The Civil War EraUnit 5

Manifest Destiny• Manifest Destiny:

– The concept, believed my most Americans, that the United States had the right to any lands from the Appalachian Mountains to the Pacific Ocean

Reasons for Moving West• Religion

– Many Americans were looking for increased religious freedoms from persecution or harassment

– Brigham Young led the Mormons (see box) along the Mormon Trail to Utah

NYS Connection: The Missionaries

• Marcus Whitman– Missionary to Oregon territory. Group

was massacred by Native Americans – this led to the demand for annexation of Oregon country

• The Mormons– Begun by Joseph Smith in Palmyra, NY– After he was killed, his supporters

moved westward and established the Mormon Church in Utah

Reasons for Moving West

• Expansion of Cotton Culture– The expansion of Cotton into the west

meant the expansion of slavery too– The question of balance between

“slaves states” and “free states” would be a huge issue in the years before the Civil War

Reasons for Moving West

• Opportunity– The chance for a better economic

situation, or personal freedoms, encouraged many people to move west for a new, and hopefully better life

– The “Gold Rush” of the late 1840’s brought many people to the west coast

Disputes over Expansion

• Oregon Dispute:– Both the US and Great Britain claimed

the area that is now the American Northwest

– A settlement was made dividing the lands at the 49th parallel

– Great Britain got the lands north of the line (what is Canada today)

Disputes over Expansion

Texas/Mexican War• Texas was first it’s own nation – it had

won it’s independence from Mexico in 1836

• Over time, many Texans began to have economic and cultural ties with the US

• The US annexed Texas into the Union in 1845

• A boundary dispute led to the Mexican-American War the next year

• The US won and took over additional lands from Mexico – including California

Mexican-American War

Settlement of the West• Homestead Act

– 1862– The federal government, in an

attempt to encourage more settlement in the west, offered 160 acres to any adult citizen for just $10

– The settler agreed to live on and improve the land for 5 years before acquiring ownership

– Millions of Americans, along with millions of foreign-born immigrants moved west

Settlement of the West• Transcontinental Railroad:

– The federal government sponsored the building of a railroad to cross the United States

– The first was completed in 1869• New markets in the west were opened up

to eastern products• Western products could now reach

eastern markets easier• Migration of people increased

significantly

Settlement of the West• Clash with Native Americans

(again!)– Indian Wars

• The late 1800’s saw increased conflict between Native-American tribes and Americans

• Led by Sitting Bull, the Sioux had many conflicts, including the Battle of Little Big Horn

• The Massacre at Wounded Knee is considered the end of the Indian Wars

• Most native people were now living on lands called “reservations”

The Settlement of the West

• The Genocide Question:– Events such as the Massacre at

Wounded Knee, in which many unarmed innocent natives were killed by American soldiers, along with the harsh reservation system, have led to questions about the government’s role in trying to get rid of Native-Americans

The Settlement of the West

• Daws Act– 1887 – Congress passed legislation to

attempt to “Americanize” native people

– They offered individual Native-Americans citizenship and land ownership if they would each leave the reservations and their tribes and live like other Americans

– Few natives took this offer

The Settlement of the West

• The Reservation– Lands set aside by the Federal

Government for Native-American tribes to live on in peace

– These lands often became harsh areas to live because much poverty existed there

Sectionalism

• Sectionalism:– As the years went by, areas of the

nation, mainly the Northern and the Southern sections, each began to develop separate identities, as well as varying wants and needs.

– This “sectionalism” would prove to be the biggest test to the survival of the still young nation.

