Download Chapter 11: The Road to Disunion 1780-1860

The Road to Disunion
1780-1860
Chapter 11
SS8H6 The student will analyze the impact of the
Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.
• a. Explain the importance of key issues and events that led to the
Civil War; include slavery, states' rights, nullification, Missouri
Compromise, Compromise of 1850 and the Georgia Platform,
Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott case, election of 1860, the
debate over secession in Georgia, and the role of Alexander
Stephens.
• b. State the importance of key events of the Civil War; include
Antietam, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg, Chickamauga,
the Union blockade of Georgia's coast, Sherman's Atlanta
Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Andersonville.
• c. Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia and other
southern states, emphasizing Freedmen's Bureau; sharecropping
and tenant farming; Reconstruction plans; 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments to the constitution; Henry McNeal Turner and black
legislators; and the Ku Klux Klan.
Economics
• SS8E1 The student will give examples of the
kinds of goods and services produced in
Georgia in different historical periods.
• SS8E2 The student will explain the benefits
of free trade.
a. Describe how Georgians have engaged in
trade in different historical time periods.
States’ Rights
• Southerners were concerned about the federal
government telling them what to do.
• Could the federal government force states to
obey federal laws?
• Did the federal government have the right to
decide how the territories would be governed?
• Did each state have the right to determine which
federal laws to obey and which to ignore?
Tariff of Abominations
• tariff: a tax on imported goods
• abomination: something greatly disliked or horrible.
• sectionalism: is loyalty to the concerns of your own
region or section of the country.
• nullification: the right reject a federal law.
• The Tariff of Abominations was the term used
in the south to describe the tariff enacted by Congress to
protect northern manufacturers from British product sales
in the United States.
Georgia and Nullification
• The Georgia Legislature released the following
statement by Charles Sydnor:
–“We abhor the doctrine of Nullification
as neither a peaceful, nor a constitutional
remedy, but, on the contrary, as to
tending to civil commotion and disunion.”
The Issue of Slavery
• Upsetting the political balance in new states
was an issue: slave vs. free state.
• Slavery in the Constitution: mentioned as
“other persons”; outlawed slavery in 1808.
• Three-Fifths Compromise: counted every 5
slaves as 3 people for representation.
Missouri Compromise
• In 1819 the there was a balance of power in
Congress: 11 free states and 11 slave states when
Missouri asked to enter the Union. Each side
argued against allowing Missouri to enter and
give the other a political advantage. Henry Clay
proposed a two part solution (compromise):
Maine admitted as a free state and Missouri
admitted as a slave state. He also proposed that
all land above the 36⁰30’ line of latitude in the
Louisiana Territory be free states. This would
cause problems later.
Critics of Slavery
• Abolitionists were people who were opposed
to slavery and demanded an end to slavery.
• American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS)
• Frederick Douglass: a freed slave with
persuasive abolitionist speech and writing
skills.
• Southern slave holders saw these groups as
real threats to their way of life.
Defenders of Slavery
• Southerners defended slavery as “necessary to
their economy” and believed that slavery was OK
because the bible did not condemn slavery.
• Some argued that Africans could not care for
themselves and needed to be protected and
guided.
• George Fitzhugh wrote a book that the people
working for the ‘free-system” in northern
factories were worse off than slaves living in
factories.
Wilmot Proviso
• Representative David Wilmot proposed a law that
would forbid slavery in any territory acquired
during the War with Mexico.
• It did not pass, but caused greater conflict
between the north and south.
• John C. Calhoun (SC) argued that allowing slavery
was a constitutional right.
• Robert Toombs (GA) warned that if northern
politicians blocked the expansion of slavery, he
would support “disunion”.
Compromise of 1850
•
•
•
•
Admitted California as a free state (15/15 at this time)
Abolished slavery in the District of Columbia.
Created a stronger fugitive slave law.
Let the territories of New Mexico and Utah decide for
themselves about slavery.
• Calhoun again warned that the North's interests were being
favored over the South's and the final result would be the
end of the Union.
• The Georgia Platform supported the Compromise
of 1850 and the Union, but secession remained a topic of
conversation in Georgia and the South.
