Fighting against Slavery

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Fighting against Slavery

• Main Idea
• The movement to end slavery dominated the Reform
  Era.
• Reading Focus
• What was life like for enslaved African Americans
  in the South?
• How did people in the South fight against
  slavery?
• What were the major developments in the abolition
  movement?

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The Lives of Enslaved African Americans

• Including the colonial period, slavery had been
  an American institution for two centuries.
• Enslaved African Americans were held in every
  colony, northern and southern.

• In the North, slavery continued to exist in some
  form until the 1840s.
• By 1860 nearly 4 million African Americans lived
  in slavery in the South.

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The Lives of Enslaved African Americans

• Enslaved men, women, and children worked every
  day of their lives, from the time they were old
  enough to perform chores until they were too old
  to be of any more use to the slaveholder.

• Most enslaved people lived on farms or
  plantations in the South, where cotton was a
  leading crop.
• They worked planting, tending, picking,
  processing, and loading cotton.

• Other jobs included the many other tasks needed
  to maintain a farm or plantation, such as
  constructing and repairing buildings.
• Other plantation slaves worked as servants in the
  slaveholders house.

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The Lives of Enslaved African Americans

• Some enslaved people were skilled artisans, and
  many worked as blacksmiths, bricklayers, or
  carpenters.

• Some slaves lived in cities where they worked in
  factories and mills, in offices, and in homes.

• Others worked in mines or in the forest as
  lumberjacks.

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The Lives of Enslaved African Americans

• A life of want
• Enslaved African Americans were provided with
  inadequate food, clothing, and shelter.
• They seldom received medical care sickness
  rarely stopped their work.
• They had no rights under the law because it
  viewed them as property.

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The Lives of Enslaved African Americans

• Many slaveholders treated their slaves relatively
  well. But they generally did so in order to
  secure loyal service, not out of any great sense
  of humanity.

• Some slaveholders used a wide variety of
  punishments, such as beating, whipping, starving,
  and threatening a persons family members, to
  ensure obedience.

• Children were routinely separated from their
  parents, brothers from their sisters, and
  husbands from their wives.

• African Americans developed ways to survive and
  bring some light into their lives through
  religion, storytelling, and music.

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The Antislavery Movement in the South

• In 1860, about 215,000 African Americans in the
  South were free blacks.
• Former slaves who had been emancipated, or freed,
  by slaveholders
• More typically, some were free because their
  ancestors had been freed.

• They still faced harsh legal and social
  discrimination.
• Free blacks aided people escaping slavery and
  spoke out for freedom.

• Slave revolts
• An uprising led by Nat Turner in 1830 became the
  deadliest slave revolt in American history.
• New laws were enacted to strictly limit the
  movements and meetings of slaves.

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The Antislavery Movement in the South

• Some enslaved people chose a nonviolent way to
  end their enslavementthey escaped.
• They tried to reach the free states of the North
  or Canada or Mexico, where slavery was illegal.
• No one knows exactly how many slaves escaped.
• Thousands attempted escape, and although most
  were soon captured, many did make it to freedom.

• Underground Railroad an informal, constantly
  changing network of escape routes
• Sympathetic white people and free blacks provided
  escapees with food, hiding places, and directions
  to their next destination, closer to free
  territory.
• Harriet Tubman famous Underground Railroad
  worker who had escaped slavery and helped
  hundreds of slaves to freedom

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The Abolition Movement

• The abolition movement was a campaign to abolish,
  or end, slavery.

• No other movement attracted as many followers,
  garnered as much attention, elicited such strong
  feelings, or had such an impact on the history of
  the United States.

• The abolition movement had deep roots in
  religion.
• Many religious people in the North saw slavery as
  a clear moral wrong that went directly against
  their beliefs.
• By 1836 more than 500 antislavery societies
  existed.

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The Abolition Movement

• Abolition leaders
• William Lloyd Garrison published an
  abolitionist newspaper for 35 years, until
  slavery was abolished
• Sarah and Angelina Grimké sisters who were
  outspoken campaigners for abolition and womens
  rights
• Frederick Douglass a former slave, supported
  womens rights, but is best remembered as an
  abolitionist leader

• Opposing abolition
• Southern slaveholders an attack on their
  livelihood, their way of life, and even on their
  religion
• Slaveholders and politicians slavery was
  essential to the economy by 1860 cotton
  accounted for about 55 percent of the countrys
  exports
• Northern workers freedom for slaves might mean
  more competition for jobs

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The Missouri Compromise

• There were 22 states in the Union in 1819.
• In half of the statesthe slave states of the
  Southslavery was legal.
• In half of the statesthe free states of the
  Northslavery was illegal.
• This exact balance between slave states and free
  states gave them equal representation in the U.S.
  Senate.
• If Missouri were admitted as a slave state, the
  balance would be upset.

