Unit 8: Civil War and Slavery

Historiography of Slavery ("American History: Benign or Malignant?")

Rhodes- Set basic view of slavery for historians; slaves were treated unfairly and were victims of white owners.

Phillips (southern historian)- blacks are docile, childlike people who require care from whites.

Stammp- No accurate generalizations of slavery can be made; their experiences were from harsh to mild and everywhere in between depending on their environments. "Negroes are, after all, only white men with black skins, nothing more, nothing less." (323)

Elkins- Compared with Latin American Slavery; slavery in L.A. had not left severe racism problem as in the U.S.

     - Nazi analogy; totalitarian institutions reduced their inmates to perpetual childlike dependency.

     - "Blacks were unwilling victims of white transgressions." (324)

Radwick- Blacks formed their own communities based on their African traditions.

        - either slaves were submissive or angered by their enslavement.

Stanley Elkins

Freudian Concepts

- limitations on "self": 1) superego- social relationships, social values, expectations of others- is only a small part of the "total" self.

2) The content and character of the superego is laid down in childhood and undergoes relatively little basic alteration thereafter.

- "infantile regression": regression to a previous condition of childlike dependency in which parental prohibitions once more become all-powerful and in which parental judgments might once more be internailized.

- Under great stress the superego, like a bucket, is violently emptied of content and acquires, in a radically changed setting, new content.

Interpersonal Theory

-Developed by Harry Stack Sullivan

-Specific to American needs as opposed to Freud's who is geared toward European needs.

-"significant others" are very important: the individuals who hold the keys to security in one's own personal s ituation.

-Mainly focuses on childhood: "Being drastically limited in the selection of significant others, must operate in a 'closed' system"

-Has considerable room for change either beneficial or malevolent.

- In concentration camps, with the absence of significant others, the people become like children. "Their masters' attitudes had become internalized as a part of their very selves; those attitudes and standards now dominated all others that they had. They had, indeed, been 'changed'".

Role Psychology

-"This psychology is compatible with interpersonal t heory; the two might easily fit into the same system"

-Shifts the focus of attention upon the individual's cultural and institutional environment rather than upon his "self".

-Explains how ex-prisoners succeeded in resuming their places, or roles, in normal life.

-"Social role": behavior expected of persons specifically located in specific social groups

-"Pervasive role"- extensive in scope (female citizen) and not only influences but also sets bounds upon the other sorts of roles available to the individual (mother or nurse, but not husband or soldier).

-"Limited role": is transitory and intermittent.

- Children's parents influence their role and so does the environment.

-Personality: made up of the roles which the individual plays and change is possible.

1850 Compromise

Mrs. Harvey Said this wasn't on the test! :)

Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854

- Senator Douglas introduced his proposal to organize the remaining Louisiana Purchase Territory. Since the Missouri Compromise had banned slavery in that territory, his proposal to use popular sovereignty to determine the fate of slavery in the territory outraged northerners. - Act allowing the states of Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether they became free states or slave states.

- Citizens from Missouri poured into Kansas to vote for it to become a slave state.

- Broke the Missouri Compromise that state lower than a certain latitude and longitude become slave states.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom's Cabin

- It is about a slave and it illustrates the horrible nature of slavery.

- Uncle Tom was an obedient slave and he dies at the end of the book.

- The book's purpose was to change moderates to radicals about slavery from reading this book.

- Written in response to the Fugitive Slave Act

- Evoked sympathy for slaves among previously disinterested northerners.

- It was the first novel by a white author to portray slaves as people, not an inferior race

Stephen Douglas

Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois managed the congressional maneuvering that resulted in the Compromise of 1850. He championed popular sovereignty in the 1850s and introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854. He and Abraham Lincoln engaged in a classic political debate in 1858, and he was the Northern Democratic presidential candidate in 1860.

Popular sovereignty

Popular sovereignty was the term applied to the principle of allowing the people of a territory to decide for themselves whether to ban or to permit slavery in their territory; an idea hatched by Michigan Senator Lewis Cass in 1848. He urged it as a solution to the question of slavery in the territories. It called for Congress to organize territories without mention of slavery, thus leaving it to settlers within the territories to determine the status of slavery among them.

