Final Flashcards
What was acquired in the west because of conflict over slavery?
Lands
Missouri Compromise
1820 – Above the line 36 – 30 + FREE, below the line = SLAVE – Henry Clay
Wilmot Proviso
1846 - said that all land acquired from Mexico should be free (not open to slavery)
*TALK OF SECCESSION FOR THE FIRST TIME – LEAVE THE UNION
“Peculiar Institution”
unique to the American south - name used by southern white’s for SLAVERY
A compromise was made that allowed each state to decide whether to allow slavery. WHY?
Economies not based on agriculture!
- only existed in the south
- Dying out in the South too! Why? Not profitable!
Eli Whitney
invented the Cotton Gin – Turning point in American history of slavery!
Why was the Cotton Gin a turning point of the war?
This invention made it profitable and created a demand for more workers
What replaced sugar as the world’s major crop produced by slave labor?
Cotton
Even thought the slave trade was abolished in 1806 in the USA slavery continued to prosper, WHY?
Hugely profitable for both the South and North:
“King Cotton” - 50% of US income!
What was the name for cotton?
“White Gold”
“Lords of the Lash”
Southern plantation owners - grew ¾ (75%) of the world’s cotton!
Who was a major buyer of cotton?
Great Britain
Mason-Dixon Line
(Maryland/Pennsylvania) dividing line between slavery and freedom
Why was slavery/ cotton was actually destroying the southern economy?
Plantation agriculture (cotton) – was wasteful “land butchery” – destroyed the soil!
Economy had no diversification – all dependent on one crop *(all eggs in one basket) = cotton!
All their $ - invested in land & slaves!
South was economically dependent on north:
Produced almost no manufactured goods! (Less than 10%)
Not enough food – grew mostly cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane
Compromise of 1850
Attempt to save Union – Henry Clay – 5 provisions!
1. Allowed California to enter the Union as a free state (N)
2. Divided to rest of the Mexican Cession into the territories of New Mexico and Utah (S)
3. End the slave trade in Washington D.C (N)
4. Included a strict fugitive slave law (S)
5.Settled a border dispute between Texas a New Mexico (B)
6.Popular sovereignty – Let the American people decide for themselves the issue of slavery – promoted by Stephen Douglas
The Fugitive Slave Law
Required all American citizens to help catch and return runaway slaves to the South
Personal Liberty laws
were laws passed by several northern states to disobey the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1850
How did the fugitive slave law and personal liberty laws split the two sides?
It caused many Northerners to see slavery for the first time – This caused many to become abolitionists!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Written as Propaganda.
Bleeding Kansas
Border War – abolitionists vs pro-slavery
Kansas - Nebraska Act
introduced – purpose was to allow “popular sovereignty” (let the people decide slavery issue
Raid at Haper’s Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown attempts to lead an armed slave insurrection in Virginia
Purpose is to abolish slavery by force
*Harpers Ferry – USA Federal arsenal (Storehouse of guns and ammunition)
Uprising failed – WHY?
No slaves came
What was John Brown captured and put on trial for?
Treason
What did both the South and North see John Brown as?
North: A martyr
South: A traitor
The American Civil War – (War between the States)
Bloodiest war in American history! *(more men died than all other US wars combined)
Major causes of the civil war
1.Westward expansion of slavery?
2. States’ rights (state gov. Had more power than the federal gov.)
3. Slavery (economics, politics and morality)
Results of the civil war
- Over 600,000 men lost their lives (2% of the population)
- The South was destroyed!
- Slavery was ended!
- Saved the Union
Total War
When a country devotes all its resources toward the war effort
*Fort Sumter – located in Charleston
Where civil war began
What dilemma did the South face in the beginning of the war?
- If they allowed the North to keep the fort – Their new government would appear weak!
- If they took the fort by force – they would be blamed for starting the war.
“Copperheads”
Northerner Democrats who sympathized with the south