American History I
Notes from 6/27 and 6/28

Today we began our discussion of the conditions and events leading up to the American Civil War.  I recapped changes in the American economy, particularly the development of an American textile industry and the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790's that greatly increased the demand for cotton as well as the demand for slaves in the states of the Deep South.  I briefly gave an overview of free society in the South on the eve of the Civil War:

So antebellum (before the war) southern society was extremely stratified, with the small planter class controlling a disproportionate share of wealth and political power.  Slavery served to increase this stratification, because it gave the planter class a tremendous competitive advantage over non-slaveholding Whites.  But non-slaveholders, including poor Whites, continued to support the institution of slavery for a variety of reasons.  First, poor Whites may have resented the wealth and power of the planter class, but they feared the economic competition that free Blacks might pose even more.  Second, many wealthy planters were "self-made" men, and poor whites often aspired to become wealthy slaveholders themselves.  Third, racist doctrines of Black inferiority had become firmly entrenched, and poor Whites could take some measure of consolation in not being at the very bottom of the south's social hierarchy.  By the 1820's, a pseudo-scientific racial theory of biological determinism (physical characteristics like skin color determine intellect and other abilities) was widely accepted, even among American abolitionists.  Moreover, the popularity of minstrel shows by the 1840's perpetuated myths of Negro inferiority, cultivating the image of the happy, childlike slave.  American racial ideology was developing as new immigrants (particularly Irish and later Chinese) came to the U.S., leading to the birth of nativist movements.  Anti-immigrant sentiment would peak in 1853, with the formation of the American Party, better known as the "Know-Nothings."  The Know-Nothing Party also the extension of slavery, which (like immigration) they viewed as a threat to free White workers.

American racial ideology was also developing at the same time that free Blacks in the U.S., having rejected African repatriation schemes, were cultivating their own viable religious, political, social and economic institutions.  I think this point was made very well in yesterday's film.  By 1860, about 11% of the African-American population was free (500,000 out of 4.5 million).  About half of these lived in the southern states.  Free Blacks throughout the nation were denied most of the rights of citizenship.  The right to vote was denied throughout the South, and permitted only in Massachusetts and New York (for a time).  Most states barred Blacks from schools; Connecticut's Prudence Crandall was jailed for educating Black girls as late as 1832.  Blacks were also precluded from making claims to public lands, traveling abroad, or moving freely within the United States.  Some states required Blacks to have White "guardians," and most placed severe restrictions on economic activity among Blacks.  Finally, wherever they lived, Blacks remained segregated by law and custom.

I spent the remainder of the class discussing the sectional crisis leading up to the Civil War.  Recall that at the end of the Mexican-American War (1846-48), the U.S. won the vast territory known as the Mexican Cession, and including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.  Even before the war was over, the question over the status of slavery in these territories was raised.  In 1846 David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania Democrat, introduced legislation in Congress to prohibit slavery in any territories that might be acquired from Mexico.  Although the Wilmot Proviso was ultimately rejected, the intense debate in Congress over its passage sowed distrust and suspicion between Northerners and Southerners and revealed how deeply divided the country was becoming.  These divisions clearly surfaced in the Presidential Election of 1848.  The Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, a Michigan Senator, who argued for popular sovereignty.  This was the idea that people within each territory should decide by referendum whether or not to permit slavery.  The Whig Party (which had emerged during Andrew Jackson's tenure) nominated a hero from the Mexican-American War, Zachary Taylor.  Their strategy was to avoid discussing slavery, instead concentrating on Taylor's record as a war hero.  But the fact that Taylor was a southerner (Louisiana) and a large plantation owner disturbed the abolitionists in the Whig Party, many of whom left the Party after Taylor was nominated.  These "Conscience Whigs" formed a new political party, the Free Soil Party, and nominated the former President, Martin Van Buren as their candidate.  (Van Buren, a New Yorker, had succeeded Andrew Jackson as President in 1837, and served for one term.)  Van Buren's third-party candidacy split the Democratic vote, and Taylor was elected President.  The contest revealed again that slavery had become an issue integral to presidential politics, as well as the fact that the free-soil movement was gaining political clout.

Taylor took office in the midst of an intense debate over the status of slavery in the Mexican Cession, the lands of the west and southwest won from Mexico at the end of the Mexican-American War.  Recall that after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), gold was discovered in California, leading to a massive influx of people to California, an independent Republic that would apply in 1850 for admission to the Union.  California white majority opposed slavery, not on moral grounds but because they feared the competition posed by Blacks, whether slave or free.  Therefore, California applied for admission as a free state.  At the time there were 15 free states and 15 slave states (meaning equal representation in the Senate), but the North enjoyed a 61-vote majority in the House of Representatives.  California's admission as a free state would tip the balance of power even further.  Although Taylor himself was a southerner and supporter of slavery, he was also an ardent expansionist who favored California's admission as a free state.  Taylor also came out in favor of the principle of popular sovereignty in the Utah and New Mexico territories, even though the people there were also likely to vote against slavery.  Southerners resisted California's admission, so once again there was a deadlock.  Henry Clay, one of the architects of the Missouri Compromise (1820), once again proposed a solution:  Admit California as a free state, and allow popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah, and in return give the southerners a stronger Fugitive Slave Act, reinforcing their rights to seize and return to bondage slaves who had fled into free territories or states.  For two months the Senate debated this compromise, which also included a provision to ban the sale of slaves in Washington, D.C., and it appeared deadlocked.  However, the political maneuvering of Illinois Democrat Stephen Douglas, widely considered a rising star in American politics, helped save the Compromise of 1850 on the terms originally proposed by Clay.