Other Issues
• Fugitive Slave Act: This new law required the return of
escaped slaves, no matter their capture and that those who
helped slaves to escape be fined and imprisoned as well.
• The Underground Railroad: A network of safe
houses and hiding places for escaped slaves to make their way
to Canada or Florida.
• Dred Scott Case: Dred Scott, a slave, filed a lawsuit
contending that because he lived in a free state at one time (
Minnesota), he and his family should be free. The courts ruled
against him and determined that slaves had no legal standing
in the courts, were not “citizens”, and that “once a slavealways a slave.”. This was viewed as a victory for the south.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• This act allowed states in these two territories
to decide for themselves about slavery. This is
called “popular sovereignty”. (Kansas,
Nebraska, Montana, South and North Dakota.)
• Each side sent people to these territories to
support their position on slavery and violence
broke out between the pro-slavery and antislavery factions. This came to be referred to as
“Bleeding Kansas”.
Election of 1860
• The Republican Party was created in response to
the disagreement between Northern Democrats
and Southern Democrats over the issue of
slavery.
• Douglas supported popular sovereignty and
Lincoln felt that “this government can not endure
permanently half slave and half free.”
• In 1860 there were more than 400,000 slaves in
Georgia. Many felt that the election of a
Republican threatened the institution of slavery.
Election of 1860
• Northern and Southern Democrats split over the
issue of slavery.
• Northern democrats split off into a new party
called the Republican Party.
• Lincoln/Douglas debates for the Illinois Senate.
Douglas believed in popular sovereignty and
accused Lincoln of being an “abolitionist” while
Lincoln believed that “the Union could not long
endure half-slave and half-free.” Douglas won the
election but Lincoln became a national figure.
Election of 1860
• In 1860 there were 400,00 slaves in Georgia.
Georgians wanted a candidate that would
support the economy of the south (slavery).
• Republicans nominated Lincoln.
• Northern Democrats chose Douglas and Herschel
V. Johnson from Georgia as VP. Southern
democrats chose John Breckinridge of Kentucky
as their candidate.
• Lincoln was elected. This caused many southern
states to consider secession.
Southern States Secede
• Days after Lincoln's election South Carolina’s
legislature voted 169-0 to secede from the
Union.
• (From Georgia) Alexander Stephens,
Benjamin Hill, and Herschel Johnson
argued against secession and wanted to
compromise. These people were called
‘cooperationists”.
Georgia Secedes
• All Georgians did not support secession.
• Each county sent delegates to Milledgeville to
discuss the issue of secession.
• After a heated debate, a vote was taken on
January 29, 1861 and Georgia delegates voted
208-89 to secede from the Union.
• The delegates pledged their “lives, fortunes, and
sacred honor to the defense of Georgia.”
• Georgia was now the independent “Republic of
Georgia.”
Disagreement
• Many Georgians, particularly in the northern
portion of the state, did not support secession.
Those that did not support it were called
“Unionists”. Many believed that secession was
unpatriotic.
• Georgia and the South were never
unanimously behind the idea of the leaving the
Union.
The Confederacy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana
Texas
• Before Lincoln took the
oath of office, these 7
states seceded from the
Union. They were
followed soon afterward
by:
1. North Carolina,
2. Arkansas,
3. Virginia
4. Tennessee
The Confederate States of America
• On February 4, 1861 delegates from the
seceding states met in Birmingham, AL to
organize the Confederate States of America.
• From Georgia, T.R.R. Cobb and Robert Toombs
attended and served on the committee.
• The Confederate Constitution mirrored the US
Constitution with the exception of slavery. The
CSA Constitution specifically allowed slavery.
Government of the
Confederate States of America
• Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected
President.
• Alexander H. Stephens from Georgia was elected
Vice-President.
• Robert Toombs of Georgia was appointed as
Secretary of State.
• Jefferson Davis urged all of the remaining slave
states to join the Confederacy.
• Georgia ratified the new Constitution on March
16, 1861. ( so from 1/29/1861 to 3/16/1861
Georgia was an “independent” nation!)
The rebellion begins. The first shots of the
war are fired at Fort Sumter, South
Carolina on April 12, 1861.