• Missouri Compromise of 1820 agreement under
  which Missouri was admitted to the Union as a
  slave state and Maine was to be admitted as a
  free state
• The agreement also banned slavery in the northern
  part of the Louisiana Territory.
• The Missouri Compromise kept the balance between
  slave and free states.

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Conflict over States Rights

• In 1828 Congress raised the tariff on British
  manufactured goods.

• The tariff was welcomed by industry in the
  northern states because it increased the price of
  British goods and encouraged Americans to buy
  American goods.

• The agricultural southern states despised the
  tax. It forced southerners to buy northern goods
  instead of the less expensive British goods.
• Southern cotton growers, who exported most of
  their crop to Britain, opposed interference with
  international trade.

• The concept that states have the right to reject
  federal laws is called the nullification theory.

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Conflict over States Rights

• The issue of nullification and states rights was
  the focus of one of the most famous debates in
  Senate history in 1830.
• Nullification Crisis
• When Congress passed another tariff in 1832,
  South Carolina declared the tariff law null and
  void and threatened to secede from the Union if
  the federal government tried to enforce the
  tariff.

• Jackson received the Force Bill from Congress,
  but South Carolina declared the Force Bill null
  and void as well.
• Compromise worked out by Henry Clay
• Tariffs would be reduced over a period of 10
  years.
• Issues of nullification and of states rights
  would be raised again.

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The Land of Cotton

• Main Idea
• During the early 1800s, the South developedan
  economy based on agriculture.
• Reading Focus
• Why was cotton king in the South?
• How did the cultivation of cotton lead to the
  spread of slavery?
• What key differences developed between the North
  and the South?

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King Cotton

• The combination of the new cotton gin and the
  huge demand for cotton encouraged many American
  farmers to begin growing cotton.
• Beginning in the 1820s, the number of acres
  devoted to cotton cultivation soared.
• Cotton Belt A nearly uninterrupted band of
  cotton farms that stretched across the South, all
  the way from Virginia in the East to Texas in the
  West
• Cotton became so important to the economy of the
  South that people called it King Cotton.

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The Spread of Slavery

• Farming cotton was a labor-intensive enterprise.
• The land had to be prepared.
• The cotton seeds had to be planted.
• The growing plants had to be tended.
• The crop had to be picked, cleaned, and formed
  into bales.

• The first cotton farms were small and run by
  families who didnt own slaves.
• They were soon followed by wealthier planters who
  bought huge tracts of land.
• These planters used enslaved African Americans to
  cultivate the cotton.

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The Spread of Slavery

• As the amount of money made by growing cotton
  increased, so did the number of plantations.
• The growth of cotton farming led directly to an
  increase in demand for enslaved African Americans.

• Although the importation of enslaved people had
  been banned in 1808, they were routinely smuggled
  into southern ports.
• These people, and the children of enslaved
  parents, were cruelly bought and sold by slave
  traders to provide workers for the cotton fields.

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The Spread of Slavery

• By 1840 the number of enslaved African Americans
  had risen to nearly 2.5 million.
• As cotton farms spread, so too did slavery.

• Enslaved African Americans accounted for about
  one-third of the population of the South.
• About one-fourth of the white families in the
  South owned slaves (most had fewer than 20).

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Differences between the North and the South

• Southern crops
• Cotton, sugarcane, sugar beets, tobacco, and rice
• These crops led the economy of the South.
• By 1840 the South was a thoroughly agricultural
  region.

• Northern goods
• Since colonial times, farming was important.
• The Industrial Revolution made manufacturing and
  trade the base of the Norths economy.

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Differences between the North and the South

• North
• Trade and industry encouraged urbanization, and
  so cities grew in the North much more than in the
  South.
• The Industrial Revolution and the revolutions in
  transportation and communication had the greatest
  impact on the North.
• Northern businesses seized new technology in
  pursuit of efficiency and growth.
• South
• There was relatively little in the way of
  technological progress.
• Many southerners saw little need for labor-saving
  devices when they had an ample supply of enslaved
  people to do their work.

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Differences between the North and the South

• Different points of view
• In the North, urban dwellers were exposed to many
  different types of people and tended to view
  change as progress.
• In the South, where the landscape was less prone
  to change and where the population was less
  diverse, people tended to place a higher value on
  tradition.

• Physical distance
• Relatively few southerners had the means or
  motivation to travel extensively in the North,
  and relatively few northerners had ever visited
  the South.

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Differences between the North and the South

• South
• Slavery was legal.
• It was viewed by most white people as an
  absolutely vital part of the economy.
• To many, it was a practice sanctioned by their
  Christian religion.

