Period 5: 1844 - 1877 Flashcards
Manifest destiny
United States had a divine mission to extend its power and civilization across the continent; big in the 1840s driven by nationalism, economic development, population increase, technology, reform ideals; built upon white superiority, coined by John O’Sullivan, complicated by issue of slavery
James Polk (Election of 1844)
Democrat committed to expansion and manifest destiny, wanted Texas, Oregon and Cali.; “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight”
Annexation of Texas
Lame duck president John Tyler submitted proposal right before leaving office and its approved by Congress by joint resolution (majority of both houses) as oppose to 2/3 approval by Senate
The Oregon Dispute: “54 40 or Fight”
at the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 the U.S. and England agreed to peacefully jointly occupy the Oregon territory then the Oregon Trail happens and suddenly Oregon is the place to be so Polk’s like ima get it and he does! W/ the Oregon Treaty the boundary of the U.S. set at the 49th parallel
Causes of war with Mexico
Mexico still viewed Texas as part of Mexico and there were disputes over its boundaries so Polk sends his boy Slidell to slide into Mexico and buy California from them and settle the border issues. But Mexico is like nah and Polk orders Zachary Taylor to the disputed territory and waited for Mexico to start the war s he would have justification for its declaration
Controversy over Mexican-American war
N. Whigs oppose the war bc they see it as an attempt by the S. to extend slavery, ppl question whether the attack was on U.S. territory
Wilmot Proviso
attempted to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico but was rejected by the Senate
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
ends Mexican American war;
- the Rio Grande is the S. border of Texas
- U.S. took CA and NM from Mexico (Mexican Cession) for $15 million
- Mexico loses like half of its land
- Creates new controversies within America bc as new territories added to the Union the issue of slavery is forced into national politics … Civil War connection!
Ostend Manifesto
Pierce tries to secretly buy Cuba from Spain (Manifest Destiny) but plans are leaked and antislavery members in Congress, Free Soilers get mad see it as the S. wanting to create a slave empire
Gadsden Purchase
Pierce buys some land from Mexico in the American S.W. to build a railroad (NM and AZ)
Four main causes for the Civil War
- slavery as a growing moral issue in the N. and its defense and expansion in the S.
- Constitutional disputes over the nature of the federal Union and states’ rights
- Economic differences between the industrializing N. and thee agricultural S. over issues like tariffs, banking, internal improvements
- Political plunders and extremism on both sides
Free Soil movement
after the Mexican American War slavery in the acquired territories becomes a source of sectional tension and the Free Soil Party (“free soil, free labor, free men”) opposed allowing slavery in the new territories bc wanted to keep the W. as an opportunity for whites only, (they’re not opposed to slavery in the S.) … Southerners saw attempts to restrict slavery as a violation of their constitutional rights
Popular soverignty
people in a territory vote on whether or not it should be a free or slave state
California Gold Rush (1849)
1849, 49er’s 100,000 ppl coming into California searching gold -> leads to sectional tensions bc Cali. wants in on the Union and creates a constitution banning slavery and wanting admission as a free state
Crisis over Mexican Cession
Before California added, there is equal free and slave states so now there may be a disrupt to the balance and the S. gets increasingly defensive over slavery seeing the Tallmadge Amendment and the Wilmot Proviso as attacks
Fire-eaters
Radical southerners that talk openly of secession if California enters the Union
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay back at it again with another compromise!
- Admits Cali. as free state
- Divides the rest of the Mexican Cession into Utah and New Mexico and allows popular sovereignty to determine slavery
- Ban slave trade in D.C.
- New Fugitive Slave Law in the S.
- Settled border dispute between NM and TX in NM favor
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
track down runaway slaves who had escaped to the N., capture them, and return them to their S. owners
- huge increase in sectional tension bc turned the N. into hunting ground for fugitive slaves and whites from the N. who assited were arrested, and slaves were denied trial by jury
Northern resistance to Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Vigilance Commitees
The N. was now forced to deal w/ the issue of slavery and some became sympathetic to the abolitionist movement, like supporting the Underground Railroad and Personal Liberty Laws like Vigilance Committees whose goal was to protect fugitives from catchers
Books about slavery
Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe which persuaded many N. of the cruelty of slavery and slave owners in the S., Impending Crisis of the South showcased slavery as weakening the southern economy
South reaction to N. antislavery
Pro slavery S. whites said that slavery was a positive good for master and slave and said that it was supported in the Bible, saying that caring for slaves was better than N. “wage slaves”; more southerners saw the N. as out to get them
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Whig party where you at tho
The Caribbean was a sideshow
Now it’s time for the main story
Right in the Permanent Indian Territory
Make some noise for my boi Douglas from Illinois
Who had to ask-a
If they could make a free territory called Nebraska
But wait, the South, they weren’t all about that
They said “Hey Douglas this plan is kinda whack”
All we really need is more slavery
All the way out to the Pacific Sea”
So Douglas rose up, wanted to end the fuss
Said “Goodbye” to the Missouri Compromise
Instead designed the region through the people’s eyes
Congress said OK
And gave the Kansas-Nebraska Act the light of day
They gave the people the right to say
Whether the land would be free, or full of slaver-ay
Popular soverienta-ay am I right
Word.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Stephen Douglas wants to secure a railroad and encourage W. settlement but to win S. approval he proposes that two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska will be created and slavery decided through popular sovereignty; repeal’s the Missouri Compromise of 1820 bc says slavery can extend past 36,30; huge opposition from the N - Republican Party formed bc it gave the S. greater opportunity to expand slavery
Results of Kansas-Nebraska Act
bad.
