Download The Northern Economy

The Northern Economy
The Civil War affected the Northern economy in different ways than it did in the South. In
some ways, the North was better off during the war. There were more factories and more miles
of railroad in the North.
Like the South, the North struggled to raise money. The war was the most expensive that the
country had fought at that time. The government was forced to think of new ways to raise
money.
One way the government did this was to sell bonds. When a person bought a bond, he was
lending money to the government. In this case, the money was used to fight the Civil War. The
bond was guaranteed to earn a certain amount of interest during the life of the bond. When the
bond matured, the buyer would get the face value of it. A bond can mature at different times.
Some mature in months; others take years.
The government in the North started a national bank to sell the bonds. The people in the
North had money saved in banks. This saved money was used to buy bonds. Still, the people in
the North could not buy enough bonds to pay for the war.
Another way they tried to pay for it was to start an income tax. This tax was hated during the
Civil War, and it is still disliked today. Congress started the tax in 1861. Then it taxed three
percent of what people made. By 1862, the war was costing over two million dollars a day.
Taxes helped pay for some of this, but taxes couldn't raise enough money, either.
In order to get some of the money that it needed, the North began to print more paper money.
This led to inflation. Inflation is when prices go up and money is worth less. Inflation wasn't as
bad in the North as it was in the South. In the South, inflation was nine thousand percent.
Something that cost one dollar at the beginning of the war cost about ninety dollars at the end of
it. In the North, inflation doubled the price of goods.
The North had more factories than the South. Almost ninety percent of manufactured goods
were made in the North. Many farmers went off to fight. More machines were then needed on
farms to plant or harvest crops.
As the war went on, soldiers needed clothes, shoes, and guns. Factories in the North worked
hard to make these items. Some owners made a lot of money through something called
profiteering. This is when someone charges a lot of money for an item that someone needs. The
government needed clothes and shoes for the soldiers. It was sometimes forced to pay these
higher prices to get what it needed.
The Union had more railroads than the South. There were about twenty thousand miles of
railroad in the North. The South only had about nine thousand. The Union also had ninety-six
percent of the railroad equipment. This allowed it to quickly move goods and soldiers around the
northern part of the country. But it was the South, who for the first time during a war, moved
troops to a battle using a railroad.
Much of the war was fought on Southern soil. Because of this, many of their farms and crops
were destroyed. The North did not have this problem. When the war was over, men could go
back to farms that had been well taken care of. People in the North did not have to worry about
rebuilding that part of the country. This helped the North recover quickly from the Civil War.
The Northern Economy
1. Where was inflation worse?
West
South
North
2. When was an income tax started?
1861
1863
1862
3. Who first used the railroad to move troops
to a battle?
North
West
South
4. How much did the war cost by 1862?
5. What is profiteering?
6. Where was much of the war fought?
On Southern soil
On Northern soil
On the Atlantic Ocean
The Southern Economy
By Cathy Pearl
The Civil War cost more than any other war the country had fought before it. Because of this,
the North and the South had to find ways to raise money. The economy in each part of the
country was affected in different ways. The South had a harder time than the North.
1
There weren't a lot of factories in the South. The people in the South were using cotton to get
what they needed. The South would sell cotton to other parts of the country. It would then buy
what it needed.
2
The South's economy was built on the labor of slaves. African Americans were forced to
work the farms and plantations where cotton was grown. Without their hard work, much of the
cotton would be left to rot in the fields. There wouldn't be enough people to harvest it.
3
The war hurt the cotton trade. The North set up a blockade in the waters off the coast of
Southern ports. This blockade was able to keep many ships from leaving. The South had a hard
time getting their cotton to other countries to sell.
4
To try to get help to break the blockade, the South began to refuse to sell cotton to Great
Britain. The South hoped that Great Britain would then help break the blockade so it could get
more cotton.
5
The South's plan didn't work quite the way it had hoped. At the time, there was extra cotton
in Great Britain, so they weren't worried about getting more of it. Britain was able to buy cotton
from other countries. Britain was also against slavery. The country wasn't sure it wanted to
support the South because the South wanted to keep slavery in place.
6
In order to raise money to fight the war, the Confederate government tried to tax people. But
people in the South believed in states' rights. They wouldn't pay money to the government. Other
taxes asked for crops instead of money. The government knew that many people in the South did
not have enough money to pay taxes.
7
The Confederate government also printed extra paper money to pay the costs of the war. This
led to inflation. Inflation is when prices rise and money isn't worth as much. At one point, sixty
to seventy dollars in paper money equaled one dollar in gold.
8
As inflation got worse, the prices kept going up. More of the paper money was needed to buy
what people needed. During the war, a barrel of flour could sell as high as 275 dollars. A pound
of butter cost fifteen dollars.
9
This was if you could find what you were looking for. The blockade made a lot of food and
other items hard to find. The Confederate army sometimes had to wait months for more clothes
or weapons.
10
Many of the weapons came from Europe. The blockade kept them from getting through. To
get things like guns, the Southern government tried to start their own factories. Manufacturers
were told their workers would not have to serve in the army if the factory started to make goods
for the war.
11
The economy in the South would take a long time to recover after the Civil War. It would be
destroyed even more when a general from the North, William Sherman, would make his March
to the Sea. During this march, he would destroy much of what was in his path. The South would
struggle for many years to rebuild just some of what they had before the war.
12
The Southern Economy
1. What kept most ships from leaving the
South during the war?
A blockade
The North destroyed all the ships.
Bad weather
2. Why wouldn't people in the South pay a
tax?
3. Printing extra money to pay for the war led 4. What did the South do to try to break the
to what?
blockade?
Less taxes
Attack the blockade
Inflation
Build faster ships
People getting rich
Refuse to sell cotton to Britain
5. What is inflation?
6. How much did a pound of butter cost
during the Civil War?
The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865 and led to over 618,000 casualties. Its causes can be
traced back to tensions that formed early in the nation's history. Following are the top five causes
that led to the "War Between the States."
1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South.
With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This
machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the
same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton
meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy
became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand,
the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern
industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity
between the two set up a major difference in economic attitudes. The South was based on the
plantation system while the North was focused on city life. This change in the North meant that
society evolved as people of different cultures and classes had to work together. On the other
hand, the South continued to hold onto an antiquated social order.
2. States versus federal rights.
Since the time of the Revolution, two camps emerged: those arguing for greater states rights and
those arguing that the federal government needed to have more control. The first organized
government in the US after the American Revolution was under the Articles of Confederation.
The thirteen states formed a loose confederation with a very weak federal government. However,
when problems arose, the weakness of this form of government caused the leaders of the time to
come together at the Constitutional Convention and create, in secret, the US Constitution. Strong
proponents of states rights like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were not present at this
meeting. Many felt that the new constitution ignored the rights of states to continue to act
independently. They felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to
accept certain federal acts. This resulted in the idea of nullification, whereby the states would
have the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this
right. However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun fought vehemently for nullification. When
nullification would not work and states felt that they were no longer respected, they moved
towards secession.
3. The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents.
As America began to expand, first with the lands gained from the Louisiana Purchase and later
with the Mexican War, the question of whether new states admitted to the union would be slave
or free. The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states
from the former Louisiana Purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in Missouri.
During the Mexican War, conflict started about what would happen with the new territories that
the US expected to gain upon victory. David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846
which would ban slavery in the new lands. However, this was shot down to much debate. The
Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between
slave and free states, northern and southern interests. One of the provisions was the fugitive slave
act that was discussed in number one above. Another issue that further increased tensions was
the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. It created two new territories that would allow the states to
use popular sovereignty to determine whether they would be free or slave. The real issue
occurred in Kansas where proslavery Missourians began to pour into the state to help force it to
be slave. They were called “Border Ruffians.” Problems came to a head in violence at Lawrence
Kansas. The fighting that occurred caused it to be called “Bleeding Kansas.” The fight even
erupted on the floor of the senate when antislavery proponent Charles Sumner was beat over the
head by South Carolina’s Senator Preston Brooks.
4. Growth of the Abolition Movement.
Increasingly, the northerners became more polarized against slavery. Sympathies began to grow
for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholders. This occurred especially after some major
events including: the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Dred Scott
Case, John Brown’s Raid, and the passage of the fugitive slave act that held individuals
responsible for harboring fugitive slaves even if they were located in non-slave states.
