SS8H6a
Explain the importance of key issues and events that led to the Civil War; include slavery, states’ rights, nullification, Missouri
Compromise, Compromise of 1850 and the
Georgia Platform, Kansas-Nebraska Act,
Dred Scott case, election of 1860, the debate over secession in Georgia, and the role of Alexander Stephens.
Concept:
Conflict and Change
Individuals and Groups
Rule of Law

slavery states’ rights
Nullification - Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Dred Scott case
- Kansas/Nebraska Act
- Election of 1860
Debate over secession - Alexander Stephens

 After President Thomas Jefferson acquired the
Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States doubled in size. This purchase gave the United States control of the vast lands west of the Mississippi.
 As Americans pushed west, the issue of slavery came to the forefront.
 Would the new territories of the United
States be slave or free?

Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin and the resulting cotton boom led the South to focus on agriculture while the North focused on industrial growth.
North
• Based on Industry &
Manufacturing
• Other economic activities:
- Mining
- Banking
- Retail
- Railroad
- Steel & Iron
South
• Based on farming & the slave trade
• Other economic activities:
- Mills (Factories that refine agricultural products)

People based their decisions,opinions, and views on what was good for only their part of the country.
Who will control the new territory out west?

The United States Congress passed the tariff of
1828 in order to increase the price of foreign goods so that the same goods manufactured in the north would be cheaper in price.
This helped northern businesses, but people in the south were having to pay more for a product that was their second choice since their first choice (foreign product) is now more expensive because of the tariff (tax) added to the cost.

• The North favored tariffs to persuade people to buy products made in their own country.
• By placing protective tariffs on imports,
Northern business men prospered.
• Southerners felt this unconstitutional and that they should not have to pay the tariff.
• South Carolina even threatened to leave the union if the tariffs were not repealed.

The tariff of 1828 led to discussions in the South about nullification.
Nullification is the argument that a state has the right not to follow a federal law.
The state of South Carolina wanted to ignore the tariff.
By 1832, Congress slightly modified the Tariff of
1828 to appease the southern states.

This phrase refers to individual states being sovereign (or having the right to govern itself).
According to the 10 th amendment of the constitution…
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Basically, states wanted to follow their own laws, and they did not want the federal government
(United States) to overrule state laws.

The main issue over states’ rights involved the institution of slavery. Southern states feared that Congress would pass laws eventually outlawing the practice of slavery, which would hurt the southern agricultural economic way of life involving the growing of cotton on large plantations.

When the Georgia Trustees first envisioned their colonial experiment in the early 1730s, they sought to avoid the slave-based plantation economy that had developed in other colonies in the American South.
The allure of profits from slavery, however, proved to be too powerful for white Georgia settlers to resist. By the era of the American Revolution (1775-83), African slaves constituted nearly half of Georgia's colonial population. Although the Revolution fostered the growth of an antislavery movement in the northern states, white Georgia landowners fiercely maintained their commitment to slavery even as the war disrupted the plantation economy. In subsequent decades slavery would play an ever-increasing role in Georgia's shifting plantation economy. - New Georgia Encyclopedia

Kentlaw.edu

• By the 1790s entrepreneurs were perfecting new mechanized cotton gins, the most famous of which was invented by Eli Whitney on a
Savannah River plantation owned by Catharine
Greene in 1793.
• This technological advance presented Georgia planters with a staple crop that could be grown over much of the state.

• Although slavery played a dominant economic and political role in Georgia, most white Georgians did not own slaves. In 1860 less than one-third of Georgia's adult white male population of 132,317 were slaveholders.
• Slaveholders controlled not only the best land and the vast majority of personal property in the state but also the state political system. In 1850 and 1860 more than two-thirds of all state legislators were slaveholders.
More striking, almost a third of the state legislators were planters.
• Hence, even without the cooperation of nonslaveholding white male voters, Georgia slaveholders could dictate the state's political path.
- New Georgia Encyclopedia

In 1819, the United States was divided equally with 11 free states and 11 slave states. People living in the
Missouri Territory applied for statehood as a slave state, but Congress did not approve because there would be an imbalance of power. Think back to the Senate where
2 senators represent each states.
If Missouri was allowed to be a slave state then there would be 24 US senators coming from slave states and 22 from non-slave states. Slave states would have an advantage when trying to pass or keep from passing certain laws.

To keep a balance in the US Congress, a compromise was made to allow Maine to be admitted to the Union as a free state while Missouri was added to the United
States as a slave state. Also part of the compromise was that slavery would be outlawed north of the 36 th degree line of latitude.

• In 1850, California applied for admission as a free state. Once again, the balance of power in the Senate was threatened. The South did not want to give the North a majority in the Senate.
• The Compromise of 1850 had four parts:
1) California entered as a free state. 2) The rest of the Mexican cession was divided into New
Mexico and Utah. In each state, voters would decide the issue of slavery. 3) Slave trade was ended in Washington D.C. 4) A strict new fugitive-slave law was passed.