It was assumed that Kansas would be a slave state and Nebraska a free one so pro and antislavery ppl flood into Kansas (New England Emigrant Aid Co.and border ruffians) and two rival gov.’s are set up, the Free Soilers in Topeka and Slave in Lecompton -> Bleeding Kansas
Republican Party (1854)
formed as a response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act composed of a coalition of Free-Soilers and antislavery Whigs and Democrats w/ the purpose of stopping the spread of slavery into new territories
Bleeding Kansas
Sack of Lawrence in 1856 - Free Soil town attacked by pro-slavery forces
Pottawatomie Creek - John Brown and his ppl attack pro slavery forces
By 1856 there’s basically a Civil War in Kansas between the pro and antislavery forces and the Democratic party becomes even more divided
Charles Sumner
senator gives a speech condemning events in “Bleeding Kansas” and in it he insults Southern Senator Andrew Butler, so to get back at him Preston Brooks from the S. beats him w/ a cane so showing how violence over slavery in Kansas spreading to Congress
Whig demise
increasing tensions over slavery in the 1850s
Know-Nothing Party
nationalist anti-immigrant party who opposed Catholics and immigrants coming in large numbers to America in the 1840s and 1850s
Election of 1856
1st time Republican party runs and they pick John C. Fremont, Democrats pick Buchanan bc he has nothing to do w/ the Kansas shit and the Know Nothing Party runs Millard Fillmore n we all know who wins
Lecompton Constitution
Kansas pro-slavery constitution for Kansas passed in state bc Free Soilers boycott the election, and supported by Buchanan but rejected in Congress
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom bc lived in free territory of Wisconsin and the Taney Court rules that 1. African Americans are not citizens so they can’t sue
2. Slaves are property so they can’t be taken away under the second amendment
3. Congress could not make laws regarding slavery in free territories so declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional
N. is MAD bc basically opened up the W. to slavery
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)
7 debates held between Abe Lincoln (Republican) and Stephen Douglas (Democrat) for the Illinois Senate wherein Lincoln challenges Douglas to reconcile popular sovereignty w/ the Dred Scott decision and Douglas takes the position (Freeport Doctrine) that territories could limit slavery
Results: Douglas keeps senate seat, Lincoln becomes national figure w/ his house divided speech,
Democrats split in 1860
John Brown at Harper’s Ferry
wants to spark slave revolt in 1859 so attempts to seize the federal arsenal at Harper’s ferry (like to get guns for the revolt) and it doesn’t go well and they die
Impact: S. is outraged bc they feel Brown was supported by the N., Brown becomes a martyr to abolitionists, immediate cause of secession bc the S. feels they are under attack
Election of 1860 (Douglas, Breckenridge, Lincoln)
the issue of slavery had divided the Democrats so N. Democrats favor Stephen Douglas who favors popular sovereignty and enforce of the Fugitive Slave Act,while the S. Democrats favor Breckenridge who wants to allow and spread slavery; while the Democrats are a mess the Republicans pick Lincoln
Lincoln’s Republican Party platform
real big orgy everyone getting somethin from abe
For the free-spoilers: no extension of slavery in territories
For the N.: protective tariff to aid manufacturing
For the NW: Pacific railroad
For the farmers: free homesteads
- Southerners threaten to leave the Union if Lincoln wins
Election of 1860 results
Lincoln wins to become the first Republican president, and is actually a minority president bc doesn’t get majority vote and S. sees him as a sectional president bc he didn’t get any S. electoral votes
S. is like we outie
Secession
immediately caused by Lincoln’s election, 7 states secede to create the Confederate States of America w/ Jefferson Davis as President and president before Lincoln even takes office, and at the time still Buchanan doesn’t do anything
Crittenden Compromise
Last attempt to avoid major crisis of secession w/ hopes to calm S. fears by calling for the return of the Missouri Compromise idea w/ slavery prohibited N. of 36,30 and allowed below it but Lincoln rejects this bc the Republican position was no extension of slavery in the territories
Lincoln’s Inaugural Address
pledges not to interfere w/ slavery where it already exists, but says the S. has no right in secession
Fort Sumter
S. Carolina, Lincoln tells the Confederacy that he’s sending provisions bc they were running out, and not reinforcements but the confederacy attacks and the Civil War begins
Impacts of Fort Sumter
Unites the N. against the S. to preserve the Union -> Lincoln calls for volunteers to fight
Southerners rally around the Confederacy -> 4 more states join
Lincoln prioritizes keeping the Border States in the Union
Border States
Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland which are slave states that remain in the Union and it’s Lincoln’s goal to keep them in the Union
Importance: would have given the S. more white men to fight, would nearly double the manufacturing capacity of the S., strategic geographic location
- Lincoln keeps them using martial law in Maryland, guerrilla warfare in Missouri and suspension of writ of habeas corpus in some sates
Advantages of the N. and the Union
- industrial resources as it had the majority of manufacturing capacity
- transportation like railroads
- powerful navy and est. gov.
