Download Slavery, reform, the coming of the Civil War, and the war itself, 1830s

Slavery, reform, the coming of the Civil War, and
the war itself, 1830s-1865
Slavery and Reform
The Second Great Awakening
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It contributed to reform movements in antebellum America, most prominently the development
of anti-slavery opinions (especially abolition)
Charles G. Finney
Free will theology: anyone who chooses to follow Christ will be saves
Millenialism: being more perfect hastens the coming of Christ
Linked self reform with social reform with the Coming of Christ
Lyman Beecher
- Founded 1st school for deaf and Unions for Sunday School (promoting education and
literacy), Bible (bible in every home), temperance, Sabbitarianism (=observance of the day
of rest)
- Supported Indian Removal
Revivalism was inter-denominational and tripled church attendance
“Varieties of Slavery”
Rural slavery
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Large plantations
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Workers: craftsmen/skilled workers, field hands, house workers
Housing: separate slave quarters
Lots of slaves (like Colonel Lloyd)
Work was organized:
1. By gang – worked with others on a big field planting and harvesting crops like cotton
and sugar; closely supervised
2. By task – each slave was given a piece of land and tended to it by planting crops like
indigo and sea island cotton; unsupervised
Small farms
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A handful of slaves (like Covey and Freeman)
Work: masters worked side by side with slaves
Housing: slaves slept in the house
Urban slavery
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City slavery
- Better conditions than rural slavery
- Slaves had more freedom
Hiring out
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Similar to indentured servitude – slaves would work in factories or wharfs and have to pay a
weekly allowance to their masters
This was popular in the South with excess slaves
How Slavery Affected Slave Families and Identity
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Douglass didn’t know his age, birthday, or his father.
- He only heard rumors about who his father was – his master, Captain Anthony.
- He was separated from his mom at birth.
Fictive kinship: a relative would fill in for the actual family member (like Douglass’ grandma)
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Society in the South:
1. Wealthy plantation owners
2. “In betweens” (everybody else)
3. Slaves
The Master-Slave Relationship
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The master-slave relationship is complicated -- masters had to establish a balanced relationship
Even though masters seemed all-powerful, slaves were not powerless
If masters pushed slaves too hard, they would resist
- For example: Douglass beat Covey when he tried to whip him because he was tired of being
dehumanized.
- Slaves would often use more subtle methods of resistance: breaking tools, dropping food,
pretending to be sick.
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Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831)
-Occurred in southern Virginia where there was a slave majority
-Slaves killed 100 whites
-100 slaves were executed
*This was the worst slave revolt
Free slaves
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Once free, Douglass got married and started a family. He also got a job and started earning his
own wages.
4 million slaves in the South and 4 thousand free blacks in the North and the South
How to acquire freedom:
- Manumission: after the master dies, he frees the slave in his will
- Hiring out: allows you to buy your own freedom
However, life for free blacks was very hard.
- Lots of prejudice, discrimination, and segregation in hiring and in church.
- Slaves got food and shelter  some freed slaves volunteered for re-enslavement
Anti-Slavery Positions
1. Colonization (1816)
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The gradual, voluntary, compensated emancipation and removal of slaves to Liberia,
Columbia, or Haiti
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Masters would agree to free slaves
Unsuccessful: very few slaves were colonized (13,000 in 40 years)
-Why? (1) It was expensive (2) Slaves considered themselves Americans
Henry Clay and Lincoln
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2. Free-Soil
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Keep slavery in the South but stop it from spreading to the west
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They hoped that by confining it, slavery would die out
3. Abolition
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The immediate, uncompensated abolishment of slavery
- Slaves would get full equality
- They denounced the Constitution for its tolerance of slavery
- It was a minority in the North  was very radical
Important abolitionists:
- David Walker (1829) = 1st abolitionist free black
- William Lloyd Garrison (1831) = published the Liberator and organized anti-slavery societies
Arguments before 1830:
1. Slavery doesn’t belong in a republic because it’s contrary to those ideals
2. Slavery is inefficient because slaves are lazy
Abolitionist Arguments
1. Emphasized the brutality of slavery
2. Attacked its morality
Adopted revivalist tactics:
- Mailing abolitionist literature to the South
-Southern postmasters censored mail
- Petitioning to Congress
-Southerners used their power in the House to pass the gag rule which stated any
petition discussing slavery was forbidden
- Using public rallies and speeches (even female speakers like Quaker Lucretia Mott)
-Quakers joined the abolitionist movement
-Eliza Lovejoy: 1st abolitionist marker who was murdered for setting up an abolitionist
press in Illinois
-Received hostile Southern responses
Proslavery Arguments
Typical Arguments
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Used the Bible to justify slavery
- The “curse of Canaan” led to the burden of slavery
It’s a “necessary evil”
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- There’s no other good options – slaves might take revenge once free and start a war
Slavery christianized and civilized slaves
Slavery promotes equality: if you’re white and poor, you’re not the worst – still better than
slaves.
