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Georgia
and the American Experience
Chapter 7:
The Antebellum Era,
1838-1860
Section 1: Manifest
Destiny
• Essential Question
– How did Americans apply the concept
of manifest destiny during the
Antebellum period?
• What words do I need to know?
- Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
• A Northern journalist (1845) wrote that
the manifest destiny of the U.S. was “to
overspread the continent allotted by
Providence for the free descendants of
our yearly multiplying millions”
• The country’s leaders – proclaimed this
as a divine duty and thus steadily
increased territory and fought to protect
its citizens across the continent.
The Nation Grows
• Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836;
annexed as the 28th state in 1845
• The U.S. declared war on Mexico to secure Rio
Grande as the Mexican/U.S. border
• In 1818 treaty, the U.S. and Great Britain set
boundary between the U.S. and Canada at the
49th parallel to settle the dispute over the
Oregon territory.
• Gold Rush - Between 1848 and 1850, the
population of California increased tenfold; most
of these settlers were seeking gold
Section 2:
Deepening Divisions
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION
– How did the North and South differ
before the Civil War?
Section 2:
Deepening Divisions
• What words do I need to know?
– states’ rights
– Missouri Compromise
– sectionalism
– Compromise of 1850
– Kansas-Nebraska Act
States’ Rights
• States’ rights: Belief that the state’s interests
take precedence over interests of national
government
• Northern states believed that all states should
abide by laws made by the national
government
• Southern states believed that states had right
to govern themselves and decide what would
be best for their own situation
Differences: North and South
• Class Structure: North generally based on wealth;
South based on wealth and being “born into the
right family”
• Slavery: North wanted it abolished; South
supported it
• Southern planter system consisted of large and
small categories; the wealthiest had the most land
and the most slaves
• Economy: Northern based on mining, industry,
banks, stores, and railroads; Southern based on
agriculture, including cotton, rice, and indigo
• Southerners resented tariffs, which raised import
prices; the South imported more than the North
The Abolitionists
• Led the movement to do away with
slavery
• Many northern whites, some
southern and free blacks were
involved
• Made speeches, wrote books and
articles, and offered their homes as
safe houses for runaway slaves
The Abolitionists
• Frederick Douglass
 a former slave and orator, published the North
Star.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) - portrayed slavery’s
evils; the book sold more than 1 million copies
• William Lloyd Garrison
 white abolitionist, published the first
antislavery newspaper, The Liberator.
The Missouri Compromise
• Approved in 1820; Maine entered the Union
as a free state, and Missouri entered as a
slave state
• 11 states allowed slavery and 11 free states
• Prohibited slavery north of 36°20' latitude (the
southern border of Missouri),
• Temporarily solved slavery controversy
between the states
• Create a balance or representation within the
Senate.
The Dred Scott Decision
• A slave filed suit after he lived in free states with
his owner but was returned to slave state
• U.S Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not
citizens and could not file lawsuits
• Court also ruled that Congress could not stop
slavery in the territories
• Decision further separated the North and South
The Compromise of 1850
• California would enter Union as a free state
• New Mexico territory would not become part
of Texas or a guaranteed slave state
• The District of Columbia would no longer
trade slaves, but slave owners there could
keep their slaves
• Runaway slaves could be returned to their
owners in slave states
• Utah and New Mexico territories could decide
if they wanted to allow slaves or not
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Created the territories of Kansas and
……………
Nebraska Act
• Those territories had right of popular
sovereignty
• Popular sovereignty: When a territory asked
for statehood, the people could vote on slavery
• Freesoilers in those territories fought against
proslavery supporters (bleeding Kansas)
Section 3:
Slavery as a Way of Life
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION
– What was life like for Georgia slaves
during the Antebellum period?
• What words do I need to know?
