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The Divisive Politics of Slavery. I AM GRAY!. I AM BLUE!. The Industrial North. Industry and Immigration in the North Factories produced textiles, sewing machines, farm equipment, guns. Railroads ( 20,000 miles) was laid during the 1850’s.
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The Divisive Politics of Slavery I AM GRAY! I AM BLUE!
Industry and Immigration in the North • Factories produced textiles, sewing machines, farm equipment, guns. • Railroads (20,000 miles) was laid during the 1850’s. Railroads carried raw materials east and manufactured goods west. Chicago was a railway city that grew overnight due to the volume of goods and people arriving by railroad. They were more reliable than rivers or canals.
Telegraph wires strung along railroad tracks provided a network for communication for the North. • Immigrants from Europe entered the workforce • Mostly Irish and German • Many opposed slavery • Slave labor was in competition with people who worked for money. • It threatened to reduce the status of white workers who could not successfully compete with slaves.
The Antebellum South
Characteristics of the South • Primarily agrarian and rural society • Small Farms and Large Plantations • “King Cotton” * 1860 5 mil. bales a yr. (57% of total US exports) • 1/3 of the U.S. population lived in the South yet under 10% of all manufactured goods • Very slow development of industrialization • Lack of development in transportation system • Still using rivers/canals
Southern Society (1850) “Slavocracy”[plantation owners] 6,000,000 The “Plain Folk”[white farmers] Black Freemen 250,000 Black Slaves3,000,000 Total US Population 23,000,000(9,250,000 in the South = 40%)
Antebellum Southern Economy
Graniteville Textile Co. Founded in 1845, it was the South’s first attempt at industrialization in Richmond, VA
Slaves Picking Cotton Slaves Using the Cotton Gin
Changes in Cotton Production 1820 1860
The South's "Peculiar Institution"
Antebellum Southern Plantation Life
Slave Cabin Slave-Owning Population (1850)
Slavery in the Territories Provided, territory from that, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted. Congressmen David Wilmot(D-PA)
Senate Debates • Northerners wanted to abolish slavery in Washington D.C. • Southerners accused the North of failing to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. • Some Southerners began to threaten secession- or the formal withdrawl of a state from the Union. • WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT THE U.S. FROM BECOMING TWO NATIONS???
Compromise of 1850 • Henry Clay- “The Great Compromiser” • Wanted the North and South to come to a Compromise. • Had help from former rival, Daniel Webster • John C. Calhoun strongly opposed it. • He was a supporter of Popular Sovereignty- the state is subject to the will of its people.
Terms of the Compromise Pro-South
The Compromise is Adopted • The Senate rejected Henry Clay’s compromise. • He left Washington, discouraged. • Stephen A. Douglas picked up where Clay left off. • He unbundled the Compromise and passed each section individually. • This allowed Congressmen to chose.
Is the issue of slavery really settled? • President Taylor dies suddenly. • Millard Fillmore becomes President. • He supported the Compromise of 1850. • John C. Calhoun died too. • This allowed the South room to compromise. • It was eventually voted into law. • For the moment, the slavery issue was settled.
Reasons for the Civil War… so far… Slavery Underground Railroad Uncle Tom’s Cabin Kansas-Nebraska Act “Bleeding Kansas” Dred Scott Court Case
Lincoln-Douglas Debates “A House divided against itself, cannot stand.”
Stephen Douglas • Famous from the Compromise of 1850. • Leading candidate for President in 1860. • He believed in Popular Sovereignty. • He did not think slavery was immoral. • He did think it was not going to be used in the territories. • Seemed self-confident, pacing back and forth. • Pounded his fists to make points more dramatic. • He accused Lincoln of being an abolitionist and advocating racial equality.
Who is Lincoln? • He was a self-educated man. • He was known locally as a successful lawyer. • At first he was a Whig. He didn’t agree with the K-N Act and later switched to the Republican party. • Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of 7 open debates to be held throughout Illinois on the issue of slavery in the territories. • Lincoln was direct and used plain language. • Wanted legislation to outlaw slavery. • Believed slavery was immoral. • He tried to make Douglas look like a defender of slavery.
Freeport Doctrine • Lincoln asked Douglas a crucial question. • Could the settlers of a territory vote to exclude slavery before the territory became a state? • Dred Scott decision said NO. Territories couldn’t exclude slavery. • So, how did Popular Sovereignty make sense anymore? • Douglas said, “Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is supported by local police regulation. • He was basically saying that people could get around the Dred Scott decision. • Douglas won the Senate seat over Lincoln but his response further separated the North and South.
Harpers Ferry • John Brown • Came back on the scene • Ended all hopes of compromise between the North and South. • He agreed with slave uprisings. • Got money from Northern abolitionists. • Oct. 26, 1859, he led 21 men, black and white, into Harpers Ferry, Virginia. • He wanted to seize the federal arsenal, distribute the captured arms to slaves in the area so they could start uprisings. • He held 60 citizens hostage.
Harpers Ferry • Local troops killed 8 of Brown’s men. • Colonel Robert E. Lee took a detachment of marines down there. • They stormed the room where Brown and his men were, killed 2 more and captured Brown. • He was turned over to the state to be tried for treason. • He was hanged on Dec. 2, 1859. • The South feared the North was inciting and supporting slave uprisings.
Lincoln is Elected President 1860PresidentialElection √Abraham LincolnRepublican John BellConstitutional Union John C. BreckinridgeSouthern Democrat Stephen A. DouglasNorthern Democrat
Southern Secession • Lincoln’s victory convinced Southerners: • They lost their voice in the national government. • South Carolina was the first to secede. • December 20, 1860 • Southern states were now wanting complete independence from the federal gov’t. • Mississippi followed on January 9, 1861, and Florida the next day. • Within a few weeks, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
The Confederacy • On February 4, 1861, delegates from the states met in Montgomery, Alabama. • The formed the Confederacy or Confederate States of America. • They wrote their own Constitution but it protected and recognized slavery. • On February 9, Jefferson Davis was elected as President. • He was from Mississippi. • Alexander Stephens was vice-president from Georgia.
Fort Sumter • Confederate soldiers immediately began taking over courthouses, post offices, forts, etc. • The most important fort was South Carolina’s For Sumter. • On an island in Charleston Harbor. • Lincoln’s Dilemma • Should he reinforce the Fort? • If he evacuated the fort, then he would be treating the Confederacy as a legitimate nation and threat. • That would just anger the Republican Party, weaken his administration, and endanger the Union. • He decided not to do either one. He only sent food in for the men stationed there. • This made Jefferson Davis have to deal with the situation and become responsible for the outcome.
If Davis did nothing, then he would damage the image of the Confederacy as an independent nation. If he ordered an attack to take the fort, he would turn peaceful secession into a war. Davis chose war. 4:30 am on April 12, 1861, Confederate soldiers bombarded the fort with gunfire and cannons. The fort commander, Major Anderson surrendered.
The North united. Lincoln asked for volunteers in the army. The border states: Virginia was unwilling to fight against the Confederacy, so they joined them. Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina followed Virginia= 11 Part of Virginia separated into West Virginia. More Secession…
Lincoln’s Generals Joseph Hooker Winfield Scott Ulysses S. Grant Irwin McDowell George Meade George McClellan Ambrose Burnside George McClellan,Again!
The Confederate Generals “Stonewall” Jackson Nathan Bedford Forrest George Pickett Jeb Stuart James Longstreet Robert E. Lee