Download Antebellum America

Antebellum
America
October 8, 2012
Antebellum America
 Antebellum (the period before the Civil War)
America was a time of great change in the
United States
 The population was growing, new states were
added, new technology was being developed,
and a new president was elected
 All of these things, and more, would lead up to
the American Civil War
New Technology – The
Cotton Gin
 In 1793, a man named Eli Whitney invented
the cotton engine (shortened to cotton gin)
 The purpose of the cotton gin was to separate
the seed from the cotton itself
 Prior to this invention, a worker might be able
to separate 6 or 7 pounds a day by hand
 Now workers could separate 50 pounds a day
 This led to more slaves being brought to cotton
plantations in the South because they could
now grow more cotton
New Technology Railroads
 Prior to railroads, people would have to travel
by horse, boat, or stagecoach
 Farmers and manufacturers had to ship small
amounts of goods at a time, and at a very slow
pace
 When the railroads were built, people and
goods could move faster, speeding up
production, which led to more slaves being
needed in the South
Slavery
 Since the cotton gin made producing cotton
more cost effective, the numbers of slaves
grew in the South
 By 1860, there were 118,000 white families in
Georgia
 Of these, 35% owned slaves
 In 1860, there were 3,500 free blacks in
Georgia
 There were 4 million slaves in the country, and
almost 12% lived in Georgia
Government in Antebellum
America
 The United States government was firmly
divided between North and South by the
early 1800s
 There were many disagreements, not just
over the issue of slavery
 All of these helped lead to the American
Civil War
States’ Rights
 States’ Rights is the belief that the state’s
interests should take precedence over the
interests of the national government
 The North believed that in order for the U.S. to
function as a Union, then political decisions
should affect the entire country
 The South believed that the states had a right
to govern themselves and decide what is best
for their own needs
Nullification
 Nullification (preventing the enforcement of a
federal law) was an issue in 1832
 South Carolina challenged the enforcement of
a tariff (tax) and eventually nullified that tariff
 South Carolina threatened to leave the U.S. if
federal government would not compromise
 Eventually, a compromise was reached and
South Carolina repealed its nullification of the
tariff
The Missouri Compromise
 In 1819, there were 22 states
 11 were slave states and 11 were free states
 This meant there was an equal number of senators
in Congress from slave states and free states
 Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state
 This would mean there would be an uneven
number of slave and free states
 After much debate, the Missouri Compromise in
1820 allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a
slave state and Maine to enter as a free state, so
the balance of power would remain the same
Compromise of 1850
 In 1849, California applied to become a
free state
 There were 15 slave states and 15 free
states at the time
 This would shift the balance of power
 Senator Henry Clay proposed the
Compromise of 1850 to please both the
North and the South
Compromise of 1850
 Benefits for North
 California is free state
 Slave trading ended in
Washington D.C. (the
national capital)
 Texas gave up the New
Mexico territory, so Texas
(a slave state) was now
smaller
 Benefits for South
 New Mexico and Utah
would decide to be free or
slave states on their own
 Residents of D.C. could
keep the slaves they
already had
 Congress would pass the
Fugitive Slave Act, that
guaranteed that runaway
slaves would be returned
to their owners, even if
they made it to a free state
The Georgia Platform
 Many Georgians did not like the Compromise
of 1850
 Alexander Stephens, a Georgia politician,
asked Georgians to accept it
 “The Georgia Platform” was adopted that
officially accepted the compromise for the
people of Georgia
 Many Georgians knew that if Georgia were to
remain part of the U.S., they would need to
accept the Compromise
Kansas-Nebraska Act
 In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed which
created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
 The act contained a clause on popular sovereignty,
which means that people in that territory can vote to
become a free state or slave state
 After the act was passed, deadly fights broke out
between proslavery and anti-slavery groups
 When Kansas applied to become a slave state, they
were rejected based on votes from Northern states
 This made southerners realize that northern votes alone could
keep slave states out of the Union
The Dred Scott Case
 In 1834, Dred Scott, a slave, was taken by his owner
from Missouri (slave state) to Illinois (free state), and
later Wisconsin (free state)
 When Scott’s owner died, he returned to Missouri and
filed a lawsuit claiming he was free since he had lived
in a free state
 The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in
1857, the court ruled that Scott could not file a lawsuit
since he was a slave, and therefore, not a citizen of the
U.S.
 This further divided the North and South and pushed
them closer to war
The Presidential Election
of 1860 - Democrats
 Democrats met in South Carolina in 1860 to
decide on a presidential nominee
 After much arguing, Northern Democrats split
from Southern Democrats
 Northern Democrats nominated Stephen A.
Douglas for President of the U.S.
 Southern Democrats nominated John
Breckinridge for President of the U.S.
 Politicians from the border states met
separately and nominated John Bell
The Presidential Election
of 1860 - Republicans
 Republicans met in Chicago and nominated
Abraham Lincoln for President of the U.S.
 Republicans, who said they would not
actively try to end slavery, were proposing
many measures that would not benefit the
South
 The party appeared to be against everything
Southerners wanted
The Presidential Election
of 1860 - Results
 For the first time, a candidate who got votes
from only one section of the country won the
election
 Abraham Lincoln received 1.9 million votes (a
minority) and was elected president
 However, the other candidates split the
Southern vote, so none received enough to be
elected
Election Results Map
~ Red –
Lincoln
~Dark Gray –
Breckenridge
~Light Gray –
Douglas
~Green – Bell
~Tan –
Territories (do
not vote)
The Question of Secession
 After Lincoln’s election, talk of secession (the
act of leaving the Union) and war was all over
the South
 Georgia’s governor called a special legislative
session to determine whether to secede
 For the most part, Georgia citizens wanted to
stay part of the Union, but they also wanted
states’ rights and to support their lifestyle
The Role of Alexander
Stephens
 Alexander Stephens, a Georgia legislator, was
against secession
 He made several stirring speeches, calling for
Georgians to wait to see what other states
would do
 He was, however, voted down, and on January
19, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union
 Ironically, Alexander Stephens would go on to
become vice-president of the Confederacy
Questions…
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1) What does “antebellum”
mean?
2) What was the purpose of the
cotton gin?
3) How did the invention of the
cotton gin lead to the need for
more slaves?
4) How did the invention of
railroads lead to the need for
more slaves?
5) What is states’ rights?
6) What region was for states’
rights? What region was against
states’ rights?
7) What is nullification?
8) What was the Missouri
Compromise?
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9) How did the Compromise of
1850 benefit the North?
10) How did the Compromise of
1850 benefit the South?
11) What did the Georgia
Platform do?
12) What is popular sovereignty?
13) Who was Dred Scott?
14) What did the Dred Scott
decision say?
15) Why was Abraham Lincoln
elected in the election of 1860?
16) When did Georgia secede
from the Union?
17) Who became vice president
of the Confederacy?