– driver
– slave code
– arsenal
– Underground Railroad
Hard work, Simple living
• The hardest work for Slaves was long hours
in swampy rice fields
• Work began at sunup and continued until
sundown; overseers punished slaves who
did not harvest enough
• Slave Drivers - older slaves trusted by the
plantation owner, also supervised the field
hands
• Slave Men, Women and children, as young
as five, also worked hard on the plantations
and farms
Slave Family Life
• Slave families sometimes became separated
• Owners encouraged marriage; slave children
became property of the mother’s owner
• Religion was important; black preachers
spoke of freedom and justice
• Spiritual songs encouraged slaves throughout
their lives
• Education was nearly nonexistent, although
minimal reading and writing skills were
permitted by some slave owners
Slave Rebellions
• 1831 - Nat Turner led bloody rebellion in
Virginia; between 57 and 85 people died;
Turner was hanged
• Nat Turner’s Rebellion and other
unsuccessful rebellions prompted strict laws
across the South designed to curtail slave
movements, meetings, and efforts to learn to
read and write
• These laws applied to both slaves and freed
blacks
Slave Codes
• Took away nearly all rights of slaves
• Slaves could not carry weapons, make
any contact with white people
• People who tried to teach people of
color were punished; slaves could not
work any job involving reading and
writing
• Slaves had little time to talk together
John Brown
• White abolitionist led a raid on federal arsenal
(arms storehouse) at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia
• Brown wanted ammunition to lead a rebellion to
free the South’s slaves
• He was captured and hanged for treason
• The Brown raid added to fear and distrust,
especially in the South; to many Northerners,
Brown became a hero
The Underground Railroad
• Network of roads, houses, river crossings,
boats, wagons, woods, and streams operated
by blacks and whites
• Provided a trail of flight for runaway slaves
seeking freedom in Canada or the Northern
states
• Safe stops along the way called stations
• Ex-slave Harriet Tubman personally helped
more than 300 slaves escape to freedom
Click to return to Table of Contents
Section 4:
Antebellum Georgia
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION
– What was Georgia like before the
Civil War?
Section 4:
Antebellum Georgia
• What words do I need to
know?
–Know-Nothing Party
–Great Revival Movement
–Milledgeville
Georgia’s Pre-War Economy
• 68,000 farms by 1860; cotton was chief crop
• 500 plantations (500 acres or more); most
farms were less than 100 acres
• 60 percent of Georgians owned no slaves;
only 236 had 100 or more slaves
• Half of Georgia’s total wealth was in slaves
($400 million)
• 1,890 factories in Georgia by 1860; about $11
million in value
Education
• Most Georgians had little education
• 20 percent of Georgians were illiterate in 1850
• $100,000 allotted in 1858 to begin free schools;
the outbreak of the Civil War delayed these
plans
• Georgia’s first law school founded in 1859
• Slaves were not given educational opportunities
Religion
• Georgians involved in the Great Revival
Movement of the early 1800s
• Camp meetings popular, especially
among Methodists
• By 1860, Georgia second only to
Virginia in the South in number of
churches
• Methodists and Baptists most common
denominations
Antebellum Georgia Politics
• Democrats and Whigs were two major
political parties
• Democrats supported states’ rights;
took strong stand for slavery
• Whigs mainly from upper social classes;
favored moderate protective tariff and
federal help for the South
• Most governors were Whigs; most
legislators were Democrats
Know-Nothing Party
• Leading Georgians formed two new political
parties; one party favored the Compromise of
1850 while the other did not
• A secret party, the Know-Nothing party, did not
want immigrants to become citizens or anyone
not born in the United States to hold political
office
• Members answered all questions, “I don’t know”
• By 1856, Democrats were dominant party; Dem.
Joseph E. Brown, elected governor in 1856,
served during the Civil War
Section 5:
The Election of 1860
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION
– What steps led to Georgia’s
secession from the Union in 1861?
Section 5:
The Election of 1860
• What words do I need to know?
– Republican Party
– secession
– platform
– ordinance
– Confederate States of America
The Republican Party
• Republican Party formed in 1854 in free
states
• Antislavery Whigs and Democrats joined
• Nominated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois as their
candidate in 1860
• Southern and Northern Democrats split over
slavery issues and nominated separate
candidates
• Southerners angrily viewed the plans of the
Republicans as non-beneficial to the South
Georgia and Lincoln’s
Election
• Georgians were, for the most part, for the Union;
however, they were strongly for states’ rights
• Despite lawmakers’ strong debates for and
against secession, a Secession convention
began in January 1861 in Milledgeville, the
capital
• A secession ordinance (bill) passed 208-89
• The Southern states who seceded met in
Montgomery, Alabama in February, 1861; they
formed the Confederate States of America
• Montgomery, Alabama was named the first
Capital of the Confederacy (later moved to
Virginia)
Georgians in Leadership
• Robert Toombs named Secretary of
State of the Confederate States of
American (CSA)
• Alexander H. Stephens named VicePresident
• Governor Joseph E. Brown favored
secession and used his terms as
governor to prepare Georgia for war
Click to return to Table of Contents
Click to return to Table of Contents