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The Road to the Civil War
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The US-Mexico War, 1846-8
Gold Rush, Migration and Expansion
Compromise of 1850
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
Bleeding Kansas, 1854-6
Dredd Scott Decision, 1857
John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry
1860 Presidential Election
The Road to the Civil War
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Manifest Destiny and War expanded
the US to the Pacific Ocean
Westward Expansion of Slavery after
US-Mexico War
Debates over slavery in the West
ripped the country apart
Ideologies of state’s rights
Polarized the North & South
No common ground in political parties
The Election of 1860
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“Slavery on trial”
Nationalism
Meaning of America?
States-Federal Gov.?
John Brown
Distrust
Democrats crumbled
Lincoln (R) won
The South Seceded, 1861
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South Carolina first
Propaganda
MISS, FL, AL, GA,
LA, TX
Confederate States
of America
President Jefferson
Davis
Ft. Sumter, March-April
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South Carolina
Troops trapped
Stand-off
Confederates fired
Major Anderson
surrendered
War began
The Civil War, 1861-1865
North vs. South (strengths)
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North
Industry
Finances
Population
Railroads
Federal
government
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South
Home field
Skilled leaders
Agriculture
Defensive war
Supplies
North vs. South (weaknesses)
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North
Arrogance
Leadership
Distance
Supplies
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South
Slave population
Industry
Railroads
Finances
Government
The Nature of War
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Long & bloody
Militias
Total War
Divided families
Women & blacks
Benefited North
Fought in South
Preparing for War
Battlefield Amputation
Tent life, 1861 D.C.
Southern Strategy
Outlast North
Disperse troops
Righteousness
Cotton & Europe
Northern Strategy
Missouri River
Naval blockade
Divide/Isolate
Industry
Force & population
Land and sea
General Grant
Turning Points, 1861-63
Bull Run, VA: war
would be harder…
Shiloh, TN: both sides
reassess tactics
Antietam, MD: worst
day of fighting. North
Blocked Southern
Invasion
Emancipation Proclamation
Free African Americans
African American Troops
-Over 200,000 served
-Lewis Douglass
-54th Mass. Regiment
-80% from south
-Inequalities
Union Gains, June 1863…
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Drafted 2 million men
Gettysburg, PA 1863
(51,000 dead & War
turned against South)
Vicksburg, MS 1863
(North gained River)
Navy
U.S. Grant, 1864
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Atlanta
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Sherman’s March to the Sea
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1864
100,000 people
280 x 50 miles
Atlanta to Coast
Charlestown
Chased Lee to VA
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Richmond 
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Weaknesses in the South, 1864
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Desertions and mutinies
West Virginia broke away
Anti-War protests
Food Riots
Questioning of slavery
Women protesting War
Financial ruin, debt, political conflict
Civil War in the West
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Civil War in New Mexico and Texas
New Mexico was Union territory
Texas Confederates invaded NM
Texas was Confederate, but with
Union supporters
Border Wars
French invaded Mexico, 1863 and
expelled by Benito Juarez
Thirteenth Amendment
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Lincoln reelected in 1864
Amendment was ratified to the
constitution in 1865, before the end
of the Civil War
Abolished slavery everywhere in the
United States
End of the War
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April 1865 Virginia
Appomattox
Courthouse
Lee and Grant
End of War
Lincoln shot by
John Wilkes
Booth, 1865
Significance of War
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Over 600,000 dead
25% southern men
Southern economy
Crops, roads, homes
Strengthened Union
Ended slavery
“Fulfilled Declaration”
Changes in America: The 1860s
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Four million freed blacks
Re-united Americans
Heal wounds of War
Labor conflict, New York draft riots,
anti-black violence
Irish immigration
Women in war industries
Land and Prosperity
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Homestead Act, 1862
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Federal government gave land to people in
Western Territories
Payment for soldiers
Railroads and speculators
Land Grant College Act
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Each state will have land for university
Sale of public lands will fund it
Educated America
Civil War: A Disaster for Indians
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California Indian Laws
New policies: concentration onto
reservations
Military wars waged against tribes
Southern tribes trapped
Expansion of railroads & population
Treaties declined after Civil War
Full U.S. Army used after Civil War
Reconstruction, 1865-1877
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National effort to re-unite, or reconstruct the north and south, and
entire nation
Rebuild Southern economy
Question of punishment for secession
Loyalty oaths? Serve in office?
Protect Black freedoms?
Who will do the labor
Southern Resistance, Northern Reaction
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Southern politicians resisted
Pres Johnson was lenient
Pres Grant & “Radical Reconstruction”
Military districts
Loyalty oaths, debts, penalties
Freedmen’s Bureau
14th Amendment
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Citizenship and equal protection
15th Amendment
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Voting rights
Compromise of 1877
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Republicans traded black equality to
break a tie in the 1876 presidential
election
Pulled troops out of south
Race relations returned to pre-1865
dynamics, excluding slave status
Focused on The West
Industrialization
Foreign imperial expansion
Conclusions
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Lincoln did not support social equality
Resolution of sectionalism
Power of federal gov’t
Reconstruction, 1865-1877
Economic and industrial integration
14th Amendment: Citizenship & Due Process
15th Amendment: voting rights
Why History is Important
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Understand power in America
See struggles of oppressed people
People make history, not fate
Multiple perspectives and views
Evidence and arguments
Myths and heroism
Nationalism and patriotism
History is who we are