SS midterm- Chapters 10/11/12

The north and south developed very differently:
1. North- was industrialized. Immigrants flooded the north in search of jobs.
2. South- was agricultural and rural.

In 1846, Congress debated the Wilmot Proviso- a bill that wanted to outlaw slavery in the new territories America had just received from Mexico. The northerners liked this bill- they didn’t want anymore slave states, because this would mean more southern representation in Congress. The south didn’t like the bill because they wanted slaves. The south felt that slaves are property and the constitution protects a person’s property.

In 1849, California asked to be admitted into the union as a free state. The southerners felt that California should be a slave state because the weather is warm, and good for slaves. Zachary Taylor also opposed California’s entry into the union as a free state. He felt that the slavery issue shouldn’t be a congressional issue; every state should come into the union however they want. The southerners were extremely passionate about the slavery issue- they felt that it shouldn’t be a back burner issue.

When Congress met, it was a very volatile Congress that met. There were three intense issues on the table:
1. Statehood for California.
2. The north felt that at least the capital district should abolish slavery, because how could the capital itself have slaves?
3. Fugitive Slave law- this law had been passed almost in the beginning of the formation of the nation. It stated that if a runaway slave ever reached the north and was spotted by a northerner, the northerner had to send him back to the south. The south felt that this law was ignored and that the north was helping runaway slaves. They wanted the laws tightened.
The south was very tense. They felt that if their need for slaves wasn’t going to be understood, they would have to leave the nation.

At this moment of tension, Clay came up with the Compromise of 1850-
1. California is a free state.
2. Strict Fugitive Slave laws.
3. Popular Sovereignty in the new territory- decide by themselves if they want to be a slave state or a free state.
4. The Federal government gave Texas ten million dollars to settle the border dispute in favor of New Mexico.

This caused sparked a tremendous debate in Congress- Daniel Webster was for the compromise and John Calhoun was against it. The debates went on for two years, and then they both died.

A new young fellow, Stephen Douglas said that the compromise should be passed in pieces. Taylor died in office, and Millard Fillmore became the new president. He was in favor of the compromise.

The Compromise of 1850 passed in pieces. It made the Fugitive Slave law stricter. The north was upset because they felt that the Fugitive Slave law was nasty. The north tried to ignore the Fugitive Slave law after it became stricter. Some abolitionists tried to help runaway slaves, but many northerners did follow the law. Abolitionists together with the freed slaves formed the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman was a conductor of this railroad.

Harriet Beacher Stowe wrote a fictitious novel called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, in which she made it very graphically clear to all who read it about the evils of slavery. Many southerners wrote their own books about slavery.

In 1854, the issue of slavery erupted once again. Stephan Douglas, the senator from Illinois, proposed that the Nebraska territory should be divided into Nebraska and Kansas. Douglas had a few different motives for this:
1. He thought that most of the nation wants to see territories form into states.
2. He felt it would bring unity because everyone would be the same- they would all be states and have representatives in Congress. He thought it would rid the country of the lawlessness of territories.
3. He thought that everyone would be happy with this because the territory was being dived into one free state and one slave state.
4. Douglas had his own personal reason- he lived in Illinois and owned land. Douglas wanted a railroad in his town because this would up the value of his property. Douglas knew that the south would never vote for a railroad through his home town, so he offered them popular sovereignty in the land north of 36’’ 30°.
This act was heavily debated in Congress, but it passed.

Kansas is now getting ready for statehood. Now, the people in Kansas are going to vote whether or not they want slaves. Many people both for and anti slavery flooded Kansas. Abolitionist John Brown killed hundreds of people who were pro slavery. The violence didn’t end there, and spread to Congress- one senator clubbed another senator.

As the debate over slavery grew more intense, old political parties fell apart and new parties formed. The Whig party now lost political power because the party was dividing into pro and anti slavery.

Franklin Peirce won the election of 1852. He was a democrat.

A new political party was now forming- the American party. This party was anti immigrants. At this time, many immigrants were flooding the country. Nativists were worried because they felt that the immigrants:
1. Were taking away job opportunities.
2. Were from a different religion. Many immigrants were Roman Catholic. Nativists felt that they would therefore listen to the pope before the government.

This party became nicknamed the Know Nothing party because there were many secrets meetings and dealings to ostracize immigrants. When people would ask party members about their party, they would say they knew nothing.

Anti slavery parties formed now such as the Free Soil party. They opposed the extension of slavery into the new territories.

