Events Preceding the Civil War (1820-1861)

Events Preceding the Civil War

• Westward Expansion (Manifest Destiny)

• New Territories and States

• Missouri Compromise, The Compromise of 1850, and Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Wilmot Proviso

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin• John Brown’s Raid• Scott v. Sandford• Differences

between North and South

• Election of 1860• Secession of

Southern states

Manifest Destiny

• Manifest Destiny was the idea that America was destined to become “the great nation of futurity.” Of course, that meant the nation would expand Westward. Furthermore, it promoted an idea of American racial and cultural superiority. It also opened new discussions about the spread of slavery. http://www.ushistory.org/us/29.asp

• https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/osulliva.htm

Daniel Boone is showing the way Westward. Notice the stance of the young man next to him. How would you describe the feeling he shows?

John Gast, American Progress, 1872Although this painting was created after the war, it sums up the ideas that Americans had had even before the war about going West. Americans believed the country should span from sea to sea. Although it looks like it would have been a huge mural, this painting was only about 12 ¾ “ X 16 ¾ “ in size! http://picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/item.php?item_id=180

The Invitation • In 1821 Mexico won its

independence from Spain. Mexico issued an invitation:– Agree to settle in newly

independent Mexico– Do not bring slaves– Become Catholic or at

least pay taxes to the Catholic Church

• If a settler agreed to these rules, Mexico would sell them land for cheap. Most got the land, but didn’t comply with all the rules.

• Steve Austin– First to bring settlers– Brought slaves– Did not pay taxes – Settled close to the

United States border

The Alamo• Santa Anna-– Dictator of Mexico – Took an army to this Texas

area to solve the issue• The Alamo-

– An old mission at San Antonio – Travis, Bowie, and Crockett

led a rebellion and sacrificed themselves to protect Texas from Santa Anna’s army.

• Sam Houston led a militia formed for Texas. “Remember the Alamo!”– Houston and Santa Anna’s

armies fought.– Houston won.

– Santa Anna was forced to leave

Texas.

Texas became it’s own country, the Republic of Texas, for about a decade, before finally becoming a state in the United States.

The Mexican War

• The Land – Only thing standing in the way of Manifest Destiny

• The United States offered to buy the land for $30 million

• The War– 3 main military companies– Took California, New Mexico, and Nevada– A militia run by Winfield Scott went directly to Mexico

City• Most Civil War officers gained their first experience from

this war– Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant,

and George Picket

• The New Offer– Mexico was then offered $15 million.– Take it or leave it

• “The Spot Speech.”– Lincoln made a name for himself by asking where

was the exact spot that the Mexican War began.• United States claimed that the Mexican border was

at the Rio Grande. However, Mexico stated that it was at the Nueces River.

• Mexico claimed that the United States had invaded their territory, which is why they fought back .

– He gained the nickname “Spotty Lincoln.”

New Territories

• California and Texas became new territories.

• Debate heated up over whether or not new states would allow slavery.*

• Missouri Compromise(1820)- Proposed by Henry Clay; kept the number of free states and slave states equal. Missouri would be a slave state, and Maine would be a free state.

Slavery had already been abolished in the British Empire.

New Territories

• An imaginary line was drawn across the southern border of Missouri at latitude 36 30 N., but it only applied to the Louisiana Purchase.

New Territories

• Wilmot Proviso- Proposed by David Wilmot to ban slavery in the West.

• The House passed it in 1846, but shortly afterwards the Senate defeated it.

Tempers Flair• California applied for admission to the Union in 1850 to be a

free state.• The issue was so heated that Senator Henry Foote of

Mississippi pulled a gun on Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri.

Admission of California as a State

• In 1849, the number of free states equaled the number of slave states at 15/15.

• California being a free state would upset the balance between free and slave states set by the Missouri Compromise.

Clay vs. Calhoun

Henry Clay• “the Great Compromiser”• Wanted an agreement

between the North and South

• Feared that the nation would break apart

• His plan: “The Compromise of 1850”

John Calhoun• Senator of South Carolina• Refused a compromise• Demanded that fugitive or

runaway slaves be returned to their owners

• Last reported words 1850: “The Poor South! God knows what will become of her now!”

Compromise of 1850• Composed of FIVE parts:

1. Allowed California to enter Union as free state

2. Formed territories of New Mexico and Utah, and decision of slavery based on popular sovereignty

3. Ended slave trade in Washington, D.C.

4. Created a strict slave law

5. Settled a border dispute between Texas and New Mexico

Fugitive Slave Act Modified

• All citizens required to report runaway slaves

• Helping fugitive slaves would result in a $1000 fine and jail

• Judges given rewards for sending runaway slaves back to South

• Antislavery advocates in North outraged• Forced even non-slaveholders to be a part

of the slavery system

Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Antislavery Bestseller • Published in 1852• Showed the evils of

slavery and Fugitive Slave Act

• Popular in North and hated in the South

• Southern complaint: did not give a true picture of slave life

• Made more northerners see slavery as immoral

Tensions build in Kansas

• Proslavery and antislavery settlers moved into the Kansas territory.

