Comprehensive Study Guide: The United States Civil War: Causes, Course, and Effects (1840-1877)

THE COTTON ECONOMY AND SLAVERY

The ‘Great Experiment’ and Economic Growth

• A People of Plenty: Historian David Potter described mid-nineteenth-century Americans as a "people of plenty." Gross national product (GNP) increased seven-fold and per capita income doubled between 1800 and 1850.

• Population Growth: Population doubled every 25 years ($17\,million$ in 1840 to $31\,million$ by 1860). This was driven by natural increase and large-scale immigration from Ireland and Germany.

• Western Expansion: By 1850, half of Americans lived west of the Appalachians. The 1840s saw settlement reaching California and Oregon.

• Technological Revolutions:
      * Agriculture: Food production increased four-fold (1840–1860) due to new machinery and scientific techniques.
      * Transport: Steamboats dominated the Mississippi. Railway track expanded from $3,000\,miles$ in 1840 to over $30,000\,miles$ in 1860.
      * Industry: Massive developments in textiles, coal, and iron mirrored Britain’s industrial revolution.

• Social Equality: Alexis de Tocqueville noted the absence of a feudal hierarchy. However, wealth was concentrated: the top $5\%$ of free adult males owned $53\%$ of the wealth.

• Women’s Status: Bound by the "cult of domesticity," women were socialized as home-makers. They lacked the vote and, in many states, property rights.

The "Peculiar Institution"

• King Cotton: Eli Whitney’s cotton gin (1793) made short-fibre cotton profitable. By 1860, cotton accounted for over $50\%$ of all US exports.

• Demographics of Slavery:
      * By 1860, there were nearly $4\,million$ slaves in the South.
      * Ownership was concentrated: only $1$ in $4$ white Southern families owned slaves by 1860.
      * $50\%$ of slaveholders owned fewer than five slaves, but over $50\%$ of slaves lived on plantations with over $20$ slaves.

• Slave Codes: Laws classified slaves as property, prohibiting them from leaving plantations without authorization, carrying weapons, or striking white persons.

• Free Blacks: Approximately $260,000$ lived in the South (often required to carry proof of freedom) and $200,000$ in the North (facing segregation and limited voting rights).

Adaptation and Resistance

• Conditioning: Stanley M. Elkins (1959) argued that the "closed" system created "Sambo" personalities (docility, infantile silliness). This is largely rejected by modern historians who see such traits as "ritual deference."

• Slave Domains: Slaves maintained their own culture through the slave family (a "zone of safety"), music/folktales (e.g., Br'er Rabbit), and religion.

• Resistance:
      * Revolts: Gabriel Prosser (1800), Denmark Vesey (1822), and Nat Turner (1831). Turner's was the only serious revolt, killing $55$ whites.
      * Underground Railroad: A system of safe houses (e.g., Levi Coffin, Harriet Tubman). It likely helped only a few hundred escapees per year.
      * Daily Resistance: Feigning illness, working slowly, and sabotage.

THE ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Problem of States’ Rights

• The Constitution: Established a federal system with divided powers. The Tenth Amendment was used by states' rights advocates to claim all non-enumerated powers belonged to states.

• Early Crises:
      * Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798): Asserted states could judge federal unconstitutionality.
      * Hartford Convention (1814): New England Federalists denounced Republican "imperialism."

• The Nullification Crisis (1828–1833):
      * Triggered by the "Tariff of Abominations" (1828), which prioritized Northern industry over Southern trade.
      * John C. Calhoun proposed the Doctrine of Nullification: a state could nullify unconstitutional federal acts.
      * Ended by the Compromise Tariff (1833) after President Jackson threatened force.

Sectionalism: North vs. South

• Economic Differences: The North was more industrial and urban ($25\%$ urban vs. South’s $10\%$). The North had twice the railway track.

• Southern Grievances: The South felt exploited by Northern credit, marketing, and transportation of Southern crops.

• Social Differences: The North was more responsive to reform (abolitionism, temperance). The South was more traditional, with high white illiteracy rates and a focus on personal honor (dueling).

• The Debate on Profitability:
      * Helper’s View: Hinton Rowan Helper argued slavery retarded Southern progress by depopulating cities and discouraging immigration.
      * Modern View: Most historians (Fogel, Engerman) argue slavery was an efficient, profitable, and growing economic system in the 1850s.

THE ABOLITIONIST DEBATE

Militant Abolitionism

• Early Efforts: The American Colonization Society (1816) sent some freed blacks to Liberia, but was largely unsuccessful.

