Standard 3
Regional and ideological differences
leading to the Civil War and the impact
of the Civil War and Reconstruction on
democracy in America.
Day 1
Monday
3.1
13 slides
• Political events and issues that divided the nation
and led to civil war
– Compromises reached to maintain the balance of free
and slave states
– The abolitionist movement
– The Dred Scott case
– Conflicting views on states’ rights and federal
authority
– Emergence of the Republican Party
– Formation of the Confederate States of America
The Abolitionist Movement
• Though the abolitionist
movement ensured slavery
would remain a national
conversation, it did not
significantly impact the
actions of the national
government
• The numerous petitions
abolitionists sent to
Congress were stopped by
the ‘gag rule’
– Gag rule- a rule limiting or
preventing debate on an issue
The Abolitionist Movement
• Though the abolitionist movement
involved whites and blacks in the
North and the South, it was not
extremely popular nor successful
– William Lloyd Garrison’s The
Liberator was banned in the South
– Most northerners were not
abolitionists
– The Underground Railroad was not
very successful in the deep south
– John Brown’s raid on Harpers’ Ferry
made slave owners determined to
protect slavery and fearful of
northern intentions
• Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle
Tom’s Cabin was successful at
gaining support for abolition and
resentment of the fugitive slave
law
Struggle for Power
• Democracy expanded in
the US as new states
entered the Union
• Expansion led to the
greatest challenge to
democracy and the
Southern elite became
increasingly determined
to maintain slavery
Struggle for Power
• As new western states applied for
admission to the Union, sectionalism
increased as the divisions between the
interests of the regions grew
• The struggle to maintain the balance of
power between slave and free states in the
federal government was rooted in the
compromises at the Constitutional
Convention
– Equal representation of the states in the Senate
– Representation based on population in the
House
• Due to increased immigration in the North
and westward expansion, southern states
were losing power in the House
– This led Southerners to fight to maintain an
equal number of slave and free states in the
Senate
Maintaining Balance
• In 1820, the Missouri
Compromise was passed to
regulate the states entering
the Union in the Louisiana
Territory
– Maine entered as a free state
– Missouri entered as a slave
state
– The 36˚30’ line was
established to divide the
remaining territory
• North of the line was free
• South of the line was slave
Day 2
Tuesday
Maintaining Balance
• The annexation of Texas was
delayed for almost a decade
because of the divisiveness
of admitting another large
slave state
• Northerners saw President
Polk’s willingness to give up
the 54˚40’ in Oregon, while
provoking a war with
Mexico over southwest
territories as favoring
slavery
Maintaining Balance
• The Wilmot Proviso was
proposed to regulate the states
entering the Union in the
territories gained from the
Mexican War
– All states would be “free soil”, not
open to competition of slave labor
with that of free white labor
• The Proviso passed in the
House but was stopped in the
Senate
– This was further evidence to
southerners that they must
maintain the balance of slave and
free states in order to protect
their ‘peculiar institution’
Maintaining Balance
• The gold rush in 1849 sped the
population of California and its
application for statehood as a free state
– This would upset the balance in the Senate
• The Compromise of 1850 was passed to
regulate the states entering the Union in
the territories gained from the Mexican
War
– California entered as a free state
– All other states would be determined by
popular sovereignty
• Popular Sovereignty- a system in which the
residents vote to decide an issue
– Sale of slaves was prohibited in DC
– A fugitive slave law was to be enforced by
the federal government
• Fugitive slave law- designed to ensure that
escaped slaves would be returned into bondage
Maintaining Balance
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act
overturned the Missouri
Compromise’s 36˚30’ rule
– Established popular
sovereignty in the region
• Pro-slavery and anti-slavery
supporters rushed to Kansas
to populate and fix votes
– The confrontation turned
“Bleeding Kansas” into a
battleground
• The violence that occurred
led to the forming of the
Republican Party
Slavery and the Supreme Court
• In 1856, Dred Scott, a slave who
had previously been taken north
of the 36˚30’ line, sued for his
freedom based on the conditions
of the Missouri Compromise