Fitzhugh
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Compares 2 types of labor: free labor vs. slave labor
Stereotypes about slave labor:
- It’s not efficient
- Slaves are treated awfully
- Slave masters don’t do anything
His arguments:
- Slaves are free
-everything is provided for them
- White laborers are slaves
-they work just as hard when they leave the factories
- White employers are lazy and make more profits
- Slave masters have to work as hard as slaves
-they have to take responsibility for slaves 24 hours a day
- Doesn’t mention brutality
-He says that children and the elderly are taken care of: but the bad treatment of
Douglass’s grandma disproves this
- Douglass would argue that masters spent little on slaves
-Slaves didn’t have enough to eat and were separated from families
- Fitzhugh didn’t believe that all men are equal and slavery is all about the strong protecting
the weak.
- Women: women need to be protected by men, are safe under the rule of their husbands,
and should obey them
Why were there so few factories in the South?
1) Social interpretation: white Southerners looked down on factory work and saw it as worse
than slavery
2) Economic interpretation: cotton raised by slaves was profitable.
 Old view of slavery: slaves were seen as lazy, so it’s not efficient – matches up with the social
interpretation, not the economic interpretation
 New view of slavery: But recently, slavery has been acknowledged as profitable – involves profit
and economic reasons
Women
How are abolition and the women’s rights movement connected? What were
the goals of this movement?
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The women’s rights movement is linked with abolition.
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They are both generated by the idea of equality.
Women joined the abolitionist movement but were treated inferior.
Women compared their treatment to that of slaves.
Seneca Falls: the New York meeting that started the women’s rights movement
-Led by female abolitionist speaker Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and later
Susan B. Anthony
-Douglass and Garrison attended
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Goals:
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Voting rights
Education and access to college
Property rights and wages while married
Access to divorce and custody
This emphasis on women’s rights split the abolitionist movement
The Civil War
When and by what means did the US acquire new territory in the West?
 The 1840s
 Polk = the Democratic president responsible for most of the acquired territory
- His goals:
1) Reduction of tariffs
2) Creation of independent treasury
3) Platform of westward expansion
*He increased the U.S. territory by 1/3
- He had a huge impact on U.S. history, even though he only served 1 term
- He promised to only serve 1 term (1844-1848) in order to win support from Democrats
 By what means
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TEXAS: acquired by annexation
MEXICAN CESSION: acquired by war with Mexico
OREGON TERRITORY: acquired by negotiation with the British.
-Increased settlement led to demands for more territory.
What caused the civil war?
Controversy over Mexican War Territory
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As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S. created a vast amount of territory called the
Mexican Cession
This created conflicts over the expansion of slavery:
1) Ban it in the new territory
2) Popular sovereignty
3) Extend the Missouri Compromise line
 Wilmot Proviso
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A ban on slavery in all of the territory acquired in the war
Opposed by nearly all Southerners: the idea of banning slavery angered the South
Proposed by David Wilmot, a northern Democrat. Most Whigs supported this.
It was repeatedly brought up, but always rejected (not passed till 1862)
Controversy over California
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In 1848, a gold rush brought lots of settlers to California
California needed government immediately because of the rowdy, violent mining camps
President Taylor, a Whig, dealt with this conflict of allowing slavery or not (He had avoided
slavery in his campaign)
After 2 years of bitter debate and division due to the Wilmot Proviso, he proposed California
should skip the territorial state and use popular sovereignty to decide, so Congress didn’t
have to
 California’s constitution decided to ban slavery
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But the southerners wanted protection from a federal ban of slavery in the Mexican
Cession, so they blocked the admission of California as a free state
Compromise of 1850
 Proposed by Henry Clay
 Was an “omnibus bill” that attempted to address all issues of slavery and create unity:
1) A tougher Fugitive Slave Law
- South: supported
- North: opposed
2) Admission of California as a free State
- South: opposed
- North: supported
3) Abolition of slave trade, but no slavery, in District of Columbia
- South: opposed
- North: supported
4) Popular sovereignty decided slavery in the rest of the Mexican Cession
- South: supported
- North: opposed
 Clay’s Omnibus Bill did not pass
 However, each of the laws passed separately
- Proposed by Douglas, a democratic senator from Illinois
****Passed separately, these laws were very divisive and created political division between
the North and the South (whereas Clay’s bill was an attempt to create unity).