Henry Clay Arguing in the Us Senate for the
Compromise of 1850 to Avert Civil War

In the South, The
Fugitive Slave Law of
1850 was seen as a victory. It required that all citizens were obligated to return runaway slaves.
Northerners who helped slaves escape would be jailed and fined. The law enraged Northerners because it made them feel a part of the slave system. Persons involved with the
Underground Railroad worked to subvert the law. Some actively opposed slavery and they were called abolitionists, working to abolish or end slavery.

Georgians met at the state capital in
Milledgeville to discuss the Compromise of 1850. Representative Alexander
Stephens supported the Compromise of
1850 because he did not want Georgia to secede from the Union. He felt
Georgia and the southern states had too much too lose if they seceded and lost a Civil War. Georgia helped prevent war and secession.

As part of the
Compromise of 1850,
Congress passed the
Fugitive Slave Act. This law said that slaves could not become free once they entered into free states. Instead, slaves were to be returned to the slave states and anyone helping a slave to freedom faced fines and imprisonment.
This angered northerners who disagreed with slavery.
They were now a part of the slavery issue like it or not.
The other part of the 1850
Compromise was that slave trading became illegal in Washington
D.C.

In 1854, Stephen Douglas introduced a bill to help solve the problem of slavery in the new Nebraska territory. He proposed that
Nebraska be divided into two territories —
Kansas and Nebraska. The settlers of the new territories would decide whether they would be slave or free.
Popular Sovereignty

A broadside from 1854 advertises a mass meeting of anti-slavery settlers to discuss the impact of Kansas-
Nebraska Act.

Dred Scott was a slave from the slave state of
Missouri who traveled with his master Dr. John
Emerson to the free state of Illinois. Dred Scott eventually tried to sue for his freedom since he believed that he could not be a slave in a free state.
The Supreme Court did not rule in his favor.
Instead, the Supreme Court decided that Dred Scott could not sue in court because slaves were not citizens, therefore, he had no rights. The Court also allowed slaves to be taken to free states b/c they were property of their masters.

Many
Northerners were outraged as abolitionist sentiments grew stronger.

For decades the arguments about slavery have been growing louder between people who live in the Northern states and people who live in the
Southern states. Northerners believe slavery should be abolished for moral reasons.
Southerners feel the end of slavery will destroy their region’s rural economy. Many in the South think the election of Northerner Abraham Lincoln to be president of the United States will be a serious blow to their way of life.

• In the mid-1850s, people who opposed slavery were looking for a new voice and formed the Republican
Party. Their main goal was to keep slavery out of the western territories, not to end slavery in the South.
• In the presidential election of 1860, the Republicans ran Abraham Lincoln from Illinois. Lincoln was known to oppose slavery on the basis of its being morally wrong.
• However, Lincoln was not willing to end slavery at the risk of tearing the Union apart. The Democratic Party had spilt, with Northern
Democrats choosing Stephen Douglas and Southern Democrats choosing Vice-President John Breckinridge. A pro-Union party chose
John Bell of Tennessee.
• Because of the four candidates, Lincoln won the election, but received no votes in the South and was not even on the ballot.

• Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 presidential election caused southern states to hold conventions on whether or not they should secede from the Union in order to protect the legalization of slavery in their states.
• South Carolina became the 1 st state to secede from the Union, while Georgia became the 5 th state to secede.

WHAT MESSAGE IS THIS
PRIMARY SOURCE POLITICAL
CARTOON TYRING TO CONVEY?

a compr es
Alexander Stephens was a
U.S. Representative from
Georgia who was PROslavery, but he was against
Secession. When Georgia held a convention to decide on secession Alexander
Stephens argued against it by saying the South should remain loyal to the Union. He believed that if the South seceded then a
Civil War would break out and if the South lost then they would lose their states’ rights, especially the right to keep slavery legal.

Despite Alexander Stephens and his words of caution,
Georgia decided to secede anyway. Those states in the south that seceded created the Confederate States of
America, a separate country. Alexander Stephens was persuaded to become the vice-president of the C.S.A., most likely to appeal to southerners that were just like him – wanted to keep slavery, but really didn’t want to leave the union.
This would help keep the southern states united.

After Lincoln took the oath of office in 1861, he announced that no state can lawfully leave the Union.
He declared, however, there would be no war unless the South started it.
• The South started to take possession of all Federal buildings
— forts and post offices. The
South took control of the three forts in Florida and was ready to take control of Fort Sumter in
South Carolina.
• In April 1861, the Confederates asked for the fort’s surrender.
Major Robert Anderson of the
Union refused to surrender. The
Confederate troops proceeded to shell Fort Sumter. Anderson ran out of ammunition and was forced to surrender. The war had begun.

FORT SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

Despite all attempts at compromise, the Civil War breaks out with the first shots fired at Fort Sumter April, 1861.

