Slavery, Sectionalism and Manifest Destiny

1. Slavery, Sectionalism and Manifest Destiny 1820-1860

2. The South and the Slavery Controversy Chapter 16

3. I. Cotton is King • After Revolution slavery faced an uncertain future, it was logical to think slavery would fade away • Invention of the cotton gin in 1793 changed that • Cotton became dominant crop in the south, created demand for labor and land • Quick profits from cotton drew planters to the Gulf South during this time • Caused economic spiral more cotton = more slaves, if you had more slaves you could buy more land • Northern shippers profited from cotton trade • They shipped it to England • Largest American export after 1840 (1/2 of world’s supply) • Southern leaders knew that cotton production was something they could hold over heads of British

4. Cotton and Slaves 1820 and 1860

5. II. The Planter Aristocracy • South was a society run be elite wealthy planters • Very few owned large amount of slaves • They had tremendous wealth, send children to schools outside of south (kept public education from gaining foothold) • Had a sense of duty to the public • Dominance by planters caused a huge gap between rich and poor • Society almost feudal (lords, manors and serfs) • Shaped the lives of women, they managed the house and the slave staff, most did not support abolition

6. III. Slaves and the Slave System • Search for quick profit led to over cultivation and degradation of the environment • Those that could not make it headed West and North (Butternuts) • Economic structure became monopolistic, land owners concentrated their holdings and bought out small farmers • Land hunger led to over speculation of lands, heavy investment in slaves caused crushing debt for many planters • Dependence on one crop put South at the mercy of the world markets, caused lack of economic diversity that effect region well into the 20th century • Resentment of the northern bankers, middlemen, businessmen intensified as they grew rich off Southern cotton and made profits selling manufactured goods to the South • Slaves and high land prices kept out European immigrants, South had little ethnic diversity

7. IV. The White Majority • 1/4 of families owned slaves • Typically small farmers (more like Midwestern or Northern farmers) • Many owned no slaves at all, they were subsistence farmers (raised corn, hogs) and lived isolated lives • Had no direct stake in slave system but supported it because there was somebody on the social ladder lower than them • Mountain whites in Appalachia disliked blacks and masters and provided strong Union support in the South during the Civil War

8. IV. Free Blacks: Slaves Without Masters • Free blacks in the Upper South (MD, VA, NC) traced origins to Revolution • Lower South most free were mulattoes, some purchased freedom • New Orleans had sizeable free, mulatto community • Seen a third race, could not hold certain occupations, vote • In the North some states would not let them live there, could not attend public schools, competed with Irish for menial jobs • Spread of slavery in new territory grew out of prejudice not humanitarianism

9. V. Plantation Slavery • Number of slaves grew during first half of 1800’s • King Cotton demanded tribute in slave labor • Some smuggled into country (made illegal 1808), most growth due to natural increase • Slaves planters biggest asset and they were treated like investments (for the most part) • Cotton boom sucked slaves from Upper to Lower South • Some states had majority African American populations • Slaves sold at auction, sometimes for bankruptcy • Led to breakup of families, became theme for Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin

10. VI. Life Under the Lash • Conditions for slaves varied from region to region • No slaves had civil or political rights, no labor rights • Beatings and threat of beating substituted for wage-incentive system • Masters were never too harsh because of investment • 1860 most slaves concentrated in “black belt” across Deep South • Region was southern frontier, life was rougher than Upper South • Majority lived on plantations

11. VI. Life Under the Lash • Slaves managed to maintain family life • Kept some African traditions in marriage, descent, religion • Religion was mixture of Christian and African traditions • Focused on themes of persecution in the Bible • Call and response preaching adaptation of caller and dancers from West African traditions

12. VII. The Burdens of Bondage • Slavery denied education, did not want them to get new ideas, question position • Slaves struck back by slowing the pace of work, sabotaging equipment, took goods they produced • All wanted freedom, some ran away • Armed rebellion never worked • 1800 Gabriel Prosser(Richmond, VA), 1822 Denmark Vesey (Charleston, SC), 1831 Nat Turner • All failed, all were hung or were killed • White southerners felt like they were under siege (rebellions, abolitionist propaganda) developed theory of superiority over blacks • American South was one of the world’s last bastions of slavery

