AICE History Civil war origins + reconstruction

• The issue of slavery split the United States upon its inception
• The North and South compromised over slavery in the Constitution


  1. The 3/5 Compromise allowed southern states to count enslaved persons as 3/5 of a person toward a state's representation in the Electoral College

  2. The slavery question continued to divide the nation
• In 1818, Missouri applied to become a state. They would be a state that permitted slavery
• This means in the Senate there was an even split of representation, so neither side had too much power
• Northerners balked at the idea of adding a slave state since there was currently a balance between slave and free states (11 slave and 11 free)
• Louisiana Territory


  Any new state north of the 36'30 parallel (the southern border of Missouri) had to be a free state, anything south of it could allow enslavement of others
• This compromise solved nothing, and only kicked the "slavery" can down the road
• James Polk admits Texas as a slave state in 1845
• Debate continued over what to do with California, New Mexico, and the rest of the Mexican Cession
• The Wilmot Proviso proposed banning slavery from the west, however without support from both sides the bill failed
• The Compromise of 1850 was made when California applied for statehood
• The Compromise of 1850


  • The North gets: California as a free state, the slave trade banned in DC
  • The South gets: The Utah and New Mexico territories would be given popular sovereignty, more-strict fugitive slave law
• From 1848 to 1860, American politics increasingly divided and sectional
• By 1856, the Free Soil and Republican Party exclusively operated in the north, while the Democratic Party operated exclusively in the South
• Free Party


  Slavery can stay where it is, but cannot extend west
• Republican Party


  Slavery must be abolished
• Democratic Party


  Slavery should be allowed everywhere
• Several events in the 1850s made the relationship between north and south irreconcilable. By the end of the decade, Civil War inevitable
• Irreconcilable


  Unable to be fixed
• Uncle Tom's Cabin is written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, becomes instant best-seller, publication suppressed in the South
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise line that prevented slavery in the north
• Thousands of pro-and-anti slavery supporters flock to Kansas to help sway the election (especially pro-slavery Missouri residents nicknamed "Border Ruffians")
• Mass violence breaks out in the state- earns the nickname "Bleeding Kansas"
• Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner is caned by South Carolina representative Preston Brooks on the Senate floor
• James Buchanan (Democrat) defeats John Fremont (Republican) in 1856 presidential election
• However, Republicans realize the north holds the majority of electoral votes, all they have to do in 1860 is win the free-states in the north
• Dred Scott was an enslaved man whose enslaver was a military surgeon, he sued for his freedom, stating that his status as an enslaved person should have been dissolved the moment he entered free territory
• The Supreme Court disagreed, led by Roger Taney, Chief Justice, said that African-Americans, no matter whether free or enslaved, could never be citizens
• Initially pro-slavery supporters win in Kansas, but the House of Representatives refuses to ratify the Lecompton Constitution, citing mass fraud, violence, and intimidation in Kansas
• An Illinois Senate seat is up for reelection and incumbent Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln run for it, they meet for 7 debates regarding slavery's future in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates
• Lincoln


  Expresses Free Soil view that slavery cannot expand west
• Douglas


  Wants states to choose for themselves (popular sovereignty)
• Radical abolitionist John Brown plans to seize the federal armory in Harper's Ferry, VA, wants to arm those who have escaped slavery, then lead a revolt to end slavery once and for all
• Four candidates ran for office in the Election of 1860: Abraham Lincoln (Republican), John Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), John Bell (Constitutional Union), Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat)
• Abraham Lincoln (Republican)


  Slavery cannot expand west
• John Breckinridge (Southern Democrat)


  Enslaved people are property and cannot be restricted anywhere
• John Bell (Constitutional Union)


  Compromise is the best option forward
• Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat)


  States should vote over slavery
• Lincoln wins the 1860 election, he wins every northern state, but only 40% of the popular vote
• Talk of secession soon turns into action