American "Know Knothing" Party

- “The Know-Nothing (the American Party) emerged as a powerful national movement in the early 1850s reviving republican rhetoric in an attack on parties, corruption, patronage, and the ‘hordes of political leeches that are fattening their bloated carcasses in the people’s money” (Public world of the Lincoln-Douglas debates 141)

- anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic political party organized in response to the recent flood of Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany.

"Bleeding Kansas"

- The contest between pro and antislavery settlers for control of Kansas Territory provoked violence and bloodshed in 1855. For partisan reasons, Predient Pierce's administration failed to peacefully implement popular sovereignty in this regioin

- (Border Ruffians) People from Missouri flooded into Kansas to influence the vote:

The vote that declared Kansas as a free or slave state

John Brown

Significance

- When he was arrested, tried, and executed for treason, he became a martyr to the abolitionist cause.

Insanity Claim

- The North stood to gain from painting John Brown as insane. This would distance John Brown's radical views on slavery from the general Northern population. The South wished to portray Brown as sane so he would be an accurate representation of Northern society. In this way, the South hoped to characterize Northerners as radical and violent abolitionists.

Views on Slavery

- He hated slavery because of something he experienced as a child. The black slave boy that was always around was not treated the same way as him, this made him angry and thus he hated slavery

Incidents at Pottawatomie Creek

The Pottawatomie Massacre occurred during the night of May 24 and the morning of May 25, 1856. In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence (Kansas) by pro-slavery forces, John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers (some of them members of the Pottawatomie Rifles) killed seven pro-slavery settlers north of Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas. This was one of the many bloody episodes in Kansas preceding the American Civil War, which came to be known collectively as Bleeding Kansas. Bleeding Kansas was caused due to the Missouri Compromise and Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Harper's Ferry

- Abolotionist John Brown and his followers attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He planned to arm local slaves, lead a slave rebellion, and establish a black republic. Instead, he was captured, tried, and executed for treason.

- The Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson surrounded, bombarded, and captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), a major victory at relatively minor cost.

Sumner-Brooks Affair

- After the Kansas and Nebraska Acts, Senator, and abolitionist, Charles Sumner wrote a speech titled "The Crime Against Kansas" in which he targeted another Senator, Andrew P. Butler.

- Since Butler was out of the state at that time, his nephew, Preston Brooks tried to defend his Uncle's honor.

- On the Senate floor, Brooks went down to Sumner and started beating him with a cane. Sumner was out of the Senate for two years, meanwhile the South was defending Brooks' actions and as gifts, sent him silver and canes to replace the one he'd broken.

The Dred Scott Decision

- In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled that blacks were not citizens and could not sue in a federal court, and that Congress had no constitutional authority to ban slavery from a territory, that, in effect, the Missouri Compromise was unconstiutional.

Dred Scott was a slave in the United States who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom. His case was based on the fact that he and his wife were slaves, but followed his master and had lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal according to the state laws. The United States Supreme Court ruled seven to two against Scott, finding that neither he, nor any person of African ancestry, could claim citizenship in the United States, and that therefore Scott could not bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules.

Abraham Lincoln

"A House Divided" Speech

- Abraham Lincoln took the Declaration on Independence seriously: all deserve the right to rise up

- There was a fight against slavery (pro/anti)

- "All men are created equal" ~ except Negros (said by Abraham Lincoln)

- "A house divided against itself cannot stand" (Abe Lincoln)

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (hereafter "LD")

- In the senate race in Illinois in 1858, Senator Douglas and Lincoln conducted a series of debates. They focused on the implications of the Dred Scott decision and the future of slavery in America. Lincoln won wide acclaim in the North for his views. Douglas won reelection.

"The Public World of the LD Debates"

Examples found in LD Debates

- Many people went to the debate but not many heard

- They were entertainment to the people

- The debates didn't change what the people thought

- At the debates they didn't discuss much fact but just attacked each other's positions

"The Typographic Mind"

Examples found in LD Debates

- People would sit for hours upon hours and listen to the debates

- They were able to take in that much information

- Language was very important

Presidential Cabinet

• Lincoln selected a "balanced" Cabinet representing a wide range of opinion, which worried people
• Included all his major rivals for the Republican nomination for president in 1860.
• William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Simon Cameron, Edward Bates, and Vice President Hannibal Hamlin

Election of 1860

- Lincoln wins while carrying no Southern states; the Democratic party splits into two factions (North and South) and the Republican party takes control.