13. VIII. Early Abolitionism • First anti slavery societies appeared after Revolution, main support among Quakers • Earliest efforts were to send blacks back to Africa • 1822- American Colonization Society, founded Liberia in West Africa- 15,000 went • Most slaves did not see themselves as Africans • 1830’s slavery becomes moral crusade because of Second Great Awakening • 1833 –British abolish slavery in West Indies • Slavery became a sin • Theodore Weld and “Lane Rebels” preached anti-slavery gospel across Old Northwest

14. IX. Radical Abolitionism • 1831- William Lloyd Garrison publishes first issue of The Liberator, a militantly anti slavery newspaper based in Boston • 1833- American Antislavery society founded • Black Abolitionists – David Walker (promoted bloody end to slavery), Sojourner Truth (advocate for emancipation and women’s rights) • Fredrick Douglass – best known black abolitionist, escaped slave • Wrote Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, detailed his early life and escape

15. IX. Radical Abolitionism • Differences between Garrison and Douglass • Garrison known as inflexible, self righteous, impractical • Provided no alternative to country without slavery • Denounced politics • Many abolitionist questioned the role of women (Garrison supported women) • Douglass- used politics to end slavery • New political parties emerge in 1840’s based on abolition of slavery • Liberty Party (1840), Free Soil Party (1848), Republican Party (1850’s)

16. X. The South Lashes Back • Before 1830’s some antislavery sentiment in the south • 1831 publication of Liberator, Nat Turner Rebellion, Nullification Crisis of 1832 • All turned tide in South • White southerners saw threat to way of life, began to defend slavery • Justifications- supported by Bible, good for civilization depraved Africans, master- slave relationship was like a family (contrasted with industrial wage earners in northern factories) • 1836 Southerners in House pass Gag Resolution, tables all debate on slavery (defied by John Quincy Adams) • Postmasters given permission to destroy abolitionist material across South • Widened gap between north and south

17. XI. Abolitionist Impact in the North • Abolitionists unpopular in many parts of the north • Seen as too radical • Heavy economic stake in south; cotton production for factories, money owed to northern banks • Abolitionists seen as rocking the boat • Mobs attacked abolitionists • By 1850’s issue of territorial expansion, other factors put many in north on side of abolitionists

18. Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy Chapter 17

19. Gone to Texas • Americans want Texas, remote backwater of Spanish Empire • US abandoned claim in 1819 • 1823- new Mexican government gives land to Stephen Austin to bring settlers • 2 conditions settlers had to become Mexican citizens, become Catholic • Ignored by settlers, annoyed by presence of Mexican soldiers and government • Settlers typical American individualist, did not want to be pushed around • Slavery an issue, outlawed in Mex., settlers brought slaves anyway • 1836 Mex. Leader Santa Ana attempts to repress Texans independence

20. The Lone Star Rebellion • Early 1836 Texans declare independence • Santa Anna attacks Alamo and Goliad become rallying cries for Texans, galvanized Americans behind Texas cause • Gen. Sam Houston lures Mexicans east to San Jacinto (near present day Houston), and defeats Santa Anna • Forces Santa Anna to sign treaty giving land to Rio Grande to Texas and removing troops from region • Mex. Does not recognize agreement • Texas becomes an independent republic but wanted to be part of the United States • Refused admission, abolitionists did want new slave state • Seen as a plot against slavery to Southerners

21. I. The Accession of “Tyler Too” • 1840’s territorial expansion dominated politics, diplomacy • War with Mexico, gained territory from Texas to California and questions of status of slavery • 1841 William Henry Harrison (Whig) elected and died in office • Real leaders of Whigs Clay, Webster tried to push agenda, thwarted by John Tyler (VP, now president) • Tyler supporter of states rights • Clay and others tried to push nationalistic political agenda • Whigs pushed for new bank, tariffs; all vetoed by Tyler

22. II. War of Words with Britain • British looked down on Americans, increased tension with America • Americans borrowed extensively from British banks (many defaulted on loans during Panic of 1837) • 1837 Caroline incident with Canada, 1841 slaves offered asylum in Bahamas (southern fear of Caribbean becoming haven for escaped slaves), 1842 border disputes in Maine (settled by Webster- Ashburton Treaty)

