Presentation Transcript

1. Irreconcilable Differences(1840-1860)

2. Slavery
3. Slavery The South in Antebellum America was dominated by the planter-slaveholder class. Nearly 2/3 of the population DIDN’T own slaves Cotton is so important to both the South and the North (economically) that it’s referred to as “King Cotton”
4. Slavery Though many persons believe that “slavery” was the issue that caused the Civil War, slavery was merely the topic around which the real issues centered.
5. Irreconcilable Differences The larger questions were … What are the rights and limitations of the federal government? What are the rights of the states? What are the rights of the people within the states?
6. Irreconcilable Differences The annexation of new territory to the United States repeatedly renewed these questions, and the sections of the United States had different answers for these questions … especially about the issue of slavery.
7. Texas
8. Texas The Mexican government granted a large tract of land in 1823 to Missouri businessman Stephen F. Austin. The Mexicans hoped that the encouragement of immigration and settlement would develop Mexico’s northern borderlands.
9. Texas Mexico required three conditions to the land grant: The settlers must become Mexican citizens. The settlers must become Roman Catholics The settlers must not bring slaves.
10. Texas The 300 families led by Stephen F. Austin accepted the deal and became “Texicans.” They lived far from Mexico City and completely ignored the conditions they agreed to when they accepted the land. Mexico then attempted to ban further immigration, but by 1835, the Texicans numbered 30,000 – outnumbering Mexicans in the area 6 to 1.
11. Texas The Mexican government then tried to strengthen its authority over its northern territory, but the Texicans protested the loss of their autonomy. In 1836, delegates from across Texas met at Washington (Tx), declared Texas independent, and adopted a constitution. Mexico responded militarily
12. Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna led the Mexican army to San Antonio and captured the Alamo, then captured and executed another force of 300 men at Goliad. Volunteers from Texas and the southern U.S. joined commander Sam Houston and routed the Mexican army at San Jacinto capturing Santa Anna.
13. General Santa Anna signed a treaty granting Texas her independence. The Mexican government repudiated this agreement.
14. Though the Mexican government was not strong enough to take back the Texas lands, the new Texans were concerned for their future safety and hold on their new land.
15. The Texans elected Sam Houston governor of their new republic, and presented Texas to the U.S. for annexation. Presidents Jackson and Van Buren both said “No.”
16. Admitting Texas would: damage relations with Mexico upset the balance of power between slave and free states in the Senate.
17. The Texans formed an alliance with Britain, possibly intending to request protectorate status, but probably to pressure the U.S. into annexation. Britain was glad for the opportunity to gain a new toehold in North America.
18. President John Tyler realized that annexation of Texas was in the best interests of the U.S. encouraged Congress to pass a resolution to annex (1845) allowing Texas to bypass the territorial stage of development.
19. The Texans laid claim to land much larger than the area Mexico had defined as Texas. Mexico refused to let Texas go, asserting that her independence was only temporary.
20. President James K. Polk, a proponent of “manifest destiny,” intended to not only annex Texas, but to acquire Oregon, California and New Mexico as well.
21. Polk sent ambassadors to Mexico City in 1845 with an offer to purchase the land for $30,000,000.00, while at the same time sending federal troops to the Texas / Mexican border. Mexico refused to receive the U.S. ambassadors. The U.S. was offended.
22. Unwilling to fire the first shot, Polk searched for a reason to declare war on Mexico, finally finding one in the news that a Mexican raiding party had crossed the Rio Grande to attack an American patrol. Congress approved Polk’s request for a Declaration of War.
23. Antislavery Democrat David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced a measure in the House of Representatives which would prohibit slavery in any of the territory to be taken from Mexico.
24. The Wilmot Proviso (August 8, 1846) incensed the southern states as they felt the issue had been settled with the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Wilmot’s “match to a powder keg” completely disregarded the Missouri Compromise. The south felt the north could not be trusted.
25. Though the Wilmot Proviso failed to pass the southern dominated senate, it became “a plank in the platform” of the “Free Soil” party.
26. The Mexican War progressed in 3 phases: Phase 1 – pursuit of the Mexican army into Mexico – led by General Zachary Taylor. Phase 2 – intimidation of New Mexico and California – led by Gen. Stephen Kearny. Phase 3 – campaign against Mexico City – led by General Winfield Scott.