5. The election of Abraham Lincoln.
Even though things were already coming to a head, when Lincoln was elected in 1860, South
Carolina issued its “Declaration of the Causes of Secession.” They believed that Lincoln was
anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests. Before Lincoln was even president, seven states
had seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana,
and Texas.
First Battle of Bull Run
By Cathy Pearl
When the Civil War first started, both sides thought that it would end quickly. The first major
battle took place at Bull Run in Virginia. This battle showed both sides that the war would be
long and bloody.
1
In 1861, the Confederate capital was in Richmond, Virginia. It was only about one hundred
miles away from Washington, D.C. Newspapers in the North called for the army to attack the
Southern capital.
2
The Union general, Irvin McDowell, did not agree. He did not feel that his army was ready
for any major battles. Lincoln did not listen to his general. He ordered the army to march for
Manassas. This town had a railroad that was important to the North.
3
The leader of the Southern army was P.G.T. Beauregard. He was the officer who had
captured Fort Sumter. The battle at Fort Sumter had started the Civil War. Beauregard's army
was camping near a stream named Bull Run. The stream was about four miles north of
Manassas.
4
The march south took the Northern soldiers almost four days. Manassas was only about
twenty-five miles away. The slow pace showed how badly prepared the army was. Soldiers were
said to have stopped to pick blackberries instead of marching.
5
The march south was treated like a party. The Union army was sure that it would win any
battle. People rode in on buggies or on horses to watch the battle. It was July 21, 1861.
6
The slow pace of the Union army gave Beauregard plenty of time to get ready. More soldiers
came in to strengthen the army. Trains brought many of them in. It marked the first time that
soldiers were moved by train. When McDowell finally attacked, both armies were about the
same size.
7
Hours after the battle started, the people who had come to watch the battle were running back
to Washington as fast as they could. The battle was much different from what anybody had
thought it would be. It was loud and bloody.
8
At first, it seemed like the Union army was winning. Slowly the army was pushing the
Southern army back. If the Union won, the road to Richmond would be open.
9
The Confederates were ready to break when some men rallied behind General Thomas J.
Jackson. He was fighting to protect a piece of land that was important in the battle. Jackson
earned his nickname of "Stonewall" here because he stood as strong as a stone wall.
10
More Confederate troops started to come from the South. The Union army was becoming
tired and discouraged. They had been fighting all day and had not been able to win the battle.
Union officers were losing control of their men. Some soldiers simply stopped fighting and
started walking back toward Washington. Others ran north as the Southern army pushed the
attack toward them.
11
The road to the North was choked with people. Soldiers were trying to make their way north.
Also on the road were the people who had come to watch the battle. They all now ran north.
Most of them had never seen a war. They were now terrified by what the country faced.
12
The Confederates had a great opportunity. The road to Washington was open. They could
have gone north and had a chance to attack the Union capital. But the men in the Southern army
were tired and did not have the energy to chase the Union army. The war may have ended very
differently if they had.
13
Compared to what was coming, the number of killed and wounded was not large. The Union
army had about 2900 casualties. A casualty is a man who was killed, injured, captured, or
missing in action. The Confederate casualties were less than two thousand.
14
This sounds like a lot of people. But these numbers would prove to be small as the war
continued. This early battle showed both sides that the war would not be easy to win. Both sides
began to prepare much larger armies for the battles ahead.
15
First Battle of Bull Run
1. Which side won the Battle of Bull Run?
2. Who was the leader of the Southern army?
The South
The North
Abraham Lincoln
P.G.T. Beauregard
Irvin McDowell
3. Where was the capital of the Confederates? 4. This battle marked the first time soldiers
were transported by:
Richmond, Virginia
Plane
Manassas, Virginia
Washington, D.C.
Train
Car
5. What is a casualty?
6. How did people treat the battle at first?
Gettysburg Address
By Cathy Pearl
It was November 19, 1863. President Abraham Lincoln stood in
Gettysburg. It was about four months after the North had won a battle
there. He was there to dedicate a new cemetery. He only spoke for two
minutes. His speech is still famous today.
1
The battle left many people dead. There were more than seven
thousand bodies on the battlefield. The town wanted to bury these dead
quickly and honorably. Pennsylvania bought land near where the battle
was. This land would be a cemetery.
2
The main speaker that day was Edward Everett. At the time, he was
considered to be one of the best public speakers in the country. Almost
as an afterthought, Lincoln was also invited to speak that day. He would not be the main speaker.
3
About fifteen thousand people are thought to have come that day. There were also governors
from six different states. The cemetery was not ready yet. The town was still working to rebury
4
men from the battle into it.
Everett spoke for over two hours that day. Lincoln sat and waited patiently for his turn. After
Everett was finally done speaking, Lincoln stood to give his speech.
5
After a two hour speech, the crowd was probably expecting Lincoln's speech to be long, too.
It wasn't. In his Kentucky accent, Lincoln would give what today is known as the Gettysburg
Address. It would last just over two minutes.
6
Lincoln's speech was ten sentences long. In it, he rededicated the nation to the war effort. He
also spoke of a government that was for the people. He honored the sacrifice of those who had
died.
7
Some people believe Lincoln did not take a lot of time to write this speech. They think he
wrote it on the train as he was traveling to Gettysburg. This isn't true. Lincoln thought carefully
about anything that he said in public. The invitation came late, but he had plenty of time to write
a well-thought-out speech.
8
Lincoln put finishing touches on his speech that morning. No one is sure just what Lincoln
said that day. There are many copies of the speech that are different. Even newspaper reporters
wrote the wording down differently. There is no recording of this speech. The argument may
never end.
9
Public reaction that day was different for everyone. Much of it depended on political parties.
Those that liked Lincoln praised the speech. Those that didn't like him said the speech was
embarrassing.
10
Even people's memories of that day differed. Some people who were there that day said the
audience didn't make a sound after Lincoln finished speaking. Others said that a couple of people
clapped. Even photographers were shocked at how short the speech was. Most were not ready to
take Lincoln's picture before he was done talking.
11
Lincoln himself wrote at least five different copies of the speech. The fifth draft is the only
one with his signature. This is probably the last copy he wrote. This copy is considered the
accepted version. It is called the Bliss copy. It was owned by the family of Alexander Bliss.
12
The Library of Congress has original copies of the speech. Any copies they have are kept in
specially protected cases. This keeps the paper the speech is written on from becoming weak and
falling apart.
13
Lincoln thought the speech was a failure. Everett was impressed. Lincoln had said in two
minutes what had taken Everett two hours to say.
14
Today that two minute speech is probably Lincoln's most famous. It will continue to be an
important part of Civil War and American history.
15
Gettysburg Address
1. Who was the main speaker that day?
2. How long was Lincoln's speech?
Edward Everett
Abraham Lincoln
Two hours
Two minutes
Twenty minutes
3. Lincoln wrote the speech the day of the
dedication.
False
True
4. Which copy of the speech did Lincoln
sign?
5. Why is one copy called the Bliss copy?
6. How much earlier had the Battle of
Gettysburg been fought?
Four weeks
Four months
Four years
A Letter Home
By Mary L. Bushong
1
Note: This story is fictional, but loosely based on a true account.
Constance pressed close behind her mother as the two walked onto the hospital grounds. Mrs.
Barrows led the way to the surgeon's tent. It was little more than a field hospital, and the
surgeon's operating table was still in place. The doctor's blood soaked apron had not yet been
washed. Constance felt light-headed. Had it been a mistake for her to come?
2
"Good day to you, Mrs. Barrows," said the young surgeon with a tired voice. "I see you
brought reinforcements in your efforts to help our brave boys. Is it wise to bring such a young
lady to a place like this?"
3
Mrs. Barrows nodded. "I hear that Northern ladies visit their boys. Is it right for our own
boys to lay suffering and dying away from the loving arms of their own families? It is right for
her to be here. Perhaps we may both offer some small amount of comfort."
4
5
The surgeon nodded and waved to a broad-shouldered attendant.
6
"Private, take these two ladies to visit the boys in your care."
