The Civil War’s Approach

1. The Civil War’s Approach 1848-1861

2. Philosophies Regarding Slavery • Constitutional Protectionism • Slavery protected by the Constitution and, therefore, must be allowed everywhere in US • John C. Calhoun and other staunch supporters of slavery

3. Philosophies Regarding Slavery • Free Soil • No expansion of slavery into new territories • Slavery should continue to be allowed where it already exists • GOAL: slow decline of slavery over time • Lincoln, Wilmot, Seward, etc.

4. Philosophies Regarding Slavery • Abolition • Either gradual or immediate • This position was taken by a minority (albeit a vocal one) of those who opposed slavery

5. Philosophies Regarding Slavery • Popular Sovereignty -- residents of state/territory vote to decide whether or not to allow slavery -- Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas -- thought, by its proponents, to be the perfect compromise

6. Wilmot Proviso (1846) • Added by Congressman David Wilmot to a Mexican War appropriations bill • Declared “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in territories acquired from Mexico • Free Soil!

7. California (1850) • With its population growing rapidly due to the Gold Rush, California applied for statehood in 1850. • What was the problem? . . . Admission of California as a free state would give free states a 16-15 advantage.

8. Compromise of 1850 • CA a Free State • Popular Sovereignty to decide slave status of New Mexico and Utah Territories • Slave Trade outlawed in DC • Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 • New, stronger fugitive slave law • Required Northerners to hunt down and return runaway slaves • Denied suspected runaways a jury trial

9. Architects of the Compromise of 1850 • Henry Clay, not surprisingly, put together the elaborate compromise, but . . . . . . he then died. Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas skillfully ushered it through the Congress.

11. Reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act • Anti-slavery Northerners were outraged! • They believed the act was a deliberate effort to implicate them in the evilof slavery. It brought the crisis to their own, free states. • Southerners were equally appalled by the Northern reaction since they believed arrogant, self-righteous Northerners were trying to imposetheir values on them. • A compromise that was supposed to solve the problem of slavery only intensified differences and the slavery debate!

12. Reaction to the Fugitive Slave Act

13. Subverting the System • Some anti-slavery Northerners put themselves at risk by sheltering runaway slaves and helping them escape to Canada on the “underground railroad.”

14. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) • anti-slavery novel by . . . • extremely popular and influential (even in Europe) • Lincoln to Stowe in 1863: “So you’re the little woman that wrote the book that made this great war!” What made it so influential?

15. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) • Sponsored by Sen. Stephen A. Douglas • Called for popular sovereignty to determine the slave status of the Kansas and Nebraska Territories • Douglas believed it would not be controversial since KS and NE weren’t suitable for slavery.

16. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) • Though Douglas managed to get it passed, the Act was met with furious opposition. • Violated Missouri Compromise • It split the Whig party along sectionallines. The party never recovered.

17. Republican Party (1856) • Former “Conscience Whigs” • Former “American System Whigs” • Former “Know-Nothings” • Free Soilers • Almost entirely Northerners – sectionalism!

18. Kansas Controversy • After passage of the KS-NE Act, anti-slavery forces mobilized to ensure that Kansas would be a free territory. • Frederick Douglass, among others, called for “companies of emigrants from the free states . . . to possess the goodly land.” • By mid-1855 about 1200 anti-slavery New Englanders had emigrated to Kansas.

19. Kansas Controversy: David Atchison’s Pro-slavery Legions • Democratic Missouri Senator David Atchison proudly vowed to defend the “property” of KS slaveowners “with the bayonet and with blood” and, if necessary, “kill every God-damned abolitionist in the district.” • The situation in Kansas deteriorated.

20. “Bleeding Kansas” (1856):Pottawatomie Massacre • In May, a mob ransacked the anti-slavery town of Lawrence. • Abolitionist John Brown responded by leading a band of New Englanders that murdered five men in the night at a pro-slavery settlement near Pottawatomie Creek.

21. John Brown:Abolitionist Cult Hero

22. “Civil War” in Kansas • With the territory hopelessly divided, pro and anti-slavery forces each set up their own governments. • Pro-slavery capital = Lecompton • Anti-slavery capital = Lawrence/Topeka

23. May 1856

24. Caning of Sumner • Tensions spilled over onto the usually-polite floor of the US Senate. • After an anti-slavery speech in which MA Sen. Charles Sumner “insulted” his uncle (Sen. Andrew Butler), SC Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beat Sumner with a cane as he sat at his Senate desk.

25. Lecompton Constitution (1857) • KS held an election for delegates to a state constitutional convention in 1857. • Widespread intimidation kept the anti-slavery vote to a minimum. • A pro-slavery constitution was written. • After much heated debate, Congress rejected the almost certainly illegitimate KS constiution

26. Democrats Divided • The battle over the Lecompton Constitution split the Democratic Party. • Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, opposed it. • Southern Democrats and Pres. James Buchanan supported it. • The Democrats too were now divided along sectional lines

27. Dred Scott Case (1857) • Dred Scott was a Missouri slave. • He traveled with his owner to the free territories of Wisconsin and Illinois, then sued for his freedom. • The case ultimately went to the US Supreme Court.

