The Colonial Dream Is Challenged

1. The Colonial Dream Is Challenged • By 1763, the three colonial regions had developed a distinct way of living while having common bonds of religious freedom, a level of economic self-sufficiency, and political self-determination, i.e. representative government that protected individual freedoms. • From the colonists’ perspective, the British, nearly bankrupt from a war it fought (and won) against the French and her Indian allies from 1754-1763, were preventing them from living their dream. How? Through legislation in the 1760’s and 1770’s that raised taxes, suspended their legal rights, and prohibited dissent.

2. Colonial Dreams Are Redefined • In response to perceived injustices by the British, the colonists rebelled. From 1776-1781, a war against English authority was waged. Some historians have provided evidence that the American Revolutionary War was also a civil war in which “Loyalists” and “Patriots” contested each other’s motives. • In 1781, the former colonists emerged victorious in their fight against the oppressors. The first effort toward a national government failed from 1781-1789. In 1789, a convention was called by the “best of the best”. These men eventually crafted our Constitution, which governs our country. • From 1781-1820, the former colonists began to call themselves “Americans”. Political and economic institutions were created. A distinct culture was developing. The American Dream was indeed national in scope, but also regional in nature, as Northerners, Southerners, and Westerners sought to make their mark in society.

3. Nationalism Definition  Pride and patriotism in one’s country.

4. Sectionalism Definition  Loyalty to the interests of one’s own region or of a nation, rather than the nation as a whole. 1820’s – 1860  Differences in the American Dream emerged in three areas of the United States due to political, economic, and social issues.

5. ELI WHITNEY’S COTTON GIN(1793) • CAUSE  Cotton was profitable but not grown on a large scale because of the slow and difficult process of removing seeds. • EFFECT  Cotton production dramatically • increases in the South. Demand grows, profits • soar, and slavery is entrenched.

6. 1820’s American Colonization Society • In an effort to resolve the debate over slavery in the United States, a diverse group of anti-slavery activists founded this organization. • GOAL  Remove free and enslaved blacks and transport themback to Africa to end racial conflict. Liberia was a colonyformed on the west coast of Africa as a haven for slaves.

7. William Lloyd Garrison/Frederick Douglas • Garrison, a white newspaper editor, and Douglas, a literate runaway slave, formed a dynamic duo in the mid-1800’s. Each drove home the message that slavery was moral evil that must be immediately, but peacefully, abolished without compensation to plantation owners. Their opponents called them “radicals”.

8. David Walker • A free black man who earned a living as a shopkeeper in Boston’s thriving black community, he wrote “Appeal” (1829). Walker challenged the American Colonization Society’s position that free blacks ought to be transported back to Africa and Thomas Jefferson’s assertion of black inferiority. • He called for blacks to take charge of anti-slavery efforts and openly revolt if necessary.

9. Southern “Secessionist Doctrine” • The 10th Amendment gives states power to create their own legislation. In the mid-1800’s, the southern states asserted they could nullify, or void, federal laws interfered with their own laws. • If Congress refused to repeal that law in question, then the South was justified to leave the Union. Why? Because each state had individually agreed to abide by the Constitution; thus, they could “break this contract”.

10. CAUSE  Debate over the expansion of slavery RESULT  Maine admitted as a free state, Missouri admitted as a slave state. The 38-30 line marks the legitimacy of slavery. (N = free, S = slave) 1820 Missouri Compromise

11. Congressional Gag Rule • REASON  Congress in the 1830’s and 1840’s was concerned that passion over the slavery issue would result in conflict; therefore, no member of Congress was to propose legislation that promoted nor prevented it, especially since the Missouri Compro- mise was in place.

12. 1840’s Manifest Destiny "(It is) ..our manifest destiny to over spread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty.”  In 1845 these words were written by John O'Sullivan, a Democrat leader and editor of the New York newspaper The Morning Post. CAUSE  Westward migration RESULT  Led to war with Mexico in 1846 RESULT  Led to sectional debates over the status of slavery in acquired territory

13. Compromise Of 1850 CAUSE  Congressional and sectional dispute over whether to allow territories to legalize slavery RESULT  California admitted as a free state; Utah and New Mexico decides for itself if it will Allow slavery (popular sovereignty); stricter fugitive slave law

14. Fugitive Slave Act Required by Compromise of 1850. Under the law, runaway slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury or right to testify in court. Anyone helping a slave escape was jailed for 6 months and fined $1,000. Northerners were upset by the harshness of the new law and often helped hide fugitive slaves. For officials enforcing the law, it was more profitable for them to return a fugitive back to slavery. 5

15. Uncle Tom’s Cabin CAUSE Harriet Beecher Stowe published her influential novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabinto address the moral evils of slavery. EFFECT  Increasing numbers of Americans, in particular northerners, became distressed over this issue EFFECT  The South felt the book was an attack on their way of life. From their view, it falsely portrayed the slave owner-slave relationship.

16. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) • CAUSE  Increasing numbers of citizens wanted local control • over the slavery issue. • EFFECT  Repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed for “popular sovereignty”—citizens vote whether to legalize slavery.

18. John Brown/Harper’s Ferry (1859) • CAUSE  Influence by “God’s will”, he • organized a slave rebellion at Harpers • Ferry, Virginia by seizing weapons from a • federal arsenal. • RESULT  Brown and his followers were • was arrested, convicted, and hanged, • becoming martyrs of the anti-slavery • cause.

19. Abraham Lincoln wins the Election Of 1860in part because Democrats are split on the issue of slavery. The election leads South Carolina to secede from the Union, fearful of Lincoln’s intentions to abolish slavery despite his assertions to the contrary. Several southern states join South Carolina. The Civil War begins!