The private led Mrs. Barrows and Constance to the large, open-sided tent. He bowed to the
two ladies and went back to work. Some of the men were awake. Their eyes followed the two
women as they went from bed to bed. Their mouths were clamped shut against the pain as a
further testimony of their courage.
7
Constance was nervous. She had never before been in a hospital tent. The smells and sights
in the tent were almost enough to make her run out. She knew that if she did, she would never be
allowed to come again.
8
One young man seemed paler than the others around him. Any tan in his skin had been
washed away with suffering.
9
10
"What is your name, son?" asked Mrs. Barrows softly as she took his hand.
11
"Private George Youngblood," he answered.
"Is there anything we can do for you today?" asked Mrs. Barrows with the innate gentleness
of a sorrowing mother.
12
"Yes, Ma'am, if you don't mind," he began. "I'm not long for this world. Could you write a
letter for me to my Momma?"
13
Something in the young man's tone reminded Constance of her brother, and she touched her
mother's arm.
14
"Please let me do it, Momma," she said. "I would like to write the letter for Private
Youngblood."
15
Mrs. Barrows looked at her daughter for a long moment before nodding her head. She
watched Constance as she readied the paper and pen, balancing the small ink pot on the side of
the cot. Then she continued her visits.
16
Later, on the way home, Mrs. Barrows told Constance that she was pleased with her
daughter's efforts. Constance smiled, but tears pricked in the corners of her eyes.
17
"Thank you, Momma, but I just couldn't say no. When I saw Private Youngblood, he
reminded me so much of James. No one was there to write a last message from him to us. I
wanted to do that for George's family."
18
1. The sight of blood left Constance feeling:
Light-headed
Nervous
Angry
Queasy
2. Why did Mrs. Barrows think it was wrong
for Southern ladies not to visit wounded
soldiers?
The soldiers were lonely.
They were not helping those who
were dying for their cause.
They were too proud to come.
They should comfort the sick and
injured.
3. Why would the soldiers not want the ladies 4. The hospital tent would not be very clean.
to see their pain?
What sights and smells might the two
women encounter as they visited the
They thought it would disgust the
injured soldiers?
women.
They were afraid the ladies would be
afraid.
They didn't want to offend them.
They were too proud to admit they
were hurting.
5. Why did Constance want to help Private
Youngblood?
She had no real reason.
She wanted his family to have a last
letter.
He reminded her of her sweetheart.
He reminded her of her brother.
6. Why would a last letter from a dying
soldier be so important for the man's
family?
7. Mrs. Barrows was proud of her daughter
8. The Barrows family never received a last
for wanting to help the soldier. If she had
letter from James.
not cared about the soldiers, how might her
False
reaction have been different?
True
Women in the Civil War
By Cathy Pearl
Men weren't the only people to play a large role in the Civil War. Women also did a lot to
help. Some became nurses and helped those who were fighting. Others dressed as men and did
some of the fighting themselves.
1
Both the Northern and the Southern armies did not allow women to enlist. Any woman who
wanted to fight had to dress as a man. The women would also change their names. Because of
this, it is hard to say exactly how many women joined an army and fought in the Civil War.
2
When anyone, man or woman, enlisted in the army, he or she had a very simple medical
exam. Also, proof of who they claimed to be was not asked for. Most women were not
discovered until they were injured or killed.
3
After the battle of Gettysburg, one woman was found dead on the field. It was July 17, 1863.
Based on where her body was found, she probably took part in Pickett's Charge. In 1934, a grave
was found outside Shiloh National Military Park. There were nine skeletons in the grave, and
one of them was female. The identities of these two women will probably never be known.
4
Florena Budwin was a woman who disguised herself as a man. She wanted to go to war with
her husband. They were both captured and sent to Andersonville Prison. He was either killed or
died there. She was sent to the Florence Stockade. While there, a doctor discovered she was
actually a woman. She was removed from the Stockade but died from pneumonia. She was only
twenty. She is known as the first woman buried in a national cemetery.
5
Women did not only fight. They helped after the fighting was over. At first, men did not want
the women to be nurses. The men felt that the horrors of war would be too much for them to
stand. Of course, the women proved them wrong.
6
When more and more wounded men began to arrive at hospitals, it was easier to find more
nurses than doctors. Doctors were overwhelmed with the number of injured. The women nurses
did many of the jobs that doctors did not have time to do.
7
The women saw all of the horrors of war. Every day they faced disease, amputations, and
dying soldiers. They worked harder than they had ever worked in their lives, and most of them
would not have given up the job for anything.
8
Nurses helped the doctors with surgeries and with amputations. They would feed soldiers
who couldn't feed themselves and help them write letters to their families. They often talked to
soldiers who were dying and pushed many of them not to give up fighting.
9
Women also fought to keep their hospitals clean. Their hard work and willingness to fight
for the injured men probably saved many lives.
10
Louisa May Alcott is best known as the author of Little Women. During the Civil War, she
was also a nurse in a hospital in Washington, D.C. She worked there until 1863 when she caught
typhoid from one of the patients. While recovering, she wrote a book about what she had seen
and done during her time in the hospital.
11
Another famous nurse was Mary Ann Bickerdyke. She became known as Mother
Bickerdyke. During her time nursing in the Civil War, she did everything she could to take care
of "her boys." Thirty years after her service in the war, she was awarded a pension for the rest of
her life.
12
Women may not have changed the war. They didn't win battles. What they did do is show
that women could fight next to men. They also showed that women could be nurses. The women
nurses did so well that nursing became an accepted job for women after the Civil War.
13
1. Women were allowed to enlist in the army
during the Civil War.
False
True
2. Why did Louisa May Alcott quit being a
nurse?
She caught typhoid from a patient.
She was tired of it.
She couldn't handle the blood.
3. Who was the first woman buried in a
national cemetery?
4. What job became more accepted for
women after the Civil War?
Florence Stockade
Mary Ann Bickerdyke
Florena Budwin
Doctor
Teacher
Nurse
5. Name two jobs women would do as nurses. 6. When were most women soldiers
discovered?
Fort Sumter
By Cathy Pearl
1
Caption: The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1860. He would be the country's next president. At this
point, it was clear that the country could not avoid a war. Within weeks of the election, Southern
states started to secede from the Union.
2
Fort Sumter was a fort in South Carolina. It sat near the water's edge and protected
Charleston Harbor. After South Carolina left the Union, they demanded that the fort surrender.
At the time, Lincoln and the Union government controlled the fort.
3
Lincoln did not want to give the fort up. He had been told that there weren't enough supplies
in the fort to defend it. Lincoln came up with a plan. He would send a supply ship to the fort and
tell the South Carolina governor it was coming. If the ship got through, the fort would have
enough supplies to fight if needed, or the South would shoot at the ship. This would force them
to fire the first shot and start a war.
4
The Confederate Commander in Charleston was General Beauregard. On April 11, 1861, he
went to the fort. The man in charge at Fort Sumter was Major Robert Anderson. Beauregard said
that the fort must be evacuated. If it wasn't, the Confederate Army would force everyone to
leave.
5
Anderson told the man that the fort was almost out of food. If the army waited long enough,
everyone would have to leave anyway. Anderson offered to leave by April 15 unless more
supplies were delivered. At the time, more supplies were on the way from Lincoln.
6
The answer was not acceptable. Anderson was given an hour to leave or the fort would be
attacked. On April 12, 1861, at 4:30 in the morning, the attack began at Fort Sumter. The Civil
War had begun.
7
The fort wasn't only running out of food. They also didn't have a lot of ammunition. They
waited almost two hours before returning fire. After the first shots, they fired very slowly in
order to save their ammunition.
8
The men in the fort had been there for three months. They were tired and hungry from the
lack of food. Yet they fought as hard as they could to protect the fort. Many times, cannonballs
would land in wooden buildings and start fires. Each time the soldiers, with a little help from the
rain that was falling, would put the fire out.
9
The first night, the men got very little sleep. They watched the boats that were in the harbor.
They made sure that no one came toward the fort.
10
After a small breakfast the next morning, the men in the fort kept firing back. They still
continued to fire slowly. They limited themselves to only one shot every ten minutes. Early in
the morning, another wooden building caught fire. This time, the men could not put the fire out.
Soon, most buildings were on fire. One building full of gunpowder was in danger of exploding.
