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UNIT 6. SECTIONAL CRISIS AND CIVIL WAR. WESTWARD EXPANSION AND SLAVERY. Mexican War (1846-1848) Wilmot Proviso (1846) would prohibit slavery in any territory secured from Mexico compromise ideas: extend the Missouri Compromise line “squatter sovereignty” Election of 1848
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UNIT 6 SECTIONAL CRISIS AND CIVIL WAR
WESTWARD EXPANSION AND SLAVERY • Mexican War (1846-1848) • Wilmot Proviso (1846) • would prohibit slavery in any territory secured from Mexico • compromise ideas: • extend the Missouri Compromise line • “squatter sovereignty” • Election of 1848 • each party attempts to avoid the slavery issue in the new territories • the party system began to break down • Free Soil Party (1848) • abolitionists and antislavery Whigs
COMPROMISE OF 1850 • Slavery and the new western territories: • Gold Rush (1849)—massive influx of people to California • December 1849—California submits application for statehood with a constitution prohibiting slavery • Taylor wants to resolve the issue on the local level but: • congressional opposition • heated issues between North and South • fugitive slave law • slave trade in Washington DC • Southern fear over power balance in Congress • 1850—MS calls for a states rights convention in Nashville to consider secession
COMPROMISE OF 1850 • January 1850—Henry Clay (73), Daniel Webster (68), John Calhoun (68) • fail to resolve conflict after six months of debate • June 1850—younger generation emerges • Stephen Douglas (D-ILL) (37) • breaks large will into smaller bills • passes each on individually
COMPROMISE OF 1850 • California admitted as a free state • no restrictions on slavery in the remaining Mexican territories • popular sovereignty—people of the territory decide whether to allow slavery or not • slave trade abolished in Washington DC • passage of a stronger fugitive slave law
REORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES • Compromise of 1850 • continued the breakdown of the Whig Party and the “southernization” of the Democratic Party • Election of 1852—“Conscience Whigs” defect to Free Soil Party • emergence of antislavery congressional leaders • northern resistance to fugitive slave laws • mob resistance • personal liberty laws • continued rise of Nativism • “Know-Nothing” Party
CONTINUING SECTIONAL TENSIONS (1850’S) • expansionism and continued sectional conflict • Ostend Manifesto (1854) • called Cuba a “natural part of the US” • US offers Spain to accept $120 million for Cuba • threatens US invasion if not accepted • Spain threatens to free and arm millions of slaves to defend Cuba • filibusters—private military expeditions directed at Cuba • rejected by Congress • abolitionists see it as evidence of the slave power conspiracy
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT (1854) • Transcontinental Railroad • Southerners favored a line from St. Louis, Memphis, or New Orleans to California • Gadsden Purchase (1853)—US purchases part tract of northern Mexico • Northerners favor a line from Chicago to California • Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) • Douglas introduces a bill that would create two territories, Nebraska and Kansas • popular sovereignty—people of the territory decide whether to allow slavery or not • repeals the Missouri Compromise
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT (1854) • Results: • destroys the Whig Party for good • transformed the Democratic Party into the Southern Party • leads to the formation of the antislavery Republican Party • antislavery Whigs, antislavery Democrats, and Free Soilers
BLEEDING KANSAS (1854-1861) • Kansas became ground zero in the battle over slavery • pro and anti-slavery settlers began pouring into Kansas • 1855—proslavery forces elect a majority of the legislature (Lecompton) • 1856—free-staters elect their own government (Lawrence) • state erupts in fighting between pro and antislavery forces • proslavery group burns headquarters of Lawrence government • Pottawatomie Massacre (John Brown) • caning of Charles Sumner by Rep. Preston Brooks (D-SC)
FREE SOIL, FREE LABOR IDEOLOGY • abolitionism had created some moral support for the injustice of slavery • most whites were most concerned with what slavery did to whites • free labor—defines American freedom as property ownership, small-scale capitalism • viewed the South as anti-democratic • rejects individualism and progressivism • “slave power conspiracy” to spread slavery threatened Northern freedom of labor and soil • becomes the ideological foundation of the Republican Party
PROSLAVERY IDEOLOGY • up until the early 1830’s, many white Southerners had reservations about slavery • by the mid-1830’s, an increaingly militant defense of slavery • slave rebellions (Nat Turner) • increased reliance on cotton • attacks by abolitionists (Garrison) • Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe) • blacks needed white guidance (paternalism) • slaves have a better standard of living than white northern labor • only means for the two races to live peaceably together • North viewed as corrupt and destructive • “northern” abolitionist conspiracy
FINAL STEPS TO CIVIL WAR (1857-1860) • Dred Scott v Sanford (1857) • Court’s decision: • Scott was not a legal citizen • slaves are not US citizens • slaves do not have constitutional rights • the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional • Congress had no authority to regulate slavery
FINAL STEPS TO CIVIL WAR (1857-1860) • The Impending Crisis of the South (Rowan Helper) • attacked the political economy of slavery and the planter aristocracy • small Southern farmers had no way of making a profitable living like those of the free soil North • warned of revolutionary violence by white non-slaveholders • led to panic and paranoia in both North and South
FINAL STEPS TO CIVIL WAR (1857-1860) • Continuing Crisis in Kansas • 1858—Congress had to choose between two different state governments and constitutions • one passes the House; rejected by the Senate • splits the Democratic Party into Northern and Southern branches