- Electoral votes - 180 v. 72

- Republicans: Abraham Lincoln

He won by plurality not majority

- Democrats: Stephen Douglas(North), John Breckinridge(South)

- Constitutional Unionists: John Bell

Southern Secession

Calhoun fights for states rights, then secedes once North starts getting the upper-hand;

Lincoln's Reaction:

Lincoln sends supplies to Fort Sumter which had been surrounded by Confederates; Confederates fire first shot; only casualty is a Confederate horse

Attack on Fort Sumter

FortSumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.

The only casualty from the battle was a single Confederate horse, a bloodless opening to one of the bloodiest battles in American history. (from the video)

Results

Nation mobilizes for what they thought would be a short war.

Other Southern states secede after their Southern "Victory".

North vs. South

Population

North: 20 million

South: 9 million

Economic Strength

North manufactured 9 times more than the South, which produced 3% of their firearms and 3/4 of the world's cotton.

Military Strategy

North: Naval blockade, larger army, struggled with leaders. Goal: Take Richmond.

South: Defensive war, good generals. Goal: Fight defensive war and wear out North.

Political Conditions

North: Republicans in control, radicals gain power.

South: Had to create government. Killed by its own pro states rights theory.

Leadership

North: Abraham Lincoln. Federal powers.

South: Jefferson Davis. Lacked powers because other states refused

Finances

North:

South: Huge inflation spikes destroyed economy. Sherman's march of total war sealed it.

Foreign Policy

North: seals off South to prevent imports and exports.

South: Rely on Europe to break naval blockade for their own intentions.

Jefferson Davis]

Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American military officer, statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as the president of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865.

Experience

- Respected Senator from Mississippi and former Secretary of War Many considered him the most qualified for the job.

Leadership

Being pro states rights, many thought he was dictatorial in his leadership. Led to Southern demise.

"King Cotton"

Role Incurred foreign favor for the South because Europeans were reluctant to lose their source of raw materials. This favor died as the South lost.

Copperheads

- Were people who didn't want to help free the slaves

--> Felt that freeing slaves would negatively impact them: less jobs, etc. Didn't want to fight a war for slaves that would end up hurting their industry

- They ignited an anti-war movement in the North. "Peace Democrats". Demanded peace.

Republicans called them "copperheads" because their "venomous strike" was not deadly, but can come without warning.

Relationship w/ Europe during Civil War

Europeans didn't want to lose their source of raw materials that came from the southerners. Thus they supported the South in the civil war. However their support was lost as the south began to loose.

Generals

George McClellan

-Commander of Union forces in 1861. Lee's forces repelled his army in the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. Lincoln replaced him when he failed to take advantage of the Confederate withdrawal from Antietam in 1862. Northern Democrats nominated him for president in 1864, but Lincoln won reelection.

U.S. Grant

- Victory at Vicksburn+ appointed by Lincoln as commander of all Union forces.

- Received Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, later elected president. - Union leader

- West Pointer

- Invaded Tennesee

- Captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson

Robert E. Lee

- Commander of Confederate Army

- Led at Antietam and Gettysburg - Superb soldier

- Mastery of Tactics

- A master psychologist on the battlefield

- He was McClellan's anti thesis

- He brought the advantage to the confederates

"Stonewall" Jackson

- Known as "Stonewall" because he made a wall of Virginians agaisntthe enemy on July 21 1863

-One of the Confederacy's key military commanders and an expert on cavalry maneuvers. He was killed at the Battle of Chancelorsville when he was accidentally shot by one of his own soldiers.

The War

Bull Run / Manassas

Manassas:

- July 16th 1861 - Union army sent to cut railroad at Manassas

- Confederate army came up North to fight

- Many people picknicked to watch the battle

- The soldiers fleed and trampled the observers

- 93 killed, wounded, or missing

Shiloh

- 2477 were killed and there were 25000 casualties

- Most men that fought that day had never been in combat before

- It was a battle of North vs. South

- The confederates snuck up on the union soldiers while they were still eating and getting dressed

- The Union soldiers didn't know their jobs

- The Union soldiers ran away, some all the way to the river

- General Johnston was killed so Boregard became the leader

- (Ironically, Shiloh means place of peace)

Antietam

The Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South), fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties.

