Slavery and Abolitionists American Civil War
Slavery
Slavery Expands The spread of plantations and the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney led to the expansion of slavery Cotton production rose greatly, making slavery an important source of labor The expansion of slavery had a major impact on the South’s economy
Slavery Divides the South Slavery divided Southerners into who owned slaves and who did not Slaveholders on plantations were wealthy, but rare Only about 1/3 of white families owned slaves in 1840 Most white Southern farmers owned few or no slaves but still supported slavery, hoping to work hard enough to own some someday
African Americans in the South Enslaved African Americans made up 1/3 of the South’s population in 1840 Some slaves worked as domestic servants, craftsmen, and laborers in cities Free Blacks faced problems Some states made them leave Could not vote or get an education Might be captured and sold into slavery
The Case of Dred Scott The split in the country was made worse by the case of Dred Scott Scott had been a slave in Missouri His owner took him to territories where slavery was illegal, then returned to Missouri His owner died and Scott sued for his freedom
The Case of Dred Scott His case, Dred Scott v. Sanford, reached the Supreme Court in 1856 In 1857, Chief Justice Roger Taney and the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott, saying he, as a slave, was not a U.S. citizen and couldn’t sue in court. Taney also argued that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories
Slave Rebellions Armed rebellion was an extreme form of resistance to slavery The most famous rebellion was led by Nat Turner on August 21, 1831, killing 55 white men, women, and children Turner was caught, tried, and hanged The rebellion spread fear and led to stricter laws against free blacks The grip of slavery grew tighter and tension increased between the North and the South
Abolitionists
Abolitionists Call for Ending Slavery Abolition (the movement to end slavery), began in the late 1700s Two moving abolitionist speakers, Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, spoke from their own experience of slavery People doubted Douglass’s authenticity, so he published an autobiography about his experiences Sojourner Truth fled her owners and was freed by the Quakers. She then changed her name to Sojourner Truth to reflect her life’s work
The Underground Railroad Some abolitionists helped slaves escape freedom along the Underground Railroad It was actually an aboveground series of escape routes from the South to the North Runaways usually traveled by night and hid by day in places called “stations” One famous conductor was Harriet Tubman She made 19 dangerous journeys to free enslaved people
Antislavery and Racism The issue of slavery caused tension between the North and the South In the North, the antislavery movement had been growing since the 1830s Some Northern workers opposed slavery because it was an economic threat to them, since the slaves worked for free Despite their opposition to slavery, most Northerners, even abolitionists, were racist by modern standards Slaveholders defended slavery with several arguments
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe was enraged by the Fugitive Slave Act of the Compromise of 1850 It motivated her to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 Dramatically portrayed the moral issues of slavery
John Brown Attacks Harpers Ferry John Brown added to sectional tensions in 1859 Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom To do this, he planned to capture the weapons in the U.S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia
John Brown Attacks Harpers Ferry On October 16, 1859 Brown and 18 followers-13 whites and 5 blacks-captured the Harpers Ferry arsenal Four people were killed in the raid Brown sent out word to rally and arm slaves, but none came U.S. Marines attacked and captured Brown, who was tried for murder and treason, then hanged