Chapter 13

AP US History

Politics and Power

• Debates fostered by social and political groups about the role of government in American social, political, and economic life shape government policy, institutions, political parties, and the rights of citizens.

America in the World

• Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

American and National Identity

• The development of and debates about democracy, freedom, citizenship, diversity, and individualism shape American national identity, cultural values, and beliefs about American exceptionalism, and in turn, these ideas shape political institutions and society. Throughout American history, notions of national identity and culture have coexisted with varying degrees of regional and group identities.

Learning Objective H:

• Describe the effects of Lincoln’s election.

01Learning Objective I:

• Explain the various factors that contributed to the Union victory in the Civil War.

02Learning Objective J:

• Explain how Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War impacted American ideals over the course of the war.

03

▪ Was the Republican Party only founded because of slavery? NO!▪ The party also reflected the basic economic

and social changes in American society▪ The Market Revolution was completed &

mass immigration from Europe begins▪ The American economy grew rapidly in the

late 1840s and early 1850s – especially in the North.

▪ Why was the North experiencing this economic growth?▪ Railroads connected the Old Northwest and

the Northeast ▪ These rail lines carried most of the crops and

goods in the nation.

▪ The North was a complex, integrated

economy:

▪ Eastern industrialists marketed

manufacturing goods to the West’s

commercial farmers

▪ Western farmers produced the food urban

easterners consumed.

▪ Northern Life:

▪ Majority of the population lived in rural

areas and small towns.

▪ The majority of northern workers were

industrial.

▪ The impact of the industrial revolution:

▪ Two significant regions:

▪ Atlantic Coast from Boston to Baltimore

▪ the Great Lakes from Chicago to

Pittsburgh to Buffalo.

▪ What about major cities?

▪ New York became the nation’s preeminent

financial, commercial, and manufacturing

center.

▪ Who were the Know-Nothings?

▪ A secret organization whose members, when asked about

its existence, were supposed to reply, “I know nothing.”

▪ What did this group support?

▪ Restricting political office to the native-born and resist the

Catholic Church’s influence in politics.

▪ How did this group impact politics at this time?

▪ In 1854, the Know-Nothings gained seats in Massachusetts’

state elections, electing the governor, all the state’s

congressmen, and most members of the state legislature.

▪ They also won mayoral races in Philadelphia, Chicago,

and San Francisco.

▪ In many places, nativist candidates were a major part of

the “anti-Nebraska” coalition of voters opposed to the

Kansas-Nebraska Act.

▪ In the North, the Know-Nothings combined anti-

Catholicism, antislavery, and a strong dose of temperance

sentiment.

▪ James Buchanan Democratic nominee

▪ Franklin Pierce was seen as too weak.

▪ Stephen Douglas (denounced Lecompton

constitution)

▪ Party platform heavily supported popular

sovereignty in the territories.

▪ Republicans nominated Captain John C. Fermont

"Pathfinder of the West"

▪ 1st presidential election for the new Republican

party

▪ Party platform opposed the extension of slavery in

the territories.

▪ American Party ("know-nothing") nativists

nominated Millard Fillmore

▪ Composed of primarily Protestants reacting to

recent wave of Irish, German, Mexican & Chinese

immigration

▪ anti-Catholic

▪ Supported by remnants of the dying Whig party

▪ Buchanan defeated Fremont 174 to 114

▪ Did President Buchanan know that the Court would be issuing the Dred Scott decision? YES!

▪ What is important about this case? ▪ Dred and Harriett Scott filed freedom suits in 1846

▪ Backed by abolitionists, he sued for freedom on basis of his residence on free-soil (Wisconsin Territory was free soil and doctrine was “once free, always free”).

▪ Missouri denied his freedom petition

▪ 1854: federal circuit court upheld Missouri ruling

▪ The court decision to hear case affirmed Scott’s status as a citizen.

▪ Scott’s lawyers appealed case to the Supreme Court

▪ Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote the opinion. ▪ Taney was a Jacksonian democrat.

▪ What was the ruling:

1. African Americans did not have rights in federal courts

2. Slave states did not have to honor “once free always free”

3. Congress should not have prohibited slavery in Wisconsin

Territory

▪ Impact on America:

▪ One of the most infamous cases in American history.

▪ Dred Scott was purchased by a new master and freed!

▪ The Two-Party system was significantly impacted!