Divided America• The Industrial North

– Trade: • While trading with other nations, the

northern industrial centers traded products across the entire nation

– Factories: • The northern states dominated the

Industrial Revolution in America• Their factories produced as much vital

products as any nation in the world• Their culture was centered around the

industrial workplace

Divided America• The Divided North

– Urban Centers• Industrialization drew rural people to the

new urban centers (cities)• Most northerners lived in industrial cities• The North’s population was the largest of

any section of the nation

– Transportation• Again, because of industry, the north

dominated the development of transportation systems including canals, roadways, and especially the newer railroads

Divided America

• Agrarian South– Plantation System

• Large, slave worked cash crop farms dominated the economy of southern states

• Most southerners lived a rural life in small towns

Divided America• Agrarian South

– Cash Crop• The economy of the south was based on

the sale of cash crops – notably cotton• Southern states depended on trade not

only with the North, but with industrial centers of Europe as well

– Slavery• Depended on slave labor, southern states

had to base their political interests along lines that would ensure the survival of slavery

Sectional Disputes

Issue North South West

Bank of the United States

Internal Improvements

-Pro bank

-Controlled majority of ownership

-Located in Philadelphia

-Anti-Bank

-Viewed bank as another infringement on Southern Sovereignty

- Pro-bank

-For federally funded internal improvements

-Due to increased output in the North

-Against internal improvements

- Used existing waterways to move products

-For internal improvements

-People and products could move west cheaper and easier

Sectional DisputesIssue North South West

Expansion of Slavery (into New Territories)

Cheap Western Lands

- Increasingly opposed

-Opposed

- Might upset the balance between free and slave states

-Favored

-More Potential “southern” states would emerge from new territories

-Favored

-Many new territories would likely include slavery

- The issue divided westerners

-Favored cheap lands

-Encouraged migration to the west

Sectional Disputes

Issue North South West

Tariffs - Favored tariffs to protect infant industries developing in the north (protective tariffs)

-Opposed

-Would raise price on Southern imports

-While having little effect on Southern exports (cotton)

-Opposed

-Would raise the price of goods reaching the West

Compromises on the Expansion of Slavery

• Missouri Compromise – Issues

• Could Congress prohibit slavery in new territories?• Could Congress place conditions on new states

entering the Union?

– Resolution• Missouri would be added as a slave state (at the

same time that Maine is added as a free state)• No slavery in the rest of the Old Louisiana Territory

above the 36 30 line of latitude

– Impact• Gave a formal boundary to slavery• Future states along the boundary would lead to

major questions• Never really dealt with the legal issue of slavery• Postponed the inevitable: the Civil War

Compromises on the Expansion of Slavery

• Compromise of 1850– Issues

• The admittance of California as a free state threatened the balance of Power in Congress between free and slave states

– Resolution• California was admitted as a free state• Fugitive Slave Act required escaped slaves to be

returned to their owners• Popular Sovereignty: Citizens in each territory would

vote to be entered as a free or slave state

– Impact• Kept southern states from leaving the Union (for

now)• Northern states often ignored the FSA• Popular sovereignty was confusing to many

Compromises on the Expansion of Slavery

• Kansas/Nebraska – 1854– Issues

• People in KS and NE wanted to vote to decide whether or not to become slave states and not follow the Missouri Compromise

– Resolution• The KS/NE Act overturned the Missouri Compromise in

those territories and allowed them popular sovereignty

– Impact• Violence erupted in “Bleeding Kansas” between anti- and

pro-slavery supporters• The Whig party weakened and died out and a new party,

the Republican Party, began

Case Study – Dred Scott • Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

– Scott, an African-American had lived for a while with his owner in free Illinois

– Later, his owner moved to Missouri, a slave state

– He used for his freedom claiming he was free because of his time in Illinois

Case Study – Dred Scott

• Constitutional Issue:– The issue of slavery in the new

territories

• Court Decision:– The Supreme Court said that Scott was

not free because he was not a citizen – and could not be protected by the US Constitution – he was property

Case Study – Dred Scott

• Impact:– Because slaves were considered

property, the Missouri Compromise was now considered to be Unconstitutional – the Federal government can’t prohibit the ownership of property

– Northerners opposed the ruling– Southern states threatened to leave

the Union if Northerners did not obey it

• Causes of the Civil War

– Failure to resolve the slavery issue• Sectional Polarization

– Mid 1800’s – The nation was divided up politically over the slavery issue

– Some supported slavery everywhere

– Some opposed slavery everywhere

– Some favored popular sovereignty

• Radical Abolitionism– Some opponents of slavery, including John Brown, used violence against

slavery supporters.