27. The Mexican War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo signed February 2, 1848. The U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15,000,000.00 for the cessation of lands in modern day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming.
28. The Mexican Cession increased the size of the U.S. by about 1/3, opening the door for the admission of many States to the union.
29. Whether or not slavery would be extended into the new territories overshadowed all other issues in the debates over the Mexican War. The lands gained by the Mexican Cession only led to further arguments.
30. California
31. ‘49ers Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848
32. California A series of compromises culminating in the Compromise of 1850 briefly resolved this and other issues.
33. California California was admitted to the Union as a free state. Texas was paid $10,000,000.00 to give up claims to land in New Mexico. slave trade (not slavery) was abolished in Washington, D.C. The remainder of the Mexican territories would be open to popular sovereignty. The Fugitive Slave Law made the North accountable for returning runaway slaves.
34. Resistance The Fugitive Slave Law led many northerners to join the abolitionist movement and to thwart the anti-slave law. These abolitionists created an informal chain of “stations” (antislavery homes) which provided sanctuary to scores of “passengers”(runaway slaves) assisted by “conductors” (black and white abolitionists). This “Underground Railroad” attempted to get runaways all the way to Canada.
35. Important people to know: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Catherine Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin John Brown Raid at Harper’s Ferry William Lloyd Garrison The Liberator; “I will be heard!” Frederick Douglass Escaped slave, popular speaker and writer
36. “Bleeding Kansas” Kansas- Nebraska Act Popular Sovereignty Sumner-Brooks Incident Sumner denounced K-A Act, Brooks retaliated Dred Scott vs. Sanford Slave= Property; MO Compromise unconstitutional Election of 1860 Lincoln wins, not by popular vote.
37. Sumner- Brooks Incident
38. In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, filed suit for their freedom in St. Louis Circuit Court. Dred Scott was born a slave in 1799 and spent his entire life as a slave. Scott could neither read nor write.
39. Thus began an 11 year legal fight that ended in the Supreme Court in 1857. The Supreme Court ruled: 1. Dred Scott was property, not a citizen, and therefore had no right to sue in federal court.
40. 2. Because a slave was private property, he or she could be taken into any territory and be legally held there in slavery. Freeing a slave because the master moved would deprive the master of his 5th Amendment rights which forbid depriving a man of his property without due process of law.
41. 3. The Supreme Court ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, stating that the Congress had no authority to ban slavery.
42. Southerners were delighted at this decision, which literally made slavery legal in any State. The North was furious and declared the ruling of the Court an “opinion” which had no power. The South was angry at the North’s defiance.
43. The massive gold discoveries in California caused inflation on most goods except grain. Grain had been overproduced so the price of grain was low. The farmers were broke. Investments collapsed, over 5,000 business failed in the Financial Crash of 1857. Northern grain growers were hardest hit.
44. The world market for cotton remained steady and the south was little affected by the financial crisis. The south became overconfident of the power of “King Cotton” and the world demand for their product. They felt themselves economically invincible. (They were deluded.)
45. Rustic Springfield (Illinois) attorney Abraham Lincoln challenged Stephen Douglas for the Senate in 1858. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates. Slavery was the issue at the heart of the debates.
46. Lincoln argued against slavery with passion and spoke against the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case. Lincoln opined that the black man was entitled to his natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence” “… the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
47. Lincoln lost the election, but moved into political prominence ... and his position on slavery was clear. The north championed Lincoln as a potential republican nominee for President.
48. Four candidates ran for election in 1860. Lincoln, nominated by northern Republicans, was not even listed on the ballots of 10 southern states. Lincoln won the election due to increasing northern population and the admission of California.
49. South Carolina, believing slavery threatened by the “Illinois baboon,” seceded four days after the November (1860) election. During the next six weeks, six more states followed. Lincoln was helpless (“a lame duck”) as he did not officially take office until March 4, 1861.
50. In a last ditch effort to stop civil war, Senator James Henry Crittenden sponsored a bill offering federal protection to slavery south of the original Missouri Compromise line and forbidding slavery north of that line. Future states admitted would be allowed popular sovereignty. Lincoln rejected the plan. All possibilities of a compromise evaporated.
51. The south was confident that it could stand alone, without the Union.