Peninsula Campaign

The Peninsula Campaign (also known as the Peninsular Campaign) of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond by circumventing the Confederate States Army in Northern Virginia. McClellan was initially successful against the equally cautious General Joseph E. Johnston, but the emergence of the aggressive General Robert E. Lee turned the subsequent Seven Days Battles into a humiliating Union defeat.

Gettysburg

Battle:

-started over a pair of shoes

-biggest turning point of war

-28000confeds 23000 unions ded

-meade (union) vrs lee(confed)

- "the number of lives lost was greater than in any other incident of domestic violence in American history" (Zinn 23).

- Lee thought that he was invincible; this led to his doom

- Pickets Charge (on the 3rd day): Picket led an all out charge on the union and lost. Lee ordered thousands of men, many died

~ This was a turning point of the war

Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. (union win)

Battle of the Wilderness

The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.

Sherman's March

- Sherman wanted to prove to the confederacy that "war is hell"

- He marched his army through Georgia, destroying the land and the citizens property and houses.

-Captured Atlanta.

- 475 miles of territory was destroyed

- They marched 10 miles per day and hacked down forests

-Designed to defeat the enemy's forces, destroy its economic resources, and break its will to resist.

- Feburary 17th 1865 - Sumpter and Charleston were abandoned which brought the war to a close

North - Sherman

South - ?

Total War

- Sherman not only fought the enemy, but everything related to them.

- he burned down towns, killed citizens of towns they were passing through, and destroyed railways to cut off supplies going into the south.

Lee's Surrender

--The confederate army was surrounded with Union troops around Petersburg, and could no longer withstand the federal pressure

--Desperately, Lee tried to pull forces back to Richmond, but Grant's army didn't allow them to do so

--Lee recognized that A) the Union would soon seize Richmond, one of the most significant cities in the South, and it would all be over. B) The southern government was not going to send the confederate army any more backups or supplies. Essentially, Lee realized that any further efforts were futile, and sent a messenger to Grant's camp surrendering

--Grant and Lee met in a civillian's house, and peacefully talked; Grant remembered that they had served together in Mexico.

--Grant outlined the terms of the President: All confederates were to lay down their arms and return to their homes in peace.

--Lee made one request, which Grant agreed to: let the confederate soldiers return home with their horses

Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation is made up of two executive orders from President Abraham Lincoln. One was announced on Sept. 22, 1862, and the other Jan 1. 1863. The latter named ten states and other regions that it would apply to.

Political Factors

- It made emancipation a war goal and sped up the destruction of slavery

End Result

- It freed all slaves in ares that were in rebellion against the U.S. (i.e. Confederacy)

Conscription Act of 1863

- All white men ages 18-35 had to enlist in the Army.

Draft Riots

• The Conscription Act infuriated workers because they hated the idea of being forced to risk their lives to free slaves who they thought would end up competing for jobs with them (Garraty 404)
• "Bounty jumping" was when men would pay $300 to be exempted from the draft, and this infuriated the working class even further because they saw it as a "rich man's war, poor man's fight" since they could not afford the exemption fee
• There were many riots against the draft
• On July 12th an Irish mob attacked draft offices and killed blacks/ raided the city
• The brutality of the New York riots horified many white citizens, however, to the point that conservatives even started talking about giving blacks the vote (Garraty 404)
• See the section Zinn: The Other Civil War

Black Soldiers in the Civil War

54th Massachusetts Regiment (GLORY)

- First all-black regiment issued by Governor Andrew of Massachusetts.

- Robert Gould Shaw was the commander.

- The regiment was not allowed to fight and instead did the "dirty work" such as burning towns.

- Shaw volunteered his regiment to be the first to march on Ft. Wagner.

- 42% of the regiment died, including Shaw.

- Proved the bravery and importance of black soldiers in the Civil War.

Women's Roles in the Civil War

• Since the men went to war they began farming
• They sewed many items for men in war like umbrellas or jacket etc.
• They made really good spies because they could hide weapons under their skirts (they weren't aske to lift up their skirts)
• They also worked as nurses - but only the plain looking ones were allowed
• A modernizing effect of the war: the fact that the "proper sphere" of American women was expanding (Garraty 413)

Contributions & Significant Women

• Dorothy Dix - she stayed a her post the entire war with no pay
• Elizabeth Blackwell - first American doctor of medicine. She helped set up an organization of women dedicated to improving sanitary conditions at army camps, supplying hospitals with volunteer nurses, and raising money for medical supplies

Effects of the War on Economy

The South

Great inflation on common goods. Went into great debt.