- population advantage
- eventually emancipation
Disadvantages of the N. and the Union
- lack of leadership bc many top military leaders joined the S.
- lack of purpose bc the S. wanted independence and the N. was like why do we want to keep them
Advantages of the S. and the Confederate States
- fighting defensive war w/ supportive pop.
- sense of purpose bc they want to upkeep S. honor
- veteran military officials
- cotton diplomacy bc they hoped the importance of cotton to the international market would get them foreign help
Disadvantages of the S. and the Confederate States
- had no navy
- no gov. structure w/ many in favor of states right
- poorly equipped and no railroad system
- weak economy bc no manufacturing or railroads
Mobilizing for war: North
Conscription Act: all men 20-45 had to register for the draft, but unfair to the poor bc if you had $ you could get a substitute
led to riots like the NY City Draft Riots: during which mob of Irish Americans attacked the wealthy and African Americans bc blame them for the war
Lincoln during the Civil War
proclaims that he was not fighting the war to end slavery bc secession was not legal so doesn’t acknowledge the Confederacy, needed support from Border states, fear from white workers in the N., and political concerns bc everyone wants representation
First Battle of Bull Run
Confederates win and ended the illusion of a short war and promoted the myth that Rebels were invincible in battle
Union strategy during Civil War
under Winfield Scott they would use the U.S. navy to blockade S. ports and cut off supplies to Confederacy, take control of the Mississippi so divide the Confederacy in two (Anaconda Plan), raise and train a strong army
Reasons to free the slaves
military: liberate the slaves undermines the economic foundation of the S.
ideological: right thing to do and pressure to do so from Radical Republicans who want to make the war about slavery
Confiscation Act (1861)
slaves used for “insurrectionary purposes” declared free so gives an incentive for slaves to escape to Union camps (contraband = runaway slave)
2nd Confiscation Act (1862)
freed all slaves who were enslaved by anybody engaged in rebellion against the U.S.
Trent Affair
Mason and Slidell going to England on British ship to get Confederate recognition w/ Britain but Union warship came and removed them as prisoners of war, were released when Britain threatened war
Antietam
McClellan got copy of Lee’s plans so the Union army interceded the Confederate attack and was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, the Union won but McClellan was fired for not doing more; Lee retreats and doesn’t get European support
Failure of Cotton Diplomacy
King Cotton didn’t get the Confederates European support bc they just got their cotton from other places, also contributing was Lee’s fail at Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation made the war more about slavery, which may British were opposed to
Emancipation Proclamation
after the Battle of Antietam Lincoln decides to move forward w/ announcing emancipation and justifies the Proclamation as a military necessity so declared slaves free in rebel territory but did not free slaves in border states
- Impact: strengthened the moral cause of the N. bc this was not just a war against secession, it was one against slavery, helped keep Europe from aiding the Confederacy and gave new soldiers for the Union
Limits: N. had no actual authority in the Confederacy and didn’t apply to border states
Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Constitution supported slavery so to free everyone had to modify the Constitution, this amendment abolished slavery
African American fight for freedom
Frederick Douglas saw enlistment in the Union army as an opportunity for blacks to prove citizenship which was denied by Dred Scott, thousands fight like the Mass. 54th Regiment even though they faced prejudice
Use of executive power during the Civil War, Habeas corpus
National crisis often leads to reduction of civil liberties, Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus (ppl arrested w/out being informed of the charges against them and without trial) and presidential power increases like Lincoln orders blockade and increases army w/out approval of Congress
Sherman’s March
total destruction of everything from like Georgia to S. Carolina burning everything in order to demoralize the Confederates
Politics during Civil War (Union), War Democrats, Copperheads
Radical Republicans v. Moderates, War Democrats who supported the war but didn’t like the way Lincoln was handling it, Peace Democrats (Copperheads) who wanted peace rn
Who was in political majority during Civil War
Republicans bc the South left and took all the Democrats w/ them! so the N. got shit done
Impact of the Civil War
- like 700,000 ppl died
- S. economy destroyed and N. industrialization accelerated
- Republican laws passed will have great effect
- Union preserved
- > idea of of secession and nullification defeated
- ultimate test for American democracy
- slaves freed
Appomattox (1865)
Confederates want to negotiate peace but Lincoln doesn’t accept anything if its not restoration of the Union and the Confederates surrender to Grant
Social change during Civil War
women stepped up in labor vacuum so nursing became a job open to women and prompted more women’s rights movements, obviously slaves freed and lots died
Ulysses S. Grant
Union general who wins shit in the W.
