The antebellum period

The 30 year period prior to the American Civil War.

C. Bishop EdD

1. The
Antebellum
Era
The Road to
Civil War

2. What makes a nation turn
against itself to the point
where it is willing to take up
weapons and fight…
sometimes brother against
brother?

3. SMILE!
Louis-Jacques-
Mandé Daguerre
invented the box
camera in 1839.
Thanks to his process, we have a
much clearer picture of events that
happened in the Antebellum period
than any before this historical time
period.

4. Problem #1
Different Developing Economies
The Southern
economy was
primarily based
on agriculture
and the use of
forced slave
labor.

5. The Northern
economy was
becoming primarily
based on the
manufacturing of
goods – chiefly
fabrics from cotton
grown in the
South.
Problem #1
Different Developing Economies

6. An odd system came into play:
The South grew the cotton, using slave
labor.

7. They shipped it North for processing.
Textile Mill, Lowell Massachusetts, circa 1845

8. Northern mills turned the raw cotton
into cloth.

9. The Southern states and England
bought the cloth.

10. And Southern landowners needed
more slaves and land to keep the
cycle moving.

11. And Southern landowners needed
more slaves and land to keep the
cycle moving.

12. •Not just a few acres.
•Thousands of acres were constantly needed to be
planted because growing cotton erases the minerals
found in the soil.
•A field could only be used for 7 years, then it had to
“lie fallow” for 7 before it could be used again.
•Growing cotton (and expanding slavery) soon
became the basis of Southern life.

13. •Not just a few acres.
•Thousands of acres were constantly
needing to be planted because growing
cotton erases the minerals found in the
soil.
•A field could only be used for 7 years,
then it had to “lie fallow” for 7 before it
could be used again.
•Growing cotton (and expanding slavery)
soon became the basis of Southern life.

14. •Not just a few acres.
•Thousands of acres were constantly needing to
be planted because growing cotton erases the
minerals found in the soil.
•A field could only be used for 7 years,
then it had to “lie fallow” for 7 before it
could be used again.
•Growing cotton (and expanding slavery)
soon became the basis of Southern life.

15. •Not just a few acres.
•Thousands of acres were constantly needed to be
planted because growing cotton erases the
minerals found in the soil.
•A field could only be used for 7 years, then it had
to “lie fallow” for 7 before it could be used again.
•Growing cotton (and expanding slavery)
soon became the basis of Southern life.

16. American Colonization Society
Beginning in 1815,
Quaker Paul Cuffee
founded a society that
would help free black
Americans to return to
Africa.
(Sierra Leone).
Best available picture

17. American Colonization Society
By 1820, the
American
Colonization
Society was
assisting free
black Americans
to return to Africa.
They established the
country of Liberia

19. •However, the
reality for most
Africans taken
from their homes
was very
different.
•Being captured
and sold into
slavery usually
guaranteed a life
of endless work.

24. Problem #2
Lockdown
How do you hold
millions of
people against
their will?
Nobody wanted to
be a slave!

25. Early slave rebellions like the one by
Nat Turner, a Virginia slave, in 1831, caused
extreme fear and suspicion among Southern
slaveholders.
Fifty-five whites were murdered.

27. Slave Codes
•Slave Codes were laws passed to limit the
movement and education of slaves.
•The idea was to lock them down so order
could be maintained.
•Examples of these include the ban on
teaching a slave to read or write and requiring
a “pass” if a slave was to be off the plantation.

30. Corporal Punishment
Were
slaves
really
beaten and
cruelly
treated…or
is that just
“Hollywood
History”?

31. This is a real picture and something caused
these marks.

32. This is a real picture and something caused
these marks.
First-hand accounts
from ex-slaves tell
stories of sometimes
brutal treatment… and
kind treatment. There
was probably some of
both.

33. Hard to Lock Down
the Human Spirit!
The tighter the codes, the
stronger resistance
became.
Soon, individuals began
risking their safety to get
themselves and others
to freedom.
Harriet Tubman

34. What? Back to Africa?
Nope. Just above something called the Mason-Dixon line. If
a slave could get north of that line, they would be “free”.

35. The Underground Railroad
Not a subway system!
People, white
and black,
worked along a
system of
hideouts to get
slaves North to
freedom.

36. Follow the
“drinking gourd”.
Also called the
Big Dipper.
Pointed North

37. All Aboard!
•Using a series of safe houses, conductors
helped runaways travel North.
•Food, clothing, money, shelter, directions,
whatever was needed, was supplied.
•The penalty for helping a slave do this was a
return to slavery or death to the runaway, and
a fine for the Caucasian helper.