11
The attack went on for about thirty-three hours. On April 14, 1861, Anderson was forced to
surrender. He was running out of supplies. The supply ship had not made it to the fort. He knew
that he had no choice.
12
No one was seriously hurt or killed on either side during the battle. Both sides met to discuss
the terms of the surrender. Anderson was allowed to put up his flag for a one-hundred-gun salute.
This was cut short when a cannon did not fire correctly. The accident killed two men.
13
The men left the fort. As they made their way north, they were greeted like heroes. When in
New York, all the men were presented with medals for their bravery.
14
The country quickly realized there would be no turning back from war. Lincoln began to call
for men to serve in the Union Army. Men in the South volunteered to fight for the Confederates.
People on both sides were sure that the war would be over in months. It would go on for four
long years.
15
1. Who was in charge at Fort Sumter?
General Beauregard
2. What was the fort running out of?
Space
Abraham Lincoln
Major Robert Anderson
Food
Men
3. Who fired the first shot?
The North
The South
4. How many men were killed during the
battle?
Ten
Zero
Five
5. Why did the men in the fort shoot back
very slowly?
6. How long did the attack go on?
Emancipation Proclamation
By Cathy Pearl
From the very beginning of the war, President Abraham Lincoln was pushed to free the
slaves. At first, he refused. He did not want to anger people in Border States and push those
states into seceding. He also insisted that the war was being fought to save the Union, not to free
the slaves.
1
Lincoln started to talk about the proclamation with his Cabinet early in the war. It was July of
1862. All of them had different thoughts about it. Some wanted Lincoln to issue it right away.
Others worried that Lincoln would lose the next election because of it.
2
Freeing the slaves could help the North. Many blacks wanted to fight in the army. By freeing
the slaves, they could then enlist. This would give the North more men to fight in the war.
3
Lincoln felt that the North needed to win a large victory before he freed the slaves. This
victory came at the Battle of Antietam. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the proclamation.
It was five days after the battle. Lincoln gave a deadline to the Southern states. If a state rejoined
4
the Union by January 1, the state could keep slavery in place temporarily. If the state refused, all
slaves would be freed.
The order could not take effect until the Union soldiers took control of Southern states. Still,
slaves had been used to help the war effort in the South. They heard about their freedom by word
of mouth. Many slaves began to run away which caused more confusion in the South.
5
The proclamation was not as great as it seemed at the surface. Only slaves in Confederate
states were freed. It said nothing about slaves in Border and Union states. The slaves there would
be freed in separate state actions.
6
The impact was immediate. In the North, the reasons for fighting the war had now changed.
The army still fought to save the Union. They also fought to end slavery.
7
In the military, reactions were very different. Some men deserted and refused to fight
anymore. Other units started to fight harder. They believed in the cause they were now fighting
for.
8
The South was hurt by the proclamation. Many foreign countries had been thinking about
supporting the South. The proclamation helped bring more support for the Union. If a country
supported the South, it would seem like it was supporting slavery. This wouldn't work for
countries like England and France who had already banned slavery in their countries.
9
Still, the order did not end everyone's fears. Many were worried that freeing the slaves
would be seen as a wartime act. They wondered what would happen when the war was over.
People began to push to make sure that all slaves were freed, not just those in Confederate states.
10
When Lincoln ran for president in 1864, he made it a campaign issue. Lincoln pushed for an
amendment to the Constitution that would ban slavery in the country.
11
When Lincoln won reelection, he immediately pushed Congress to pass the amendment. In
January of 1865, the amendment was sent to the states to be ratified. It was ratified by enough
states in December of 1865. It became the thirteenth amendment.
12
Freedom was not everything that most slaves had dreamed of. They still fought for equal
rights in the country. Many moved, as the places they used to live were no longer safe. They had
trouble finding places to live and finding jobs. Their fight for equality had just started.
13
1. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed 2. Before issuing the proclamation, Lincoln
slaves in which states?
wanted to wait for what?
Northern states
A victory for the North
Border states
The new year
Confederate states
Winter
3. The Emancipation Proclamation helped the 4. What amendment banned slavery in the
South.
United States?
False
Thirteenth
True
Twelfth
Eleventh
5. How did men in the military feel about the
proclamation?
6. Why didn't foreign countries like France or
Britain support the South?
Lincoln's Assassination
By Cathy Pearl
General Lee had surrendered to General Grant. As the weeks passed, the Southern army
would continue to surrender. Lincoln had helped to lead the North to a victory in the war.
Unfortunately, he would not get to see the official end of the war. Five days after Lee's surrender,
he would be assassinated.
1
During the winter before the end of the war, a group of men met. John Wilkes Booth led
these men. He was an actor at the time. Booth and the group planned to kidnap Lincoln. They
wanted to exchange him for Southern prisoners. Booth tried to kidnap Lincoln several times but
wasn't able to do it.
2
Booth then changed his plan. He decided to kill the president. He also planned for other
members of his group to attack the vice president, the secretary of state, and General Grant.
3
4
On April 14, 1865, the president and his wife were going to Ford's Theater. They got there
about 8:30 in the evening. At about 10:15, Booth entered the box where Lincoln and his wife sat.
Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head close to point blank range.
Booth then jumped from the balcony. He broke his leg but managed to limp away. He was
able to escape from the theater on a horse that was waiting outside.
5
Lincoln was carried to Peterson's Boarding House. It was across the street from the theatre.
His family and friends waited during the long night. Lincoln never woke up. He died the
morning after he was shot.
6
Within days, the war department issued wanted posters. Soldiers quickly began searching for
Booth and the rest of the men that planned the attacks with him. Lincoln was the only member
that the group went after that was killed.
7
Booth would be tracked to a barn in Virginia. He refused to surrender and the barn was lit on
fire. A soldier would shoot Booth in the neck. He would later die from the injuries.
8
President Lincoln lay in state at both the White House and the Capitol building. His body
would then be carried to the train station. A nine-car funeral train waited to take his body for
burial. It was a seventeen hundred mile journey back to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois.
9
The North mourned the man who had led them through the war. The train took fourteen days
to make it back to Illinois. Along the way, people lined the tracks to watch the train pass.
10
The train would stop at different cities along the way. People would take the time to mourn
the president before the train moved on. Some of the cities the train stopped at were Philadelphia,
Buffalo, Cleveland, and Chicago. He was laid to rest on May 4.
11
President Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. Booth was sure that killing
Lincoln would help the South. It wouldn't. A nation that was celebrating the end of the war was
now mourning their president.
12
Vice President Andrew Johnson became president when Lincoln died. He would be forced to
lead the nation into becoming one country again. Lincoln would never get to see the survival of
the Union he had fought very hard to bring back together.
13
1. How long after Lee surrendered was
Lincoln assassinated?
Five days
Five months
Five weeks
2. Lincoln was the first president to be:
Assassinated
Killed in a battle
Impeached
3. Who assassinated President Lincoln?
4. What did Booth do for a living before he
shot the president?
He was a blacksmith.
He was a soldier.
He was an actor.
5. How long did it take the funeral train to get 6. How did Booth die?
to Illinois?
A soldier shot him.
He was hanged.
He was killed when he jumped to the
stage.
African Americans in the Civil War
By Cathy Pearl
When the war started, there were many free blacks in the North. These men volunteered to
fight for the Union army. At first, President Abraham Lincoln did not want to recruit black
soldiers. He did not want to upset people in the Border States between the South and the North.
He also did not want to anger people in the North who did not want to fight a war over slavery.
He insisted the North was fighting the war to save the Union.
1
Blacks were disappointed, but they didn't stop trying. Through 1861 and most of 1862, they
pushed to be allowed in the army. Even if Lincoln did not want to say it, most blacks knew this
was a war against slavery.
2
It was harder to decide what to do with escaped slaves. As the Union army would go near a
plantation, many slaves would escape and cross over to the Union side. Some thought the slaves
should be sent back. Others put them to work helping the Union army.
3
Finally, escaped slaves were declared "contraband of war." A slave could earn this title if he
had been forced to help the Confederates in any way. If a slave was found to be contraband, he
was declared to be free.
4
The North continued to not allow black soldiers to fight with the army. But in the South,
slaves were being forced to help in many different ways. They had to build forts and work as
nurses. By 1862, Lincoln was starting to think about freeing the slaves. The war would then not
just be fought to preserve the Union; it would be fought to end slavery.
