Stepping Stones to the Civil War 1616

Introduction

Slavery was the overriding issue in the country between 1812 and the 1850s. While the North developed its own culture, built on railroads and new communications technology, the South depended almost entirely on cotton, which was dependent on slaves. Still, there were some Americans who, for religious or secular reasons, fought for abolition. Their story marks one of the great social movements in American history.

The Abolitionist Movement

The question of slavery was the most important issue of the first half of the 19th century. Even foreign travelers saw the discrepancy between the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the reality. The fact is that slavery had to first be defined by law, as it was not present in English common law until the 1650s. At first slaves were considered indentured servants, and in fact, a handful of Irish were enslaved, but the lack of strong nation-states in Africa, along with the conviction that Africans as non-Christians were uncivilized, contributed to the African slave trade. By 1650, the status of Africans as slaves was solidified by law. Gradually, the North abolished slavery while the South solidified it as a permanent institution. The invention of the cotton gin made it possible to grow cotton more cheaply, and by 1820, it was a valuable export to England. The southern frontier moved west and "cotton capitalists," as they came to be known, cut themselves off from the principles of Jeffersonian democracy.

The abolitionist movement combined two threads of American life: the secular enlightened tradition that dated back to the 18th century and the evangelical Christian, which had its roots in the Great Awakenings. Abolitionists believed that slavery could be quickly abolished but often disagreed on other reforms (woman's suffrage, temperance, etc.). The movement split in the 1840s over tactics, with the more moderate faction favoring moral persuasion (Garrison, et al.) and the radicals favoring rebellion (John Brown). Abolitionists continued their efforts after the Civil War and pushed the Republican Party to pass the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The abolitionist movement is one of the great social movements in United States history.

The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law

Henry Clay, at the age of seventy-three, initiated his last compromise to keep the Union together. Clay urged that the North and South make concessions and that the South yield to a more reasonable fugitive slave law. Calhoun argued to leave the peculiar institution alone, return runaway slaves, and restore the political balance of power. Upon the death of Henry Clay, Senator Daniel Webster took up the debate of the compromise.

The following concessions were made:

· Concessions of the North

· Concessions of the South

· Admit California as a free state

· Surrender territories in dispute between New Mexico and Texas to New Mexico

· Abolish the slave trade in the District of Colombia

 

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)

The daughter of Lyman Beecher, a noted New England preacher, Harriet Beecher was an abolitionist and author. Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) energized anti-slavery forces in the U.S. and England. Political and social tensions were even more strained by the 1852 literary classic Uncle Tom's Cabin. Never realizing the impact her novel would have, it is said the President Lincoln stated that Harriet Beecher Stowe was responsible for starting the American Civil War. As northern public opinion was deeply moved by the explanation of the horrors of the slave system. Many young men who read Uncle Tom's Cabin would enlist as Union soldiers to fight against the atrocities of the institution of slavery. The success of Uncle Tom's Cabin kept the printing press going with several thousand copies, and it was also widely viewed on stage.

Who Was Uncle Tom?

Click on the following link to learn about the man who inspired the character Uncle Tom:

· Link (website): Josiah Henson (Links to an external site.)

Uncle Tom's Cabin Click on the following tabs for a summary and links to excerpts from the story:

· Main Characters

· Plot/Story Highlights

· Excerpts

· Uncle Tom

· Eliza

· Harry

· the Shelby’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dred Scott Case – A Milestone toward War

The Dred Scott case in 1857 came to the forefront as the Supreme Court integrated the heated debate over the slave issue into a complex political tool under Chief Justice Taney.