– The Supreme Court ruled against
Dred Scott declaring the Missouri
Compromise unconstitutional
• The Supreme Court determined
that because slaves were
property and the Constitution
protected the right of slave
owners to their property
regardless of where they took
their slaves
– Congress could not make a law
restricting the expansion of slavery
Slavery and the Supreme Court
• The Dred Scott decision split
the Democratic Party
– Northern Democrats feared
that the Supreme Court,
dominated by southern
Democrats, might rule state
laws against slavery
unconstitutional
– This meant popular
sovereignty would not be
effective in restricting the
spread of slavery
• This split allowed the
Republican candidate,
Abraham Lincoln, to win the
election of 1860
Day 3
Wednesday
Republican Party
• The Republican Party’s
platform of free soil did not
mean complete abolition of
slavery
– Free soil means stopping the
spread of slavery into
territories
– Non slave-owning whites did
not want to compete with
slave labor in the territories
• With the election of
Abraham Lincoln, many
southerners began to fear
slavery would be abolished
throughout the country
Republican Party
• Lincoln’s election in 1860 led southern
states to meet in a convention and
pass articles of secession
– They believed their rights as states were
being violated by the federal
government
• Secessionists believed that Lincoln
and the federal government would
not allow slavery to expand into the
territories
– This would upset the balance of power
in the Senate, allowing for Congress to
vote to abolish slavery
• To protect slavery, South Carolina
secessionists led other southern
states in seceding from the Union
– The Confederate States of America was
formed and soon occupied federal forts
that were located in the South
3.2
9 slides
• The Civil War and its impact on democracy
– Major turning points
– Impact of the Emancipation Proclamation
– Unequal treatment of African American units
– Geographic, economic, and political factors of the
Union victory
– Defeat of the idea of secession
Split of a Nation
• Secession challenged
democracy
• President Lincoln
pledged to preserve the
Union and democracy
• Confederates fired on
federal troops stationed
at Fort Sumter in
Charleston Harbor, SC
Influences during War
• Economic Resources
– The Union had greater industrial
capacity, miles of railroad tracks,
manpower, and navy
– The Confederacy depended on “King
Cotton” and Britain to provided
manufactured goods and ships
• Strategy based on Geography
– The Union’s Anaconda Plan included
splitting the South at the Mississippi
River, taking the capital at Richmond,
and blockading southern ports
– The Confederacy’s strategy was to seek
support from Britain and defend their
region until the North tired of the war
Influences during War
• Military Leadership
– South had an advantage in
both military leadership
and geography
• Robert E. Lee effectively
moved the men and material
via railroads between battle
fronts in the East and the
West
• Southerners were also more
familiar with their home
terrain
Influences during War
• Political Leadership
– President Jefferson Davis was
not able to get the
Confederate states to
effectively work together
– President Lincoln was able to
articulate the purpose of the
war as the preservation of the
Union and retain sufficient
public support to continue
the fight despite military
defeats
• Emphasized a “government of
the people, by the people and
for the people”
Day 4
Thursday
The Emancipation Proclamation
• Lincoln feared freeing slaves would
undermine the unity of the North
by irritating the border states
– Border states- slave states that did not
secede from the Union
• Emancipation was originally
promoted as a ‘military measure’
against the Confederacy but it took
on a greater role
– Diplomatic- Britain could no longer
support the South due to opposition
of slavery
– Political- the South had the chance to
make peace and keep their slaves prior
to the enactment of the Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation
• The Proclamation did not
immediately free all slaves
– Slaves in regions under Union control
and border states were not included
– Confederate states were likely to ignore
President Lincoln
• Slaves fled to Union lines
– African Americans were allowed to
enlist in the US Army
– African Americans served in segregated
units under the command of white
officers
– The 54th Massachusetts regiment
attacked Fort Wagner in Charleston
Harbor, SC
• Slaves were freed as their homeland
was captured by Union forces
Influential Battles
• Fort Sumter
– Apr. 12, 1861 in S.C.
– Confederate troops attacked
the Union fort
• Bull Run/Manassas
– July 21, 1861 in V.A.
