Early 1800s Ideologies
The belief that God had chosen the United States to spread across North America engaging in the great experiment of Democracy.
Manifest Destiny
Why did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 outrage many Northerners?
Forced Northerners to catch escaped slaves
What were three advantages the North held over the South at the beginning of the Civil War?
Larger population: more people to both fight as well as keep the economy going
Factories: helpful for building boots and guns for the war
Railroads: made transporting troops and supplies much easier
Established government: did not need to set up the country's leadership or infrastructure
Established navy: had much greater command of the seas
Freedmen's Bureau
What two strategies did the Southern states use to disenfranchise Black voters?
Poll taxes: had to pay a fee to vote that poor freedmen could not afford
Literacy tests: had to pass impossible 'literacy tests'
Grandfather clauses: these poll taxes and literacy tests only applied to new voters (which disproportionally impacted Black voters)
Intimidation: organizations like the KKK discouraged African Americans from voting with threat of violence
Explain the concept of popular sovereignty in regards to the Civil War.
How did the Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily settle western slavery disputes? (3 things)
Set a border line at the 36°30′ parallel
Added Missouri as a slave state
Added Maine as a free state
What were three advantages the South had at the beginning of the Civil War?
Home turf advantage: it is easier to defend and hold your ground than it is to invade / they also knew the land better than the North
Superior military leadership: US's strongest generals like Robert E Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson were located in the South
Highly motivated: believed their culture and way of life was at stake.
Better relationships with England: because of the cotton trade they had strong relationships with European countries
What was the promise of Special Field Orders 15 and how did they fail?
All new Freedmen were promised 40 acres and a mule.
After the death of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson reversed the decision, and revoked giving freedmen the promised land.
What political event officially ended Reconstruction?
Election of 1876 / Compromise of 1877:
Republican Ruthersford Hayes got to be President but ...
All troops had to be removed from the South
Reconstruction had to be officially declared over
Explain the difference in beliefs between free soilers and abolitionists.
Free soilers: wanted to prevent slavery from spreading to new territories because it was bad for poor white people
Abolitionists: they thought it was evil to enslave people and wanted to eradicate slavery entirely
What about John Brown's raid sent Southern States into a tizzy?
Brown trying to start a race war confirmed their fears that the North hated them and was out to destroy the South by any means necessary.
What was the legal effect of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863?
How was it limited?
How was it a military strategy?
It freed slaves but only in rebelling Confederate states.
It was meant to remove these slaves from the Southern economy and use them to boost the Northern military.
Identify the impact of each of the following ...
The 13th Amendment
The 14th Amendment
The 15 Amendment
13th Amendment: Abolished slavery
14th Amendment: All people born in the U.S. are citizens and received equal protection from the law regardless of color
15th Amendment: All men get the right to vote regardless of color
How did sharecropping continue to disadvantage African Americans long after reconstruction.
African Americans (and poor white people) had to essentially rent the land and tools from the old plantation owners, often at a higher cost than what they could make, resulting in them getting poorer despite working hard.
What did the Supreme Court rule in the famous 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision and what were its two implications? (Try to come up with three effects of Dred Scott v. Sandford)
Black people were property
- As property they did not have the right to sue in court
- As property the could be taken anywhere (including 'free states' where slavery was illegal)
What was the final chance Lincoln gave to the South in an attempt to avoid war.
The South would need to allow supplies to reach Fort Sumter unharmed. (The South ended up attacking this supply line.)
What was the goal of the Gettysburg Address and in what way was it a military strategy?
The goal was to reframe the war a moral effort to end slavery.
Sought to prevent European countries like England from allying with the South.
Daily Double: Who was the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate?
Hiram Rhodes Revels
The outcome of Plessy v Ferguson resulted in Southern states feeling emboldened to pass these racist laws enforcing segregation (keeping Black and White people seperated)?
Jim Crow