• North
• Slavery was illegal.
• Ever-increasing numbers of people viewed it as
  evil.
• Few realized the differences would lead to war.

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Texas Independence

• The Main Idea
• American settlers in Texas revolted against the
  Mexican government and created the independent
  Republic of Texas.
• Reading Focus
• What system did the Spanish use to settle Texas?
• How did Americans begin to move into Texas?
• What were the causes and effects of the Texas
  Revolution?

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The Spanish Settle Texas
The original inhabitants were Native Americans,
living in Texas for thousands of years.
The Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to
visit Texas, crossing it several times during the
1500s. Spain claimed Texas based on these
explorations. Finding little wealth in the
region, they made no attempt to settle.
In 1689, the Spanish discovered the ruins of a
French fort built on the coast that had been
destroyed by local Indians. Alarmed that the
French would try to claim the land, the Spanish
came up with a plan to settle Texas.
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The Spanish Settle Texas

• The mission system
• The Spanish attempted to settle Texas by building
  missions, small settlements designed to convert
  the Indians to Christianity.
• The Spanish had effectively used the mission
  system in Mexico.
• They built two dozen missions and presidios
  between the late 1600s and 1700s they also built
  San Antonio and Nacogdoches.
• Despite Spanish hopes, the missions failed and
  the towns never flourished.

• The mission system ends
• Native Americans rejected mission life, where
  they were expected to give up their culture as
  well as their religion.
• Some Indian groups viewed the Spanish as
  dangerous trespassers, attacking the missions and
  towns.
• The system was built to convert the Indians and
  to thwart French claims. In 1762, France ceded to
  Spain much of its land claim in North America.
• By 1800, Spain still claimed Texas, but had only
  three settlements in the region.

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Americans Move into Texas

• Moses Austin
• In 1820, Austin proposed to Spanish colonial
  officials that, in exchange for land, he would
  build a colony in Texas. The Spanish agreed, but
  Austin died before he could start. His son,
  Stephen F. Austin, would carry out his wish for a
  colony. By 1824 about 300 families lived on farms
  and ranches throughout Austins colony.
• Mexican independence and the empresarios
• Mexico gained its independence in 1821. The new
  government wanted Texas settled. They assigned
  large amounts of land to empresarios, contractors
  who recruited settlers and established colonies.
  Austin was the most successful of the
  empresarios.
• By 1830, Texas had more than a dozen colonies
  with 30,000 settlers. This included several
  thousand enslaved Africans and 4,000 Tejanos, or
  Texans of Mexican heritage.

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The Texas Revolution
American settlers in Texas had to agree to
certain conditions in exchange for receiving
land. They had to surrender their American
citizenship swear allegiance to Mexico adopt
the Roman Catholic religion and hold the land
for seven years.
The settlers ignored the Mexican rules. They kept
bringing in slaves, even after Mexico outlawed
slavery. Settlers were still Americans, not
Mexican. In 1830, Mexico passed a law halting
American immigration and sent troops to Texas to
enforce it.
Tensions in Texas
Mexican officials suspected that the U.S. wanted
to acquire Texas. Originally claimed as part of
the Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. had dropped its
claim. But when an offer was made to buy a large
part of Texas for 1 million, Mexicans refused,
but their fears of U.S. intentions were
confirmed.
International tensions
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The Texas Revolution Begins
Tensions between settlers, now calling themselves
Texans, and the Mexican government grew
continually worse.
After several bloody protests, Texans held
conventions to discuss the best course of action.
A plan to make Texas a separate Mexican state
failed. The new Mexican president, Antonio López
de Santa Anna, supported a strong central
government and enforced new laws banning state
militias.
War came when violence erupted at Gonzales over
possession of a cannon. Though small, it was the
first battle of the Texas Revolution, and hopes
for a peaceful resolution between the Texans and
Mexico diminished. At a meeting, called the
Consultation, the settlers founded a government
and asked Sam Houston to raise an army.
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From the Alamo to Independence
The Alamo
Rebel Texan forces captured San Antonio, which
contained a fort called the Alamo. Santa Anna led
an army into Texas to punish the rebels and put
down the unrest once and for all.
Santa Anna
On February 23, 1836, Santa Annas force of 6,000
soldiers reached San Antonio. A demand of
surrender was met with cannon fire from William
Travis. The Mexican army laid siege to the fort,
pounding it for 12 days and nights. The fort was
finally stormed, with nearly all defenders killed.
March 2, 1836
While the Alamo was under siege, a small group of
Texans met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to issue
the Texas Declaration of Independence. They wrote
a constitution for the new, independent nation.
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Fighting for Independence

• The Runaway Scrape
• Santa Annas army continued to defeat the Texan
  rebels. Prisoners were held in the presidio at
  Goliad.
• After Mexican soldiers executed 340 prisoners at
  Goliad, Houston retreated to the east with his
  poorly trained army.
• Word of Houstons retreat and the news of the
  Goliad Massacre started a panic.
• In what would be called the Runaway Scrape,
  thousands of Texans, including many Tejanos, fled
  Santa Annas advancing army.

