CRISIS, CIVIL WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION 1846-1877

Chapter 3

SECTION 1: THE UNION IN CRISIS

SECTION FOCUS QUESTIONHow did the issue of slavery divide the union?

SLAVERY AND WESTERN EXPANSION The Mexican-American War highlighted the

issue of slavery in the United States Wilmot Proviso – called for a ban on

slavery in any territory that the United States gained for this war

Southerners denounced the proposal but it passed the Republican dominated House of Representatives

A NEW PARTY OPPOSES SLAVERY New political parties are ignited by the

anti-slavery movement Free-Soil Party – northern opponents

of slavery

CONGRESS TRIES TO COMPROMISE 1850 California applied to enter the

Union as a free state ( non-slave) Compromise of 1850 – this measure

admitted California as a free state but allowed other territory acquired from Mexico voter would get to decide

Popular Sovereignty – this is the idea of voters deciding for or against slavery in new states

CONT… The 1850 Compromise also included

the Fugitive Slave Act. Arrest suspected runaway slaves No jury trial Required citizens to help capture runaways

THE ROAD TO DISUNION Harriet Beecher Stowe – author of Uncle Tom’s

Cabin, showed the plight of slaves in the south

“So you are the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war” President Lincoln

THE KANSAS – NEBRASKA ACT Kansas-Nebraska Act – divided the

Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska, allowing voters in each territory to decide the issue of slavery

VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN KANSAS May 21st 1856 proslavery forces

attacked the free-state town of Lawrence, Kansas

John Brown – moved to Kansas hoping to confront the issue of slavery head-on

Brown and his men murdered five pro-slave settlers near Pottawatomie Creek

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY EMERGES Opposition to slavery led to the

creation of the new Republican Party in 1854

The presidential election of 1856 James Buchanan – he would “stop the

agitation of the slavery issue (Democrat) “Won the election”

John C. Fremont – opposed the spread of slavery (Republican)

THE DREAD SCOTT DECISION INFLAMES THE NATION

Dred Scott v. Sandford – the court ruled against Scott. The court ruled that blacks were not citizens and, therefore, were not entitled to sue in the courts

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES Abraham Lincoln – Republican

challenger to Senator Stephen Douglas a Democrat Lincoln called for political equality for

African Americans but not immediate abolition

Douglas saw the issue of slavery as being solved by popular sovereignty

JOHN BROWN PLANS A REVOLT Brown saw the political process to slow

in ending slavery and saw violence as the best answer.

Harpers Ferry, Virginia

SECTION 2: LINCOLN, SECESSION, AND WAR

SECTION FOCUS QUESTION How did the Union finally collapse into

a civil war?

THE ELECTION OF 1860 John Brown, Kansas, Supreme Court

(Dred Scott), and the Fugitive Slave Act’s intrusion into the states’ independence further fueled the flames of war

Jefferson Davis – Mississippi senator, convinced Congress to restrict federal control over slavery

DEMOCRATS SPLIT THEIR SUPPORT The Democrats held their nomination

convention in Charleston, N.C.. They split their party over the issue of federal protection vs. popular sovereignty

John C. Breckinridge – nominated Vice President by southern Democrats

WHIGS MAKE A LAST EFFORT The Whigs joined the Know-Nothings to

create the Constitutional Union Party with the platform to uphold “the Constitution of the country, the Union of the States and the enforcement of the laws”

REPUBLICANS NOMINATE LINCOLN Republicans held their convention in

Chicago, they chose the more moderate Lincoln over William H. Seward because his antislavery views were deemed to radical

LINCOLN WINS THE ELECTION Lincoln won the election benefiting

from the fracturing among the other political parties

He did not receive a single southern electoral vote and was not on the ballot in many southern states

THE UNION COLLAPSES

LONG-TERM CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR

SHORT-TERM CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR

Sectional economic and cultural differences

Debate over expansion of slavery into the territories

Laws increased sectional tension

Growth of anti-slavery movement

Failed political compromises Missouri Compromise Compromise of 1850 Kansas-Nebraska Act

Kansas-Nebraska Act splits political parties

Breakdown of the party system

Lincoln elected President

South Carolina secedes from the Union

SOUTHERN STATES LEAVE THE UNION On December 20th 1860 the South

Carolina legislature decreed, “the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other States, under the name of the ‘United States of America’, is hereby dissolved”

THE CONFEDERACY IS FORMED Confederate States of America –

consisting of seven states formed their own union and wrote their constitution very similar to the U.S. Constitution with stress on states rights, Jefferson Davis was chosen as president

A FINAL COMPROMISE FAILS Crittenden Compromise – proposed

a constitutional amendment allowing slavery in western territories south of the Missouri Compromise and called for federal funds to reimburse slaveholders for unreturned fugitives

Lincoln saw this as a step backward and the measure fail to get approval in Congress

THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS Lincoln feared that he faced a

challenge greater than that of George Washington’s

LINCOLN TAKES OFFICE Lincoln was sworn in as President on

March 4, 1861 He took a firm but conciliatory tone

toward the South Primary Source pg. 78

LINCOLN DECIDES TO ACT Fort Sumter – guarded the harbor at

Charleston S.C., one of only four forts that remained in Union hands

Sumter was in need of supplies and Lincoln faced a dilemma of what to do…

FORT SUMTER FALLS Lincoln decides to send food, but not

munitions to the fort The Confederacy told the Fort Sumter

garrison to surrender they refused and fighting began

April 15th Lincoln declared that “insurrection” has come and called for 75,000 volunteers to fight the confederacy

SECTION 3: THE CIVIL WAR

SECTION FOCUS QUESTION What factors and events led to the

Union victory in the civil war?