– Confederates defeated the
Union
• Antietam
– Aug. 29-30, 1862 in M.D.
– Union defeated the
Confederates
– 26,000 casualties
• Vicksburg
– May 18- July 4, 1863 in M.S.
– Union defeated the
Confederacy gaining control
of the Mississippi River
• Gettysburg
– July 1-3, 1863 in P.A.
– Union defeated the
Confederacy over 3 days with
100,000 casualties
• Atlanta
– July 22, 1864 in G.A.
– General Sherman burned the
city to the ground
Influential Generals
• General Ulysses S. Grant commanded the Union
forces and began the strategy of ‘total war’
– Total war- a war in which every available weapon is
used and the nation’s full financial resources are
devoted
• General William T. Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’
destroyed the South
– Burning cities, farms and crops, destroying up
railroad tracks, killing livestock, and salting fields
• General Robert E. Lee commanded the
Confederate forces and had a superior military
knowledge
– As the war progressed, the South lost their support
from Britain, faced dwindling supplies, and
devastating losses
• General Lee surrendered to General Grant on
April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia
Impacts of War
• The outcome of the Civil War
had a profound impact on
the course of democracy
– It preserved the Union while at
the same time liberating an
enslaved minority
• Even with the Union’s defeat
of the Confederacy and the
federal courts ruling
secession null and void, the
idea of states’ rights was
never defeated
3.3
7 slides
• The effects of Reconstruction on southern
states and the federal government
• Impact of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments
on African Americans
Beginning of Reconstruction
• Southern states suffered
devastating damage to
factories, farms and
transportation systems, and
heavy loss of men
– The federal government
believed it was the
responsibility of individuals
and state governments to
rebuild southern
infrastructure
• The goal of Reconstruction
was to re-establish full
participation of southern
states in the Union
Beginning of Reconstruction
• Reconstruction policies of
the federal government
expanded democracy and
significantly impacted
southern society
– The federal government
took an active role in
protecting the rights of the
freedman against the
dominate white southern
society
Day 5
Friday
Radical Reconstruction
• Southern actions “radicalized”
Reconstruction policy
– Determined to retain their way of life,
despite the military defeat
– States passed Black Codes to replace
slave codes
– Former Confederate officers and
officials were elected to Congress
– Citizens and vigilante groups engaged
in violence against the freedmen
• Congressional Reconstruction plan
– Passed by the “Radical Republicans”
– Split the former Confederacy into five
military districts
– Enforced the Reconstruction
Amendments
– Impeached President Andrew Johnson
Reconstruction Amendments
• By amending the Constitution, Congress expanded democracy
to protect the rights of the freedmen
– The 13th Amendment freed slaves throughout the US
• Southern states were required to recognized this before forming new
governments
• Black Codes were passed to limit the rights of the newly freed slaves
– The 14th Amendment recognized the citizenship of African
Americans
• Overturned Dred Scott
• Provided ‘equal protection’ and ‘due process’
– The 15th Amendment ensured the right of all male citizens to vote
• Male citizens could not be denied based on ‘race, creed or previous
condition of servitude’
• Resulted in some African Americans being elected to state legislatures and
Congress
• Federal troops attempted to protect these rights against
terrorist tactics of the Ku Klux Klan
Reconstruction Governments
• White Republicans from the North
were known as ‘carpetbaggers’ by
southern whites
• Southern-born ‘scalawags’ wanted to
rebuild the South in cooperation with
the Republican Reconstruction
governments
• Newly enfranchised African Americans
made up a majority state legislatures,
just as they made up a majority of the
population in some southern states
• State governments created social
service programs and public schools to
improve conditions for all people
Changes for Freedmen
• The Reconstruction Amendments
allowed African Americans to
create some social freedom
– Many left the plantations to look for
sold family members, but most were
unsuccessful and soon returned
– African Americans formed their own
churches
– The Freedmen’s Bureau established
schools for the former slaves who
had been denied the right to an
education under slavery
– Black colleges were established
Challenges for Freedmen
• Freedmen made significant social
and political progress during
Reconstruction, but they made