28. Dred Scott Decision (1857) • Chief JusticeRoger Taney wrote the Court’s decision. • It declared that blacks were not people and, therefore, not protected by the Constitution. • Property rights of slaveowners, however, were. • Therefore, the limitation of slavery by Congress was unconstitutional.

29. Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858) • The politically-inexperienced but articulate and determined Abraham Lincoln (R) challenged Stephen A. Douglas (D) in the 1858 Illinois US Senate race. • A highly-publicized series of debates brought national attention to the race.

30. Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Lincoln, during a debate at Freeport, asked Douglas how he could support both popular sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision • Douglas’ answer, known as the Freeport doctrine, was that local governments could simply not enforce slavery laws. (Freeport Doctrine) • The Senate election was won by. . . . . . Douglas.

31. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry • On Oct. 16, 1859, John Brown and 22 other men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA • Their intent was to arm slaves for a massive slave revolt.

32. John Brown’s Raid (1859) • After more than a day’s fighting, Brown was captured. • He was later tried and hanged for treason.

33. John Brown • Brown’s status as an abolitionist hero was greatly enhance, and he was portrayed in the North as a saintly figure. • Southerners responded to this portrayal with shock and horror.

34. Election of 1860 • Abraham Lincoln (Republican) • Stephen A. Douglas (Northern Democrat) • John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat) • John Bell (Constitutional Union Party)

35. Election of 1860

36. Secession • Lincoln’s election was the last straw for increasingly anxious Southerners. • On December 20, 1860, SC seceded. • By February 1861, the rest of the Deep South had followed. • A total of 13 states ultimately left the Union.

37. Border States • Attention then turned to a group of states situated between North and South that could go either way. • Virginia split. • After much maneuvering (and an extraordinary display of presidential power by Lincoln, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland stayed in the Union.

38. The Struggle for the Border States: Maryland • Southern sympathy ran deep in the slave state of Maryland. • On his way to his inauguration, Lincoln had to be ushered through Baltimore in the night disguised by a shawl. • On April 19, 1861, the 6th MA Regiment was attacked by a mob in Baltimore. • Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and jailed 19 state legislators and Baltimore’s mayor in order to secure the state.

39. The Civil War 1861-1865

40. Abraham Lincoln • Born on KY frontier, grew up on small farm in Indiana • Difficult childhood: deaths of mother and sister, not close to father • maybe one year of formal schooling • self-taught lawyer • suffered bouts of depression • served one term in US House

41. A. Lincoln: Frederick Douglass’ Take “I was never more quickly or more completely put at ease in the presence of a great man than in that of Abraham Lincoln.” “Perhaps many of you know how the President of the United States received a black man at the White House. I will tell you how he received me – just as one gentleman received another. I tell you I felt big there!”

42. Jefferson Davis • Raised in wealthy Southern family (born in Kentucky) • Graduated from West Point • known as a “good” slaveowner in Mississippi • battled various illnesses • had reputation for being personally disagreeable • never well-liked • blamed (somewhat unjustly) for Confederacy’s failures

43. Fort Sumter • After SC’s secession, the Union continued to maintain Ft. Sumter in Charleston harbor. • Refusing to recognize secession, Lincoln continued to supply the garrison at Ft. Sumter under Major Robert Anderson. • On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery opened fire and forced Ft. Sumter’s surrender. • With war apparently having broken out, Lincoln called up state militiamen for 90 days.

44. Relative Strengths and Weaknesses of North and South

45. (First) Battle of Bull Run • At Manassas, VA, just outside DC • Union forces under Irwin McDowell were routed by Confederate troops. • Onlookers were sent fleeing back to Washington in horror. • Confederates failed to press their advantage.

46. Union Command • Lincoln had difficulty settling on a commander for Union forces. In the summer of 1861, he turned to 34-yr-old Gen. George McClellan. • McClellan skillfully put together and trained the Union Army, but proved hesitant to use it. He and Lincoln developed an adversarial relationship.

47. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign (March 1862) • Prodded by Lincoln, McClellan moved his army toward Richmond. • Despite significant advantages, McClellan stopped short of the Confederate capital. • Lincoln was furious.

48. Robert E. Lee • Unbelievably popular, the quietly dignified Lee was the moral leader of the Confederacy. • Personally opposed to slavery • A skillful military commander • Believed that the South needed to force a quick end to the war • To that end, he invaded the North in Sept. 1862.

49. Dissension in the North • During 1862, many Northerners began to question the war’s necessity and the competence of their president. • “Copperheads” (Peace Democrats) openly opposed the continuation of the war. • Lincoln also came under fire from fellow Republicans who doubted his competence and dedication to abolition. • Draft riots broke out in NYC among angry Irish immigrants.

50. Battle of Antietam • Over 5000 dead, nearly 20,000 wounded in a matter of hours in Maryland countryside • Lee forced to retreat