda Plan

• Emancipation Proclamation Notes

  • Frees slaves in all states that seceded (obviously those states don’t listen)

  • Did NOT free slaves in states that did not secede (Maryland/Delaware/ Etc.)

  • Spurs slaves to revolt against owners and join the Union army because they know it will mean freedom

• Participation by African Americans

  • After emancipation, many freed slaves join the Union army in the South

  • Black soldiers fought in segregated units and were often given tedious, laborious tasks

  • After the war, the service of Black Americans convinced politicians to fight for the civil rights of Black Americans

• 13th Amendment

  • Abolishes Slavery Throughout the Union

  • Passes Congress Jan 31, 1865

  • Note- They did this without the southern states because they were not a part of the Union at that time

• Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction

  • 10% Plan- Forgives any confederate who takes a loyalty oath and once ten percent of a state take that oath, that state is readmitted to the union after re-establishing a state that bans slavery

  • Black Americans were not given any role in this plan

  • Congress denied this plan

• JOHNSON’S PLAN FOR RECONSTRUCTION

  • Allow Southern states back in if they get rid of slavery and get 10% to give loyalty oath

  • Only the highest ranking confederates were barred from holding office and even they could request a pardon fro Johnson

  • Super Lenient. Congress does NOT pass this

• Congressional Plans for Reconstruction

Wade Davis Bill

•  Over fifty percent of a confederate state needed to take a loyalty oath to be readmitted. 

• Guaranteed Black folks full equality in all states

• Passes Congress and Lincoln DIDN’T sign it

Reconstruction Act of 1867

• Divides southern states into districts overeen by military

• Forces states to create new state governments with the approval of Black citizens

• States MUST accept 14th Amendment to be Readmitted

• This passes when Congress overrides a Johnson Veto 

• 14th and 15th Amendments

  • 14th Amendment- Establishes that all people born in America are citizens regardless of the status of their parents (except Native Americans). Cannot deny any citizen “equal protection of the laws”

  • 15th Amendment- Cannot deny any citizen the right to vote due to race

• Southern Resistance to Reconstruction

  • Black Codes denied Black Americans equal rights in the South (no right to serve on juries or vote, etc).

  • Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan are created to restrict the rights of Black folks (they assaulted and lynched thousands of freedmen and supporters of civil rights

  • “Redeemers” try to reverse much of the progress made by Republicans

• Successes and Failures of Reconstruction

  • Successes

  • 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments forever changed the way race was seen in America AND gave more power to federal government to police the states when they infringe on people's rights

  • Failures

  • Freedmen’s Bureau, meant to establish schools and provide aid  for freed slaves in the South, never reached its full potential because it was unable to redistribute land to freedmen– Leads to sharecropping system

  • Johnson’s plan allowed Confederate states back into union without requiring significant change

  • Black codes existed throughout the South