5
Lincoln waited until the North had won a major victory to issue the Emancipation
Proclamation. In September of 1862, the Union won at Antietam. On September 22, Lincoln read
his speech. If Confederate states had not given up by January 1, 1863, their slaves would be
freed.
6
Many people feared Lincoln would go back on his promise. He did not. All slaves in
Confederate states were declared free on that date. Black men in the North rushed to enlist. This
time they were not turned away.
7
All-black units were started. These units usually had white men in charge of them. The first
was the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Robert Gould Shaw commanded it. Frederick Douglass
had two sons who served in it.
8
This group of men proved to the country that black men could fight as well as white men. In
July of 1863, the regiment attacked a fort in South Carolina. Under heavy fire, they made it to
the fort before they were forced to retreat. Almost half of the regiment died, including their
commander. Their courage helped to win respect for black soldiers.
9
In the South, many slaves did not hear about the Emancipation Proclamation right away.
They kept running away as the Union army came close. Many Southern planters did not think
that their slaves would run away. They were wrong. Thousands were running away every week.
10
Fighting in the army was not easy for blacks. They were often treated unfairly. They were
also paid less than white soldiers. Many people in government thought the black soldiers would
not actually be fighting, so they weren't paid as much money. In 1864, the War Department said
that all soldiers would be paid the same.
11
It was very hard for a black soldier to become an officer. Only about one hundred men were
made officers during the war. White soldiers led most black regiments.
12
African American soldiers did prove themselves during the war. Sixteen of them were
awarded the Medal of Honor. The first African American to win the honor was Sergeant William
Carney.
13
African Americans proved themselves during the war. They fought bravely to end slavery
for themselves and their families. After the war, many of them would go back south to try to find
the families they had been separated from.
14
1. Who led the 54th Massachusetts Regiment? 2. After what battle did Lincoln issue the
Emancipation Proclamation?
Robert Shaw
William Carney
Frederick Douglass
3. As the Union army came close to
plantations, what did many slaves do?
Run toward the army and escape
Hide
Fight against them
4. How many African Americans were
awarded the Medal of Honor?
Sixteen
Ninety
Sixty
5. What was the first black regiment?
6. Who was the first African American to win
the Medal of Honor?
Robert Shaw
William Carney
Abraham Lincoln
Surrender
By 1865, it was clear that the North was going to win the Civil War. It was only a matter of
time before the South was forced to give up fighting.
1
In February of 1865, General William Sherman's troops left Georgia. They were heading for
South Carolina. This state was the first state to secede. Many soldiers and civilians in the North
saw this state as the place where the rebellion had started.
2
Sherman had destroyed much of what he came across as he marched through the South. Until
this time, there hadn't been a lot of fighting in South Carolina. The state had little damage from
fighting. That would soon change.
3
The Southern army did what it could to slow Sherman down. But the Southern army was
growing weak. More and more men were deserting every day. There was little it could do. The
Southern army kept retreating.
4
Sherman kept moving toward General Grant, the commander of the Union army. While he
did, he continued to burn everything in his path. This included houses, farms, and bridges.
Nothing was left standing after Sherman left a town.
5
Sherman finally arrived at Columbia. He entered the state capital. The South fought very
little to keep him out. The night he entered the city, a fire started. Half of the city burned to the
ground. People in the South blamed Sherman for starting it.
6
While Sherman was in Columbia, the Southern army, led by General Lee, was trying to
protect Richmond, Virginia. Men kept leaving and those who stayed were starving. Realizing he
could not save the city, Lee tried to sneak past Grant's army.
7
Lee hoped to meet up with the army that was retreating from Sherman's army. He hoped the
two armies together would be able to keep fighting. Lee was having a hard time getting to the
other army. Each time he tried to turn to the south, Grant was waiting for him.
8
Lee's army finally made it to a little town called Appomattox Court House. This town was in
Virginia. The Confederates were quickly surrounded. The Southern army was tired. It was soon
clear to Lee that he could not fight his way out of this situation. He agreed to meet with General
Grant.
9
Lee and Grant met in someone's house in the town. The home belonged to Wilmer McLean.
This man's home had been used before during a battle. A general had borrowed it during the
Battle of Bull Run. McLean had been involved in both the first and last major battles of the war.
10
The generals first talked about their time in the Mexican War. Both men had served in that
conflict. Lee then asked Grant about surrendering. He wanted to know what the terms were.
11
Grant was very generous. He knew that the war was over. Soldiers that were going home
would need their horses to begin to rebuild their lives. Grant allowed all surrendering soldiers to
keep their horses or mules.
12
The soldiers would not be punished as traitors as long as they followed the laws where they
lived. Grant also offered food to Lee's men. Grant wrote out papers that spelled out the terms.
Both men signed them. Lee then rode away. For the rest of his life, Lee remembered how fair
Grant had been. Lee would never allow a bad word to be said about Grant in his presence.
13
After Lee's army surrendered, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the Southern
army did the same. Many of these men had been fighting each other for years. Now they had to
find a way to work together and rebuild the country.
14
1. Southerners blamed Sherman for burning
which city?
Georgia
2. Which general surrendered?
Lee
Grant
Appomattox Court House
Columbia
Sherman
3. What did Sherman do as he moved through 4. What city was General Lee trying to
South Carolina?
protect?
Richmond
Columbia
Atlanta
5. What war besides the Civil War had both
Grant and Lee served in?
6. What man's home was used during both the
first and last major battles of the Civil
War?
John Wilkes Booth
By Cathy Pearl
John Wilkes Booth was an actor during the Civil War. But he isn't remembered for his talent
on the stage. Booth will always be known as the man who assassinated President Abraham
Lincoln.
1
Booth was born May 10, 1838. He came from a family that was strong in the theater. When
the Civil War broke out, he promised his mother that he wouldn't volunteer for the army. He did
support the South and wanted them to win the war.
2
During the winter of 1864 to 1865, Booth met with several other people. Together, they
planned to kidnap the president. They wanted to exchange him for Southern prisoners. Booth
tried to kidnap Lincoln several times, but he couldn't do it.
3
So Booth changed his plan. Instead, he would assassinate the president. Other members of
the group would attack the vice president, the secretary of state, and General Grant.
4
The night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln was seeing a play with his wife at Ford's Theater. Booth
went up to the box and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. He then jumped from the balcony to
the stage. He broke his leg. Limping, he escaped the theater.
5
Lincoln would be carried across the street. He would die the next morning. Lincoln was the
first president in this country to be assassinated.
6
Outside was a theater employee who was holding Booth's horse for him. The employee had
no idea what had happened. He watched Booth ride away.
7
The next day, Booth arrived at the house of Dr. Samuel Mudd. He also did not know what
had happened. He set Booth's leg. After going into town, he heard what had happened. He went
home and kicked Booth out of his house. Dr. Mudd would later be sent to jail for helping Booth.
In 1869, President Andrew Johnson would pardon him.
8
After being on the run for many days, Booth arrived at the Garrett farm. It was April 24. The
New York Cavalry Unit was not far behind him. Booth hid in a tobacco shed on the property.
9
The soldiers following him got to the farm on April 26. Booth was ordered to surrender. He
refused. The barn was set on fire. In the confusion, a soldier shot Booth.
10
The bullet hit him in the neck. He was paralyzed from the neck down. Booth was dragged
from the building. He died about two hours after being shot.
11
There are those who believe Booth really escaped that day. But many people came forward
and identified Booth's body, including a dentist and a doctor.
12
Booth's body was finally returned to his family in 1869. He was buried in the family plot. In
1994, Booth's family wanted the body exhumed. They wanted tests done to see if it really was
Booth who was buried there. A court refused saying that there wasn't enough evidence that it
wasn't Booth.
13
Of the attacks that were planned, only the one on Lincoln was successful. The rest of the
men lived to see the end of the Civil War. Vice President Andrew Johnson would become
president when Lincoln died.
14
The men who helped Booth plan the attacks went to trial. Many of them were hanged. Some
were sentenced to life in prison.
15
Booth did not achieve his goal. Killing Lincoln did not help the South. It was too late for
that. Lincoln did not see the end of the war, but he had achieved his goal. The Union had been
saved.
