Georgia and the American Experience

1. Georgia and the American Experience Chapter 7: The Antebellum Era, 1838-1860 Study Presentation

2. Georgia and the American Experience Section 1: Manifest Destiny Section 2: Deepening Divisions Section 3: Slavery as a Way of Life Section 4:Antebellum Georgia Section 5:The Election of 1860

3. Section 1: Manifest Destiny • Essential Question • How did Americans apply the concept of manifest destiny during the Antebellum period?

4. Section 1: Manifest Destiny • What words do I needtoknow? • Manifest Destiny • annex • skirmish

5. Manifest Destiny • A Northern journalist (1845) wrote that the manifest destiny of the U.S. was “to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free descendants of our yearly multiplying millions” • The country’s leaders steadily increased territory and fought to protect its citizens across the continent

6. The Nation Grows • Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836; annexed as the 28th state in 1845 • The U.S. declared war on Mexico to secure Rio Grande as the Mexican/U.S. border • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) gave the U.S. the territory encompassing California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, most of New Mexico, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. • Gadsden Purchase (1853) bought the southern part of New Mexico

7. Oregon Territory and Western Migration • Area west of the Rocky Mountains and north of California • In 1818 treaty, the U.S. and Great Britain set boundary between the U.S. and Canada at the 49th parallel • The Oregon and Santa Fe trails were the favored routes west by settlers • Between 1848 and 1850, the population of California increased tenfold; most of these settlers were seeking gold Click to return to Table of Contents

8. Section 2: Deepening Divisions • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • How did the North and South differ before the Civil War?

9. Section 2:Deepening Divisions • What words do I need to know? • states’ rights • Missouri Compromise • sectionalism • Compromise of 1850 • Kansas-Nebraska Act

10. States’ Rights • States’ rights: Belief that the state’s interests take precedence over interests of national government • Northern states believed that all states should abide by laws made by the national government • Southern states believed that states had right to govern themselves and decide what would be best for their own situation

11. Differences: North and South • Class Structure: North generally based on wealth; South based on wealth and being “born into the right family” • Slavery: North wanted it abolished; South supported it • Southern planter system consisted of large and small categories; the wealthiest had the most land and the most slaves • Economy: Northern based on mining, industry, banks, stores, and railroads; Southern based on agriculture, including cotton, rice, and indigo • Southerners resented tariffs, which raised import prices; the South imported more than the North

12. Freed Blacks and Slaves • 500,000 freed blacks; only 6 percent lived in South (mostly Virginia and Maryland) • By 1860, 11.5 percent of nation’s 4 million slaves lived in Georgia • 3,500 freed blacks lived in Georgia by 1860 • Slaves in the lower South cultivated “King Cotton,” which accounted for 50% of America’s exports

13. The Abolitionists • Led the movement to do away with slavery • Many northern whites, some southern and free blacks were involved • Made speeches, wrote books and articles, and offered their homes as safe houses for runaway slaves • UncleTom’sCabin (1852), by Harriet Beecher Stowe, portrayed slavery’s evils; the book sold more than 1 million copies • North Star and The Abolitionist were anti-slavery newspapers

14. The Missouri Compromise • Approved in 1820; Maine entered the Union as a free state, and Missouri entered as a slave state • 11 states allowed slavery and 11 states did not • Prohibited slavery north of 36°20' latitude (the southern border of Missouri), and included Louisiana Territory lands west of Missouri • Temporarily solved slavery controversy between the states

15. The Dred Scott Decision • Supreme Court ruling in 1857 • A slave filed suit after he lived in free states with his owner but was returned to slave state • Court ruled that slaves were not citizens and could not file lawsuits • Court also ruled that Congress could not stop slavery in the territories • Decision further separated the North and South

16. The Compromise of 1850 • California would enter Union as a free state • New Mexico territory would not become part of Texas or a guaranteed slave state • The District of Columbia would no longer trade slaves, but slave owners there could keep their slaves • Runaway slaves could be returned to their owners in slave states • Utah and New Mexico territories could decide if they wanted to allow slaves or not

17. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska • Those territories had right of popular sovereignty • Popular sovereignty:When a territory asked for statehood, the people could vote on slavery • Freesoilers in those territories fought against Abolitionists and proslavery supporters Click to return to Table of Contents

18. Section 3: Slavery as a Way of Life • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • What was life like for Georgia slaves during the Antebellum period?