23. III. Texas and Oregon • 1836- Texas achieves independence, not recognized by Mexico • Britain, France interested in Texas as place for cotton production, check American power • Texas as independent nation threatened US • Presidential campaign 1844 issue of expansion • Texas annexed by joint resolution of Congress 1844 • James K. Polk won election on expansion platform • Texas became state 1845 • Oregon country enormous wilderness • Claimed by many different countries until 1825, then only US and Britain • British claims based on occupation • American claims based on exploration and occupation • 1830’s American missionaries settle Willamette Valley, stimulates interest of Americans • 1840’s number of Americans increases, came over Oregon Trail • British had few settlers, weaker claim than Americans

24. IV. Manifest Destiny and the Election of 1844 • Election of 1844 between Henry Clay and James Polk • Major election issue Manifest Destiny • Feeling that America’s duty was to spread ideals of democracy across continent (idea of expansion and liberty) • Expansion ignored national boundaries, came at the expense of others • Expansionist Democrats won election felt they had a mandate to take Texas and Oregon • New President James K. Polk had 4 point program – lower tariff, create independent treasury, acquire Oregon and California • 1846 US and Britain compromise on Oregon territory border (dying fur trade made British lose interest in Oregon)

25. V. War with Mexico • Americans wanted San Francisco and San Diego Bays as ports on Pacific and to expand American trade to Asia • Americans saw weakness in Mexican control of borderlands • Polk eager to buy California, Mexicans would not sell • Wanted California to balance admission of Texas with a free state • US/Mexico issues over boundary of Texas • Mexican claim was boundary at Nueces River, American claim was Rio Grande • Rumors of British wanting to purchase California, could not be tolerated under Monroe doctrine • 1846 Polk sends troops to Texas, march from Nueces River to Rio Grande • April 1846 US soldiers killed and Polk asks for war, Congress overwhelmingly supports it

26. V. War with Mexico • Many northerners and Whigs saw this as a land grab and war for extension of slavery • Lincoln (then Rep. from Illinois) pushes “spot resolutions” to show where blood was shed on American soil • Both sides wanted war, America to teach Mexicans a lesson, Mexicans saw US a bully to the north • South and West supported war • The US unprepared for the war. Ill equipped volunteers filled the American army • Advantages over the Mexican military that had outdated equipment and little motivation to fight. • American industrial base to prepare and equip an army, superior leadership • United States won easily over the Mexican forces in 1847 • California- John Fremont led a revolt against Mexican rule and declared the state “The Bear Flag Republic”

27. V. War with Mexico • 1848- War ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo • Gave US vast new territory, paid Mexico $15 million dollars for land • Many Americans thought that US should not stop with Mexico • European countries had new respect for American military • The Mexican American War was a blatant war of conquest that would have occurred through migration eventually • The war also trained the next generation of generals (Lee, Grant) to fight America’s next war – the Civil War • Turning point in US relations with Latin America, became suspicious of “Colossus of the North” • War aroused issue of slavery and its expansion • 1846- David Wilmot tries to introduce amendment that slavery should not exist in new territory, never passed the Senate but symbolized issue of slavery in territories (Wilmot Proviso)

28. Renewing the Sectional Struggle1848-1854 Chapter 18

29. Differences between the North and South

30. I. Popular Sovereignty Panacea • 1848 war with Mexico ends, issue of extending slavery opened up, split politics along sectional lines, North and South • Political parties had appealed to people across sectional lines, during this period it was split by northern abolitionists and southern fire-eaters • Election of 1848- Democrats turn to Lewis Cass, war hero, Democratic platform was silent on the issue of slavery • Lewis Cass was not, he supported “popular sovereignty” to determine status of slavery • Idea took question of slavery out of national politics and made it a series of local issues; followed democratic ideal of self determination

31. II. Political Triumphs of General Taylor • Whigs nominate Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor (Clay was old, had too many enemies) • Pushed personality of candidate • Anti slavery people not satisfied with either candidate, establish own party “Free Soil” Party • Free Soil Party- for Wilmot Proviso, broadened appeal by advocating federal aid for internal improvements, free government homesteads for settlers in new territory • Party attracted industrialists from North, those who wanted cheap land in west to allow free white workers a chance to make money • Nominate Van Buren as candidate • Foreshadowed emergence of Republican party

32. III. “Californy Gold” • 1848 gold discovered in California, Americans flock to region to strike it rich • 300,000 go to CA (forty-niners) • Most money made by those that provided services to miners • Influx of settlers overwhelm territorial government, to bring order they draft a constitution in 1849 (it excluded slavery), and tried to bypass territorial stage, Taylor saw it as a way to end stalemate over slavery • He felt slavery could be permitted where it existed but not expanded • Supported by free soilers; appalled Southern politicians, knew it would upset balance of slave and free states

33. IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad • 1850- South relatively well off, cotton prices high, political sentiment was in their favor, president was southern, political sectional balance was well maintained • South worried that new territory would be free and upset the sectional political balance (California, New Mexico, Utah) • Texas and New Mexico dispute over border, Texas threatened to send troops to take Santa Fe in defiance of federal government

34. IV. Sectional Balance and the Underground Railroad • Southerners angered by runaway slaves and assistance of Underground Railroad • Assisted by abolitionists it was a series of “stations” where slaves were safe during their escape to freedom • Southerners upset at prospect of abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia • Southerners wanted stronger fugitive slave laws, free states refused to cooperate to capture slaves • Upset with moral righteousness of abolitionists • Said Constitution protected slavery and laws that Congress passed to provide for slave catching

35. V. Twilight for the Senatorial Giants • 1850- Congress needed to act decisively on issue of slavery before country fell apart • Last of second generation statesmen- Webster, Calhoun, Clay were at center of fixing issue (or arguing against it) • Clay and Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced a series of compromises to solve problem • Wanted north and south to make concessions • Calhoun upheld Southern position of states rights and political balance, argued that slaves were property and protected by 5th Amendment and Article IV of Constitution • March 7th speech- Webster gave impassioned speech about compromise and was accused as being a traitor to the north, speech helped turn tide for compromise in north • These politicians were the last of a generation to support union at all costs ,new breed more sectional in outlook

36. VI. Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill • Young Guard from north led by William Seward of NY argued sections could no longer compromise • Said the was a “higher law” to be followed • President Taylor also believed in higher law and was bent on vetoing any action by Congress • Taylor dies suddenly in 1850 and new president Millard Fillmore signed series of compromise measures known as Compromise of 1850 • Many eager to compromise because of prosperity brought by gold riches from California and growing spirit of goodwill • Southern extremists still opposed to concessions and planned to meet in Nashville to secede from Union

37. VII. Balancing the Compromise Scales • Compromise 1850- series of bills passed to end slavery question, for the most part it favored the North • California admitted as a free state • New Mexico, Utah organized a territories, open to slavery on basis of popular sovereignty (not going to be slave) • Land dispute between Texas and NM settled, NM given land, TX receives $10m to pay off government debt • Slave trade outlawed in D.C. • Most controversial part was Fugitive Slave law • Escaped slaves could not testify on their behalf or given a trial by jury, bounty paid to federal commissioners, people found aiding slaves were subject to criminal penalties

38. VII. Balancing the Compromise Scales • Northerners became galvanized around issue of slavery and many states passed personal liberty laws • Many would not support law, further turned tide against south; it became a moral issue • Sectional balance would favor north and growing population would insure it • North was more industrial and wealthy • Through the 1850’s they gained moral and material strength • South dug in their heels to protect their way of life

39. Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Published in 1852, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe (daughter of anti slavery minister) united northerners against slavery • Made slavery seem “real”, not removed from everyday life • Showed indignity of slavery from cruel masters to the ripping apart of slave families • Best selling novel of the 1800’s

40. VIII. Defeat and Doom for the Whigs • 1852- Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire nominated by Democrats, held pro southern views, wanted territorial expansion, endorsed Compromise of 1850, seen as compromise candidate • Took votes away from southern Whigs, also he was a weak and indecisive man • Whigs nominate another war hero Winfield Scott • Campaign based on personality and Pierce wins • Spelled the end of the Whig party, end of national politics • Legacy was it was the party of union and great leaders (Clay and Webster)

41. IX. Expansionist Stirrings South of the Border • Expansionist impulses of the late 1840’s led to the Young America movement • Thought they could transform world through spreading of “American” institutions (democracy, capitalism; part of reforming impulse of antebellum America) • Latin America-Clayton- Bulwer Treaty of 1850 with British to secure right of transit across isthmus of Panama (later used to justify land grab for Panama Canal) • Southerners wanted new slave territory, looked to Central America • William Walker briefly was president of Nicaragua and made slavery legal (he was eventually executed) • Cuba had a large population of slaves but it was controlled by Spain • 1850, 1851 two filibustering expeditions sent to Cuba but were repelled and tension escalated between Spain and US • Secretly US, France and Britain draft Olmsted Manifesto that recommended US could take Cuba if certain conditions met • Northern free soilers protested and the Pierce administration backed off of plans