– Many slave owners became convinced some abolitionists wanted to murder slave owners.

• Causes of the Civil War– Regionalization of Political Parties

• Rise of the Republican Party (North):– Born after the Kansas/Nebraska Act– Created in opposition to slavery– Most Republicans were in the North– Their motto: “Free soil – Free Labor – Free Men”

• Disunion of the Democratic Party:– Southern Democrats wanted to protect slave owners’

rights– Northern Democrats supported popular sovereignty– Divided, they were weaker

• Election of Lincoln:– The divided Democrats could not defeat the Republican

candidate Abraham Lincoln– Fearing a loss of southern power, southern states

began to seriously talk of breaking away from the Union

• Causes of the Civil War– Secession

• Seven southern states eventually vote to break away from the union (secede)

• South Carolina was the first

– Fort Sumter• South Carolina’s troops took over the federally

owned fort in Charleston Harbor• Lincoln called up more federal troops• More Southern states reacted by seceding too

The War!

Military Strategy of Each Side

• North– Use superior resources, technologies,

and manpower– Divide the Confederacy (south) –

capture and control the Mississippi River

– Blockade southern ports – don’t let supplies into the Confederacy

– Capture the capitol – Richmond, VA

Military Strategy of Each Side

• South– Attack, again and again, hoping to

wear down the north’s will to win– Gain support from Great Britain and

France, each dependent on Southern cotton

Major Battles

• Ft. Sumter– SC Troops took over the federal fort

• 1st Manassas (Bull Run)– The north thought it would be an easy victory

and an end to a short war– The southern victory proved it would be a

tougher fight, and longer war than expected• Monitor v. Merrimack

– Strategically unimportant, the first battle between iron-clad gunboats

Major Battles• Antietem

– First significant northern victory – kept GB and France from helping the south

– Had the most 1 day casualties in the history of the United States

• Gettysburg– The turning point of the war – until this time, the

south had, in general, been winning the war– The northern victory bolstered morale, and weakened

the southern army

• Appomattox– Scene of the final moments of the war: Lee

surrendered to Grant here

On the Home Front

• Civil Liberties– Citizens in Washington DC were

arrested and held without habeas corpus rights (not being told the charges against them)

– Lincoln felt threatened for potential espionage (spying), and the courts were overwhelmed with cases• Ex Parte Milligan: Supreme court case –

determines unlawful to hold persons without formal charges

On the Home Front

• Role of Women– In both the north and the south,

women took the place of men in factories and on farms – many served in hospitals and near the battlefields as nurses

– Clara Barton• Pioneering woman in the nursing field• Founder of the American Red Cross

On the Home Front

• Role of African Americans

– In the north, many took the place of white workers in the factories

– After the Emancipation Proclamation, many rushed to enlist and serve in the US (north) army

Role of Lincoln• Emancipation Proclamation

– Lincoln’s decision to free all persons in states that were still rebelling in January of 1863

– It changed the purpose of the war – from just about preserving the Union, to ending slavery as well

"That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.” - Abraham Lincoln

Role of Lincoln• Gettysburg Address

– Lincoln’s short, but meaningful speech outlined the meaning and significance of the war

Gettysburg AddressThe Gettysburg AddressNov. 19, 1863 Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation,

conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal." Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so

conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Essential Questions

• How did expansion in the West contribute to the ongoing sectionalism that would ultimately lead to a civil war in America?

• In what ways was the treatment of Native Americans in the West contrary to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution?

• IN what ways were the reasons given by southern states for secession similar or different than the founding father’s reasons for breaking away from Great Britain?

• How can it be argued that the US Civil War was a “total war” – a war against an entire society, not just a war against an army?