Antebellum America Antebellum preCivil War before 1860 less

Antebellum America

Antebellum • pre-Civil War. . . before 1860 • less than 25% of whites owned slaves, but they dominated southern society and politics • Some slaves were able to buy their freedom, but faced heavy discrimination

The South • Cotton Kingdom • economy was based on agriculture; mainly • cotton, rice, tobacco

the cotton gin • Eli Whitney -1793 • separated the seeds from the cotton boll

Effects • 50 times faster than a human • tons more cotton was planted. . • slavery increases massively to work the cotton fields • slavery grew from half a million in 1790 to 4 million in 1860

Slave life and culture • Slaves were treated in a variety of ways • housing and food were usually poor • violence and rewards were both used as incentives for good behavior • culture was passed on through folktales, music, art, and humor

• plantation work- long, hot, difficult: • 18 -20 hours days • urban life- slaves working in cities could learn a skill and had more opportunity

Nat Turner’s Rebellion • 1831, Turner led rebellion killing his owner and 60 whites in the area. • Turner was hunted down and hanged • Frightened whites passed black codes • laws forbidding blacks to gather or be educated

The Underground Railroad • A network of white and black abolitionists who helped slaves escape to freedom • helped shelter and feed slaves

Harriet Tubman

• “Black Moses” she escaped from slavery in 1848 • most successful and famous conductor of the Underground Railroad • made 19 trips back to the South and helped more than 300 slaves escape

Westward Expansion The major issue regarding westward expansion is. . . SLAVERY!!! North and South relations begin to crumble

Wilmot Proviso- 1846 Congressman David Wilmot proposed an amendment banning slavery in all land acquired from Mexico it did not pass it helped widen the growing sectional rift

Popular Sovereignty People make decisions, not gov’t should slavery be legal in the new territories? ? ? let the people decide

Election of 1848 Zachary Taylor beats Lewis Cass Taylor avoids taking a stance on slavery

Free Soilers new political party organized to stop the spread of slavery

Fire Eaters Southern political leaders with extreme pro slavery views

Compromise of 1850 Henry Clay proposed a plan to satisfy the north and south 4 provisions: 1. California be admitted as a free state 2. slave trade be abolished in D. C. 3. New Mexico be divided into 2 territories and ruled by popular sovereignty 4. Congress will pass a tougher fugitive slave law

Sectionalism • The nation was divided by its interests, attitudes, and overall lifestyles. • North- fast-paced business and industry; manufacturing, shipping, and trading goods. • South- slow and steady agricultural growth with slave labor.

Millard Fillmore Taylor dies suddenly and Fillmore becomes 13 th President Fillmore approves the Compromise of 1850

Election of 1852 Franklin Pierce becomes 14 th President by convincing both the north and south he shared their views

Compromise comes to an end Fugitive Slave Actmade assisting runaways slaves illegal slavecatchers could arrest runaways and take them back northerners were appalled

Kansas-Nebraska Act Introduced by IL Senator Stephen Douglas in 1854 organized the territories of Kansas and Nebraska on the basis of popular sovereignty people decide if their state will allow slavery it gets very violent earning the name “Bleeding Kansas”

Abolition • Movement to end slavery 33

William Lloyd Garrison • Abolitionist newspaper publisher • The Liberator -1831 34

Frederick Douglass • Fugitive slave from Maryland • Spoke extensively about slavery • Convinced many to join abolitionist cause • Published anti-slavery newspaper the North Star 35

David Walker • Free black man from Boston who wrote the Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World -1829 • Demanded immediate abolition by any means necessary 36

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Antislavery book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe sold over 2 million copies in the 1850’s convinced many northerners that slavery had to be abolished

Elijah Lovejoy

n Abolitionist editor from Alton IL. n Murdered by a pro-slavery mob in 1837

Lovejoy Memorial

Sarah and Angelina Grimke • Sisters who left their slaveholding family and moved to Philadelphia to join the abolitionist cause 42

Sojourner Truth • Born Isabella Baumfree in 1797 • Escaped from slavery in 1827 • Renamed herself Sojourner Truth and traveled around preaching the gospel of abolition and women’s rights 43

John Brown

Pottawatomie Massacre 1856 Abolitionist John Brown and crew attacked a proslavery settlement in Kansas he dragged 5 men from their beds and murdered them the country was shocked

Harper’s Ferry - 1859 John Brown seizes control of a Virginia armory to start a slave uprising He is surrounded, captured, and hanged for murder and treason many view him as a hero for abolition

Violence in Congress Senator Charles Sumner criticizes the south for slavery Sumner is attacked by Congressman Preston Brooks on the floor of Congress

Republican Party 1854 political party organized to end slavery

Election of 1856 James Buchanan supports the Kansas-Nebraska Act and becomes 15 th President

Dred Scott 1856 Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom Supreme Court ruled that blacks were inferior and therefore, “had no rights the white man was bound to respect”

Lincoln Douglas Debates Abe Lincoln runs for Senator of IL against Stephen Douglas they debated the issue of slavery Douglas supported popular sovereignty Lincoln opposed westward expansion of slavery, but tolerated it in the south Douglas barely wins, but Lincoln gains popularity

Election of 1860 Lincoln defeats 3 candidates he becomes the 16 th President

The Election of 1860

Secession!!! Not 1 southern state voted for Lincoln and they thought he would end slavery. . . . so they seceeded 7 southern states broke away from the U. S. to form their own country. . called the Confederate States of America or Confederacy they elect Jefferson Davis President

Lincoln’s decision • Abe could: • 1. let the south go • 2. force them to abide by the election results

Secession