FINAL STEPS TO CIVIL WAR (1857-1860) Lincoln—Douglas Debates (1858) • Lincoln: • Founding Fathers had recognized the inconsistency between the Declaration and slavery • they had abolished the slave trade and abolished slavery in the north • accuses Democrats of: • conspiring to extend slavery into the free states and territories • denying free labor in the West • rejects black and white social equality • “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES (1858) • Douglas: • defends popular sovereignty • Founders recognized that slavery was a local institution • Freeport Doctrine • people of a territory could effectively exclude slavery by refusing to enact slave codes • accuses Republicans: • wanting to interfere with slavery in the South • advocating black and white social equality • little difference between discrimination toward blacks in the North and black slavery in the South
FINAL STEPS TO CIVIL WAR (1857-1860) • John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry (October 1859) • Brown concocts a plan to invade Virginia and arm its slaves by seizing the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry • financial support from “Secret Six” (Boston abolitionists, philanthropists, and clergy) • event impacted forces on both sides of the slavery issue: • Northern sympathy for Brown shocked the South more than the actual raid • played on Southern fears of slave rebellions
FINAL STEPS TO CIVIL WAR (1857-1860) • Election of 1860 • Abraham Lincoln (Republican) • antislavery • high tariffs • internal improvements • transcontinental railroad financed by the government • John Breckenridge (Southern Democrats) • Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrats) • Lincoln wins the presidency with a mere 40% of the popular vote
FINAL ATTEMPTS TO AVOID CIVIL WAR • Secession • South Carolina withdraws from the Union (December 20, 1860) • seven states secede before Lincoln even assumes office • Dec. 20, 1860—SC • Jan. 9, 1861—MS • Jan. 10, 1861—FL • Jan. 11, 1861—AL • Jan. 19, 1861—GA • Jan. 26, 1861—LA • Feb. 1, 1861—TX
FINAL ATTEMPTS TO AVOID WAR • upper southern states do not secede initially (VA, KY, TN, NC, ARK) • begin looking for some compromise to resolve the crisis • Crittenden Compromise • restore the Missouri Compromise line • guaranteed federal protection of slavery in all states and any future territories south of the line • federal government compensation to slaveowners for escaped slaves
THE CIVIL WAR:BEGINNINGS OF THE WAR • Ft. Sumter (South Carolina) • Lincoln sends naval ships with non-military supplies • April 12, 1861—firing on Ft. Sumter • April15—VA secedes, followed shortly by ARK, TN, and NC • four border slave states stay in the Union (KY, MD, DL, MZ) • Lincoln’s strategy • Anaconda strategy • pressure Virginia (Richmond) • seize control of the Mississippi River • lack of military readiness on both sides
THE FIGHTING BEGINS: FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN • First Battle of Bull Run(July 21, 1861) • (35,000 Union, 21,000 Confederate) • Results: • impact on northern and southern morale • dispelled notion of a quick and decisive war • destroyed Lincoln’s faith in his generals • first Confiscation Act (1861) • Union will confiscate any Southern property, including slaves • Union Army use of fugitive slave labor
MOBILIZATON: THE SOUTH • THE SOUTH • spring 1861 • eleven states have seceded • created the Confederate States of America • issues with Confederate government: • weak government system • single-party system • state sovereignty • economic issues
MOBILIZATON: THE SOUTH • MILITARY ADVANTAGES: • military experience of Confederate officer corps • Fighting to defend its own territory • did not have to conquer the North • did not have to destroy the Union’s industrial base • did not have to destroy the Union army • no need for occupation forces • short supply lines • “home field” advantage • friendly civilian population • availability of slave labor • rural, isolated societies
MOBILIZATON: THE SOUTH • MILITARY DISADVANTAGES: • inferior navy • lack of foreign support • much smaller population • lack of industrial strength • lack of financial resources
MOBILIZATION: THE NORTH • MILITARY ADVANTAGES: • naval superiority • larger population of fighting age men • large and expandable industrial base • large and growing financial resources
MOBILIZATION: THE NORTH • MILITARY DISADVANTAGES: • forced to fight offensively • forced to destroy the ability and will of the South to continue fighting • fighting on unfamiliar ground • hostile civilian population (seen as an occupier) • long supply lines • troops required for occupation and fighting
MILITARY STRATEGY AND TACTICS • The Confederacy • defend the political and territorial independence of the Confederacy • “dispersed defensive” strategy • fight long enough for northern public support to waver • force Union attacks at well-defended defensive positions • cause large Union casualty numbers
MILITARY STRATEGY AND TACTICS • The North • Phase I (1861) • inflict military defeats on Confederate army • establish Union control in border states • convince Southerners to change their course • Phase II (1861-1862) • conquer large expanses of Southern territory • by Spring 1862: • Union army has captured 50,000 square miles in TN and lower MS Valley • poised to capture Richmond
MILITARY STRATEGY AND TACTICS • Phase III (1863-64) • “unconditional surrender” • destroy the Confederate army • Vicksburg/Gettysburg-turning points • Phase IV (1864-1865) • “total war” • destroy the South’s capacity and willingness to wage war • wage war on Southern society • Sherman’s March to the Sea
TURNING POINT BATTLES • The Western Theater—Vicksburg (July 1863) • the fortress town had frustrated Union attempts at capture for months • Grant finally lays siege and ceaselessly bombards the town • starved Confederates into submission after two months • gave Union control of the Mississippi River • opened the Deep South for invasion (Sherman’s March)