38. Levi and Catharine Coffin

43. Make a Big Noise!
Some folks helped just by being
vocal about the problem.
•Former slaves who were
safely in the North,
began to speak out
about conditions in the
South.
•People began to notice.
•And to listen.
Sojourner Truth

44. Ain’t I A Woman?
"Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin' out o'
kilter. I tink dat 'twixt de niggers of de Souf and de womin at de Norf,
all talkin' 'bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But
what's all dis here talkin' 'bout?"
"Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages,
and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody
eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any
best place!" And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a
pitch like rolling thunder, she asked. 'And ain't I a woman? Look at
me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder,
showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And
ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man –
when I could get it – and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I
have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery,
and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard
me! And ain't I a woman?"
"Den dey talks 'bout dis ting in de head; what dis dey call it?" ("Intellect,"
whispered someone near.) "Dat's it, honey. What's dat got to do wid
womin's rights or nigger's rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and
yourn holds a quart, wouldn't ye be mean not to let me have my little
half-measure full?"

45. "Den dat little man in back dar, he say women can't have as
much rights as men, 'cause Christ wan't a woman! Whar did
your Christ come from?" Rolling thunder couldn't have stilled
that crowd, as did those deep, wonderful tones, as she
stood there with out-stretched arms and eyes of fire. Raising
her voice still louder, she repeated, "Whar did your Christ
come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothin' to do
wid Him."
"If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn
de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder (and
she glanced her eye over the platform) ought to be able to
turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now dey is
asking to do it, de men better let 'em." Long-continued
cheering greeted this. "'Bleeged to ye for hearin' on me, and
now ole Sojourner han't got nothin' more to say."

46. Others had such
powers of speech
that they won
hundreds to their
cause by traveling
around telling their
stories.
People would leave
the auditoriums in
tears, vowing to
change the
system.
Frederick Douglass

47. Douglass’
newspaper, The
North Star, sold
thousands of
copies and his
autobiography,
telling his story of
escaping slavery,
was a best-seller.
Frederick Douglass

48. Not Just Former Slaves!
Even well-respected,
white, middle class
ladies were
speaking out about
this issue.
History calls them
Abolitionists,
because they
wanted to abolish,
or end, slavery.
Harriet Beecher Stowe

49. Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
by Harriet Beecher
StoweStowe’s book about the
life of a fictional slave
named “Tom” became a
runaway bestseller…
And helped to sway the
conscience of a nation
towards the idea that
slavery must be
stopped.

50. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Southern slaves were
depicted in a wide
manner of ways.
Primarily as an object
of pity.

51. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Stowe’s main
character becomes
someone you feel
sorry for and care
about.
Then she brutally
murders him off in a
shocking way.

52. Especially when he puts a move on the beautiful, young
slave-girl he’s just purchased.
The evil slave owner, Simon Legree, is someone
everyone would cheerfully love to kill.

53. Problem #3
Folks are Mad!
And they’re choosing up
sides!
•By the mid 1800’s, billions of dollars in
land, slaves and businesses were at stake
in America.
•Even though pressure was coming
from the North to end slavery, no-
one was closing their textile
factories!

54. Problem #3
Folks are Mad!
And they’re choosing up sides!
•By the mid 1800’s, billions of dollars in
land, slaves and businesses were at stake
in America.
•Even though pressure was coming from
the North to end slavery, no-one was
closing their textile factories!

55. The Government Gets
Involved
•The bottom line is that no President, prior to
1860, was willing to take the drastic steps to
ensure that slavery died out.
•How to do that? Forbid the spread of slavery to
any new territories added as states.
•The “Free” states would outvote the “Slave”
states, and slavery would soon be choked to
death.

56. The Government Gets
Involved
•The bottom line is that no President, prior to
1860, was willing to take the drastic steps to
ensure that slavery died out.
•How to do that? Forbid the spread of slavery to
any new territories added as states.
•The “Free” states would outvote the “Slave”
states, and slavery would soon be choked to death.

57. The Government Gets
Involved
•The bottom line is that no President, prior to
1860, was willing to take the drastic steps to
ensure that slavery died out.
•How to do that? Forbid the spread of slavery to
any new territories added as states.
•The “Free” states would outvote the “Slave”
states, and slavery could soon be choked to
death.

58. Missouri Compromise,
1820
•When Missouri petitioned the U.S.A. to
join as a state, they asked to be allowed to
have slaves.
•No, said the Northern senators. Slavery
West of the Mississippi River was
prohibited.