Zinn: "The Other Civil War"

Effects of war on Workers and Employers

Workers ~ brought women to work

- Many died from infected water/poor sanitation

- Unemployed = a lot of people

- Workers weren’t getting fair wages

- Prices went up so workers asked for higher pay, instead they got lower pay L

Employer:

- Struggled to deal with employers

- Small businesses were being wiped out

Congressional Laws (Benefited Upper Class)

Morill Tariff ~ “made foreign good more expensive, allowed manufactures to higher their prices, which made consumers pay more” (Zinn 233)

Homestead Act ~ Gave land to anyone who could afford it; 160 acres for 5 yrs. of work on it. Railroad companies were getting the land free from the gov.

Contact labor law ~ Congress passed it, companies could sign contracts with immigrants and it would ship the immigrants over to America for free. The terms were that they would work for very little pay.

Soldiers' Experiences

- At one point the soldiers went 6 months without pay

- Hundreds died from diseases (they were the cheif killer of the war)

- They didn't recieve all of their letters

- They suffered from living conditions

- Worms and weasels were found everywhere

- They really only had beans and bacon to eat with some old bread

Lincoln's Proclamation: Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Definition of Habeas Corpus: Essentially, the writ of habeas corpus is one of the most important rights granted to US citizens. It allows for a prisoner to call for a judicial mandate, where a trial would be held to evaluate evidence held against this prisoner. If the evidence is deemed insufficient, then the prisoner will be let free. Basically, it protects citizens from arbitrary arrests.

In 1862, there was s significant increase in anti-war democrats in the state of Maryland, a contested boarder state. Because Maryland was an area that was crucial for military transport, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland so that military movement was possible. Later, in 1863, he released the official "Proclamation Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus" suspending habeas corpus throughout the entire union. It was effective towards all those who resisted draft laws, caused draft riots, or rebelled in any way against the union. Many believed that this act was an infringement on American's rights. Though it is listed in the powers of the government to suspend habeas corpus if necessary, many argued that Lincoln's suspension of the writ was NOT necessary.

1864 Election

Lincoln ran against Andrew Johnson, a Tenesse Unionist and former Democrat. Lincoln won in a landslide, however, 212 votes to 21 because of the success of Sherman's March/Total War.

Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address

- Speaks of high hopes for the future.

- Addresses the war and its causes saying that nobody wanted war but it was inevitable.

- Talks about slavery as the cause of the war.

- Nobody anticipated the length of the war

- Calls for a speedy end to the war.

- "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the righ, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bing up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle..."

- Wants mercy for the South and a recovery for the nation, explains that the country needs to be one in order to emerge with strangth.

- Uses his fancy language

- Gave off even more meaning after Lincoln was assassinated about 41 days later

- Talks about how people from the North and South "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. "

Hofstadter, "Lincoln and the Selfmade Myth"

Self Help and Christian Myths

• Self help:
• Going from the bottom to the top with no help
• Being able to switch social classes
• Economic Policy ~ an individual has the right to move up and they don't have to depend on others to do it.
• Self taught
• Lincoln is said to embody this image because he himself had started out as a "common man" but, through ambition and determination to win office, he became one of the most famous presidents

Christian Virtues:

- Humble, strong work ethic, simplicity, helping others(for every $1 his step brother worked, he gave him $1)

- Lincoln had an open cabinet (which showed forgiveness since he allowed others opinions in)

- He down played his pride

(Lincoln didn't do things for people unless he had a reason that would help them learn and benefit their future)

Aftermath of War

Costs

- 600,000 lives were lost

- Enormous property losses especially in Confederacy.

- The war cost a lot of money but that was discussed on an individual basis

Results

- Slavery was dead.

- National unity was acheived

- secession was inconceivable

- Better integrated society and a more technically advanced and productive economic system.

Practice Tests

Chapter 13 - Select Parts

Chapter 14 - Select Parts

Chapter 15 - All