Download File - Mr. Jackson - 8th Grade United States History

The struggle to maintain a
balance of power was at
the heart of the Civil
War.
The effects of
Reconstruction left
unresolved the issue of
true equality.
In the Declaration of Independence and
the U.S. Constitution, people had to
compromise to form “a more perfect
union”.
However, unresolved issues would divide the
U.S. and foretell stormy times.
Imagine the wind
blowing across the
prairies and through
your hair.
When the winds are
calm, you can barely
notice them; however,
when the winds become
more furious, great
damage may occur.
The Civil War can be imagined as a
tornado.
Founding Father,
James Madison stated:
“It seemed now to be
pretty well
understood that the
real difference of
interests lay not
between the large
and the small but
between the
Northern and the
Southern states.”
The events that
caused the Civil War
continued to
accelerate resulting
in the nation’s
bloodiest war,
a war of brothers
against brothers that
changed the face of
the United States.
Industrial
North
Agricultural
South
Each section (North and South) had
different lifestyles and needs.
The struggle to maintain the balance
of power became more difficult.
The following events fed the
growing storm.
•
Missouri Compromise • Compromise of
1820
1850
• Kansas-Nebraska Act - “Bleeding Kansas”• Dred Scott Decision -
1854
1857
• John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia -
1859
• Lincoln elected the first Republican president -
1860
Politicians like Henry
Clay, John C. Calhoun
and Daniel Webster
struggled to maintain
a balance of power
through compromises.
However, differences
finally erupted into a
violent storm.
If The
Lincoln
got elected,South
The balance
Election
needed
of 1860
to
Carolina
secede.
caused
maintainthreatened
great
peaceconcern.
was to
strained
The
winds
beyond
beganrepair.
to blow.
The two ways of life forced the nation apart,
and neither side would compromise.
After the election
of 1860, the
South used the
Tenth
Amendment,
(states’ rights) to
justify secession.
On February 18, eleven Southern
states, formed the Confederate
States of America. The CSA
capitol was established in
Richmond, Virginia. Jefferson
Davis was elected president.
The United States of America
(Union)
Often referred to as the Yanks, the
North had many nicknames. Billy
Yank, the Blue, and the Federals
were popular during the war.
Notice the
huge gap! The
South is gone.
The Confederate States of
America (CSA)
Nicknames for the South included
Rebels and Johnny Reb.
On April 12,1861,
Ft. Sumter, in
Charleston
Harbor, South
Carolina was
attacked.
It was a “bloodless
opening to the
bloodiest war in
American history”.
The winds of war
howled and the
U.S. Civil War
began.
People from every walk of life were
faced with the choice... North or South.
Some families were split with sons on
both sides.
V.
Many battles were fought with death
and destruction on both sides.
The winds of
war whipped
across the
nation. The
land, the hearts
and soul of the
nation were
ripped apart.
The Burning of Atlanta
On January 1,
1863, Lincoln
issued the
Emancipation
Proclamation, a
formal order
declaring slaves
in Confederate
states to be
free.
“The time came when I
felt that slavery must
die so that the nation
might live.”
The winds changed in the summer of 1863
when about 90,000 Union troops met 75,000
Confederate troops near Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania.
Confederate leader
George Pickett led
15,000 soldiers in a
charge, but they
were met with
Union gunners.
The Union
won at
Gettysburg,
but the
losses were
staggering.
Gettysburg
is considered
the turning
point in the
Civil War.
From this point on, Lee would never
invade the North again.
On July 4, 1863, the very same day the
Union won at Gettysburg, the southern
port of Vicksburg, Mississippi fell to
Grant.
This victory accomplished a
Union strategy- another
turning point - control of the
Mississippi River.
The struggle for power ended on April 9,
1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
Union General U.S. Grant accepted a
surrender from Confederate General Robert
E. Lee to end the war.
The McClean house, Appomattox
Courthouse, Virginia
The process of rebuilding the nation was
called Reconstruction.
Lincoln’s goal was to unite the
nation. His Ten Percent Plan was
considered lenient.
The plan included the following:
• former Confederates had to take an
oath to support the Constitution, and
the 13th amendment (abolishing
slavery in the U.S.)
• when 10% of a state’s voters took
the oath, that state could reenter
the Union.
Lincoln never saw his plan
implemented. On April 14, 1865, he
was assassinated at Ford’s Theater
in Washington D.C.
Andrew Johnson became
president and his goal was to
keep a similar Reconstruction
plan to Lincoln’s.
Congressional Radical Republicans were
opposed to a lenient reconstruction
plan. These Radicals wanted to
punish the South for the war.
Radical Republicans had their own plan for
Reconstruction.
The Reconstruction Act of 1867:
•divided the South into 5 military districts
•new Southern constitutions had to be written
•guaranteed freedmen (former slaves) citizenship
•guaranteed freedman voting rights
13th Amendment- freed all slaves
14th Amendment- defined citizenship and
extended it to blacks
15th Amendment-gave black men the right to
vote
It was difficult for Southerners to accept
the freedmen as equals. Many southern
states passed laws to deny the freedmen
their civil rights.
The effects of
Reconstruction left
unresolved the issue of
true equality.
Americans continue to try to achieve
true equality.
The struggle to maintain a
balance of power was at
the heart of the Civil
War.
The effects of
Reconstruction left
unresolved the issue of
true equality.