19. Section 3: Slavery as a Way of Life • What words do I need to know? • driver • slave code • arsenal • Underground Railroad

20. Hard work, Simple living • Slaves worked long hours in swampy rice fields or tobacco and cotton fields • Work began at sunup and continued until sundown; overseers punished slaves who did not harvest enough • Drivers, older slaves trusted by the plantation owner, also supervised the field hands • Slave children, as young as five, also worked hard on the plantations and farms • Slave cabins were small, very simply furnished, and crudely built; foods were basic

21. Slave Family Life • Slave families sometimes became separated • Owners encouraged marriage; slave children became property of the mother’s owner • Religion was important; black preachers spoke of freedom and justice • Spiritual songs encouraged slaves throughout their lives • Education was nearly nonexistent, although minimal reading and writing skills were permitted by some slave owners

22. Slave Rebellions • 1831 - Nat Turner led bloody rebellion in Virginia; between 57 and 85 people died; Turner was hanged • Nat Turner’s Rebellion and other unsuccessful rebellions prompted strict laws across the South designed to curtail slave movements, meetings, and efforts to learn to read and write • These laws applied to both slaves and freed blacks

23. Slave Codes • Took away nearly all rights of slaves • Slaves could not carry weapons, make any contact with white people • People who tried to teach people of color were punished; slaves could not work any job involving reading and writing • Slaves had little time to talk together

24. John Brown • White abolitionist led a raid on federal arsenal (arms storehouse) at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia • Brown wanted ammunition to lead a rebellion to free the South’s slaves • He was captured and hanged for treason • The Brown raid added to fear and distrust, especially in the South; to many Northerners, Brown became a hero

25. The Underground Railroad • Network of roads, houses, river crossings, boats, wagons, woods, and streams operated by blacks and whites • Provided a trail of flight for runaway slaves seeking freedom in Canada or the Northern states • Safe stops along the way called stations • Ex-slave Harriet Tubman personally helped more than 300 slaves escape to freedom Click to return to Table of Contents

26. Section 4: Antebellum Georgia • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • What was Georgia like before the Civil War?

27. Section 4:Antebellum Georgia • What words do I need to know? • Know-Nothing Party • Great Revival Movement • Milledgeville

28. Georgia’s Pre-War Economy • 68,000 farms by 1860; cotton was chief crop • 500 plantations (500 acres or more); most farms were less than 100 acres • 60 percent of Georgians owned no slaves; only 236 had 100 or more slaves • Half of Georgia’s total wealth was in slaves ($400 million) • 1,890 factories in Georgia by 1860; about $11 million in value

29. Education • Most Georgians had little education • 20 percent of Georgians were illiterate in 1850 • $100,000 allotted in 1858 to begin free schools; the outbreak of the Civil War delayed these plans • Georgia’s first law school founded in 1859 • Slaves were not given educational opportunities

30. Religion • Georgians involved in the Great Revival Movement of the early 1800s • Camp meetings popular, especially among Methodists • By 1860, Georgia second only to Virginia in the South in number of churches • Methodists and Baptists most common denominations

31. Antebellum Georgia Politics • Democrats and Whigs were two major political parties • Democrats supported states’ rights; took strong stand for slavery • Whigs mainly from upper social classes; favored moderate protective tariff and federal help for the South • Most governors were Whigs; most legislators were Democrats

32. Know-Nothing Party • Leading Georgians formed two new political parties; one party favored the Compromise of 1850 while the other did not • A secret party, the Know-Nothing party, did not want immigrants to become citizens or anyone not born in the United States to hold political office • Members answered all questions, “I don’t know”  • By 1856, Democrats were dominant party; Dem. Joseph E. Brown, elected governor in 1856, served during the Civil War                  Click to return to Table of Contents

33. Section 5: The Election of 1860 • ESSENTIAL QUESTION • What steps led to Georgia’s secession from the Union in 1861?

34. Section 5:The Election of 1860 • What words do I need to know? • Republican Party • secession • platform • ordinance • Confederate States of America

35. The Republican Party • Republican Party formed in 1854 in free states • Antislavery Whigs and Democrats joined • Nominated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois as their candidate in 1860 • Southern and Northern Democrats split over slavery issues and nominated separate candidates • Southerners angrily viewed the plans of the Republicans as non-beneficial to the South

36. Georgia and Lincoln’s Election • Georgians were, for the most part, for the Union; however, they were strongly for states’ rights • Despite lawmakers’ strong debates for and against secession, a Secession convention began in January 1861 in Milledgeville, the capital • A secession ordinance (bill) passed 208-89 • The Southern states who seceded met in Montgomery, Alabama in February, 1861; they formed the Confederate States of America

37. Georgians in Leadership • Robert Toombs named Secretary of State of the Confederate States of American (CSA) • Alexander H. Stephens named Vice-President • Governor Joseph E. Brown favored secession and used his terms as governor to prepare Georgia for war    Click to return to Table of Contents

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