Fugitive slave controversy
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The new Fugitive Slave Act created new conflicts between the North and South
1) Battle of Christiana (1851)
- 2 slaves escaped from Maryland
- Fighting broke out between the slaves and the master
- Owner of slaves was killed and slaves fled to Canada
**This outraged Southerners and divided Southern extremists from Northern extremists
2) Personal liberty laws
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The new Fugitive Law allowed federal marshals to recapture slaves
Personal liberty laws forbid the aid of local and federal officials
3) Anthony Burns case
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Burns was an escaped slave from Virginia who was arrested in Boston. An abolitionist
mob tried to save him from jail, but he was sent back to slavery
**This angered abolitionists who saw it as an outrage
The “Higher Law” Principle: Abolitionists argued that God’s law takes precedence over man’s law
if it’s corrupt.
Kansas Nebraska Act (1854)
 Called for the creation of 2 territories (Nebraska and Kansas) with popular sovereignty
 Proposed by Douglas
- Douglas wanted railroads extending from the west to Illinois. To do this, he needed
settlers in the Mid-West.
 Repealed the Missouri Compromise
- Both territories were above the Missouri Compromise line, so slavery should have been
banned. However, Douglas knew the South wouldn’t support it, so he proposed this
instead. He was convinced that Nebraska would be voted free and Kansas slave.
 Southerners supported it, and Northerners opposed it.
 AFTERMATH:
- On voting day, violence broke out. Pro-slavery Missourians influenced the election, so
their constitutions legalized slavery.
- Anti-slavery settlers saw the election as fraudulent and created a 2nd government.
- Two governments in the same territory was a recipe for disaster
 Led to the creation of the Republican Party and the destruction of the Whig Party
 Increased tensions, leading to violence in Congress.
- Charles Sumner was beat with a cane. He was a radical republican who wanted to use
government to ban slavery.
- He insulted Butler, so his nephew beat him 20 times on the head and nobody did
anything. Butler’s nephew became a hero in the South.
Third Party System
 Before, parties brought together regions. (The Whigs and Democrats united the North
and South in the 2nd Party System).
 In the 1840s, the 2nd Party System splintered as conflicts between North and South grew
 Parties in 1840s:
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Free Soil Party – antislavery
Liberty Party – abolitionist
 In 1850s:
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Know-Nothing Party – anti-immigrants (especially the Irish). They wanted to lengthen
voting restrictions.
Republican Party – founded in response to opposition to the Kansas Nebraska Act
-Whig party died in 1854 after the Kansas Nebraska Act
Democrats – split in 1860, but survived
Compare and contrast Lincoln and Douglas’s views of slavery.
Debates took place in Illinois
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Lincoln = Republican  Support in the Northeast
Douglas = Democrat  Support in South
Areas of Disagreement
1) The Intent of the Founders
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Both of them claim the support of the founders.
Lincoln: believed that the founders wanted to phase out slavery (ban slave trade,
Northwest Ordinance:
Douglas: believed that the founders intended the nation to be ½ free, ½ slave and
wanted popular sovereignty
2) Equality
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Lincoln: make it as broad as possible. Exceptions should not be made.
-He clarifies that they should be equal in the sense of:
-rights of life, liberty, and happiness
-free labor idealogy (one should enjoy the fruits of ones labor)
-but not in color
-At first, he promotes colonization in response to attacks from Douglas
Douglas: equality for white men because the nation was founded on a white men basis.
-Attacks Lincoln: if they’re equal it will lead to political and social equality
-First they’ll be allowed in states, then vote, the mix with our race
3) Uniformity/ Nationalization
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Lincoln: a divided nation cannot endure and it must be all free or all slave.
-He said that Douglas wants to nationalize slavery.
- Douglas: Uniformity leads to despotism. He wanted it to be divided because it’s worked
for years.
- Dred Scott case:
-A slave of an army sergeant who moved from a slave state to a free territory,
but his master kept him a slave.
-Dred Scott sued for his freedom.