Reconstruction Issues
How do we bring back the S. into the Union?
How do we rebuild the S. after its destruction during the war?
How do we integrate and protect black freedom?
What branch of gov. would control Reconstruction?
What should be done w/ former Confederate leaders?
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863)
Lincoln’s process for political reconstruction which said that full presidential pardons granted to Confederates who took an oath of allegiance and accepted emancipation and state gov. could be re-est. and accepted as legit as soon as 10% of the ppl in the state took the oath
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
proposed more demanding terms for Reconstruction than Lincoln’s 10% plan which required 50% take an oath and only non-Confederates to vote for a new state constitution; was rejected by Lincoln
Freedman’s Bureau
acted as a welfare agency to help former slaves bc weren’t economically independent and poor southern whites, greatest success was in education bc taught African Americans how to read and stuff
Andrew Johnson
comes after Lincoln is assassinated, accepts Lincoln’s Reconstruction act and adds some things like all states must ratify the 13th Amendment; pardons most of the former Confederate leaders which causes S. planters to re-est. political control of the S.
Black Codes
S. defiance to Reconstruction w/ purpose of guaranteeing a stable labor supply now that blacks were free so basically they wanted to bring back slavery as much as possible
- prohibited African Americans from renting land or borrowing $ to buy land
- African Americans forced to sign labor contracts
- Penalty for leaving before contract expired
- African Americans couldn’t vote
- African Americans forced to become sharecroppers
Sharecroppers
allowed use of land in exchange for giving a percent of crop to the owner of the land; looks like a new form of slavery in the N.
Johnson vs. Congress
Johnson’s white supremacist lookin ass is alienating the Republicans and Congress calls for stricter Reconstruction (Congressional Reconstruction)
*Transition of Reconstruction policy between executive, legislative, and judicial branches
Johnson and Congress and the Court
Congressional Reconstruction, Civil Rights Bill of 1866
prevention of S. Congressional delegates from coming back, Congress passes extension of Freedmen’s Bureau even tho Johnson vetoes it, Republican Congress passes Civil Rights Bill of 1866: gave citizenship to African Americans and rid of black codes but Johnson vetoes but passed over his veto
- Reconstruction Act of 1867, disenfranchisement of former Confederates and invalidate state gov.’s, new constitution required to be readmitted
14th Ammendment
Cause: How to prevent S. states from overturning laws passed during Reconstruction?
States: all persons born in U.S. are citizens, states must protect rights and provide equal protection under the law, prevented former Confederates from holding office, S. states would be punished for denying blacks the right to vote
Reconstruction Act of 1867
divided S. into 5 military districts controlled by Union generals
Andrew Johnson’s impeachment
1867 Congress passes Tenure of Office Act against Johnson’s veto in order to reduce Presidential power and protect Reconstruction cabinet members, it said the Senate must approve any presidential dismissal of a cabinet official or general; Johnson violates it by removing Stanton and House impeaches him and he avoided impeachment w/ one vote short
Reconstruction amendments
13th: slavery
14th: citizenship
15th: voting
Republican coalition
African American male voters, Scalawags: S. Republicans, Carpetbaggers: N. who went S. looking to either profit or help out
Why Reconstruction falls apart, Civil Rights Act of 1875
- KKK est. to secure white supremacy and resist Reconstruction gov.’s
- Force Acts of 1870 and 1871 intended to stop resistance to Reconstruction (federal troops sent to stop KKK)
- Civil Rights Act of 1875: guaranteed = access to public places and protects the right to serve on juries but its rarely enforced and later overturned
- By 1870s Congress and President Grant would be unwilling to use federal go. to monitor S. society
Reconstruction Key Facts
- Federal intervention in S. society under Congressional Reconstruction succeeded to reunite the Union, open political opportunities to former slaves, rearrange relationships between blacks and whites
- Civil War ended slavery and idea of divisible union but left social and economic patterns unchanged
- rights to African Americans granted that would be progressively stripped through segregation, violence, and Court decisions
- Reconstruction Amendments est. judicial principles that eventually became basis for Court upholding rights
