Unit 2 Notes 1: Causes of the Civil War US History – Hamer With Movie Clips from Ken Burns’ Civil War

America Before the Civil War

A Country Divided The South and North had completely different economies and societies. Write some differences between the North and South below:

A Country Divided North South Anti-Slavery movement “abolitionists” forms in the North South is mainly pro-slavery More industrialized (more factories) and smaller farms Plantation Economy (Grew Agricultural products for money) More urban (more people lived in cities) More rural (more people lived in the country)

All Night Forever – Slavery

All Night Forever – Slavery What images immediately struck you from this clip? What did they make you think? What does this clip tell you about the life of a slave? What invention helped to make slavery more profitable for the South?

Territorial Expansion and The Missouri Compromise As America grew, the space of the original 13 colonies quickly became too small. Americans soon began to move westward and form new territories. (keep in mind that at this time Ohio was west) This move west caused people to debate whether or not slavery should exist in these new territories. This debate pitted the South (pro- slavery) against the North (anti-slavery).

Territorial Expansion and The Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 to govern whether or not new states would allow slavery or not. Every new state north of the Missouri Compromise line would be free and those south of it would be slave states.

The Missouri Compromise

Popular Sovereignty The debate over slavery in the territories was settled until the Mexican American War. During this war, America took Texas from Mexico and made it a state. Mexico had outlawed slavery so there was no slavery in Texas before the U.S. took it, but since it was south of the Missouri Compromise line, it would become a slave state according to the law.

Popular Sovereignty As more congressmen began to fight over this issue, some people began to propose the idea of popular sovereignty. Under this idea those living in a territory could vote on whether or not it would be slave or free when it became a state.

Popular Sovereignty The issue of slavery in the territories became even more important as the population of California rapidly increased after the gold rush (1848). Under popular sovereignty, California had chosen to be a free state when it applied for statehood (1850). Southerners were angry because California was south of the Missouri Compromise line and they assumed that California would be a slave state.

The Compromise of 1850 Henry Clay, who worked on the Missouri Compromise, and Daniel Webster worked to form a new compromise that would please both pro and anti slavery forces. After much arguing, the Compromise of 1850 was passed. The Compromise of 1850 included many provisions, the most important of these were:

The Compromise of 1850 California was admitted as a free state (pleased the Northerners) A new and tougher fugitive slave law was passed to capture runaway slaves (pleased the South) Popular Sovereignty would decide whether or not new states in the Southwest would be slave or free (pleased both)

Compromise of 1850

The Issue of Slavery Not only were people interested in the issue of slavery in the territories, many were also concerned about the existence of slavery anywhere. Those who wanted to put an end to slavery and free all slaves were known as abolitionists (they wanted to abolish slavery).

The Issue of Slavery After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in the Compromise of 1850, many abolitionists worked even harder to fight slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act severely punished those assisting runaway slaves and said that those accused of being fugitive slaves could not have a trial by jury.

Fugitive Slave Act

The Issue of Slavery Many abolitionists were angry at the passage of this law and worked to help slaves escape from the South. Runaway slaves were often smuggled from house to house and hidden away in secret rooms until it was safe for them to travel at night. The network of those helping runaway slaves to escape to the north was called The Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad

The Issue of Slavery Harriet Tubman was a runaway slave that returned to the south 19 times to free other slaves, including her parents.

The Issue of Slavery Other abolitionists fought with different methods – Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a novel called Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This was a fictional piece that portrayed the brutality of slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin gave people in the North (where there were no slaves) an opportunity to “see” slavery through the eyes of the story’s characters. This book caused many people to join the abolitionists and fight against slavery.

Are we Free? – Abolitionists

Are we Free? – Abolitionists What leaders helped to inspire the abolition movement? Frederick Douglass calls himself a thief. Why? What is the difference between the North and South bank of the Ohio River? Why? The attack of a northern, white abolitionist caused Northerners to worry about what?

How Railroads Caused the Civil War – The Kansas Nebraska Act The U.S. was looking to install a transcontinental railroad. This would improve the country’s ability to ship goods all the way across the continent. Stephen Douglas, a senator from Illinois, wanted the railroad to go through Chicago. Some of the area west of Illinois was still unorganized territory, so Douglas proposed a bill to organize this area, which would then allow a railroad to pass through it.

How Railroads Caused the Civil War – The Kansas Nebraska Act Douglas’ bill – the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and repealed the Missouri Compromise. Now people would decide through popular sovereignty whether or not these would be slave or free states. By enacting the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the stage was set for a battle between pro and anti- slavery forces.

Kansas Nebraska Act

Violence Erupts Bleeding Kansas Pro and Anti-slave forces flooded into Kansas to try and win the vote on slavery for the territory. In 1855 the area had enough people to vote for a territorial government. Thousands of pro-slavery people from Missouri raced into Kansas on Election Day and illegally won the election for the pro-slavery forces

Violence Erupts The election was obviously illegal, but the legislature decided to rectify the problem on their own by insisting that Kansas be a free state. Those opposed to this set up a second government – by 1856 there were two illegal governments trying to govern Kansas.

Violence Erupts In May of 1856, pro-slavery forces attacked the town of Lawrence and destroyed the free-state governor’s home – one abolitionist was killed in this attack. This angered anti-slavery people and a man named John Brown took his sons and other followers to a pro-slavery settlement where they hacked 5 men to death in front of their families. Battles and skirmishes between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces continued through the fall. In 1856, 200 were killed and $2 million in property was destroyed by these skirmishes.