RESOURCES, STRATEGIES, AND EARLY BATTLES

Civil War - April 1861 to April 1865 Goals:

North – preserve the Union South – independence from the Union

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES The North had no issue increasing it’s

production of ammunition, arms, uniforms, medical supplies, food, ships, and rail cars

Rail networks allowed for the easy movement of men and material

Strong navy blockaded vital southern ports

CONT… The advantages of the South were few,

however their forces were committed, and had some of the brightest military minds

Robert E. Lee – he was offered a command of Union forces but chose to remain loyal to his native Virginia

NORTH AND SOUTH DEVELOP THEIR STRATEGIES

The South had an advantage because they simply had to survive.

The North adopted a strategy designed to starve the South

Anaconda Plan – called for seizing the Mississippi River and the Gulf

of Mexico so the South could not send or receive goods

A STALEMATE DEVELOPS Both North and South could not gain an

advantage New weapons such as rifles,

ammunition, and artillery, produced more than 10,000 casualties a day

CONT… Lack of clean and experienced medical

care ensured many wounded died of infection rather then the wound

LINCOLN PROCLAIMS EMANCIPATION Emancipation Proclamation –

presidential decree declared that “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” (pg. 83)

WAR AFFECTS DAILY LIFE North ramped up production of goods,

raised tariffs, imposed taxes, and printed money

THE NORTH FACES PROBLEMS A shortage of volunteers, lead to

Congress passing the draft in 1863 (ages 20-45)

Riots broke out in several northern cities

Habeas Corpus – guarantees that no one can be held without specific charges against them

THE SOUTH SUFFERS HARDSHIPS Most battles took place in the South

and the starvation of the South seemed to be working

North and South issued paper money guaranteed by their governments

Inflation – price of increases

WAR LEADS TO SOCIAL CHANGE Women on both sides set up field

hospitals and nursed wounded, harvested crops and held to home front

THE UNION PREVAILS Ulysses S. Grant – Union General

scored five victories in three weeks ending with the surrender of 30,000 Confederate troops

THE UNION WINS A VICTORY AT GETTYSBURG

Battle of Gettysburg – destroyed one third of Lee’s forces and last major Confederate attempt to invade the North

Gettysburg Address – reaffirmed the ideas for which the Union was fighting (primary source p. 84)

THE WAR ENDS William T. Sherman – led 60,000

troops 400 miles march of destruction through Georgia and S.C.

Total War – targeted not only troops but all resources

April 9, 1865 Lee surrendered to Grant in Appomattox

THE CIVIL WAR HAS LASTING IMPACT One third of northern and southern

soldiers were killed or disabled Southern landscape and economy were

decimated Deaths:

Union / North – 346,511 Confederate / South – 260,000

Soldiers killed – 606,511

SECTION 4: THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA

SECTION FOCUS QUESTION What were the immediate and long-

term effects of Reconstruction?

THE NATION MOVES TOWARD REUNION Reconstruction – bringing the South

back into the Union Lincoln wanted to “bind up the nation’s

wounds”

THE FREEDMEN’S BUREAU AIDS SOUTHERNERS

Freedmen’s Bureau – federal agency designed to aid freed slaves and relieve the South’s immediate needs

Food, healthcare, schools, and fair labor contracts for freed slaves

PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS CLASH Andrew Johnson – became President

after Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865

Thirteenth Amendment – ended slavery

Radical Republicans – favored punishment of the South

Impeachment – act of bringing charges against an official in order to remove from office

THE RECONSTRUCTION SOUTH Congress divided the South into five

military districts under the control of Union Generals

Fourteenth Amendment – guaranteed full citizenship status and rights to every person born in the U.S.

AFRICAN AMERICANS GAIN POLITICAL RIGHTS

By 1868 many southern states had black elected officials and were dominated by a strong Republican Party

Fifteenth Amendment – guaranteed that no male citizen could be denied the right to vote on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

FREEDMEN REBUILD THEIR LIVES For the first time former slaves could

live “their” lives; families, employment, school, marriages…

THE KU KLUX KLAN USES TERROR TACTICS Ku Klux Klan – secret society that

used violence against African Americans and their white supporters

Primary source pg. 90

RECONSTRUCTION COMES TO AN END After a decade of Reconstruction the

North began to lose interest in Reconstruction

Political and economic failures also played a part of diminishing interest

SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS REGAIN POWER Over several years Democrats began to

gain back control over Southern political arenas

Violence kept many African Americans from voting

S.C., F.L., and L.A. with large black populations remained under military occupation after 1876

ELECTION OF 1876 ENDS RECONSTRUCTION

Rutherford B. Hayes won the Presidential election without the popular vote

Electoral votes in dispute were those of F.L., L.A., and S.C.

HISTORIANS EVALUATE RECONSTRUCTION

De Jure Segregation – or legal separation of the races, became the law in all southern states