SS8H6b
State the importance of key events of the
Civil War; include Antietam, the
Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg,
Chickamauga, the Union blockade of
Georgia’s coast, Sherman’s Atlanta
Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, and Andersonville.
Concept:
Conflict and Change
Individuals and Groups
Rule of Law

Antietam - Emancipation Proclamation
Gettysburg
Union blockade -
- Chickamauga
Sherman’s Atlanta campaign
Sherman’s March - Andersonville

Andersonville
Union
Blockade
Antietam
Sherman’s
March to the Sea
What role did the following events play in the Civil War?
Emancipation
Proclamation
Sherman’s
Atlanta
Campaign
Chickamauga
Gettysburg

• Location- Sharpsburg, Maryland
• Dates- September 17, 1862
• Commanders
1. Confederates- General Robert E. Lee
2. Federals (Union)- General George McClellan
• Notable Facts
1. McClellan and his troops stopped the Confederate army from advancing on Washington, D.C.
2. One of the bloodiest single days in the war
3. Confederate casualties were about 13,700
4. Union casualties were about 12,400
5. Although McClellan protected the capital from Confederate forces, he allowed Lee’s army to escape to Virginia

Legendsofamerica.com
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

“This photograph shows
Abraham Lincoln on the
Battlefield of Antietam.
The battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day in
American History. More
Americans lost their lives in one day of fighting than in all previous wars combined. To the left of
Mr. Lincoln is Allan
Pinkerton, later famous for creating the Pinkerton detective agency. To the right is Major General
John A. McClernand.” old-pictures.com

• Location- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• Dates- July 1-3, 1863
• Overall Commanders
1. Confederates- General Robert E. Lee
2. Federals (Union)- General George Meade
• Notable Facts
1. The battle of Gettysburg began as a “fight over shoes” (Southerners had heard that there was a cache of shoes at Gettysburg).
2. Battle was a result of Lee’s plan to invade the north for a second time.

1. Lee planned to attack the Union center at Cemetery
Ridge on the third day of the battle. The General to lead the attack was the Virginian George Pickett.
2. Prior to Pickett’s charge the Confederates began the largest artillery barrage of the war.
3. Pickett’s charge was a miserable failure.
4. Gettysburg is considered the turning point of the
American Civil War.
5. Gettysburg was by far the bloodiest battle of the
American Civil War.
6. Lee was forced to retreat back into Virginia. His ambulance train was over seventeen miles long.

• Losses
1. Confederates- 3,500 killed, 18,000 wounded, 6,500 captured/missing
2. Union- 3,155 killed, 14, 529 wounded,
5,365 captured/missing
• Outcome- Major Union Victory

BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

Confederate soldiers: southwestern edge of the
Rosewoods – Gettysburg Pennsylvania

BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

• Location – Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia
• Dates – September 18-20, 1863
• Commanders
1. Confederates- General Braxton Bragg, General James
Longstreet
2. Federals (Union)- General William Rosecrans, General
George Thomas
• Notable Facts
1. Chickamauga is the first major battle in the State of
Georgia.
2. Chickamauga means “The River of Death” in
Cherokee.
3. Control of the railroad in Chattanooga was at stake
4. Bloodiest battle fought in Georgia
5. Caused Union forces to retreat back to Chattanooga and they ended up capturing Chattanooga

• Losses
1. Confederates (Rebels)- 2,312 killed,
14,674 wounded, 1,468 captured/missing
2. Federals (Union)- 1,657 killed, 9,756 wounded, 4,757 captured/missing
• Outcome- Confederate Victory

• Many of Georgia’s ports were blocked throughout the war – including Darien and
Brunswick
• Strong Confederate forts protected some cities from falling under the blockade
• Fort Pulaski protected Savannah, but in
April of 1862, the Confederate forces surrendered

• As a result, the Union troops used Fort
Pulaski to block ships from entering
Savannah
• The blockade made it difficult for farmers and merchants to sell their wares
• Also made it hard for Confederate army to receive supplies from overseas allies

• February 1864, the Confederates opened a prison camp to house Union soldiers
• Andersonville held the largest amount of prisoners than any other camp at the time
• Tens of thousands of Union soldiers were imprisoned there
• Conditions were awful – unhealthy sanitation conditions, malnutrition, and overcrowding

• 13,000 out of 45,000 prisoners died at
Andersonville
• Today it is a memorial for all American prisoners of war

ANDERSONVILLE
PRISON
UNION SOLDIER
WHO SURVIVED

Hmmm…
If I could take
Atlanta…

• Sherman and 100,000 men marched from
Chattanooga to Atlanta
• Sherman clashed with General Johnston and the Confederates outside of Atlanta
(60,000 men)
• Because of shortages of ammunition and men, Johnston retreated southward
• President Davis (CSA) fired Johnston and replaced him with General Hood
• Hood lost the battle of Atlanta

• When General Sherman and the Union
Army arrived in Atlanta, he gave the people of Atlanta five days to leave the city
• Five days later, Sherman had his troops burn Atlanta to the ground on November
15, 1864

• After burning Atlanta, Sherman and his troops (60,000 by this point) marched through Georgia to Savannah
• The plan was for the army to feed itself with what it found
• The path was 60 miles wide and three hundred miles long
• They took everything they could use and destroyed what they could not use (total war)

• Animals were slaughtered but not eaten
• Stored crops were emptied onto the ground
• Houses were looted and burned
• Railroads were destroyed
• The move took 2 months
• This march generated bad feelings between the North and South even years after the war was over