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Wedges of Separation 1850-1860. Senator Stephen Douglas-Illinois. “There are eleven hundred coming from Platte County to vote and it that ain’t enough we can send five thousand-enough to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the Territory”-Senator David Atchinson Missouri. John Brown.
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“There are eleven hundred coming from Platte County to vote and it that ain’t enough we can send five thousand-enough to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the Territory”-Senator David AtchinsonMissouri
“Your little army, derided for its want of arms, derided for its lack of all the essential material of war, has met the grand army of the enemy, routed it at every point, and it now flies, inglorious in retreat before our victorious columns. We have taught them a lesson in their invasion of the sacred soil of Virginia.” Jefferson Davis (CSA) after 1st Bull Run
Crittenden Resolution • Passed by Congress July of 1861 • War is being fought to preserve the Union, not to end slavery. • Lincoln had stated as much in his First Inauguration Speech
First Confiscation Act-1862 • Any property being used to aid the Rebellion can be seized. • Example: slaves growing crops helps the Rebellion • Loophole: quit fighting and the South can keep its slaves.
Second Confiscation Act-1862 • All rebel property, regardless of its use, can be seized. • Loophole: quit fighting and keep the slaves.
Steps Toward Emancipation • March 1862-slaves who escape to Union lines will not be returned to owners. • April 1862-compensated emancipation $$$$ goes into effect for Washington DC. • June 1862-Territories are emancipated without compensation
Political consideration against Emancipation • Did not want to offend the border states a. Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland 2. Offend the racist element in the North a. Did not want freed slaves to take their jobs
“I would do it if I were not afraid that half the officers would fling down their arms and three more States would rise. “ Lincoln-summer 1861
Horace Greeley • Owner and editor of New York Tribune • Editorial-”Prayer of 20 Million” urging immediate emancipation.
Lincoln’s Response • “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery.” • Free none, free all, or free some and leave others enslaved. • This response reflected Lincoln’s official view, not as he stated his personal view of slavery.
What Lincoln needs, in 1862, is a victory in the Eastern Theater of the war to help the North see the connection between ending the war and ending slavery. • What victory leads to emancipation? • Antietam
Emancipation Proclamation • Issued September 22, 1862-five days after Antietam • All persons engaged in Rebellion as of January 1, 1863 will have their slaves freed. This justified emancipation for military reasons. • Loophole: if the South quits, they can keep their slaves.
King Cotton Diplomacy • An attempt to force Britain or France to recognize the Confederacy as a nation
Process • Create an artificial cotton shortage
Process • Create an artificial cotton shortage • Leads to higher unemployment in Britain & France
Process • Create an artificial cotton shortage • Leads to higher unemployment in Britain & France • Unemployment leads to an increase in social problems such crime, prostitution, etc. • These problems will force Britain and France to recognize the Confederacy and thus resume cotton shipments
Reasons for Failure • Egyptian cotton was abundant • European crop failures forced Europe to import Yankee wheat • British and French working classes willing to suffer if it meant the end of slavery in the United States.