59. •There were an equal number of slave
and free states in the Union.
•Northern congressmen were opposed to
having more “slave” than “free” states.
•A compromise was reached:
Missouri could have slaves if the North
could admit Maine to the Union on the
same day and a geographic limit could be
set to limit northern expansion of slavery.

60. •There were an equal number of slave and free states in the Union.
•Northern congressmen were opposed
to having more “slave” than “free”
states.
Why?
•A compromise was reached:
Missouri could have slaves if the North could admit Maine to the
Union on the same day and a geographic limit could be set to limit
northern expansion of slavery.

61. •There were an equal number of slave and free
states in the Union.
•Northern congressmen were opposed to
having more “slave” than “free” states.
•A compromise was reached:
Missouri could have slaves if the North could
admit Maine to the Union on the same day
and a geographic limit could be set to limit
northern expansion of slavery.

62. 36°30´

63. For a while, all is calm.
Both sides are suspiciously watching each
other and becoming “sides”.

64. 1845
Texas asks to join the USA as
a “slave” state.

65. Mexican/American War
1846
Texas had
declared its
freedom from
Mexico in 1836,
and decided in
1845 to join with
the USA.

66. Remember the Alamo?

67. Even though America lost this battle,
we eventually won the war and acquired Texas.

68. For a while, all is calm.

69. California Gold Rush, 1849
Near modern-day
Sacramento, employees
of John Sutter
discovered gold while
building a mill.
Word spread around the world, and
within one year, California had such a
large population, they were applying
for statehood.

70. Slave or Free?
People from all over
the world came to
California. They
wanted it to be a free
state. The South
was upset because
this would give the
North extreme
economic power.
Chinese
Immigrants
Swedish
Immigrants
Mexican
Immigrants
Japanese
Immigrants

71. Compromise of 1850
According to the Missouri Compromise,
the area below 36, 30 was supposed
to allow slavery.
A compromise was again struck:
Allow California to be admitted as a free state.
Move the line above which a slave must run to the Canadian
border.
Allow bounty hunters to retrieve runaway slaves.

72. Compromise of 1850
A compromise was again struck:
•Allow California to be admitted as a free state.
•Move the line above which a slave must run to
the Canadian border.
•Allow bounty hunters to retrieve runaway
slaves.
•Imposed fines for harboring fugitive slaves
even if this occurred in non-slave states.
•Ban slave sales in Washington, DC
•The Fugitive Slave Act.

73. Natural Barriers to Escape
1
Can’t go West.
Large numbers of hostile Native peoples
stand between you and protection.
The large amount of space prevents your
trip, and there is no help along the way.

74. 1

75. Natural Barriers to Escape
2
Can’t go Middle.
The Great Lakes form a natural
(and huge!)
barrier to your escape route.

76. 2

77. Natural Barriers to Escape
3
Gotta go Right.
Groups like the Underground
Railroad were operating along the
right passage.
However, there would now be bounty
hunters and people who might be
willing to turn you in for a bounty.

78. 3

80. For a while, all is calm.
Less time is passing between problems.

81. Popular Sovereignty
•Other folks in America felt that the best way to solve
the issue of the expansion of slavery was to let the
people of a new territory decide themselves.
•A new political party arose out of this in the election
of 1854. They called themselves the “Know Nothing”
party.
•One newspaper writer said the name came from the
idea that “what you don’t know, can’t hurt you”.

82. Bleeding Kansas
As settlers moved West from Missouri, some began to
take their slaves with them.
At the same time, Northern settlers began moving into
the state. Both groups were intent on staking a
claim to the best farmlands.
Violence erupted when an Abolitionist,
John Brown, led a group Northerners
to kill 5 slaveholders.
Remember
the 32, 30
rule? Would
people be
allowed to do
this? How
could it be
stopped?

83. Bleeding Kansas
As settlers moved West from Kansas, they began
to take their slaves with them.
At the same time, Northern settlers began moving
into the state. Both groups were intent on
staking a claim to the best farmlands.
Violence erupted when an Abolitionist,
John Brown, led a group Northerners
to kill 5 slaveholders.

84. Bleeding Kansas
Violence erupted when an Abolitionist, John
Brown, led a group of Northerners to kill 5
slaveholders.
Brown escaped, and went
underground. He continued to
plot and plan.

85. •The fight erupted on the floor of the senate
when antislavery proponent Charles
Sumner was beat over the head by South
Carolina's Senator Preston Brooks in May
of 1856.
•Sumner spent 3 years in recovery.
•Brooks broke his cane.
•Southernor’s sent Brooks new canes.

86. Dred Scott v. Sanford,
1857
Could a slave who traveled
into “free” territory legally
claim that he was now free?
Scott sued his master’s widow for
freedom in a court case that made
it all the way to the Supreme Court.
He lost. Why?