little economic progress
– The Freedmen’s Bureau• Helped negotiate labor contracts
between former slaves and landowners
• Provided a system of courts to protect
the rights of former slaves
• Negotiated sharecropping agreements
– Sharecropping left former slaves in a
position of economic dependence and
destitution
3.4
4 slides
• End of Reconstruction
– Role of anti-African American factions
– Competing national interests
– Removal of federal protection for freedmen
– Jim Crow laws
– Voter restrictions
The End of Reconstruction
• When the federal government
abandoned their role of protector,
democracy was compromised and
the rights of African Americans
were limited by southern state
governments
– Anti-African American factions (Ku
Klux Klan) were organized to
intimidate black voters in the South
– African Americans were able to vote
only with the protection of federal
troops
– There were never enough troops to
protect African Americans from
intimidation, violence, and lynchings
– The ‘Solid South’ would remain under
the control of white Democrats until
the Civil Rights Era
The End of Reconstruction
• The nation’s interest shifted to the
corruption in the Grant administration,
economic depression in the North, western
settlement, and economic growth
• Reports of violence against African
Americans made Northerners believe
nothing would ever change in the South
• Resistance of southerners in granting equal
citizenship to African Americans lessened
the public and Congress’ resolve to
protecting freedmen
• The disputed election of 1876 led to the
Compromise of 1877
– Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was elected
– Federal troops, and their protection, were
removed from the South
– Officially ended Reconstruction
• The effect of Reconstruction was temporary
and African Americans were left to fend for
themselves
Day 6
Monday
Post Reconstruction
• Southern whites used race to drive
a political wedge between poor
black farmers and poor white
farmers
• Southern states passed laws
requiring African American and
whites to use separate facilities
– Segregation was upheld by the
Supreme Court in the ‘separate but
equal’ ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896)
– Negated the equal protection
provision of the 14th Amendment
– African Americans were relegated to
second class citizenship in a society
that was separate but not equal
– Jim Crow Laws replaced black codes
and restricted African Americans in
the South
Post Reconstruction
• Poll taxes and literacy tests all but
eliminated the effectiveness of the
15th Amendment
– The grandfather clause assured that
whites who could not read or pay the
tax were able to vote
• Sharecroppers and tenant farmers
faced increasingly difficult economic
conditions when cotton prices fell
• African Americans were
discriminated against in hiring when
textile mills opened in the late
1880s
• Many African Americans fell farther
into poverty and some migrated to
the cities of the North
3.5
4 slides
• Varied responses of African Americans to the
restrictions imposed on them in the postReconstruction period
– Booker T. Washington
– W.E.B. DuBois
– Ida B. Wells-Barnett
African American Leaders
• African Americans responded
to the restrictions placed upon
them by the Jim Crow laws and
their loss of the vote through
poll taxes and literacy tests
• African American leaders
emerged who were united in
their determination to attain
full citizenship but were
divided as to the best strategy
to pursue
• The strategies each advocated
depended on personal
background and the audience
that each addressed
Booker T. Washington
• Born a slave
• Received an education during
Reconstruction
• Founded the Tuskegee Institute
– Provided vocational training for
African Americans
– Blue Collar: welders, blacksmiths,
skilled laborers
– George Washington Carver
developed new crops to aid povertystricken farmers while at the Institute
• Equality comes from contributing
to the economy
• Did not speak openly against Jim
Crow and Segregation
W.E.B. DuBois
• Born free (north)
• Educated (PhD from Harvard)
• African Americans should gain
educations that suit their
talents
– White Collar: doctors, lawyers,
professionals
• Opposed Washington’s strategy
• National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP)
– Full social and political equality
• Popular in the black
community, but not white
Ida B. Wells-Barnet
• Born a slave
• Educated in a “freedom school”
during Reconstruction
• Became a teacher and newspaper
writer
• Forcibly removed from a railroad
car and forced to sit in a coloredonly car
• Outspoken and critical of Jim Crow
• Anti-lynching crusade
– Considered a militant
• Raised awareness of the conditions
for African Americans in the nation