16
1. What did Booth plan to do first?
Kidnap the president
Assassinate the president
2. What happened when Booth jumped from
the balcony?
He broke his arm.
Join the Northern army
He broke his leg.
He was killed.
3. Where was Booth hiding when he refused
to surrender?
In a house
Under a bridge
In a tobacco barn
4. What happened to the rest of the men
Booth planned to attack?
They all lived.
They were also killed.
They were kidnapped.
5. What did Booth do before he assassinated
the president?
6. Why did Booth assassinate President
Lincoln?
Advantages and Disadvantages
By Cathy Pearl
When the Civil War started, both
sides thought that they would win easily.
They also thought they were fighting the
war for the right reasons. The Union
planned an aggressive attack against the
South. They wanted to go to war to save
the Union. At first, ending slavery was
not a goal of the war.
1
The South planned on waiting until
the North was sick of fighting. The South
felt they were fighting to save their way of life. They compared the war to the Revolutionary
War. Those in the South felt that they were fighting to gain their freedom.
2
Both sides in the war had strengths and weaknesses. The South had one big advantage. They
planned to fight a defensive war. If the North did not come into the South, the South saw no
reason to fight.
3
It is easier to defend land that a person knows well. Friendly people in the country would
guide soldiers on roads that weren't on maps. Soldiers knew the forests well. They knew the best
places to hide. The trees also helped to protect Southern soldiers when the Union Army invaded.
4
Families in the South had grown up around guns and horses. They knew how to hunt and live
off the land. This helped them adjust to being soldiers. They were comfortable firing guns and
knew how to handle them well.
5
Many of the best military leaders were in the South. Lincoln had trouble during the war
finding generals that could match the skill that those in the South had. Robert E. Lee had a tough
time deciding which side to fight for. Lincoln asked him to command the Union Army. Lee was
from Virginia. When Virginia seceded, he chose his home state over the Union. Later he would
become commander of the Confederate Army in the South.
6
The South had disadvantages, too. One of the main weaknesses was their economy. They did
not have factories like those in the North. They could not quickly make guns and other supplies
that would be needed for a long war.
7
Their railroad system was another weakness. There weren't a lot of railroads in the South.
This made it hard to move troops and supplies. Also, many of the tracks did not connect to each
other. The tracks would go between two points and stop.
8
The North had both advantages and disadvantages, too. There were a lot more free people
living in the North than there were in the South. This meant there were a lot more men who
could volunteer in the Army. These extra people could also grow more food and work in the
factories.
9
When the war started, ninety percent of goods made in this country were made in the North.
After the war started, factories quickly started to make bullets, guns, uniforms, and other supplies
that an army would need. The North had an easier time getting supplies to an army.
10
The railroads in the North were much better. Seventy percent of all the rail lines were there.
This made it much easier to move people and supplies where they were needed.
11
When the war first started, some people were worried about Abraham Lincoln. They
wondered what kind of leader he would be. He did not have lot of experience in anything that
had to do with the military. In the end, Lincoln turned out to be very good at planning for a war.
He was a strong leader for the North.
12
The North had many things working against it. The men in the Union Army would be
invading a part of the country that they were not familiar with. They would not be defending
their own homes like the army in the South.
13
It would be harder to supply the Union troops as they got farther and farther away from
home. This long distance would make it easier for Southern troops to stop supplies from getting
to the Union Army.
14
Both sides were sure that their advantages would help them quickly end the war. One of the
first battles, the Battle of Bull Run, showed that this would not be true. The war would be long
and deadly for many of the soldiers fighting in it.
15
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Advantages and Disadvantages
1. Which side had more factories?
The South
The North
2. Whom did Lincoln ask to lead the
Union Army?
Robert E. Lee
Jefferson Davis
Abraham Lincoln
3. Why was the railroad a disadvantage for the 4. Why would it be harder to supply
South?
Union troops as they moved farther
south?
Rail lines were often not connected.
It was easy to get from place to
place.
They had a lot of rail lines.
5. Which side had more factories to make
supplies for their army?
The South
The North
6. Name two advantages that the North
had.
Slav
e
Life
By Cathy
Pearl
What was slavery like for the people who were slaves?
It was not a great or an easy life. Many of the people that
were slaves had to work until they died. Families were torn
apart, and many people suffered.
1
Many slaves were given a few clothes every year. They
might get two shirts and a pair of pants. In the winter, they
were given a heavier coat. These clothes had to last a whole
year. Often they fell apart. Women would have to fix the
clothes many times.
2
There were slaves who worked in the house and slaves
who worked in the fields. House slaves usually had a better life. They would sometimes get
better food or the old clothing that their owners didn't use anymore. This wasn't true for
everyone. Some owners would dump out extra food so the slaves couldn't eat it.
3
The lucky slaves had owners who would teach them to read and write. This was rare. It was
also illegal. Some women didn't listen and taught the slaves anyway. There were cases where
slaves were given their freedom when the owner died. This would have been a very trusted slave.
Most of the time, this didn't happen.
4
In the early 1800s, there were no schools in the south that let in black children. Some schools
were run secretly at night. Teachers caught teaching black children could be put in jail or run out
5
of town.
Field slaves were in the fields from sunup to sundown. When it was harvest time, they could
be in the fields for eighteen hours a day. Women had to do the same work as men. Pregnant
women had to work right up until the day the baby was born. They were given very little time
before they had to go back to work.
6
Women with young children could go to them during the day to nurse them. The children
were usually taken care of by an older woman. This woman couldn't do field work anymore.
There were usually many older women whose job it was to take care of the children.
7
After a long day of work, many of us look forward to going home. Slaves did not have a
great home to go to. Their houses were usually wooden shacks with dirt floors. Each house
usually had two families that were living in it. Beds were usually just a pile of straw thrown into
a corner. Each person was lucky to have one blanket.
8
One of the worst parts of being a slave was the separation from family. Slave owners could
buy and sell slaves as they wanted. There was no protection for the slaves even if they were
married. Husbands could be separated from their wives. Children were taken away from their
mothers.
9
The threat of a child being sold was used as a way to control a slave's behavior. Sometimes it
didn't matter how good the slaves were; their children were sold anyway. Some mothers had to
stand by and watch as five or six of their children were sold at auction. Usually they never saw
them again.
10
Slavery would continue in the United States until the Civil War. During this war, President
Abraham Lincoln would free the slaves. Their struggle was not over. Former slaves and their
descendants would have to fight for their rights for many years.
11
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Slave Life
1. Which slaves usually had an easier life?
House slaves
Field slaves
2. How many hours a day did field slaves
work during harvest time?
Eighteen hours
Twelve hours
Eight hours
3. Who took care of the small children during 4. What were the houses that slaves lived in
the day?
like?
5. After slaves were married, they couldn't be 6. What could happen to teachers caught
sold.
teaching black children?
False
They were fired.
True
They were jailed or run out of town.
They were hanged.
Slavery in the West
By Cathy Pearl
The Missouri Compromise quieted the
arguments over slavery for a little while. After the
Mexican War, the arguments started again. A lot
of land in the West was added to the United
States. Should slavery be allowed in these new
territories?
1
People in the North were afraid that the new
territories would allow slavery. A member of
Congress wanted to ban slavery in the territories
won from Mexico. This plan was called the
Wilmot Proviso. Southern leaders were very
against this plan. It would not pass because the Senate would defeat it.
2
People in the country found it very hard not to pick a side. Abolitionists thought that slavery
was wrong. They wanted it banned in the whole country.
3
Slave owners wanted slavery in all of the new territories. They also wanted all escaped slaves
in the North to be sent back to them. Even Southerners who didn't own slaves felt this way.
4
Others tried to take a view that was more in the middle. They thought the invisible line from
the Missouri Compromise should go all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Slavery would be allowed
south of the line. Some liked the idea of popular sovereignty. This meant voters would decide
whether to allow slavery in their territory.
5
Things continued calmly until 1850. That year California applied to be a state. It wanted to
be a Free state. At the time, there were fifteen Slave states and fifteen Free states. If California
became a state, there would be more Free states than Slave states. Free states would have more
power in Congress.