87. For another year, all is relatively calm.

88. John Brown has been called
the catalyst of the Civil War.
What is a catalyst?

89. John Brown’s Raid, 1859
John Brown leads a daring raid on an Army
supply depot at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
His plan? Steal weapons and arm the slaves to
begin their own bid for freedom.

90. John Brown’s Raid, 1859

91. John Brown’s Raid, 1859
His plan? Steal weapons and arm the slaves to
begin their own bid for freedom.
Brown was a big fan of Nat Turner.

92. Brown is hunted
down and captured
by a daring young
soldier,
Robert E. Lee, of
Virginia.

93. •Brown is hung for his
actions.
•In death, he becomes
a martyr to the cause
of anti-slavery.
•Here is a white man
willing to die to end
slavery.
•Are there any more
out there?

94. •Brown is hung for his
actions.
•In death, he becomes
a martyr to the cause
of anti-slavery.
•Here is a white man
willing to die to end
slavery.
•Are there any more
out there?

95. •Brown is hung for his
actions.
•In death, he becomes
a martyr to the cause
of anti-slavery.
•Here is a white man
willing to die to end
slavery!
•Are there any more
out there?

96. •Brown is hung for his
actions.
•In death, he becomes
a martyr to the cause
of anti-slavery.
•Here is a white man
willing to die to end
slavery.
•Are there any more
out there?

97. I John Brown am now
quite certain that the
crimes of this guilty
land will never be
purged away; but with
Blood.
I had, as I now think,
vainly flattered myself
that without very
much bloodshed; it
might be done.
Brown’s Last Words, 1859
Prior to his hanging

98. The dogs
on both
sides are
awake and
snarling!

99. The Election of 1860
America was so fractured, there were 4 main
candidates running for President.
Two men had the possibility of winning:
Abraham Lincoln
Republican and Northerner
vs.
Stephen A. Douglas
Democrat and Southerner

100. Oddly, Douglas won the popular vote, but
Lincoln won the Electoral vote…and the
Presidency.
Lincoln
Douglas
Breckinridge

101. Lincoln had run as an
anti-slavery
candidate.
He received no votes
in the entire South.
The South saw his
election as a
declaration of WAR
on their way of life…
maybe.

102. Lincoln had run as an
anti-slavery
candidate.
He received no votes
in the entire South.
The South saw his
election as a
declaration of WAR
on their way of life…
maybe.

103. Lincoln had run as an
anti-slavery
candidate.
He received no votes
in the entire South.
The South saw his
election as a
declaration of WAR
on their way of life…
maybe.

104. On
December 20, 1860,
(one month after the
election of Lincoln)
South Carolina
seceded from the
Union.
Why?
Over Slavery?

105. Was the Civil War really only
about slavery?
Take a look at this graph…

106. Before Lincoln was even sworn in as
president, seven states had seceded from
the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and
Texas, forming a country called the
“Confederate States of America” (CSA).
The combination of light
and dark greens show
where slavery was legal at
the time that The Civil War
broke out.
* Joined CSA later.
*
*
*
*

107. •Secession Animation

108. White Class Structure in the South, 1860

109. The answer, at least for some people, had to
be “no”.
The truth lies somewhere in between two ideals:
The rights of men to be free, instead of slaves,
and
The rights of states to self-determine their fates,
instead of being told what to do and when to
do it. This is commonly called “states’ rights”.

110. The answer, at least for some people, had to
be “no”.
The truth lies somewhere in between two
ideals:
The rights of men to be free, instead of
slaves, and…
The rights of states to self-determine their fates,
instead of being told what to do and when to
do it. This is commonly called “states’ rights”.

111. The answer, at least for some people, had to
be “no”.
The truth lies somewhere in between two
ideals:
The rights of men to be free, instead of
slaves, and…
The rights of states to self-determine their
fates, instead of being told what to do and
when to do it. This is commonly called
“states’ rights”.

112. Within four months of Lincoln’s inauguration,
America was at war with ourselves, and
the fate of our nation hang in the balance.