Northerners weren’t against slavery out of compassion for the blacks. Most of the north actually discriminated against the blacks, making them live in segregated areas. While there were some abolitionists, most northerners were against slavery from an intellectual standpoint- they felt it wrecks the free enterprise system because slaves aren’t getting paid, and this knocks workers out of the picture.

A new Republican party formed. It didn’t want slavery extended in the new territories. It took on many view points not related to slavery. The Republican party was a little broader than the American and Free Soil parties. They put up John Freemont as a candidate in the election of 1856.

The Democrats put up James Buchanan and he won. Buchanan was out of the country during the Kansas issue so people felt that he was out of slavery. Buchanan was the only bachelor as president. He led during a very volatile time in US history and wasn’t a very strong leader.

There were many hot issues:
1. Dred- Scott case- Dred Scott was a slave who came to the Supreme Court in 1857. Dred lived down south with his master, and then his master moved north. Dred went from Missouri to Illinois to Wisconsin, and was freed. When his master went back south, Dred became a slave again. Dred wanted to be free because he used to be free. This case reached the Supreme Court ni Dred Scott vs. Sanford. Five out of the nine judges were southerners. Chief Justice Roger Taney issued a shocking ruling:
a. Blacks aren’t citizens and have no right to petition in the Supreme Court.
b. Slaves are property- the US government pledges to protect people’s property, therefore the Missouri Compromise of 1820 is unconstitutional because it said that one could own a slave in the south, but not in the north.
c. This was a fabulous victory for the south and a resounding defeat for the north.
2. In 1858, another slavery issue arose- the Lincoln-Douglas debate. A position for the state senator of Illinois was open and both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were vying for the position.
a. Douglas- well known politician, natty dresser, short, stout, was a dynamic speaker.
b. Lincoln- tall, skinny, wore rumpled clothing which he often slept in, was a newcomer to politics, simple speaker- spoke in vernacular.
c. The two were involved in debates across the state of Illinois, which captured the nation. Slavery was a major topic of the debates, but none of them discussed ending slavery where it already existed. They discussed slavery in the new territories. Douglas wanted popular sovereignty in the new territories, but Lincoln didn’t. Lincoln added the idea of slavery being a moral wrong. Douglas won the senate seat, and Lincoln emerged on the political scene.
3. Harpers Ferry- in 1859, John Brown said that a voice from god spoke to him and he felt that he had to free all the slaves. Brown prepared a slave rebellion- he’ll go with a group of people and they’ll attack Harpers Ferry, Virginia where there was a federal arsenal. Then they’ll give out the guns to all the slaves and they’ll kill their masters and slavery will end. Brown went with a couple of men- he tried to attack and was caught and later hanged. This awoke a passion in American people- the north felt that Brown was a martyr and the south felt that this is what happens to a treasonous young man.

The election of 1860 was a four-way race. Lincoln ran as a Republican. While he didn’t receive a single southern vote, he still won. The southern states felt that obviously they didn’t have that much political clout and that America was going on a path different than theirs because Lincoln made it clear that he didn’t care for slavery.

The south felt that they should now secede. In December of 1860, South Carolina broke away. By February of 1861, six more state seceded. These seven states formed their own country called the Confederate States of America. They set up their own government and Jefferson Davis became president. Their constitution was somewhat similar to the US’s with two basic differences:
1. Slavery is legal across the country.
2. There is limited federal power, but the real power comes from the states.

Lincoln took office in March. He didn’t want to start a war with the Confederacy. Although Lincoln felt that it was illegal to secede, he waited. The Confederacy began taking over legal buildings in the south such as post offices and forts. Lincoln didn’t want to do anything confrontational so he sent food to the legal buildings. The south attacked Fort Sumter and took it over. At this point, Lincoln felt that he was going to go to war because he wasn’t starting up, he was just responding.

The Civil war has now begun. The remaining slave states took sides- four more seceded and Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware and Missouri remained with the union. Everyone thought that this would be a nice, quick, easy war and both sides thought that the victory would be theirs. Both sides had advantages over the other side:
1. North-
a. More people.
b. Better technology-
i. Better production of food.
ii. Railroads to transport food and soldiers.
c. Very able president.
2. South- had better generals- Robert E. Lee was a West Point trained general. All the south had to do to win the war was do nothing- they broke away and now the north has to win them back. The south was eager to defend their way of life- they had a passion about what they were fighting for.

