A Nation Divides Causes of The American Civil

A Nation Divides Causes of The American Civil War

Abolitionists • A group that was devoted to the cause of ending slavery. • Most active from the 1830 s, but various groups formed to protest slavery as early as 1688.

William Lloyd Garrison published the anti-slavery newspaper “The Liberator” for over thirty years. He was perhaps the most radical abolitionist, and insisted that nonpolitical, non-violent, not segregated methods were needed to fight slavery

Angelina Grimke Born to a slave-holding family in South Carolina, Angelina and her sister, Sarah, moved to Pennsylvania and spoke out against slavery. They were verbally attacked for speaking in public.

Lucretia Mott A Quaker minister, Mott sought the abolition of slavery and sometimes sheltered runaway slaves in her home. She refused to wear cotton, eat sugarcane, or use any slave-produced good. She was also a supporter of women’s rights movement.

Reactions to the Abolitionist Movement • In the South, slaveholders and non-slaveholders believed that abolitionism threatened their way of life. • In the North, where the abolitionists were a small fraction of the population, opposition focused on the potential threat to the nation’s social order, the potential for a war with the South, and that freed slaves might take jobs away from Northern factory workers by working for lower pay). • Riots, mobs, and many acts of violence (including the murder of Elijah Lovejoy, editor of an anti-slavery newspaper in Illinois). The anti-slavery headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hall, was burned to the ground.

Frederick Douglass Born a slave in Maryland, Douglass escaped, became a lecturer for the antislavery cause and published an abolitionist newspaper, “The North Star”. He also worked with the Underground Railroad and was an advisor to Lincoln.

A quote from Douglass: Believe in yourself. Take advantage of every opportunity. Use the power of spoken and written language to effect positive change for yourself and society.

The Underground Railroad was a network of routes by which slaves attempted to escape to free states, or as far north as Canada, with the aid of abolitionists. Other routes led to Mexico or overseas. At its height between 1810 and 1850, an estimated 30, 000 to 100, 000 people escaped enslavement via the Underground Railroad, though census figures only account for 6, 000. The Underground Railroad consisted of secret routes, transportation, meeting points, safe houses, and other havens, and assistance that was maintained by abolitionist sympathizers.

“Underground Routes”

Harriet Tubman • Born a slave, but escaped and became a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She took more than 300 slaves to the north. • During the Civil War, Harriet was a spy for the Union.

SECTIONALISM AND STATES’ RIGHTS

SECTIONALISM: Instead of looking at the nation as a whole, southerners, westerners and northerners began to identify themselves regionally and not as Americans. So, the people would put the needs of their region over the needs of the nation.

What did the North and South disagree on? • Slavery • Western Expansion • Very different lifestyles, economies, and political ideals. The structure of their society.

NORTH SOUTH • More diverse population • Higher population • Larger cities • Industry and business • Small farms • Groups of abolitionists trying to end slavery • Agriculture as basis of economy • Cash Crops: Cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugarcane • Slave labor • Few factories, little industry

Cotton is King! • In 1790 (before the invention of the cotton gin) there were about 750, 000 slaves in the south and 3000 bales of cotton produced per year. • By 1860, the number of slaves was over four million, who produced almost four million bales of cotton per year

States’ Rights • Southern states felt state laws carried more weight than federal laws and therefore, state laws should be followed first. In addition, they argued that the federal government only has limited power under the 10 th amendment.

Westward Expansion

New Territory • Louisiana Purchase (1803) • Texas (1845) • Pacific Northwest (Treaty with Britain signed 1846: Oregon and Washington) • New Mexico, most of Arizona, California, Utah, and Nevada (1848).

United States in 1800

United States in 1850

Free or Slave States? Compromise #1: Missouri Compromise of 1820 ü Missouri would come in as a slave state ü Maine would come in as a free state ü Banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana territory above the 36, 30’ parallel

Compromise #2: Compromise of 1850: ü California would be admitted as a free state ü Fugitive Slave Act ü Slave trade abolished in Washington D. C. ü New Mexico territory could decide for itself whether to allow slavery

Fugitive Slave Act • Required Northerners to return runaway slaves to their masters. • Made the Federal government responsible for catching slaves and trying them before “special commissioners”. The slaves could not speak and the commissioners were paid more if they returned the slave to the south.

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854

Slave or Free? • Introduced by Stephen Douglas, the act would allow the settlers of the proposed states to decide by voting (popular sovereignty) whether it would be slave or free. This abandoned the Missouri Compromise of 1820. • Pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups flooded Kansas to influence the vote.

“Bleeding Kansas” • Elections put BOTH antislavery AND pro-slavery governments in charge of Kansas. • May 1856, Kansas exploded in violence: Lawrence was attacked by pro-slavery groups and anti-slavery groups committed revenge killings. • By Fall of 1856, over 200 people had been killed in Kansas.

Dred Scott Decision Dred Scott v Sanford (1857)

Dred Scott Case • Dred Scott sued for his freedom on the basis that he lived in Illinois (a free state) and the Wisconsin Territory (free) for years. • The case went before the Supreme Court, which could use the case to rule on slavery in the territories….

The Court’s Decision: • Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that Dred Scott was still a slave, therefore not a citizen, and not even allowed to bring a lawsuit to the court. • Living on free soil did not make someone free, and slaves were property. • Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in the U. S. territories because that would amount to taking away a person’s property without “due process of law”.

Reaction to the Dred Scott Decision: • Southerners were elated by the Supreme Court ruling that preventing slavery’s spread was unconstitutional. • Republicans and other anti -slavery groups were outraged and called it “the greatest crime” ever committed. They vowed to win the presidency, appoint new justices and overturn the decision.

Election of 1860

The Candidates • John Breckinridge: of Kentucky, nominated as a Democratic candidate. He was the vice-president, and promoted the extension of slavery into the territories. • Stephen A. Douglas: of Illinois, a Democratic candidate who opposed the spread of slavery and lost the support of Southern Democrats.

More Candidates… • Abraham Lincoln: The Republican candidate, also from Illinois, he was a moderate. His party was opposed to the spread of slavery. • John Bell: of Tennessee, was the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party, which took no formal position on slavery.

Lincoln Wins! • Lincoln won a majority of the votes, even though he did not appear on the ballot in most Southern states. • He won every Northern state. • He won 180 of 303 electoral votes, but only 40% of the popular vote.

Three weeks later: • South Carolina votes to secede, or leave, the United States on December 20, 1860 • They were joined by Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia to form the Confederate States of America. • WAR HAD BEGUN