6
For Southerners, it got even worse. It looked like Oregon, Utah, and New Mexico also
wanted to become Free states. The South would be outvoted easily in the Senate.
7
Again, some thought that Slave states should secede, or leave the United States, and form
their own country. People in the North said that California should be made a state. Most of it was
north of the imaginary line from the Missouri Compromise.
8
Members of Congress were losing control of their tempers. In 1850, Senators Henry Foote
and Thomas Benton got into a bad fight. Benton moved angrily toward Foote. To protect
himself, Foote aimed a gun at Benton. Control was lost. Benton yelled that he didn't have a gun.
He ordered people to get out of the way and let Foote fire.
9
10
Foote did not shoot Benton. But it showed how deeply the country was divided. It seemed
there was no hope of saving the country.
Congress needed help. They looked to Henry Clay. He was called the "Great Compromiser"
because he had worked out the Missouri Compromise. But that had been thirty years ago. Clay
was in his seventies and sick. But he loved his country.
11
Clay pleaded for the North and the South to find a way to agree. Clay could see what was
coming. He knew if the fighting kept going, the country would break apart.
12
Senator John C. Calhoun was against Clay. Calhoun was dying. He could barely talk.
Another man read his speeches for him. He said that slavery must be allowed in the West. He
also wanted runaway slaves sent back to their owners. If the North did not like this, then Calhoun
thought the Slave states should secede. He also threatened to use force if that's what was needed.
13
The argument would continue even as Clay and Calhoun got sicker and sicker. Both men
knew it would take a miracle to keep the country together. Only time would tell if Clay could
come up with one more "great compromise" to save the country one more time before he died.
14
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Slavery in the West
1. Where did abolitionists want slavery
banned?
In the West
In the whole country
In the South
2. Under popular sovereignty, who decided
whether slavery was allowed in a territory?
The voters in the territory
Congress
The president
3. What four territories wanted to become
Free states?
4. What two members of Congress got into a
bad fight?
5. What man was called the "Great
Compromiser"?
Henry Clay
Henry Foote
John C. Calhoun
6. Calhoun thought that the Slave states
would probably need to:
Secede
Ban slavery
Agree with the North
Fugitive Slave Law
By Cathy Pearl
The Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850. It was
part of the Compromise of 1850. It set up rules on what
Northerners were supposed to do when they saw
runaway slaves. The South liked the law. It helped them
to get runaway slaves back. People in the North hated
the law. They didn't want to be forced to send black
men, women, and children back into slavery.
1
The law made it illegal for any person to help a
slave. If an escaped slave was seen, the slave should be
captured right away. The slave should then be given to
authorities. After that, the slave would be sent back to
his or her owner in the South.
2
The law let slave owners start a posse anywhere in the United States. A posse is a group of
men that usually helped the sheriff. The posse would help capture a runaway slave. The courts
and police had to help them.
3
Anyone caught helping a runaway slave could get into a lot of trouble. They could be fined
one thousand dollars. This was a huge amount of money then. They could be put in jail for six
months. They also could be charged with treason because they didn't follow the law.
4
The new law also set up a new court system to deal with the runaway slaves. These courts did
not follow the normal rules. Instead the system helped slave owners. A judge was paid ten
dollars to send a slave back south or five dollars to free a slave.
5
African Americans did not have any rights in this new court system. Freedom was almost
impossible for anyone caught in the court system. Northern whites, even those who weren't
totally against slavery, were very angry about this.
6
Abolitionists did everything that they could to help free blacks in the North. Many African
Americans escaped to Canada after 1850. Signs were put up to warn slaves about the danger of
being caught and sent back into slavery. The signs didn't always work because many slaves did
not know how to read or write.
7
Shadrach Minkins was one of the first black men arrested under the new law. He lived in
New England. Minkins was taken to a court in Boston. An angry crowd gathered outside the
courthouse. Lawyers tried to help Minkins, but there was little they could do. His arrest was legal
under the new law.
8
During the trial, men burst into the courtroom. They grabbed Minkins and ran out into the
crowd with him. The crowd was so large and so angry that no one dared to go after them.
Minkins was hidden and sent to Canada by the Underground Railroad a few days later.
9
10
He was one of the lucky ones. Many times federal troops returned the fugitive to slavery.
Many thought the new law would keep slaves from running away. They were wrong. The
Underground Railroad was used the most in the ten years after the law was signed. The law
helped more people become involved in fighting against slavery. The differences between the
North and South were becoming much larger. There was little anyone could do to keep the
country together.
11
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Fugitive Slave Law
1. What year was the Fugitive Slave Law
passed?
1950
1850
1750
2. The new law kept slaves from running
away.
False
True
3. How much money could a person be fined
for helping a slave?
4. Signs warning slaves didn't always work.
Why?
5. What is a posse?
6. What country did most African Americans
run to after the law was passed?
Mexico
Russia
Canada
The Underground Railroad
By Cathy Pearl
It is the middle of the night and clouds cover
the moon. This is good because it will make you
harder to find. As quietly as you can, you keep
walking north. There are people in the woods
hunting for you and you don't want to be caught.
You aren't a criminal. You are a slave who is
trying to run north to freedom.
1
The Underground Railroad was made up of a
lot of different people. Some of them were white,
2
and some were black. These people helped slaves escape to the Northern states and to Canada.
The Underground Railroad was not underground. And railroads were not used. But it was a
good name for the system that helped slaves make their way north.
3
The system worked well. Hundreds of slaves were helped north every year. Between 1810
and 1850, about 100,000 slaves used the Underground Railroad to run away.
4
The system was started in the late 1700s. It kept growing as more people started to dislike
slavery. It earned its name around the 1830s. This was about the time that steam engines were
making their way across the country.
5
The Underground Railroad used a lot of the same terms that were used by the railroad.
Homes where slaves would hide were called stations. A conductor helped to move slaves from
one station to another.
6
Running away was not easy. It was very hard and very dangerous. The first thing the slave
had to do was get away from his or her owner. They usually had to do this part by themselves.
Sometimes a conductor would come and help lead the slaves north.
7
The slaves always moved at night. They could go fifteen or twenty miles in one night. At
each station, the slaves would rest and eat. The slaves would hide in the barns or in secret places
in the houses.
8
While they waited, a message would be sent to the next station. This way the owner would
know that there were slaves coming. It gave him or her time to get food ready for the runaway
slaves.
9
The slaves could also travel by train or boat, but this cost money. This was also one reason
that slaves weren't taught to read or write. Owners thought that this would make it harder for the
slaves to read the train schedules.
10
The money that was needed for the slaves was donated or raised by different groups. The
money wasn't only used to pay for trains. The money was also used to make the runaway slaves
look nicer. A black man, woman, or child in old clothes would make people suspicious. Also,
Canada could be cold, and most slaves going there did not have clothing for cold weather.
11
Southerners were very angry that so many slaves were getting help from people in the North.
In 1850, a Fugitive Slave Law was passed. This made it legal to arrest runaway slaves. The
slaves could be returned to their owners. A person who helped runaway slaves faced fines and
jail time.
12
This new law was hard on communities of free blacks in the North. People who caught
slaves would often kidnap free blacks as well as slaves. But the kidnappings also helped. The
North saw how hard and unfair slavery was. More people were willing to help runaway slaves.
13
Many people who worked on the Underground Railroad were arrested or fined. Thomas
Garrett, who was in Delaware, paid more than eight thousand dollars in fines. Calvin Fairbank
spent seventeen years in jail. One man was even killed for his part in the Underground Railroad.
14
15
The Underground Railroad was used until the Civil War. Today, many of the houses and
barns that were used are listed as historic sites. Some of these are open to the public and can be
toured. Others are still used as homes. The Underground Railroad was an important system in the
fight to free slaves in the 1800s.
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
The Underground Railroad
1. What was passed in 1850 that
made it legal to arrest runaway
slaves?
Fugitive Slave Law
Great Compromise
Underground Railroad
2. How many miles did a slave go in one
night?
Twenty to thirty
Fifteen to twenty
Two to three
3. What was the name for the
person that helped move slaves
from one station to another?
4. The Underground Railroad was
underground.
False
True
5. What could happen to someone
who helped runaway slaves?
6. What was one reason that slaves weren't
taught to read or write?