114. •The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-
slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily
the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former
Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north except within the boundaries of
the proposed state of Missouri. Prior to the agreement, the House of Representatives
had refused to accept this compromise, and a conference committee was appointed.
•A bill to enable the people of the Missouri Territory to draft a constitution and form a
government preliminary to admission into the Union came before the House of
Representatives in Committee of the Whole, on February 13, 1819. An amendment
offered by James Tallmadge of New York (which was named the Tallmadge
Amendment), which provided that the further introduction of slaves into Missouri
should be forbidden, and that all children of slave parents born in the state after its
admission should be free at the age of 25, was adopted by the committee and
incorporated in the bill as finally passed on February 17, 1819, by the house. The
United States Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and the whole measure
was lost.
•During the following session (1819–1820), the House passed a similar bill with an
amendment, introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York,
allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. The question had been complicated
by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state, making the number of slave
and free states equal. In addition, there was a bill in passage through the House
(January 3, 1820) to admit Maine as a free state.
•The Senate decided to connect the two measures. It passed a bill for the admission
of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state
constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was
adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the
Missouri Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north (the southern boundary of
Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri.

115. The Missouri Compromise, 1820

116. •The Mexican–American War was an armed conflict between the United States
and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of
Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas
Revolution.
•American forces quickly occupied New Mexico and California, then invaded
parts of Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico; meanwhile, the Pacific
Squadron conducted a blockade, and took control of several garrisons on the
Pacific coast further south in Baja California. After Mexico would still not agree
to the cession of its northern territories, another American army captured Mexico
City, resulting in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
•American territorial expansion to the Pacific coast was the goal of President
James K. Polk, the leader of the Democratic Party. However, the war was highly
controversial in the U.S., with the Whig Party and anti-slavery elements strongly
opposed. Heavy American casualties and high monetary cost were also
criticized. The major consequence of the war was the forced Mexican Cession of
the territories of California and New Mexico to the U.S. in exchange for $18
million. In addition, the United States forgave debt owed by the Mexican
government to U.S. citizens. Mexico accepted the Rio Grande as its national
border, and the loss of Texas. The political aftermath of the war raised the
slavery issue in the U.S., leading to intense debates that pointed to civil war.

117. The Mexican Cession, 1848

118. •The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September
1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the
South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired
during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848).
•Texas surrendered its claim to New Mexico, which it had threatened war over, as
well as its claims north of the Missouri Compromise Line, transferred its crushing
public debt to the federal government, and retained the control over El Paso that it
had established earlier in 1850, with the Texas Panhandle (which earlier
compromise proposals had detached from Texas) thrown in at the last moment.
•California's application for admission as a free state with its current boundaries
was approved and a Southern proposal to split California at parallel 35° north to
provide a Southern territory was not approved.
•Two new territories, New Mexico Territory and Utah Territory could in principle
decide in the future to become slave states (popular sovereignty).
•The Southern states demanded a strong Fugitive Slave Act.
•Slave ownership remained legal in Washington, D.C.
•Slave trade was banned in Washington D.C.

119. The Compromise of 1850

120. •The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the
Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to
determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within each
territory. The act was designed by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of
Illinois. The initial purpose of the Kansas–Nebraska Act was to open up many
thousands of new farms and enable the creation of a Midwestern
Transcontinental Railroad.
•It became a problem when popular sovereignty was written into the proposal so
that the voters of the moment would decide whether slavery would be allowed.
The result was that pro- and anti-slavery elements flooded into Kansas with the
goal of voting slavery up or down, leading to a bloody civil war there.
•The conflicts within the two new territories are historically called, “Bleeding
Kansas”.

121. Kansas-Nebraska Act

122. •The United States presidential election of 1860 was held on November 6,
1860, for the office of President of the United States and the “final straw” for
the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided
throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the expansion of slavery
and the rights of slave owners.
•In 1860, these issues finally came to a head. As a result of conflicting
regional interests, the Democratic Party broke into Northern and Southern
factions, and a new Constitutional Union Party appeared. In the face of a
divided opposition, the Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured
enough electoral votes to put Abraham Lincoln in the White House with very
little support from the South.
•Within a few months of the election, seven Southern states, led by South
Carolina, responded with declarations of secession, which was rejected as
illegal by outgoing President James Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln.
Four additional Southern states seceded after the Battle of Fort Sumter.

123. The Election of 1860

124. •The Confederate States of America — South Carolina, Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas — formed a
"permanent federal government" in Montgomery, Alabama. In
response to a call by Lincoln for troops from each state to recapture
Fort Sumter and other lost federal properties in the South, four
additional slave-holding states — Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee,
and North Carolina — declared their secession and joined the
Confederacy.
•Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions
(volunteer forces) from those states. Also aligned with the
Confederacy were the Five Civilized Tribes and a new Confederate
Territory of Arizona Efforts to secede in Maryland were halted by
armed militia. Delaware, though of divided loyalty, did not attempt it.
West Virginia separated from the Confederate state of Virginia in
1863 and aligned with the Union.

125. The 11 Confederate States of America
The 20 United States of America