Many battles were fought. The single bloodiest day was the Battle of Antietam, Maryland. The north forced Lee to retreat. History says that had the north chased Lee back to Virginia, they would’ve won.

The south had hope that England would join them. The south and England had a great relationship because the south sent England cotton, which the English depended on. However England didn’t join because:
1. They no longer needed southern cotton so desperately because they found other sources.
2. Lincoln was being pressured to free the slaves, and in January of 1863 he succumbed and issued the Emancipation Proclamation- freed all slaves in the rebelling territories. Lincoln didn’t view the Confederacy as a separate country, rather as rebels and he felt that he could make laws for them. The war used to be an intellectual war, a war about state rights. It now changed to a war for slavery; people were now fighting either for or against slavery. England had already freed their slaves in 1833 and wasn’t going to join the war pro slavery.
This made the south realize that if they lose the war, they’ll lose their whole way of life. They now fought with extreme intensity.

The north and south both had dissenters- people who were on a side but didn’t agree. Some people stayed neutral. Both sides suspended the writ of habeas corpus- this showed Lincoln’s power. He took away the people’s rights during the war. Suspending the writ of habeas corpus was wrong, but after the war was over, Congress said that it was indeed right because this action was needed to maintain order.

In 1863, General Lee attacked Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After three bloody days, the north won. This was the bloodiest battle of the Civil war. The battle was the turning point of the war. The Battle of Vicksburg was another defeat for the south. The north was now on a steady pace to victory. Lee wanted to resign, but wasn’t given permission, as he led the south very well strategically.

A few months after the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln came and gave a short speech known as the Gettysburg Address. This speech spoke about the preservation of the union.

After these loses, the south was exhausted, worn down and many southerners were becoming disillusioned. Jefferson Davis was accused of being a lousy president. Meanwhile, Lincoln made Ulysses S. Grant the general over the entire northern army. Grant told Lincoln that he won’t stop fighting until the north won.

In spring of 1865, Grant and Lee met in Appomattox, Virginia. Lee surrendered there. Lincoln told Grant to be generous with Lee:
1. Southerners were allowed to keep their rifles for hunting.
2. The Confederate soldiers were paroled.

Legacy of the war-

The war changed the nation in many ways- the issue of states rights was over and the supremacy of the federal government was established- secession was never discussed again. During the Civil war was the first time there was a draft and the first time an income tax was placed on people- the war was very costly.

The Civil war affected the economy:
1. North- was booming. Factories churned out war materials and the federal government helped businesses by building railroads.
2. South- was devastated. The war was fought on southern territory and many southern lands were destroyed. Slavery was now over therefore the entire way of southern life ended.
The war intensified the gap between the north and the south.

Another change that occurred was through woman. Over the course of the war, many women took over men’s jobs such as working in the fields and factories. There were also nurses who went to the battlefield to help wounded soldiers. The hygiene on the battlefield was terrible, and some died because of it. One of these women was Clara Barton. After the war, she started the Red Cross to continue her good work.

The human cost of the war was tremendous- 500,000 died and 600,000 were wounded.

This war changed the way wars were now fought- they used rifle guns. This made shooting more accurate. They also had iron clad ships.

The lives of the African Americans changed drastically for the better. In 1865, the thirteenth amendment was passed. It abolished slavery in the United States of America.

Five days after Lee’s surrender, Lincoln was shot at Ford’s theater by John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer.
Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction was a very mild program- he wanted it to be peaceful. Lincoln said that as long as they pledged loyalty they could come back into the nation. Lincoln’s plan couldn’t be carried out though because he was shot.

Vice president Andrew Johnson took over for Lincoln. He wasn’t as strong as Lincoln and was faced with tremendous opposition in Congress. He wanted to carry out Lincoln’s plan but Congress was full of Radical Republicans- they were strong people who wanted the south to be dealt with in a harsh manner.

The Radical Republicans were angry at the white south and wanted to help the black south. One way of punishing the whites was to be extra nice to the blacks. One famous Radical Republican was Thaddeus Stevens- he was so into them that he wanted to be buried with them. The Radicals in Congress didn’t want to be nice to the white south:
1. They set up the Freed Men’s Bureau- to help freed slaves set up lives. They gave them money for hospitals and for education.
2. They passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866- to give the blacks equality. It made all black codes illegal. Black codes were white laws to make blacks suppressed.

Johnson vetoed these acts. He said that they’re giving too much power to the Federal government. Congress overrode Johnson’s veto and the bills became laws.