▪ Republicans viewed the Supreme Court as controlled by

Slave Power.

▪ President Buchanan declared that slavery existed in ALL

territories “by virtue of the Constitution”

▪ Buchanan attempted to admit Kansas as a slave state based

on the Lecompton Constitution.

▪ Democratic party split along sectional lines.

▪ Brown’s scheme: invade the South and lead slaves to rise, give them arms, and establish a kind of black free state.

▪ October 1859 -- Seized the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry ▪ 7 innocent people killed including a free black;

ten others wounded. ▪ Brown eventually surrendered to Capt. Robert E.

Lee ▪ Brown and his followers were executed▪ Brown became a martyr in the North

▪ Abolitionists and free-soilers angered by execution.

▪ Moderate northerners deplored Brown’s attack. ▪ Sectional Impact:

▪ Brown seen as an agent of northern abolitionism and anti-slavery conspiracy.

▪ Southern states began to organize militias for protection against future threats.

▪ Perhaps the most immediate cause of disunion besides Lincoln’s election.

Republican: Abraham Lincoln

Northern Democrat: Stephen Douglas

Southern Democrat: John Breckenridge

Constitutional Union: John Bell

▪ Opposed the

expansion of

slavery

▪ Limit slavery – not

abolition.

▪ Popular

Sovereignty

▪ The Union and the

National

government hold

power.

▪ Spread of slavery to

new territories.

▪ Advocated states’

rights over federal

power.

▪ Somewhat avoided

the slavery issue.

▪ Constitution, Union, &

Enforcement of the

laws.

▪ Lincoln was an able leader…

▪ He developed a genius for interpreting and leading a fickle public opinion.

▪ He showed charitableness toward the South and patience toward his backbiting colleagues.

▪ He succeeded in placating people’s fears concerning America enough to win the presidency in 1860.

▪ What issue increased the tensions between the North and the South?

▪ FORTS! As states seceded from the Union, they seized US arsenals, mints, and properties within their borders.

▪ At the time of Lincoln’s first inaugural, only 4 forts continued to be in Union control: 2 Forts near the Florida Keys, Fort Sumter (Charleston) and Fort Pickens (Pensacola)!

▪ The 2 MOST important: Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens!

▪ Why is Fort Sumter significant?

▪ This fort is located at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.

▪ The day after Lincoln’s inauguration, Lincoln was notified by Major Anderson that Fort Sumter’s supplies would run out soon.

▪ If this happened, he would be forced to surrender.

▪ What are Lincoln’s choices?

▪ No supplies = surrender and ruin the credibility of his promise to “hold, possess, and occupy” the fort.

▪ Reinforcements would lead to an armed clash – beginning the Civil War – making the North the provocateur of the war.

▪ Another problem was that Union detachments were unavailable on such short notice.

▪ What solution does Lincoln have?

▪ Notify South Carolina that the expedition was provisions for the garrison and not reinforcements.

▪ South Carolina sees “provisions” as “reinforcements”!

▪ April 12, 1861: Fort Sumter was bombarded by more than 70 Confederate canons.

▪ Anderson’s garrison held for 34 hours and then surrendered.

▪ The Union soldiers were allowed to fire a salute (50 shots), boarded Union boats, and returned to the North.

▪ During the bombardment, there was no loss of life (2 died in the salute)

▪ Fort Sumter’s assault and subsequent surrender provoked the North…Lincoln called for volunteers.

▪ Before the attack, many northerners felt that if the South wanted to go, they should not be forced to stay.

▪ After the attack, the North was provoked to fight for their honor and the Union.

▪ Lincoln’s strategy paid off – the South is now viewed as the aggressor.

▪ April 15th, Lincoln issued a call to the states for 75,000 militiamen for 90 days of service.

▪ What events transpired after April 15th?

▪ April 19th, Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of Southern seaports…which is initially ineffective. Eventually this strangled the South! (Anaconda Plan)

▪ May 3rd, Lincoln issues a call for 3-year volunteers because the militia would not meet the need.

▪ Until April 25th, Washington DC was virtually under siege and a Confederate assault on the capital was expected at any time.

▪ During this time, 4 more states seceded from the Union: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina

▪ The Northern calls for troops aroused the South – viewing Lincoln’s actions as “waging war”

▪ Richmond replaced Montgomery as the Confederate capitol.