In reality, few people were completely satisfied with the Compromise.  Southerners felt they had given up the entire American west, and saw the stronger Fugitive Slave Act as small compensation.  After all, few were willing to bear the expense of sending agents north to recapture runaway slaves.  Meanwhile, in the North, anti-slavery forces were harshly critical of the law, fearing that free Blacks might be kidnapped and fraudulently enslaved under its provisions.  By the 1850's an complex system of safe houses and escape routes, collectively known as the Underground Railroad had developed, and northern abolitionists were committed to providing safe havens for runaway slaves.  So the Compromise of 1850 exacerbated rather than relieved tensions between the two sides.

Abolitionist sentiment was also energized by Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which first appeared in serial form in 1851.  Stowe's depiction of the vicious and sadistic slave master, Simon Legree, was viewed by southerners as a thinly disguised political tract, but to many northerners the novel crystallized the Christian critique of slavery.  By the eve of the Civil War, the novel had sold an unprecedented 3 million copies.

Beginning 6/28

Despite hardening positions on both sides, Stephen Douglas remained convinced that popular sovereignty could still save the Union.  The next great test of that principle would come in the Kansas and Nebraska Territories.  Originally, these territories were "unorganized," and for the most part were not considered particularly habitable.  However, by the late 1840's, enough settlers had moved into the area for it to be organized into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska.

A coalition of free-soilers and abolitionists who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act formed a new political party, the Republicans.  They were joined by former members of the American or Know-Nothing Party, who opposed slavery in the territories for the same reason they opposed immigration -- both were believed to threaten the livelihood of free Whites.  The Republicans nominated Californian John C. Fremont for President in 1856.  Fremont made a respectable showing, but lost to Democrat James Buchanan.  The election of 1856, like prior contests, revealed how divided the country had become, and demonstrated the growing strength of the Republican Party.

Buchanan's presidency (1857-1861) made matters worse.  He had hoped to avoid the political consequences of taking a stand on the issue of slavery in the territories by having the Supreme Court consider the question.  Way back in 1846, and African-American slave couple named Dred and Harriet Scott had sued for their freedom.  Dred Scott had lived several years in the Wisconsin Territory (where he met his wife), and argued that because the Missouri Compromise had prohibited slavery in Wisconsin he was now entitled to emancipation.  Their original petition was denied, but the Scotts filed a number of appeals, ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court.  In 1856, the Court was set to dismiss the Scott's appeal on fairly narrow technical grounds, but President-Elect Buchanan convinced the justices to consider the broader questions raised by the case.

The resulting decision, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) set off a firestorm of protest in the North.  Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney ruled against the Scotts, arguing that as African-Americans (whether slave or free) they could not possibly be citizens of the United States and therefore had no right to sue in federal court.  Indeed, Taney wrote that no African-Americans, whether slave or free, could ever be considered citizens, since the Founding Fathers could not have intended such a result.  Moreover, Taney ruled that back in 1820 Congress had no authority under the Constitution to prohibit slavery in the Wisconsin Territory, or to prohibit slavery in any territory of the United States.  Applying Marbury v. Madison's (1803) principle of judicial review, Taney ruled that the Missouri Compromise had been unconstitutional.  Slave owners were now fully protected if they chose to bring their slaves into western territories, which outraged the anti-slavery forces.  Many abolitionists were now convinced that the time had come for more radical, violent action.

Among these abolitionists was John Brown, Connecticut native who had previously fought in Bleeding Kansas.  In October, 1859, Brown led a raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with the intent of seizing weapons and arming Blacks for rebellion.  Although Brown was quickly captured and hung, the unsuccessful attempt to foment a race war created an atmosphere of crisis and panic in the South, pushing the nation ever closer to the brink of Civil War.

The election of Republican Abraham Lincoln was the final straw.  Lincoln had distinguished himself during his unsuccessful 1858 senatorial campaign against Illinois' Stephen Douglas.  In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, Douglas continued to defend popular sovereignty (despite the disaster in Kansas), while Lincoln argued that the nation could not survive "half slave and half free."  Lincoln argued his personal view that slavery was immoral, while reassuring listeners that he was committed to white supremacy.  Although Lincoln lost the 1858 election to Douglas, he became a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination two years later.  That election had four major candidates: Lincoln, Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrats), John Breckinridge (Southern Democrats) and John Bell (Constitutional Union Party).  Lincoln did not bother to campaign in the South, and only won 39% of the popular vote.  However, he won a majority of the Electoral College, given the North's larger population, and became the nation's 16th president. 

Lincoln's election signaled to states in the Deep South that they had lost the long-played balance-of-power game, and that the federal government would no longer protect the slaveholding interests of the nation.  South Carolina formally seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860, even before Lincoln's inauguration.  The other states of the Deep South followed suit, but in the Upper South and border states people still hoped for compromise.  Lincoln himself wanted to be patient, and once President decided not to take action against the rebellious states as long as they refrained from attacking federal installations within their borders.  However, on April 12, 1861, barely a month after Lincoln took office, the South Carolina militia attacked the federal base known as Fort Sumter, prompting Lincoln to officially declare a state of insurrection.  At that point, the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas declared their secession, and the Civil War was on.