I. Slavery and Cotton

1
I. Slavery and Cotton

• Slavery and cotton become important
• Cotton gin 1796
• Opening of rich farmland in Deep South
• Demand from English textile mills
• Forced migration of slaves from upper to lower
  South
• By 1860 South provided 66 of worlds cotton,
  close to 60 of US exports

2
I. Slavery and Cotton

• Antebellum slave ownership
• Majority of whites did not own slaves
• Slaves provided inferior class
• Majority of slave owners ltlt less than 20
• Few with large plantations dominated society
• Cost of slave labor 1800gt1860, but so did
  value as property

3
I. Slavery and Cotton

• Conditions of slavery
• Slaves experience varied greatly
• Kinship networks, marriage important
• Some free blacks lived in areas of South
• Resistance feigned illness, slow work, breaking
  tools, escape
• Rebellions rare, Nat Turners in 1831 led to
  increasing restrictions

4
I. Slavery and Cotton

• Abolitionism
• Mostly from social reforms, 2nd Great Awakening
  of 1820s, 30s, 40s
• Associated with womens movement
• Unpopular, even in North
• Eventually whipped up a small but vocal group
• Garrison, Douglass, Stowe (Cabin)

5
II. Slavery and Expansion

• Missouri Compromise 1820
• Drew dividing line
• Most of Louisiana Purchase gt free
• Maintained Senate balance to 1850
• Removed slavery as political issue until
  Mexican-American War 1846

6
II. Slavery and Expansion

• Tariff of Abominations/Nullification 1828-1832
• American system - high tariff, internal
  improvements, National Bank
• Southern politicians saw all as unconstitutional
• High tariff led Calhoun,SC to invoke
  nullification, secession
• Jackson raised troops

7
II. Slavery and Expansion

• Wilmot Proviso 1846
• Proposed to prohibit slavery in any territory won
  from Mexico
• Provokes outrage, calls for secession
• Political issue of slavery returns
• Missouri Compromise works for South
• Secession proposed at Nashville Convention

8
II. Slavery and Expansion

• Compromise of 1850
• California admitted as free state
• Senate balance gone
• South got strong Fugitive Slave Law
• Law obviously unfair and seemed to infringe on
  constitutional rights
• Northerners increasingly refused to enforce

9
III. Slavery and Politics

• Ostend Manifesto 1854
• Southern proposal to seize Cuba
• Northerners outraged that South would risk war
  for political power

10
III. Slavery and Politics

• Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
• Stephen Douglas (IL) proposed popular
  sovereignty, used political power to push
• Repealed Missouri Compromise
• Republican Party created in response
• No new slave states
• National economy on old American system
• Led to mini-war in Kansas

11
III. Slavery and Politics

• Dred Scott 1857
• Blacks not citizens, had no rights
• Congress had no authority to regulate slavery in
  any state or territory
• Major issue in Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858,
  which gave Lincoln major exposure as serious
  candidate

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III. Slavery and Politics

• Other Issues
• Uncle Toms Cabin 1852
• John Browns raid 1859
• Election of Republican Lincoln in 1860 led to
  secession

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• Both sides had advantages
• North
• Functioning government, two party system
• Industrial AND agricultural production
• National transportation system
• Control of Navy
• Population
• South
• Cause supportive population
• Cotton demand
• Defensive war on its own territory
• Military leaders, experienced soldiers

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• 1861-1863
• North slow to attack, poor tactical leaders (e.g.
  McClellan)
• Souths superior generals able to outwit
  opposition
• South generally won battles, but war stretched
  out
• North holds onto border states (KY, MD)
• Lincoln limits civil rights - increases power of
  presidency
• Both sides draft, borrow, print money

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• Antietam 1862
• Lincoln had drafted Emancipation Proclamation
• Sought significant military victory to reinforce
• Antietam not overwhelming, but first large non-
  failure for North
• Decision a strategic one, at least partly to keep
  Britain out
• Emancipation Proclamation January 1863
• Freed slaves only in areas out of Union control
• Enlistment of blacks, increased slave resistance

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• Vicksburg July 1863
• Split South along Mississippi (Anaconda)
• Made Grant available to Lincoln
• Gave North a base to move southeast to Atlanta
• Gettysburg July 1863
• Lee invaded North, forced to fight in bad
  situation
• Meade decimated Lees forces, Lee retreated
• Souths high water mark, but Lincoln frustrated
  again

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• Other Issues
• British survived cotton famine
• Northern blockade more and more effective
• Southern military industrial program effective
• Draft riots in North, bread riots in South
• Southern states refused to cooperate with
  Richmond government
• Lincoln barely wins reelection - Atlanta
  September
• Northerners more supportive of war as time goes
  by, especially after Atlanta and other victories

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• 1864-1865
• Grant follows Lee through Virginia
• Long, dug-in battles with high casualties,
  especially Grant
• Shermans March to Sea in late 1864, then moves
  North
• Worn out Lee surrenders April 9 at Appomattox
  Courthouse
• Grant gracious in victory - criticized

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IV. Civil War 1861-1865

• Wartime Legislation
• Two companies chartered to finish
  transcontinental railroad
• Generous land and loan subsidies to RR
• National banking system and currency
• Tariffs raised
• Homestead Act to encourage settlement
• Northern industrial economy with government
  support victorious over Souths agricultural
  system

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V. Civil War Historiography

• Did slavery cause the war?
• James Loewen Confederate Reader - yes
• Charles Beard - no, economic interests in North
• Since 60s historians generally say yes
• Neo-Confederates not generally considered
  scholarly
• Lincoln
• Really anti-slavery or for equal rights?
• Political decisions - dictator, savior of Union,
  or political opportunist?

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V. Civil War Historiography

• Military leadership
• North probably not as bad as usually stated
• South not as uniformly good as stated
• Lincoln judged on results, Davis judge on
  pedigree
• Was northern economic system less cruel, more
  open to advancement than southern?

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VI. Reconstruction

• Power struggle - Radical Republicans v.
  Confederates
• 3 periods - Johnson, Congress, Redeemers
• End of slavery non-negotiable - 13th Amendment
• Freedmen? - 14th 15th Amendments
• Military occupation
• Southern Republican govts. include blacks
• Redeemers, white supremacist groups (KKK)
  eliminate Repubs and blacks from govts
• Jim Crow system reinforced by courts - Plessy v.
  Ferguson and other decisions
• Jim Crow a political, social and economic system