• William Lloyd Garrison: Launched The Liberator (1831), demanding immediate abolition without compensation.

• American Anti-Slavery Society (AAS): Led by Garrison and Theodore Weld. By 1838, it had $250,000\,members$.

• Southern Response: Developed a "positive good" defense of slavery using the Bible, history, and pseudo-science. Many states restricted free speech and excluded "incendiary" literature.

The Impact of Western Expansion

• Missouri Compromise (1820): Admitted Missouri (slave) and Maine (free). Banned slavery in the Louisiana Purchase north of $36^{\circ}30'$.

• Texas: Won independence from Mexico (1836). Annexation was delayed until 1845 due to fear of expanding slavery.

• Mexican War (1846–1848): The US gained California and New Mexico. The Wilmot Proviso (1846), which sought to ban slavery in these new lands, ignited a sectional firestorm.

• 1850 Compromise:
      1. California admitted as a free state.
      2. Utah and New Mexico organized via "popular sovereignty."
      3. A stricter Fugitive Slave Act passed.
      4. Slave trade ended in Washington DC.
      5. Texas public debt ($10\,million$) assumed in exchange for surrendering land to New Mexico.

THE COMING OF WAR

The Failure of Compromise

• Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854): Stepen Douglas repealed the Missouri Compromise line, opting for popular sovereignty. This led to the collapse of the Whig Party and the rise of the Republican Party.

• "Bleeding Kansas": Rival governments (Lecompton and Topeka) led to civil strife. John Brown murdered five pro-slavers at Pottawatomie Creek.

• Dred Scott Decision (1857): The Supreme Court ruled that blacks were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

• John Brown’s Raid (1859): Attempted to trigger a slave revolt at Harper’s Ferry. He was executed, becoming a Northern martyr and Southern nightmare.

Election of 1860 and Secession

• The Election: Republican Abraham Lincoln won ($40\%$ popular vote, $180$ electoral votes) despite being excluded from Southern ballots.

• Secession Wave 1: South Carolina seceded in Dec 1860, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas by Feb 1861.

• Confederacy Established: Jefferson Davis was appointed President of the Confederate States of America (CSA) in Montgomery, Alabama.

• Fort Sumter (April 1861): Confederate forces fired on the Union-held fort in Charleston harbor. Lincoln called for $75,000\,troops$. This triggered the secession of the Upper South: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

UNION VERSUS CONFEDERACY: THE WAR

Resources and Military Strategy

• The "Big Battalions": The Union had $22\,million$ people vs. the CSA’s $9\,million$ ($3.5\,million$ being slaves). The North produced $97\%$ of firearms.

• Military Technology: The rifle-musket and minié ball shifted the advantage to the defense. Frontal assaults became suicidal.

• Naval War: The Union Navy established a blockade of the South. The CSA’s attempt to break it with ironclads (the Virginia) was countered by the Union Monitor.

The Conduct of the War

• Union Leadership: Lincoln grew into an effective leader despite initial military failures. He eventually found the "winning team" of Grant and Sherman.

• Confederate Leadership: Jefferson Davis struggled with states' rights advocates and economic management (inflation reached over $5,000\%$).

• Key Battles:
      * Antietam (1862): Bloodiest single day; led to the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
      * Gettysburg (1863): Turning point in the East; Lee’s last major invasion of the North.
      * Vicksburg (1863): Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold, cutting the CSA in two.
      * Atlanta/The March to the Sea (1864): Sherman destroyed Southern resources and morale.

• End of War: Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

RECONSTRUCTION AND EFFECTS

Emancipation and Legal Changes

• Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Freed slaves in rebel-held areas.

• Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Abolished slavery throughout the USA.

• Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Guaranteed equal protection and citizenship.

• Fifteenth Amendment (1870): Guaranteed voting rights regardless of race.

The Failure of Reconstruction

• Black Codes: Immediate Southern post-war laws restricted freedmen’s movement and labor.

• Congressional Reconstruction (1867): Divided the South into military districts and forced states to ratify the 14th Amendment.

• The Ku Klux Klan (KKK): Used terror and violence to suppress Republican and black political power.

• Redemption: By 1877, Southern Democrats recaptured state governments. The "Compromise of 1877" saw Union troops withdraw, effectively ending Reconstruction.

• Jim Crow Laws: From the 1890s, segregation was formalized. The Supreme Court legalized "separate but equal" in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

• Economic Outcome: Most freedmen became sharecroppers, trapped in a cycle of debt and cotton dependency.