Violence Erupts Violence in the Senate Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech about pro-slavery forces swinging the election and attacking Kansas in May of 1856. He personally attacked a pro-slavery senator from South Carolina – Butler. Butler’s cousin (Preston Brooks) was infuriated by this verbal attack and beat Sumner into unconsciousness with his cane in the middle of the Senate floor.

Violence Erupts Sumner, who never fully recovered from the attack, became a martyr for the North while Southerners applauded Brooks violence against abolitionists.

Sections Divide The Dred Scott Case In 1857, the Supreme Court decided a case that had been before it for years. Dred Scott was a slave whose master had taken him from the slave state of Missouri, to the free state of Illinois, the free territory of Wisconsin, and then back again to Missouri. Scott tried to appeal for his freedom under the grounds that he had spent time in free territory and was therefore free.

Sections Divide The Supreme Court decided that Scott was NOT free under two concepts: Scott was not a citizen of the United States (because he was a slave) and therefore could not petition the court for a trial. Since Scott was property and the 5th amendment protected property, Scott’s master was protected when he traveled to free territory.

Sections Divide This created an uproar among the pro and anti-slavery forces.: Pro-Slavery forces were thrilled since this court ruling basically destroyed the Missouri Compromise and said that the government (state or federal) could not ban slavery anywhere. Anti-Slavery forces were convinced that the Court intentionally made this decision to support slavery since most of the Court’s members were from the South.

A House Divided

A House Divided – Tensions Rise Why do you think Lincoln called for slavery’s restriction instead of its abolition? What did the Chief Justice say about slaves in the Dred Scott Case according to the clip? What did Lincoln mean when he said he would rather live in Russia

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Months after the Dred Scott decision, Illinois was electing a Senator for the 1858 election. Two-term Senator Stephen Douglas was running on the Democratic ticket. His challenger was a young, little-known Republican named Abraham Lincoln. Since Lincoln knew that Douglas had more prestige and name recognition, he challenged Douglas to a series of debates in the hopes that these debates would educate the public about Lincoln’s ideas.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Both men argued that slavery should be kept out of the territories, but Douglas insisted that popular sovereignty was still the way to cause this to happen. Lincoln countered by pointing out that the Dred Scott decision had prevented popular sovereignty from keeping slavery out of the territories. Lincoln also stated that he believed that slavery was an immoral institution.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Douglas got around Lincoln’s arguments by stating that Free-Soilers in the territories could elect legislators that would not enforce pro-slavery laws. This sentiment worked to further divide the Democratic Party between pro and anti-slavery.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Even though Douglas won this election, the Republicans noticed Lincoln’s anti-slavery ideas and began to think about him running for President in 1860.

Political Parties Whigs – The Whigs were a national party that began to tear apart in the years leading up to the Civil War. They had no specific party platform and southerners began to leave in search of a pro-Union, pro-slavery party. Those in the North also drifted into many of the newer parties of the era.

Political Parties The Liberty Party – This was a minor party formed during the 1840’s that sought to abolish slavery.

Political Parties The Free Soilers – This party was made of Northerners that opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories. They were not necessarily abolitionists though, many saw slavery as competition for working class whites.

Political Parties The New Republican Party – The Republicans were the final culmination of the parties that wanted to keep slavery out of the territories – and the only truly successful one. The Republicans ran John C. Fremont (“free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont”), but lost to Buchanan (D). In 1860, the Republicans ran Abraham Lincoln and won.

Political Parties Democrats – At this time, the Democrats were a successful national party that became regionally divided over the issue of slavery and secession.

Panic of 1857 America began a 2-year economic depression in August of 1857. It was caused by a combination of factors, including an overabundance of manufactured goods without enough demand for them

Panic of 1857 The South did better than the North as the world market for cotton remained relatively stable. This supported the South’s feelings that cotton was critical to the world market and that the slave system was more efficient than the factory system in the North.

Harpers Ferry - John Brown’s last fight As the economy got back on its feet in 1859, John Brown took another stand against slavery. This time he and 21 followers raided a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, VA. He wanted to arm his followers and other slaves to start a slave uprising.

Harpers Ferry - John Brown’s last fight The group was trapped in the arsenal by federal troops and captured the next day. Two of Brown’s sons were killed and Brown himself was hung for treason.

Harpers Ferry – John Brown’s last fight The South began to think of all Republicans as abolitionists that wanted to free all slaves. Those against slavery saw Brown as a hero.

The Meteor – John Brown and Harper’s Ferry

The Meteor – John Brown and Harper’s Ferry Do you think there is any way that John Brown’s plan would have worked? Why did he try it? How did this one event push America towards the Civil War so much? Douglass says that he would have lived to help the slaves, but Brown died to help them. Which is more effective for your cause? Why?

The Beginning of the End During the 1860 Presidential Election, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. He pledged to stop the spread of slavery into the territories, but also promised to not interfere with slavery in the South. The South did not find this comforting and most saw Lincoln as the enemy.

The Beginning of the End Even though he did not even appear on the ballot in many Southern states, Lincoln won the election. Many southerners saw this Republican victory as a sign that they had lost their political voice in the national government.

The Beginning of the End South Carolina was the first to secede on December 20, 1860. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas soon followed and the Confederate States of America were formed with their capital in Montgomery, Alabama. Secede: When a state or states decide to leave the country

Secession

Seccessionitis – The South Leaves the Union

Seccessionitis – The South Leaves the Union How could Lincoln have won an election with less than a majority of the votes? What did the Southerners think the election of Lincoln meant? What historical American event did some Southerners liken their secession to? Why did they think this was legitimate? What were the differences between Lincoln and Davis?