The Civil War

CIVIL WAR

• 1861- 1865• The Union was the northern states –

Yankees• The Confederate was the southern states-

Rebels

Causes of the Civil War

• SLAVERY• Sectional Differences

Sectional Differences - NORTH

• Land not as fertile, farmers – but not with large plantations

• Used slaves until 1800’s• After 1800’s work came from immigrants

– less expensive to hire than to buy a slave

Sectional differences - NORTH

• Developed economy• Created environment where normal

concept was free workers hired out for wages than slaves working

• Strong in Protestant religion- valued moral strictness, economic independence and efforts to improve ones self.

Sectional differences - NORTH

• Protestants disapproved of slavery• Thought is was an embarrassment to a

republic dedicated to liberty and freedom

Sectionalism - SOUTH

• Land very fertile – long growing season• Large plantations• Tobacco and then cotton • 1500-1860 slave labor in the south• By 1860’s- FOUR million black slaves

had labored in the south

Events leading to CIVIL WAR

Compromise of 1850

Kansas- Nebraska Act

Dred Scott Case

Compromise of 1850

• Slave trade to continue but prohibited slave trade in Washington D.C.

• California admitted to union as free state• New territories could decide if free or

slave state• Fugitive Law

Fugitive Law

• If a slave escaped from the south, they were to be returned to the North

• Abolitionists disobeyed fugitive slave law and created Underground Railroad

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe on of the most effective attacks on fugitive slave trade

Kansas- Nebraska Act

• 1854 Act created territories of Kansas and Nebraska

• Gave rights to people to decide if going to be a free or slave state – process known as “popular sovereignty”

•

Kansas- Nebraska Act

• Kansas was the first test• Majority voted against slavery• Proslavery forces refused to accept

decision – led to violence• 1861 Kansas admitted as free state

Dred Scott

• In 1857 Missouri slave – Dred Scott sued for his freedom

• He and his master moved from Missouri to a free state and then a free territory

• Scott claimed he was a free man since he lived in places where slavery were not recognized

Dred Scott

• Chief Justice Roger B. Tuney said Scott , a black man, was NOT a citizen, therefore did not have the right to sue in US court.

• Chief Justice also said federal government could not exclude slavery from territories

• This angered Northerners because they thought it opened territories to slavery.

Political Happenings

Republican Party

• Established in the North – 1854• Opposed slavery and its extension into

territories

Democrats

• Split in 1860 into Northern and Southern Democratic parties due to issues of proslavery and antislavery

Abraham Lincoln

• Won all Electoral in free states except New Jersey

• He received 4 of the 7 electoral votes there• Less than 40% of popular vote

Succession Begins

• Dec. 1860 South Carolina• Jan. 1861 Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,

Georgia, and Louisiana• Feb. 4, 1861- these states formed the

Confederate States of America• Jefferson Davis from Mississippi was

elected president of Confederacy in 1861• March 2, 1861 Texas

Start of Civil War

• Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1861

• Fort surrendered next day • April 15 – Lincoln called for Union troops

to regain the fort• South saw it as declaration of war

More States leave

• Virginia• Arkansas• North Carolina• Tennessee

Confederate States

• Alabama• Arkansas• Florida• Georgia• Louisiana• Mississippi• North Carolina

• South Carolina• Tennessee• Texas• Virginia

Union States

• California• Connecticut• Delaware• Illinois• Indiana• Iowa• Kansas• Kentucky• Maine• Maryland• Massachusetts

• Michigan• Minnesota• Missouri• New Hampshire• New Jersey• New York• Ohio• Oregon• Pennsylvania• Rhode Island• Vermont• Wisconsin

Results of War

• 620,000 Soldiers died • Union = 360,000• Confederacy = 260,000• One-half of all deaths caused by disease• South was destroyed• Bitterness between North and South

Results of War

• Yankee ideals of hard work, education, and freedom helped encourage the development of United States as modern, industrial leader