The Fugitive Act was passed : If a slave escapes, government will do everything to give the slave back to the owner. There was the American-Mexican war, the social movement ( with education). And There were political scandals and arguments over slavery : Harriet Beechen Stowe wrote in 1852 " Uncle's Tom cabin". This described the harsh treatment of slaves, it outraged the Northeners and southerners. October 16, 1859 : Harper's ferry : There was an incident, John Brown was for the abolition of slavery, some attacked the armury at Harper's ferry. People gave munitions to slaves for them to be able to defend themselves. This uprising was the idea of John Brown. But, the plans didn't work and several people were killed and captured and particularly John Brown. A lot of northern abolitionists agreed with John Brown's action. Dec 20, 1840 : South Carolina : First state and then there were Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. They suceded ( to withdraw) from the union, the nation. In fac, in February 1841, there were delegates from the southern states who tried to organize, they called themselves the Confederate States of America. In April 12, 1861 There was an incident in Charleston (Fort sumter), there were exchanges of shots between troups. This was actually the Civil war or the War between the States. Volunteers were called for the union army. Lincoln called for volunteers and then union troops were sent down. People didn't want to be told what to do. States didn't want help by the government and especially North didn't to be dependent from the South as far as slavery is concerned. During this war, thousands of people were killed and states were devastated. When troops were coming up to houses, people did hide animals and silver. Abraham Lincoln is an important character frop the Civil war. He advocated the abolition of slavery. Lincoln saw the independance of the 7 states as a resurrection, he knoew this was for the peace of the union. But, it lead to the war. The civil war was thought in 3 main stages :
- Between Richmond and Washington DC
- Between Ohio River Valley, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.
- Mississippi River Valley
The first year of the Civil was devastating. Trade via harbours : sugar, rhum.
In July 1861, there was the first great battle of the civil war : Battle of Bull Run : The confederate troups crushed the union troops. This is the battle that made Lincoln realize that it wouldn't be a little rebellion but actually a real violent war. Out west, there were battles also. Ulysses S. Grant was a union army man, he had gratuated from the university and actually went to school with a lot of confederate soldiers. He said "keep on moving". In 1862, there was another big battle in Tennessee : Battle of Shiloh ( 20 000 dead people approx). A man was elected as President of the Confederacy : Jefferson Davis. In 1862, he signed the confederate Act. This was the first military draft of the USA. Then, Jefferson was forced to drop a similar bill : drop a major that called ...April 1852 : New Orleans were under the union command. June 1862 : Robert E. Lee took control of the confederate armies. September 1862 : Emancipation Proclamation : it was important but never really did what it promised to do. Jan 1, 1863 : Lincoln " anyone held in terrotory who was ...free". A lot of the bordern states along the confederacy joined the union, this made the Emancipation Proclamation a tricky document. Were they actually wery free ? No, after this document, there was never one slave freed. When the southerners heard about the Eproclamation, it confirmed for them that Lincoln wanted to force them to abandon slavery. Because of the proclamation, France and Britain both decided not to recognize the confederacy. If France and Britain had done so, this would mean tha they endorse slavery; For the northerners, they supported Lincoln but after the proclamation, it made them less supporting for the war; if slaves were freed, they would come to the North. 1863 was a very hard year on both sudes : decimation etc... and there were hard times : confederacy decided to have their money. A lot of people moved out west not to choose between North and South. On October 24n, 1861 : There was the first telegraph message. Before that, there was the Pony Express ( 10 days) : mail delivery service. During the civil war, there was also a lot of attacks by indians of people. Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 : a lot ob fkilled people. March 1864 : new chief of the union troups. There was the general Shermann and another man. Shermann " leave ..with his eyes to whip".
Grant :
Both sides were out of food, energy... April 9 1865 Court House : ( been at west point : military academy). Grant allowed soldiers to use their arms. There are approw 650 000 troops dead on with sides. There were a lot of sicknesses. Racism.
How to rebuild ? Etc... Reaclimated the slave's community. April 14, 1865 : Lincold was at ford's theater and during the pkay he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson took over the power f President after Lincoln.
After the Civil war, there were 2 problems for the Union : - How to readmit southern states
- How to redefine the status of slave ?
During the Civil war, there was a period of reconstruction, this lasted 10 years and there were many acts and amendments add to the Constitution for the citizenship. Government really wanted to created a new social status in the south. After some successes, there were northern politicians and turned more to an issue of ecobomics. Before Lincoln's death, Congress had passed the 13th amend in Feb 1865. This abolished slavery and this was ra tified in december 1865. When Andrew Johnson became President, he posted some povisional soldiers and troups and privional governers in the southern states. How to readmit them ? Government came up that after 10% of the citizens of a state who agreed to be loyan to the union, there would be a readmission. They received amnesty and were pardoned. Over the next few years, the confederate states returned to the union and they actually admitted they were wrong. Even though the Union admitted the former confederate states, there was still a certain animosity.A lot of southerners did not like the idea of abolition of slavery so the Black codes was invented. It was a way of getting back at the Northern government and insured that the newly freed slaves were not get out of hand. These codes guaranteed the freedmen some rights like marriage, ownership of property and the right to testify in court against Blacks ( blacks against blacks). Former slaves were free but not very liberated, slaves were happy and a lot left their farms but out of these they didn't know what to do. They were abandoned. April 1866 : 14th amend was passed : It was said that all persons born or naturalized in the US are citizens and no State could take away their rights without due process of law. There was a right to vote for any adult male and if you deny this right, there would be a reduction of representation in Congress. All Confederate southern office holders ( mayors etc..) couldn't hold government jobs. The Union refused also to pay for confederate debts. This amend angered and the ancient confederate states thought that it should bring more protection etc.. A lot of Southern democrats didn't agree with the rights of former slaves. It was a key issue during this period of reconstruction. The North was afraid because without the Black vote, the Northern republican could not stai in place.
1869, 15th amend was passed and it was ratified in 1870 : Secures and prohibits the denial of voting rights to any person. It was to reorient the mentality of persons because there was a lot of racism. By 1870, the 3 amendments had abolished slavery, affirmed the rights of citizens and these amendments were very important in the public cases. Congress had readmitted the former condeferate states in the Union. Only in the US had freedman gained political rights. Many former slaves took government jobs. Many people fought for education etc..some people were not educated. After the Civil war, a lot of public projects were destinated for the South. After the Civil war there were 3 types of people ( that Southerners hated) : - Carpetbaggers : People from the North, a lot of activists. Their bags were usually made out of carpets. They wanted to make financial profits, not interested in the South only in themselves and profit.
- Scalawags : Southerners uneducated poor and white people. They were turning to the republican way of thinking. Usually, they were slave owners and looking for personal or political gain. They manipulated slaves some rights such as the voting right but said that this rights was paying for example.
- Masses of former slaves
Many southerners were outraged because with the northern rules, there was no workforce anymore and so no way to make money. There were vigilante groups ( terrorists) and in Tennessee in 1866 the Ku Klux Klan was created. It was a protectionist group that wanted to intimidate black voters.
During the reconstruction, there was a lot of ex-slaves who could move physically, they were liberated and for the 15 to 25 years, many former slaves left their homes looking for loved one who has been sold. Black migrated north and west. They were discriminated. It was possible for former slaves to buy land but it was difficult because there was no money to be had and for whites, it was reluctant to sell to a black person.
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