Download BIG QUESTION: What were the effects of the Civil War on Louisiana

Civil War
1861-1865
BIG QUESTION: What were the effects of the Civil War on Louisiana, and how did it impact
growth and development in Louisiana?
8.2.5 Analyze causes and effects of major events and evaluate their impact on the growth and development of Louisiana
8.2.6 Identify and describe economic, social, and political characteristics of Louisiana during the Antebellum/plantation
economy, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction eras
8.7.1 Explain how the United States and world foreign policy have affected Louisiana
Document 1: Causes of the Civil War
Although several factors contributed to Southern secession, slavery was the dominant cause of the Civil
War. Economic, social, and political factors all played significant roles in the onset of war, but the issue of
whether slavery should be permitted in the western territories acquired during the 1846–48 MexicanAmerican War proved to be the principal issue on the eve of war.
The secession of the Southern states in 1860–61 and the ensuing outbreak of hostilities culminated
decades of friction between North and South arising from the fundamental differences between the Northern
and Southern economies. The North's economy, which consisted of a growing manufacturing sector, major
commercial interests, and small farms, was establishing itself as an industrial society (it had 85 percent of the
nation's industry and 90 percent of its industrial output in 1860) and sought to prohibit the expansion of
slavery into the western territories that would eventually become new states. Opponents of slavery opposed its
expansion partly because they did not want to compete against slave labor. The South's economy, on the other
hand, was for the most part agricultural and based on large plantations using slave labor to cultivate crops.
Whereas the North wanted high tariffs to protect its industrial concerns from British competition, the South
exported virtually its entire cotton output abroad and wanted low tariffs or none at all so as to be able to buy
British goods at the cheapest possible prices. But increasingly slavery became the issue. Southerners feared not
only that they would lose the federal government's protection of slavery in the new territories but that the
North's stance would endanger the future of slavery in the South itself.
The regions' political stance, masked by compromise since the 1820s, ultimately led to the rupture between
the sections. The North wanted a strong central government that would protect its trading and financial
interests, control the national currency, and fund internal improvements. The South, which was less dependent
on the federal government, saw no need to strengthen it and feared that a stronger central government might
interfere with the institution of slavery and further weaken state sovereignty.
The irrevocable break occurred in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the Republican Party, which
sought to end slavery in the territories, won the presidential election. Although Lincoln insisted that he had no
intention to interfere with slavery where it existed, the Southern states feared Northern domination
Use the text above to record differences between the North and South when it came to economics and politics
prior to the Civil War.
Economic Differences
Political Stance
NORTH
 Manufacturing (industrial)
 Wanted high tariffs to keep
British competition out
 Wanted to see the national
government strengthened
SOUTH
 Agricultural and based on slave
labor
 Wanted low tariffs because they
exported a lot of cotton and
wanted to be able to purchase
British goods for cheap
 Did not want to see the national
government strengthened
Document 2
On November 06, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States of America. The debate
over slavery had reached a fevered pitch. The election of a perceived abolitionist bewildered and infuriated
Southerners, particularly since Lincoln's name had not even appeared on the ballot in ten Southern states. To
the average citizen, it seemed a betrayal of democracy. To the fire-eating political extremists in the South, it
provided an excuse.
http://www.usskidd.com/battles-secession.html
Document 3
A print of Lincoln and his Vice President (Election of 1860)
Dec 20, 1860 - South Carolina secedes from the Union. Followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Seven states of the Deep South, those in which the slavery system is
most entrenched, leave the Union. Many Southerners favored secession as part of the idea that the states
have rights and powers which the federal government cannot legally deny. The supporters of states' rights
held that the national government was a league of independent states, any of which had the right to secede.
Source: American Political Prints, 1766 - 1876: A Catalog of the Collections in the Library of Congress,
Continues to the next page….
Document 4
Use Documents 2, 3, and 4
to answer the questions
below.
1. Using Lincoln's 1860 campaign poster, what did the Republican party support?
* free speech, homes, and territory
2. What does the phrase "Free Territory" mean?
* slavery would not be allowed; the people would be free
3. What part of the country would vote for Lincoln? Why?
* the North; he did not believe in slavery and the people of the North supported
this as well
4. Why would the election of Lincoln cause Southern states to leave the Union?
* Lincoln supported ending slavery, which was against how the South felt; South
believed ending slavery would hurt the economy
5. Looking at the map, what can you conclude about the political structure of America at the time of this election?
* we were a country divided about politics