Unit 6 Study Guide
Important Dates
1861 – Texas secedes from the United States
1861-1865 – Civil War
Vocabulary
Abolish – the ending of slavery
Abolitionist – the name given to those against slavery
Carpetbagger – Northerners who moved South after the Civil War
Scalawag – Southerners who supported Reconstruction for personal economic gain
Secede – to formally withdraw from an organized body; to leave
Sovereignty – supremacy in power
states' rights – the belief that the federal government should have little power over the states
Confederate States of America – Name of the 11 Southern states that secede from the United States
between 1860-1861
Reconstruction – The process of reuniting the United States after the Civil War and rebuilding the
southern states
Important Individuals
Abraham Lincoln – elected President of the United States in 1860. He was reelected in 1864 and
issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the southern states. Lincoln was
assassinated, or killed, after the Civil War on April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth.
Jefferson Davis – President of the Confederate States of America
Robert E. Lee – General of all Confederate forces.
Ulysses S. Grant – Started the war as a colonel then promoted to general. After a series of victories
Lincoln gave him command of the Union army. Grant accepted Lee's surrender in 1865, ending the
Civil War.
Sam Houston - 1st and 3rd President of the Republic of Texas who became governor of the state of
Texas in 1859. He was removed from the office of governor because he refused to sign the oath of
allegiance to the Confederate States of America in 1861.
Hood's Texas Brigade – Robert E. Lee's finest soldiers.
Terry's Texas Rangers – calvary unit that fought in most battles throughout the Civil War.
Richard Dowling – commander of Davis Guards
Davis Guards – defended Sabine Pass from a Union invasion of Texas
Causes of the Civil War
Disagreements over slavery
Disagreements over states' rights - Southern states argued that they had a right to ignore federal laws
that were not beneficial to their state.
Differences between the Northern and Southern economies - The North's population was growing
as immigrants came to work in its factories. In contrast to the North's increasingly industrial economy,
the South had an agricultural (farming) economy that depended on slave labor.
Fugitive Slave Act (1850) - was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part
of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slaveholding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This
was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a
'slave power conspiracy'. The law sought to force the authorities in free states to return fugitive slaves
to their masters. In practice, however, the law was rarely enforced because the northern states were
against slavery.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) - created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands for
settlement, got rid of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 (which stated slavery could not exist above the
36°N line of latitude), and allowed the settlers to decide whether or not to have slavery within those
territories. The act established that settlers could decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, in the
name of "popular sovereignty" or rule of the people. Opponents denounced the law as a concession to
the slave power of the South.
Dred Scott decision (1857) - was a lawsuit that ruled that people of African descent, whether or not
they were slaves, could never be citizens of the United States, and that Congress had no authority to
prohibit slavery in federal territories. It was also ruled that slaves could not sue in court, and that slaves
were private property, and, being private property, can't be taken away from their owners without due
process. The decision sided with border ruffians in the Kansas-Nebraska Act dispute who were afraid a
free Kansas would be a haven for runaway slaves from Missouri -- this enraged abolitionist.
John Brown's raid (1859) - John Brown, an abolitionist, led a raid on a federal armory in Harpers
Ferry, Virginia, to start a slave revolt. He and his followers were hanged for treason. The South saw
any effort to arm slaves as a definite threat.
Formation of the Republican Party - political party that formed in reaction against the KansasNebraska Act which allowed slavery where it had been forbidden. The Republican Party's main goal
was to stop the spread of slavery into U.S. territories and because of this they emerged as the dominant
force throughout the North.
Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States (1860) - Abraham Lincoln received no
electoral votes from the South because many Southerners believed that he would support abolition. It
was this event that was the last straw for Southern states who soon started to secede from the Union.
Confederate States of America
Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
State
South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana
Texas
Virginia
Arkansas
Tennessee
North Carolina
Date of Secession from U.S.
December 20, 1860
January 9, 1861
January 10, 1861
January 11, 1861
January 19, 1861
January 26, 1861
February 1, 1861
April 17, 1861
May 6, 1861
May 7, 1861
May 20, 1861
Texas Joins the Confederacy
January 28, 1861 - Pro-secessionist organize a secession convention to discuss Texas seceding, or
leaving, the United States of America.
February 1, 1861 - The secession convention passes an ordinance of secession by 166 to 8. After the
grievances were listed, the ordinance declared:
"Therefore, We the people of the State of Texas, in convention do declare and ordain...that the
compact under which the Republic of Texas was admitted into the Union...be and is hereby repealed
and annulled..."
February 23, 1861 - In a statewide vote Texans vote in favor of the ordinance of secession by 46,153
to 14,747.
March 2, 1861 - Texas becomes the 7th state to secede from the Union.
North vs. South
North



Population - 71% of total population
Railroads – 71%
Manufacturing Plants – 85%
South



Population – 29% of total population
Railroads – 29%
Manufacturing Plants – 15%
North





Total U.S. Workers – 92%
Resources – Better and more
Leadership – Abraham Lincoln
Naval Power – Powerful Navy
Geography
South




Total U.S. Workers – 8%
Able General – Robert E. Lee
Few War Ships
Defensive War – fought on own soil
Civil War Battles
Fort Sumter – Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when South Carolina militiamen fired on this fort
until Northern soldiers inside surrendered.
Galveston – Confederates regain control of the port of Galveston after Union forces had taken it over.
John B. Magruder successfully developed the plan to retake the island.
Sabine Pass – Confederates held off the Union from getting control of the pass and into key areas of
Texas – like Galveston.
Palmito Ranch – LAST BATTLE OF THE CIVIL WAR – occurred weeks after the South
surrendered to the North.
Effects of the Civil War on Texas
Economy – left in shambles
Government – collapsed Confederate government leaders fled to Mexico
Society – suffered the loss of many Texans, many freed slaves faced an uncertain future.
Reconstruction
Freedman's Bureau – created by U.S. Congress to provide help and legal aid to freed people.
Texas Constitution of 1869

gave equal rights to African Americans

gave the governor strong power of appointment

increased the governors term to 4 years

changed legislature to meeting every year

more funding for public education

required school attendance
Problems facing Southern states during Reconstruction

Much of the state lay in ruins

Money was scarce


Slaves were free, but many were without food or shelter
The bitterness between the North and South continued after the war
Juneteenth – In many former Confederate states slaves had not learned that they were free until the
U.S. Army showed up to tell them. On June 19, 1865 General Gordon Granger arrived in Texas and
told the slaves they were free. Juneteenth as it has become known is still a celebrated holiday in Texas
today.
Ironclad Oath – kept many Southerners from voting because in order to vote they had to take an oath
stating that they had not voluntarily served in the Confederate Army or given aid to the Confederacy.
13th Amendment – FREE – abolished slavery (1865)
14th Amendment – CITIZENS – made African Americans citizens of the United States
15th Amendment – VOTE – gave African American males the right to vote