Congress went ahead and passed the fourteenth amendment, which gave full citizenship to the blacks. Johnson encouraged states not to ratify it and it wasn’t ratified until 1868.

In the 1866 elections, the Radicals won enough seats in Congress to override Johnson’s vetoes regularly. This is an example of somewhere where one side has too much power.

They passed the Reconstruction act:
1. If any of the states managed to squeak in and reinstate themselves as a state during Lincoln or Johnson’s time, they’re invalid.
2. The south is now under military control.
3. The south shouldn’t think about reentering the union unless they ratify the fourteenth amendment.
4. Black men now got the right to vote.

Congress was looking for a way to impeach Johnson. They knew that Johnson wanted to fire the Secretary of War. Congress now passed the Office of Tenure act which stated that it’s illegal to fire a cabinet member. If it is done, it’s ground for impeachment. Johnson fired the Secretary of War and was impeached (also because he used vulgar language in Congress). The Senate found him not guilty by one vote.

In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant became president. Grant was a US general during the Civil war, so he used the tactic of “waving the bloody shirt”- look what I did for the nation, now vote for me.

In 1870, the fifteenth amendment was passed- it gave blacks the right to vote.

By 1870, all the Confederate states had joined the union. Reconstruction was heavily in effect- the Radicals were heavily involved in the south. They had military control and were making sure that the whites were giving the blacks their rights of equality. They were also there to build up the south post war.

Down south, there were people who joined the Republican Party:
1. African Americans that were down south were very excited with the opportunity to be a part of political parties and they loved what the Republicans were doing.
2. Scalawags- they were poor, white southerners. They were happy that the rich shouldn’t be powerful. Additionally, there were now business opportunities to make money.
3. Carpet baggers- they were northerners that came down south. Some that came were very idealistic- they wanted to change the south. Some were doctors, school teachers, etc. They came down south to help.
A lot of cartoons about the scalawags and carpet baggers were negative- they portrayed them as being friends with the black only because they wanted money.

After the Civil war, many blacks moved north looking for opportunities. Many stayed down south and benefited from the opportunities that were available for them. Some blacks were even a part of Congress.

During the years of reconstruction, the blacks were able to vote. The Radical Republicans controlled the white southerners. Schools were set up for the blacks. The Freed Men’s Bureau helped blacks find family members, readjust and set up schools.

Most of the blacks were promised “forty acres and a mule” during the war, but the government didn’t come through. Many blacks ended up being sharecroppers. Sharecroppers worked white land. They were given all the necessary materials but two- thirds of the crop went to the owner. Sharecroppers usually remained poor their whole lives. If they were successful, they became tenant farmers- rented the land from the white man. They had to pay for their own materials, but received all the profit. Cotton was no longer king in the south because synthetic materials were taking their place.

The collapse of reconstruction-

1. Many white southerners hated reconstruction. They hated the military rule and the fact that the blacks were getting equality. A secret group called the Ku Klux Klan was formed to fight reconstruction. They were violent and would try to frighten blacks away from the voting poles.
2. As white southerners regained their seats in Congress, they fought the Radicals.
3. Grant’s government was corrupt.
4. Economic crisis- Panic of 1873.

Many American people said that they should move on from reconstruction and deal with the issues at hand.

Grant served for two terms. In the next election:
1. Republicans- Rutherford B. Hayes.
2. Democrats- Samuel Tilden.
Many southerners were now becoming Democrats because the powerful whites hated the Republicans. The south was leaning more and more democratic until it came to be known as the “Solid South”. Tilden won the popular votes, but was one vote short of the electoral majority. The decision went to the House of Representatives. A political bargain was made- the southern senators said that they’ll let Hayes win but they have to end reconstruction- they have to get every Republican out and restore home rule. They also had to make sure there would be a southern cabinet member. Reconstruction now officially ended.

The minuet the Radicals left the south, the whites took over and crushed the blacks. They put all the Jim Crowe laws into effect- the laws of segregation:
1. The blacks could no longer vote.
2. Separate schools.
3. Separate parks.
4. Separate busses.
5. Set up a poll tax.
6. Literacy test.
If someone did pay the tax, they usually failed the test. The Ku Klux Klan frightened anyone who got past both the poll tax and literacy test. The whites didn’t have to worry about these new laws because they fell under the Grandfather clause- if your grandfather voted, then you’re exempt.

Some say that reconstruction was successful because at least the amendments were passed.