• Texans victorious
• Santa Annas army followed Houstons forces to
  San Jacinto, where Houston managed to take the
  Mexican army by surprise. Texans shouted,
  Remember the Alamo! and Remember Goliad! as
  they won a quick victory.
• The captured Santa Anna was forced to sign the
  Treaties of Velasco, ending the war. Mexico had
  to withdraw its troops and recognize Texas
  independence.
• Problems with Mexico continued for the Republic
  of Texas.

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War with Mexico

• The Main Idea
• Soon after annexing Texas, the United States
  declared war on Mexico.
• Reading Focus
• What were the arguments for and against the
  annexation of Texas?
• What created tensions between the United States
  and Mexico in the 1840s?
• What were the causes and effects of the
  Mexican-American War?

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The Annexation of Texas

• Proponents
• Americans who believed in Manifest Destiny wanted
  to admit Texas to the Union.
• Supporters viewed the Texas Revolution in the
  spirit of the American Revolution.
• Southerners supported annexation because Texas
  allowed slavery, and its admission would boost
  the Souths political power.

• Opponents
• Americans were concerned that the U.S. would have
  to bear the substantial Texas debt.
• Northerners opposed annexation because it would
  spread slavery westward and increase slave
  states voting power in Congress.
• A major argument in Congress was that the
  Constitution said nothing about admitting an
  independent nation.

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The Annexation of Texas

• A Republic for nine years
• The annexation question was a significant issue
  in the 1844 presidential election. When James K.
  Polk, the pro-annexation candidate, won, Mexico
  warned that it would consider the annexation of
  Texas as a declaration of war.
• Tyler signs the joint resolution
• Outgoing president John Tyler signed the joint
  resolution of Congress into law just three days
  before the end of his term, in March 1845.
• Texas becomes a state
• Voters in Texas overwhelmingly approved
  annexation, and Texas became a part of the United
  States on December 29, 1845.

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Tensions between the United States and Mexico
Mexico responds
The annexation of Texas enraged the Mexican
government. Mexico had refused to recognize the
Republic of Texas, and they broke off diplomatic
ties with the U.S. after the vote for annexation.

Polk and Manifest Destiny
In March 1845, James K. Polk became president. He
wanted the nation to acquire the land between
Texas and the Pacific Ocean. These sparsely
populated territories, New Mexico and California,
belonged to Mexico. Polk sought an opportunity to
acquire these remote regions.
The boundary dispute
The U.S. needed to secure the boundary between
Texas and Mexico. Texans put the border at the
Rio Grande. Mexico maintained it was at the
Nueces River. There were also disputes about
money, and Polk wanted these issues resolved.
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Slidells Trip
In the fall of 1845, Polk sent a special envoy to
Mexico.
John Slidell arrived with a U.S. offer to cancel
the 3 million in claims against Mexico in
exchange for Mexicos recognition of the Rio
Grande as its boundary with the U.S. He was
further authorized to pay Mexico up to 30
million to purchase New Mexico and California for
the United States.
Neither of the rivals for Mexicos presidency
would meet with him. An angry Slidell recommended
to Polk that Mexico be punished.
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The Mexican-American War
The war starts
While Slidell was in Mexico, Polk ordered General
Zachary Taylor to take his troops into the
disputed border territory. The U.S. used the
event of a minor skirmish to declare war on
Mexico.
Fighting the war
American forces under Taylor advanced into
northern Mexico. General Winfield Scott marched
his forces into Mexico City. In a matter of
months, U.S. forces had captured New Mexico and
California. When their capital fell, the Mexican
government was forced to give in.
Results of the war
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) forced
Mexico to turn over a huge tract of land known as
the Mexican Cession, while the U.S. paid Mexico
15 million. Debate continues over whether the
Mexican-American War was justified.
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Wilmot Proviso

• August 1846, Representative David Wilmot from
  Pennsylvania proposed an amendment to a war bill,
  known as the Wilmot Proviso.
• Stated that slavery shall never exist in any
  territory gained from Mexico.
• Wilmot believed President Polk was
  pro-Southern.
• Polk compromised with Britain for Oregon but went
  to war with Mexico
• Proviso outraged Southerners.
• Bill passed the House of Representatives but
  Senate refused to vote on it.
• John C. Calhoun argued that Congress had no right
  to ban slavery in the territories.
• Represented the growing anger of many Southerners.

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