Download Events that Led to the Civil War

Events that Led to the
Civil War
Remember these 4 things…
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State Rights
Slavery and Westward Expansion
Economics and Trade Policies
Sectionalism
States’ Rights
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States’ Rights: the belief that the state’s interests
should take precedence over the interests of the
national government.
Northern states believed that in order for the United
States to function as one Union, political decisions
should be made that would benefit the entire
country. All states should abide by laws made by
Congress, signed by the President.
Southern states believed deeply in the idea that
states should have the right to govern themselves, to
decide what was best for their own needs and
situations. They felt that states like Maine could not
understand or care about South Carolina or Georgia.
Nullification
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One example of the differing ideas about state rights was the
idea of nullification. The south 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 (Vice
President at the time) fought vehemently for nullification. He
was known as the “Great Nullifier”. When nullification
would not work and states felt that they were no longer
respected, they moved towards secession.
Who would you side with on this
issue?
Slavery & Westward Expansion
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Northern state economy was based on factories,
mining, banks, stores and railroads. No plantation
agriculture, thus no need for slavery and anti-slavery
arguments were very powerful in these states.
Southern state economy was based on agriculture
(cotton, tobacco and rice). Big plantation owners
depended on slavery for everything. Less than 10%
of Georgians actually had slaves but the economic
power that they provided kept the economy going
for everyone.
Free & Slave States
Westward Expansion of Slavery
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In America, there was broad support for settlement
of the frontier territories.
Each of the new states would have two senators and
at least one representative in the U.S. Congress.
For Georgia and other southern states to maintain
balance of power in the national government, at least
half of the new states would have to allow slavery.
At first, Congress kept a balance of equal free and
slave states. But then….
The Problem…
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After Alabama had been admitted to the union
there were 11 slave states and 11 free states.
Then Missouri applied for admission as a
slave state and the Northern states were not
happy with the 12 to 11 count.
Now the solution…
Missouri Compromise
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1820 – Congress made Maine a free state and
created a law that in the future, slavery would
be prohibited north of latitude 36.30
(Carolina’s northern border).
It would not take the south long to figure out
that they had been suckered. There’s more
land north of latitude 36.30!!! This might
mean more free state and less votes in
Congress!
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http://teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interac
tives/sectionalism/lesson1/
The Next Problem
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After a war with Mexico, the United States got what
is today Texas and California. Because Texas was
below the “line” it was admitted as a slave state.
A few years later gold was discovered in California
and a gold rush occurred bringing the “Forty-niners”
into the area (gold rush of 1849…). California now
applies for admission into the Union as a state.
Should California be a free state or a slave state?
Some Georgians talked of a secession from the
Union if California was made a free state.
Compromise of 1850
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1.
2.
3.
Benefits Northern States
California would be “free state”
Slave trade ends in D.C.
Texas can’t have Mexico – thus less land for
legal slavery
Compromise of 1850
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1.
2.
3.
Benefits Southern States
New Mexico and Utah get to vote on slavery
(popular sovereignty)
Residents in D.C. can keep slaves they have
already
Fugitive Slave Act – slaves must be returned
to owner, even if they have made it to a free
state
Georgia Platform
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Georgia’s official response to the Compromise of
1850. (according to the General Assembly)
The platform said that they would accept the
conditions of the Compromise of 1850, so long as
the northern states respected the current slave laws,
and the national government did not make any
further attempts to restrict slavery in the western
territories. The Georgia Platform was written
primarily by Charles J. Jenkins, with help from and
the support of Howell Cobb and Robert Toombs.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Created the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska.
It contained a clause of “popular sovereignty”
– which means “government that’s popular”
or “popular government” that the people of a
territory could vote on whether they wanted
slaves.
Compromise of 1850
& Kansas-Nebraska Act - Bad decision
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4 years after the compromise Nebraska and Kansas
were created. Voters of each territory would decide
whether slavery would be permitted. Both slave
owners and abolitionists rushed to control the
territory. In Kansas the raids on each others
settlements were so brutal that it became known as
“Bleeding Kansas”.
Also, northerners were dead set against the Fugitive
Law. They would not allow the slaves seeking
refuge to be returned to their brutal owners. The
abolitionist movement was growing immensely in
the north.
The Dred Scott Case
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Read p. 223 and define this in your words.
Do you think this was fair?
Slavery in Georgia
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As cotton production grew, so did the need for
slaves. Cotton and slavery were so interrelated that a
Scottish visitor to Georgia in 1844 reported,
“Nothing was attended to but the cotton and slaves.
The more cotton the more slaves and the more slaves
the more cotton.
As more and more land was given over to King
Cotton the price of slavery went up. 1790 - $300 for
a good slave, 1850 - $1,000, 1860 - $1800.
Anti-Slavery in Georgia
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Though the General Assembly appeared to justify slavery , it
was outlawed in the Georgia Constitution of 1798 and many
Georgians hoped to find a practical way to reduce slavery.
By the 1820’s no newspaper editor in Georgia would dare
argue for slavery.
Many slave owners made provisions in their wills to free their
slaves. Some simply let their slaves work for them as free
blacks and some accompanied their slaves to free states since
free blacks were not permitted to enter Georgia.
Remember – only 7% of the people Georgia owned slaves
Many of these people were members of the General
Assembly and Congress
Economics & Trade Policies
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Economics: Agriculture versus Industry
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Northern state economy was based on factories, mining,
banks, stores and railroads. No plantation agriculture,
thus no need for slavery and anti-slavery arguments were
very powerful in these states.
Southern state economy was based on agriculture (cotton,
tobacco and rice). Big plantation owners depended on
slavery for everything. Less than 10% of Georgians
actually had slaves but the economic power that they
provided kept the economy going for everyone.
Cont…Economics & Trade Policies
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Trade Policies:
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Northern states wanted to put tariffs on imported
goods to make customers want to but from their
factories instead of from other countries, like
Great Britain. (ex: suit, $50, import tax of $20)
Southern states did not have factories and
imported a lot of goods from other countries.
Southerners did not was the prices they paid on
imported goods made higher buy tariffs.
Sectionalism
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The belief by the people in a given area that
their ideas and interests are better and more
important than those of another region or area.
Northern Sectionalism
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1.
2.
3.
What issues were the northern states facing
that created stand on the following:
States’ Rights:
Slavery:
Trade Policies/Tariffs:
Southern Sectionalism
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1.
2.
3.
What issues were the southern states facing
that created stand on the following:
States’ Rights:
Slavery:
Trade Policies/Tariffs:
Can a Books Cause a War?
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin: by Harriet Beecher Stowe –
described the horrors of being a slave and described
them as individuals – instead of a group. This made
them more human and their pain very real to the
people who read the book. The book was a huge
success and created a huge abolition movement in
the North
Positive Good Thesis of Slavery: by Charles
Fitzhugh – characterized slavery as an obligation of
white to feed, clothe, and provide church for slaves.
The result was that many southerners actually
believed that enslavement was a favor
The Election of 1860
Read p. 245 – 246 in the Blue Book
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Summarize what you read on your study
guide.
Alexander Stephens
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Read p. 247 - 248
http://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/cont
ent/alexander-stephens
http://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/cont
ent/alexander-stephens-0
http://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/content
/georgia-secedes-union