-Appealed to Supreme Court (Taney)
-Taney ruled:
1) Because he was a slave, Scott couldn’t sue
2) Blacks aren’’t citizens – they’re property
3) Slaves are property and masters have the right to take them into
territories
**Declaring the Missouri Compromise and Northwest ordinance
unconstitutional  Judicial review (=declaring an act of Congress
unconstitutional)
-Lincoln is predicting that masters will be allowed to take slaves
anywhere, even free states
*Lincoln implies that popular sovereignty is obsolete because of Dred Scott
**Douglas wins the Senate Election
Election of 1860
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Candidates:
1) Lincoln = Republican
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North (New England and Northwest)
Stop the expansion of slavery
2) Douglas = northern Democrat
- Central Midwest and California
- Moderate: Popular sovereignty
- Lost support in the South: too extreme to tolerate free states
3) Breckenridge = southern Democrat
- Deep South (more radical)
- Pro-slavery and pro-expansion of slavery into territories
4) Bell = Constitutional Union
- Upper South
- Wanted to keep the constitution and federal laws, maintain status quo, keep Union
intact
Lincoln won by 40% of popular vote, but majority of electoral votes
The Succession Crisis
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South Carolina succeeded in January 1861
- Justification: the states ratified the Constitution and formed the Union, so they have the
right to withdraw
- This happened during the “Lame Duck” period: Buchanan had to deal with it
6 more states followed in February (FL, GA, MS, LA, TX, AL)
- All of the deep South
South created a new Confederacy
- New constitution and new capital
- Fire eaters = successionists
Lincoln took office with lots of problems and rejected the idea of dissolving the Union
- He could allow them to succeed, compromise, or use force
The War
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Fort Sumter was the catalyst of the war and forced Lincoln to act
- Lincoln publically announced that ships would supply with food and he wouldn’t use
military force
- Gave the decision to the South: the South fired the first shot in April 1861
Union army was very small at the start of the war (16,000 soldiers)
- Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days
Thought the war would be short
Civil war soldiers and officers were inexperienced and amateur
- They were incompetent and learned by fighting
- It was a pre-modern war: soldiers had no dog tags, weren’t identified after death
Most of the fighting took place between the 2 capitals: DC and Richmond
The Union wasn’t successful at the beginning
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Within 4 months of the war, Lincoln called for 1 million soldiers to serve 3 years
Defeat at Bull Run destroyed his optimism
McClellan: bad at fighting with his army, very cautious and didn’t take risks  failed to capture
Richmond
Turning point = Union victory at:
- Vicksburg: Union control of Mississippi River separates the Confederacy
- Gettysburg: weakens Lee’s army
Petersburg revealed that the war was becoming a war of attrition (= a stalemate)
- Grant used trench warfare  on the defensive
- The rifle evolved: deadlier weapons in close combat meant more deaths
- This made old tactics (like the charge) become useless
**Unprecedented nature of fighting = bloody, brutal, devastating
Motivations of the war
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All soldiers: love of country (=patriotism), money, protect families
North: to preserve the Union (abolishing slavery came later)
South: fighting for freedom to enslave
Offers on both sides preferred Christian soldiers
Timeline
Lincoln’s Inaugural Address (1861)
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He just wants to stop slavery from spreading, he won’t interfere with slavery where it
exists
Trying to reassure the border states that slavery was safe in their states and he has no
intention of abolishing slavery
But slaves started running away
Slaves escaped to Butler’s fort in Virginia
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The Constitution required him to send them back
But he said that because the southern states aren’t part of the nation, the Fugitive Slave
Law doesn’t apply
He labeled them “contrabands of war” (contraband=anything used by the enemy to
make war)
He argued that slave labor contributed to the war effort
1st Confiscation Act: allowed seizure of all property, including slaves
(April 1862) Congress ended slavery in DC with compensation for owners
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Congress and federal government had constitutional authority to do this
May have worried border and Southern states
Lincoln made an offer to border states: if their state legislation passed laws ending slavery, they
would get compensation
(June 1862) Congress enacted the Wilmot Proviso, outlawing slavery in federal territories
(July 1862) 2nd Confiscation Act: guaranteed freedom forever for all fugitives and all slaves captured
by the Union army
**Defines the status of contrabands
Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
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Didn’t free all slaves: only states “rebellion”
Exceptions:
- Slave states in Union
- Border states (upper South)
- Confederate states occupied by the Union (Tennesee and New Orleans)
Slaves were free on paper, but they had to escape or get captured to achieve this freedom
*Freedom wasn’t typically immediate on January 1
Out of 3 million slaves in the U.S., only 50,000 are freed immediately
Areas of Confederacy under Union occupation are freed immediately (St. Augustine)
For the vast majority, freedom was dependent on the success of the Union
For this document to win, the Union had to win
Lincoln used his authority as Commander in Chief
- Nothing in the Constitution allowing Congress to pass an act ending slavery
- But Lincoln could justify this with the elasticity of the Constitution
- Lincoln avoids morality, natural rights, and the evils of slavery because the Constitution
didn’t allow him to act on that basis
Abandons idea of compensation
- Still offered in border states where slavery remains intact till the end of the war
Freedom of slaves is forever guaranteed:
- Can become wage laborers – rejects apprenticeship and servitude
- Can join Union army
- Given up colonization
This made compromise with the South impossible
Transformed the purpose of the war: from preserving the Union to abolishing slavery
Expands federal government power: attacking slavery for the 1st time
Wartime Legislation
13th Amendment
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Freed all slaves
Gave Congress the power to abolish slavery in the states
Legitimizes Lincoln’s actions