The Missouri
Compromise
By Cathy Pearl
In 1819, there were eleven slave states. There
were also eleven free states. That year, Missouri
applied to become a state. They wanted to be a slave
state. Immediately there was a problem. If Missouri
became a state, there would be more slave states
than free states. This meant the South would have
control in the Senate. Northern states did not want
Missouri to become a state.
1
2
A Congressman from New York wanted a new
amendment. It would prevent slavery from growing anymore in Missouri. It would also free the
children of slaves. The bill passed in the House. It did not pass in the Senate.
The argument went on for months. Henry Clay finally came up with a plan. The plan had two
parts that would hopefully make everyone happy.
3
During the debate, Maine had also applied to be a state. Maine wanted to be a free state, or a
state where slavery was not allowed. If Maine and Missouri were states, the number of slave
states and free states would be equal.
4
Congress also drew an imaginary line at the southern border of Missouri. Slavery would be
allowed in the Louisiana Purchase south of that line. It was banned north of the line. The only
exception was the state of Missouri.
5
One part of the compromise involved escaped slaves. Slaves that had escaped north of the
line could still be caught and sent back to the South.
6
The ideas sounded good, and they worked for a little while. But they only applied to the
Louisiana Purchase territory, not any other land. When the Mexican War was over, more land
was added in the West. Slavery again became a problem.
7
Some wanted the line from the Missouri Compromise to go all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Any new state north of the line would be free. Any state south of the line would be a slave state.
8
This battle would go on until the Civil War. It was impossible to keep the same number of
free and slave states. People and the country would continue to become more and more divided.
9
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
The Missouri Compromise
1. Before the Missouri Compromise, how
many free states were there?
Thirteen
Twelve
Eleven
2. Slave states were allowed north of the
imaginary line.
False
True
3. If escaped slaves made it north of the line: 4. What land did the Missouri Compromise
apply to?
They could be captured and forced to
go back to their owners.
All of the United States
They could never be sent back south.
Only the Louisiana Purchase territory
Land taken after the Mexican War
5. Who came up with the plan to end the
argument over free and slave states?
6. What state wanted to be a free state?
Slave Codes
By Cathy Pearl
Slave owners did anything that they could to
keep slaves from running away. They did not want
the slaves to do or learn anything that might help
them. One way the owners did this was with laws
called slave codes.
1
Slave codes were laws that were passed in states
in the South. The laws tried to keep slaves from
running away or fighting back. Each state had
different laws. But all of the laws had parts that were
the same.
2
In the laws, the color line was very clear. If you had one African American person in your
ancestry, you were black. It didn't matter how long ago that person had lived.
3
Whether or not you were a slave depended on what your mother was. If your mother was a
slave, you were a slave. It didn't matter if your father was a free man. This made slavery
permanent for any slave family. A child born to a slave was always a slave.
4
Slaves had very few legal rights. If slaves were badly treated, they couldn't bring charges
against their owners. In court, they couldn't talk about a white man. They couldn't own any
property. If they were attacked, the slaves could not hit a white person.
5
Slaves could not gather in a group larger than three people. This was to keep them from
making plans to fight back or to run away. They weren't allowed to leave their owner's land. If
the owner let them leave, the slaves needed to carry cards or pieces of paper that said they had
the owner's permission.
6
Slave codes made it a crime for slaves to learn how to read or write. This code wasn't always
followed. There were women who would teach the slaves in the house how to read. This had to
be done secretly.
7
Marriages are a type of contract. Slaves could not make contracts under the slave codes. This
meant that the marriages were not legal in the eyes of the law. A marriage did not help protect
the slaves. It also did not keep a married slave from being sold to other owners.
8
Owners hoped all of these laws would make it hard for slaves to escape or fight back. By not
being able to read, the owners thought it would be harder for slaves to find help if they ran away.
They thought the slaves would not be able to read a train schedule or use a map. This would
make it harder for the slaves to go North.
9
10
Slaves were made to follow the slave codes in many different ways. They could be whipped
or branded. They were even locked in jails. The slaves could also be killed, but this didn't happen
very often. Slaves were property. Owners did not kill the slaves because they would lose money.
Slave codes were not always enforced. But if there were signs of problems, the state would
be told. The slave codes would then be enforced to stop any problems before they started.
11
All of the slave codes had parts that talked about freed slaves. The codes had rules about
how the freed slaves moved around and even what kind of jobs that they could have. Many of
them had to leave the state after they were freed. Slave owners didn't want their slaves to get any
ideas about freedom.
12
The slave codes were in effect until the Civil War. After the Civil War, new laws were made
to keep African Americans from having the same rights as white men and women. It would take
almost one hundred more years for African Americans to gain all of the rights that other citizens
in the United States had.
13
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Slave Codes
1. Slaves were allowed to learn to
read and write.
False
True
2. A child born to a slave was always:
A slave
Free
3. How could slaves be made to
follow the codes?
4. Slaves could not own any:
Property
Shoes
Clothing
5. Slaves could not gather in a
group larger than how many
people?
Three
Two
Four
6. Owners thought that the laws would make
it hard for slaves to do what?
Harriet Tubman
By Cathy Pearl
Harriet Tubman was born a slave around 1820. But she did not stay
a slave. Harriet ran away and then helped other slaves make their way
to freedom. She is known for being a conductor on the Underground
Railroad.
1
Tubman's parents were both slaves. This meant that she was a slave
as soon as she was born. When she was around five years old, she
started working as a house slave. When she was a teenager, she was
sent to work in the fields.
2
She was always ready to stand up for other people. Tubman tried to
protect another slave who was going to be punished for running away.
While doing this, she was hit in the head with a two-pound weight. The effects would stay with
her the rest of her life.
3
In 1844, she married a free black man, John Tubman. In 1849, Tubman was afraid that she
was going to be sold. She decided the best thing to do was to run away. She left one night on
foot. A white woman helped her first. At night, she followed the North Star. She made it to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There she found work. She also joined an abolitionist group in the
city. This group was working to end slavery.
4
In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act. This led Tubman to join the Underground
Railroad. In 1851, Tubman made her first trip back to the South. She managed to lead her sister
and her sister's children to freedom.
5
Soon, she made another dangerous trip to the South. This time she helped her brother and
two other men. After this trip, she went after her husband. When she found him, she learned that
her husband had taken another wife. This did not stop her. Instead, she found other slaves and led
them to freedom.
6
From that time until the Civil War, Tubman kept traveling to the South and leading slaves to
freedom. She had tricks to help her. She had slaves run away on Saturday nights. This was
because the owner couldn't put a notice in the paper until Monday.
7
Tubman would also turn around and head south if she saw possible slave hunters. No one
thought that an escaped slave would run toward the South. This helped to confuse the people
looking for them.
8
Tubman was also said to carry a gun with her. She carried it with her for protection. She also
threatened runaway slaves with it if they tried to turn back.
9
In 1856, the government really wanted to catch her. There was a forty thousand dollar
reward if she was caught. Her reputation kept growing. By the time of the Civil War, she had
gone south almost twenty times. She had helped close to three hundred slaves. One of her most
dangerous trips was when she led her seventy-year-old parents to safety.
10
She was never caught. She also never lost a slave to hunters or to militia that looked for
runaway slaves in the South. Other people were always afraid for her, but she never seemed to be
afraid. The idea of being caught never seemed to worry her.
11
12
At the end of the Civil War, Tubman married Nelson Davis. They lived in Auburn, New
York. In 1908, she built a home for the elderly and the poor. She worked at this home. She was
also taken care of there right before she died in 1913.
Tubman was buried in Auburn with military honors. Since her death, she has been honored
in many ways. Freedom Park, named in her memory, opened in Auburn in 1994. There has also
been a postage stamp with her picture on it.
13
Copyright © 2010 edHelper
Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Harriet Tubman
1. What year did Tubman make her first trip
back south?
1850
1844
1851
2. How much of a reward was offered to
capture Tubman?
3. What night was a good night for slaves to
run away?
Monday
Saturday
Sunday
4. How many slaves did Harriet Tubman
help?
Three thousand
Three hundred
Three
5. Name two ways Harriet Tubman has been
honored.
6. Who did Tubman lead north on her first
trip back south?
Her parents
Her sister and her sister's children
Her husband