• Many farmers from neighboring states moved to the territory in hopes of gaining cheap land.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Proposed by Stephen Douglas.

• Established territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

• Gave settlers popular sovereignty to decide on slavery issue.

Abraham Lincoln

• After hearing about the events that took place in Kansas, Abraham Lincoln predicted that bloodshed would occur.

• At this time, he was a young lawyer from Illinois.

Northern Outrage

• Many northerners were unhappy with the Kansas-Nebraska Act because it repealed the Missouri Compromise.

Two Governments in Kansas

• Proslavery:• Elections in 1855,

established a proslavery legislature.

• New laws were passed that made helping slaves escape punishable by death

• Antislavery:• Refused to abide by

laws of the proslavery government.

• Established their own governor and legislature.

Bleeding Kansas• Proslavery raid on the town of Lawrence.(Antislavery

stronghold)• John Brown, an abolitionist, struck back by

murdering five proslavery settlers. (Pottawatomie Creek Massacre)

• These events led to even more violence, and by 1856, more than 200 people had been killed.

Violence in the Senate…Again!

• Butler’s nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks, responded a few days later by marching into the Senate chamber and beating Sumner with a cane. *

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm

*In his "Crime Against Kansas" speech, Sumner identified two Democratic senators as the principal culprits in this crime—Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina. He characterized Douglas to his face as a "noise-some, squat, and nameless animal . . . not a proper model for an American senator." Andrew Butler, who was not present, received more elaborate treatment. Mocking the South Carolina senator's stance as a man of chivalry, the Massachusetts senator charged him with taking "a mistress . . . who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight—I mean," added Sumner, "the harlot, Slavery."

Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts criticized Andrew Butler of South Carolina for Butler’s proslavery views.

Dred Scott• Scott was a slave from

Missouri who had lived in Wisconsin and Illinois. (two free states)

• After Scott returned to Missouri, his owner died. Scott sued for his freedom.

• This led to the Supreme Court case known as Dred Scott v. Sandford.

What unusual thing do you notice about his signature? What do you know about the culture of the time period that might cause this?

Dred Scott • Scott’s lawyers argued that he

had lived in a free territory, so he was a free man.

• Court ruled that Scott could not file a lawsuit because he was not a citizen.

• Court decision stated that slaves were considered to be property.

• The Supreme Court also ruled that Congress could not outlaw slavery, which made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

The Republican Party

• Formed to give a voice against slavery. • Supporters of the new party fed up with

Whigs and Democrats. • Main goal was to keep slavery out of

western territories.

Republicans did not yet have the

elephant symbol

Lincoln v. Douglas for Senate in 1858

Lincoln’s views• Slavery was morally

wrong.• Wanted to prevent the

spread of slavery.

• Douglas won the election by a slim margin.

Douglas’s views• Western territories should

decide slavery issue by popular sovereignty.

• Personally disliked slavery.

John Brown’s Raid• John Brown who led

another raid, this time on a Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, hoping to start a slave insurrection.

• Although Brown took control of the arsenal, the rest of the plan fell apart. U.S. Marine Col. Robert E. Lee led the group that captured Brown. Brown was later hanged.

Presidential Election of 1860

• Democratic party split in two:• Southern democrats -supported slavery in

the territories. Represented by John Breckinridge.

• Northern democrats- refused to support slavery in the territories. Represented by Stephen Douglas.

Election of 1860

• Constitutional Union party- established to try and heal the split between the North and South. Represented by John Bell of Tennessee.

• Republican party- Represented by Abraham Lincoln.

• Abraham Lincoln won the northern states, which sealed the election.

Southern Reaction

• Abraham Lincoln’s election left the South feeling like they had no representation in the federal government.

• As a result, South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860 and Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas followed by 1861.

http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.html

Secession documents

The Confederacy• Southerners felt they could secede because Declaration

of Independence said people could abolish government.• Confederate States of America was formed, and

Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was the President.

The Civil War Begins

• Lincoln stated that there would be no war unless South started it.

• Confederate forces began taking over forts in the South.

Fort Sumter

• Located in South Carolina• Important to the Confederacy, because it

guarded Charleston Harbor• Confederate forces demanded the fort to

surrender, but the commander refused.• Confederate forces fired on the fort until it

surrendered.• This event marked the start of the Civil War.