Civil War Era

Manifest Destiny

• Manifest Destiny: the US should expand from coast to coast

Reasons for wanting to expand west

• Religion - many Americans were looking for increased religious freedom. Brigham Young led the Mormons along the Mormon Trail to Utah

American Progress

By John Gast

Starring: Columbia the Angel

Reasons for wanting to expand west cont’d…

• Expansion of cotton culture:the expansion of cotton into the west meant the expansion of slavery too – the question of balance between “slave states” and “free states” would be a huge issue in the coming years before the Civil War

Reasons for wanting to expand west cont’d…

• Opportunity

the chance for a better economic situation, or personal freedoms, encouraged many people to move west for a new, and hopefully better life. The “Gold Rush” of the late 1840’s brought many people to the west coast.

Disputes over expansion• Oregon Dispute:- both the U.S. and

Great Britain claimed the area that is now the American Northwest

- a settlement was made dividing the lands at the 49th parallel

- Great Britain got the lands north of the line (What is today Canada)

Disputes over expansion cont’d…

• Texas/Mexican War- Texas was first its own nation – it had won

independence from Mexico in 1836- over time, many Texans began to have economic

and cultural connections with the U.S. - the U.S. annexed Texas into the Union in 1845

- a boundary dispute led to the Mexican-American War the next year

- the U.S. won and took over additional lands from Mexico including California

Settlement of the WestHomestead Act of 1862:- The Federal Government

offered 160 acres to any adult citizen for just $10

- the settler agreed to live on and improve the land for 5 years before acquiring ownership

- millions of Americans, along with millions of foreign-born immigrants moved west

Settlement of the West cont’d…

• Transcontinental Railroad:

- the federal government sponsored the building of a railroad to cross the United States

- the first was completed in 1869

- new markets in the west were opened up to eastern products

- western products could now reach the eastern markets easier

- migration of people increased significantly

The Transcontinental Railroad

Union Pacific RailroadCentral Pacific Railroad

Met at Promontory Point, Utah

Omaha, NB

Sacramento, CA

Clash with Native Americans:

Indian Wars:- the late 1800’s saw increased conflict between

Native-American tribes and Americans

- led by Sitting Bull, the Sioux had many conflicts, including the Battle of Little Big Horn

- the Massacre at Wounded Knee is considered the end of the Indian Wars

- most native people were now located on lands called reservations

The Genocide question:- events such as the Massacre at Wounded

Knee, in which many unarmed innocent natives were killed by American soldiers, along with the harsh reservation system, have led to questions about the governments’ role in trying to get rid of the Native-Americans.

- Genocide = killing a specific race of people (Holocaust)

Dawes Act

- 1887, Congress passed legislation to attempt to “Americanize” native people

- they offered individual natives American citizenship and land ownership if they would each leave the reservations and their tribes and live like other Americans

- few natives took this offer

The Reservation

- lands set aside by the Federal government for Native-American tribes to live on in peace

- these lands often became harsh areas to live and much poverty existed there

Map of Native American Reservations today

(red dot = Reservation)

Sectionalism

As the years went by, areas of the nation, mainly the northern and southern sections, each began to develop separate identities, as well as varying wants and needs. This “sectionalism”, would prove to be the biggest test to the survival of the still young nation.

Divided America

• The Industrial North:– Factories:

• The factories produced as many products as any nation in the world– Urban Centers:

• most northerners lived in industrial cities• the north’s population was the largest of any

section of the nation– Transportation:

• canals, roadways, and railroads developed in the north

Agrarian South

Plantation System:• Large, slave-worked cash crop farms

Cash Crop:• the economy of the south was based on the sale

of cash crops – notably cotton• southern states depended on trade not only with

northern states, but with Europe as well

Slavery:• Plantation life was dependent on slave labor

Vs.

The Civil WarMilitary strategy of each side

• North• use superior resources,

technologies, and manpower

• divide the Confederacy – capture and control the Mississippi River

• blockade the southern ports – don’t let supplies into the Confederacy

• capture the capital - Richmond

• South• attack, again and again,

hoping to wear down the north’s will to win

• gain support from Great Britain and France, each dependent on southern cotton

Major Battles of the Civil War• Ft. Sumter: South Carolina troops took over the federal fort. • 1st Manassas (Bull Run):

– the north thought it would be an easy victory and an end to a short war

– the southern victory proved it would be a tougher fight, and longer war than expected

• Monitor vs. Merrimack: – the first battle between iron clad gunboats

• Antietam:– the first significant Northern victory – kept Great Britain and

France from helping the South– had the most one-day casualties in the history of the United

States• Gettysburg:

– the turning point of the war – until this time, the South had, in general, been wining the war

– the northern victory bolstered morale, and weakened the southern army

• Appomattox: scene of the final moments of the war; Lee surrendered to Grant here.

The Home Front

• Civil Liberties:• citizens in Washington, D.C. area were arrested

and held without habeas corpus rights (not being told charges against them)

• Lincoln felt threatened for potential espionage, and the courts were overwhelmed with cases– ex parte milligan: Supreme Court case –

determines unlawful to hold persons without formal charges

Role of Women during Civil War

• in both the North and South, women took the place of men in factories and on farms

• many served as nurses in hospitals and near the battlefields

• Clara Barton:

• pioneering woman in the nursing field

• founder of the American Red Cross

Role of African Americans

• in the north, many took the place of white workers in the factories

• after the Emancipation Proclamation, many in rushed to enlist and serve in the U.S. Army (54th Massachusetts Regiment)

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

• Scott, an African American, had lived for awhile with his owner in free Illinois

• Later, his owner moved to Missouri, a slave state

• He sued for his freedom claiming he was free because of his time in Illinois

• Court Decisions:• The Supreme Court said Scott was not free

because he was not a citizen, he was property

Role of Abraham Lincoln

• Emancipation Proclamation:• Lincoln’s decision to free all persons in states

that were still rebelling in January of 1863• it changed the purpose of the war – from just

about preserving the Union – to ending slavery as well

• Gettysburg Address:• Lincoln’s short, but meaningful speech outlined

the meaning and significance of the war: “Four score and seven years ago…”

Missouri Compromise - 1820

ISSUEThe spread of slavery in the new territories

RESOLUTION1)MO = slave state2)ME = free state3)36°30’ = no slavery above4)Return runaway slaves

IMPACTAppeased N & S for 30 years

Compromise of 1850

ISSUEThe spread of slavery in

territories acquired during

Mex/Am War

RESOLUTION1)CA = free state2)Fugitive Slave Act3)Slave trade banned in D.C.4)Texan borders established

IMPACTPostponed Civil War

for 10 years

Kansas/Nebraska Act

ISSUESlavery in Kansas

and Nebraska

RESOLUTION1)Repealed Missouri Compromise2)Allowed for Popular Sovereignty

IMPACT“Bleeding Kansas”