42. X. The Allure of Asia • West coast possessions made US Pacific power • Americans wanted to enter Asian markets • 1844 Americans gain entry to Chinese trade and missionaries (compromised cultural integrity of China in the long run) • 1852 Millard Fillmore sends US navy under leadership of Matthew Perry to open trade with Japan • Japan had been closed off from the rest of the world for 200 years but show of American military forced open society, within a decade the “Meiji Restoration” would modernize Japan

43. XI. Pacific Railroad Promoters and the Gadsden Purchase • New western territory needed to be connected to rest of country, transcontinental railroad was a necessity • Northern and southern sections competed to see would have the railroad and the wealth that went with it • James Gadsden purchased piece of desert from Mexico in 1853 for 10 million • Purpose was for southern rail route that would have been easier to build and it went through already organized territory, easier to protect with US military

44. XII. Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Scheme • 1854- Stepen Douglas “The Little Giant”, sought to break the deadlock of western expansion • Called the Kansas-Nebraska Act • He proposed a northern route for the railroad, it would begin in Chicago and spread a string of settlements to the Pacific • To gain southern support he split the Nebraska Territory into two parts-Kansas and Nebraska, their status regarding slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty • Problems- it contradicted the Missouri Compromise, a sacred sectional pact • President Pierce supported the plan • Douglas also had other motives- he owned land along the proposed route and he wanted to be president • Douglas defeated the free soil group in Congress and pushed the bill through

45. XIII. Congress Legislates a Civil War • Kansas-Nebraska Act greased the slope to the Civil War • Northerners saw the events of the previous decade as a southern conspiracy (popular theme in American history) • Compromise was harder to come by , each side would not give in to the other • Democrats torn apart by the Kansas-Nebraska Act and would not put another president into the White House for 28 years • Caused the Republican party to emerge, it consisted of anti-slavery groups, Know-Nothings, Free-Soilers • It quickly gathered strength in the years leading up to 1860, the party was supported only in the north

46. Drifting Toward DisunionThe 1850’s Chapter 19

47. I. Stowe and Helper: Literary Incendiaries • Hope for compromise and keeping Union together fell apart in the last half of the 1850’s • Kansas erupted into violence, the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision validated feeling of a “Southern conspiracy” • Attitudes on both sides hardened • 1852Uncle Tom’s Cabin published, novel had great political force- no Northerner wanted to support “peculiar institution”; also popular across Europe • 1857Impending Crisis of the South by Hinton Helper tried to prove that non-slave holders in South suffered the most from slavery (poor whites could not get ahead) • Planter elite feel attacked from all sides

48. II. The North-South Contest for Kansas • Kansas issue on popular sovereignty came to a head • Various groups came to Kansas- regular pioneers, groups financed by northern abolitionists (some armed by New England Emigrant Aid Company) • Southern spokesmen under the impression Kansas would be slave, Nebraska free and began to sponsor slave owning families to move to Kansas (risky to take slaves to region) • 1855- crisis in Kansas blows up (Bleeding Kansas) • Elections for first territorial legislature, many came over border from slave state Missouri to vote (early and often) • Slavery forces won election, free soilers see this as an illegal conspiracy and set up own government • State home to two separate governments • Tension increased when proslavery raiders attacked free town of Lawrence

49. III. Kansas in Convulsion • 1856- John Brown, insanely dedicated abolitionist, moved to Kansas • Led a band of abolitionist to a pro slavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek and hacked to death a group of five proslaveryites and brought swift retaliation from proslavery forces • Civil war erupted in Kansas after this attack • 1857 Kansas applies for admission to US with proslavery constitution (Lecompton Constitution) approved in 1857 • Constitution supported by President Buchanan, many saw this a popular fraudulency • Issue divided Democratic party along north-south lines and broke last strands that kept Union together

50. IV. “Bully” Brooks and His Bludgeon • 1856- US Senator Charles Sumner (MA) and Congressman Preston Brooks (SC) demonstrated how inflamed the political passions had become • Sumner gave a two day long speech on slavery and the Kansas issue • During the speech he insulted a relative of Brooks and he attacked and beat Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor • Brooks resigned and was reelected, Sumner had to leave office because of his injuries and his Senate seat remained empty