Click on the arrows to learn more about the case:

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates and Popular Sovereignty

Popular Sovereignty, which had originated with Senator Lewis Cass, became part of the Democratic political platform in the election of 1848 until the 1860 election. Popular Sovereignty became a political cannon when Senator Stephen A. Douglas, a Democrat, proposed the Kansas Nebraska Act. Hoping to win the Southern votes before the Presidential election of 1856, Douglas sought to propose a bill that incorporated the idea of Popular Sovereignty in the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to gain constituents, although unforeseen grave social consequences of conflict would follow. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican nominee to the United States Senate, challenged the incumbent Stephen Douglas to a series of debates in Freeport Illinois in 1858. These debates became known as the Lincoln Douglas Debates or Freeport Doctrine. Lincoln gave his infamous "House Divided" speech during which Lincoln hammered home the slave issue as a social, immoral, and political evil. Lincoln went to the center of the Democratic political platform, Popular Sovereignty, and used the Dread Scott Decision to cause Douglas and his fellow Democrats to appear as lawbreakers.

Lincoln and Reconstruction

When the Civil War ended, the South lay largely in ruins. One of the most important issues was deciding the political fate of the Confederate states. The Constitution provided no guidance on this matter, and it was not clear whether the Congress or the President should take the lead on Reconstruction. The Civil War devastated the South economically, and more than 3 million freed slaves were now without homes or jobs. Even before the war was over, President Lincoln called for reunification. Throughout the war, Lincoln had felt sympathy for the South and hoped that southern states might easily rejoin the Union after the war. To this end, he issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, known as the "Ten Percent Plan." According to its terms, as soon as ten percent of a state's voters took a loyalty oath to the Union, the state could set up a new government. If the state would abolish slavery and provide education for African Americans, it would regain Congressional representation.

 

Lincoln was also generous to white southerners and considered giving them compensation for lost lands. He recognized pro-Union state governments in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana, even though they did not grant African Americans the right to vote. Lincoln took the position that the Union was unbreakable and therefore the southern states had never really left the Union. In his second inaugural, he promised forgiveness:

With malice toward none, and charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. (Lincoln, 1865, para. 4)

Radical Republicans insisted, however, that the Confederate states pay for their crimes and supported Sherman's plan to confiscate Confederate land and give it to the slaves. Rejecting Lincoln's plan, they passed the Wade-Davis Act, which required that much of a state's population swear loyalty to the Union before being restored to the Union. Lincoln killed the bill with a "pocket veto," i.e., he withheld his signature beyond the required 10-day limit.

One plan did receive President Lincoln's approval: The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, known as the Freedmen's Bureau. The Freedmen's Bureau was constructed to deal with the sudden emancipation. Created a few weeks before Lincoln's death, the bureau focused on the following:

· Provided an education for all former slaves

· Ensured that freedmen understood suffrage

· Provided food and clothing for both black and white refugees in the South

· Helped reunite families that had been separated by slavery

· Negotiated fair labor contracts between former slaves and white landowners

· Administered justice in cases concerning the freed people

· Managed abandoned and confiscated property

· Monitored state and local officials' treatment of the freed people

· Built hospitals for the freed people and gave direct medical aid

By representing African Americans in the courts, the Bureau established a precedent that black citizens had legal rights. By the time the Bureau disbanded in 1872, more than 250,000 students had attended 4,300 Freedmen's schools. Over 1 million people had received well needed medical assistance and treatment.

Your text includes a discussion of the black codes, which were a response to Reconstruction, particularly the Freedmen's Bureau by Southern Democrats. In the following interactive, sort the items of focus of the bureau and the edicts of the black codes.

Civil War Timeline

The events that led up to the Civil War began in the 1850s. Scholars note that this was one of the most important decades in American history, alongside the 1780s, 1930s and 1960s. The events of this decade would irrevocably lead America to Civil War (1861–1865), but with the assassination of President Lincoln, the hopes of Reconstruction would end in failure.

References

 

Lincoln, A. (1865). President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address. https://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=false&page=&doc=38&title=President+Abraham+Lincolns+Second+Inaugural+Address+%281865%29

National Park Service. (2018, January 12). Josiah Henson. https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/josiah-henson.htm

Stowe, H. B. (2014, December 30). Uncle Tom’s cabin.  Open Road Media. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/lib/chamberlain-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1887229

Previous Next