Election of 1860

In class we learned about the election of 1864. We talked about the events leading up to it, such as Harper's Ferry and Scott v Sanford. We talked about the candidates, and the winner, Lincoln. We also talked about the aftermath of the war, when the southern states seceded from the union. This split of the United States strengthened an ongoing debate about slavery, which split the union and the confederacy apart even more.






The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, at the Capitol, Washington, March 4, 1861.  1861-03-16, Homer, Winslow.

[Reissue, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, June 27, 1857, courtesy of National Park Service, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial]

“An Old-Time Photographer and His Reminiscences,” Photographic Times and American Photographer (New York) 25:681 (5 October 1894): 226. In Gary W. Ewer, “The Daguerreotype: An Archive of Source Texts, Graphics, and Ephemera. http://www.daguerreotypearchive.org/texts/P8940004_BRADY_PHOTO-TIMES_1894-10-05.pdf .

Newberry Library. "Our Banner in the Sky." Home Front: Daily Life in the Civil War North.http://publications.newberry.org/digitalexhibitions/exhibits/show/homefront/introduction/introbanner.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor
1861

Finkelman, Paul. His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid. University of Virginia Press, 1995.

Stats and Strategies

Civil War | Create infographics

In my infogram, I decided to put a map at the beginning to show what states were being controlled by who. I think this is important to begin the infographic because it gives you an initial idea about who owns what and how things are layed out. Next, I showed the three people to show you that 1 out of 3 people owned slaves in the south. This is important because it shows that millions of people owned slaves. Next I showed some important factors of the war, and what quantities the north and south had. This shows how each item could have impacted the war. Next, I showed the Northern and Southern advantages. This is important because it gives information on how both sides created their military strategies. Lastly is a picture of the northern war plan. Below that are the northern and southern war strategies. These are important because you can see how the strategies go against each other and who had what advantages. This helps you understand what the sides were going through because you can see that each side had strengths and weaknesses, and it shows how they will use their strengths and exploit their opponents weaknesses.

Slavery Entrenched

         In the early 19th century, slavery became entrenched in US society. At the turn of the decade, slavery was slowly dying out. The only cotton that was efficient to harvest grew only on the coasts, so most of the slaves were located there. The problem with the inland cotton was that there were seeds in it that took too long to pull out one by one. A young man named Eli Whitney, a recent Yale graduate, needed money to pay off debts. He went down south to Georgia to become a tutor on a plantation. While in Georgia, Whitney learned about the challenges of growing cotton, and was encouraged to find a solution. Thus he created the cotton gin, which he patented and made large profits from. This invention spread across the southern states and revitalized the slave industry. In 1790, two years before the invention of the cotton gin, there were 690,000 slaves in the United States who produced 1.5 million pounds of cotton. By 1860, there were 4 million slaves who produced 2.28 billion pounds of cotton. This was 57% of America's export revenue, at a total of 191.8 million dollars. The price of a slave went from $500 to $1500 during this time period as well. It is clear that the invention of the cotton gin caused an economic uproar in America that caused the number of slaves and the export revenue in the south to grow exponentially.


Cotton Gin



How does a system of slavery based on race affect  human dignity?What human characteristics does such a system tend  to ignore?

John Brown was a antislavery activist that lived in the 19th century. While many questioned his tactics, others supported his cause. He was loved by many northerners, but hated by the southerners. He is most famous for breaking into an armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His goal was to seize weapons to give to slaves in order to start a rebellion. His plan was not a success. Local troops killed 8 of the men with Brown, and a detachment of US marines captured Brown. 3 months later, he was hanged for treason. Some payed respect for John. Others called him a martyr for America's freedom. The people of the south thought that he was outrageous. What brown did may not have been right in all people's eyes, but the end goal was worth it in the end.





John Brown

In Futa Jallon, Africa, slavery was different. The main religion was Muslim, and all non Muslims were the slaves. In Futa Jallon, ethnicity didn't matter. Religion was so important to them, that it didn't matter what your skin color was, only what your religion was. Also, the generation of slave children were given freedom and were allowed to own slaves of their own. They could own land and harvest crops, just how their masters had done to them before. In Natchez, Mississippi, the story was different. Slavery was based on race. The owners were brutal. There were large numbers of slaves concentrated on large plantations. The owners of these slaves were only the few, rich white plantation owners. The free blacks had limitations on what they could do and what choices they could make. The slaves were so desperate to see their families that they would sneak out and endure the punishment just to do so. The rich people from America always wanted more slaves. Ships of white men would go to Africa and ambushing colonies and taking their men to become slaves. The African people had to submit because they did not have the guns that many American men had.



Natchez, MI Slave Auction








Mapping History Activity
Cotton Gin Reading
John Brown Document

Elephant in the Room

In the 19th century, slavery was the center of everything. Anyone running for office needed to voice their opinion on the debate. Some argued for change, and others wanted to keep the same ways. The arguments boiled into new laws, and eventually war. In class we researched 8 events that led to the beginning of the civil war.

Kansas-Nebraska Act
After the creation of a transcontinental railroad in the south, the north felt like they needed the same. Unfortunately, it would have to go through Kansas and Nebraska, which were unorganized states at the time. Thus the Kansas-Nebraska act was created. It stated that Kansas and Nebraska would have slavery based on popular sovereignty. It also gave the north permission to make a transcontinental railroad. This was good for the south because it gave southerners the ability to spread slavery into the north, where it had not been allowed before. It was good for the north because they would move people and product to the west, which they couldn't have done before.

Bleeding Kansas
As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska act, people from all over the country flooded into Kansas and Nebraska to populate them. Whether these two states had slavery or not depended on the people who came. This caused fighting for the land and the state as a whole. There were two capitals in Kansas. The antislavery capital was Topeka, and the slavery capital was Lecompton. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was an antislavery activist. He gave the speech "The Crime Against Kansas." This was a speech against the southerners for trying to take Kansas as a slavery state because it was in the north. He specifically spoke against a senator from North Carolina, Andrew Butler and his proslavery views.

The Caning of Sumner 
After Sumner's two day speech, many people were done with hearing from him. A man from the House of Representatives named Preston Brook, who also happened to be Andrew Butler's nephew, approached Sumner. He took his cane and severely beat Sumner. This showed that the controversy of slavery can cause even the most civilized people to resort to violence. This was good for the northerners because it gave the south a bad image.

The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave from the south who traveled to the north with his owner with his wife Harriet. His owner died there, so Scott argued that he should become free. The case was called Scott v. Sanford, and it was brought all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They voted 7 to 2 against Scott. There were 3 important changes that came of this case. Slaves were denied the right to sue in court, slaves could not have freedom from just living in free states, and all territories were open to slavery. This was a huge loss for the north because all northern states could be open to slavery now, as well as many slaves having even more restrained rights.

It is clear that from these events and the others listed on the timeline above that war was brewing. It was bound to come, but when it would come was yet to have come.

Women's Reform

In mid 19th century America, there was a demand for women's equality. In the picture above, there are circles around some of the items that a mother may have to take care of. She would have to teach the kids how to read, take care of the baby and the dog, as well as various other things. They were expected to do all of the household chores. While this may seem like a typical household, it would likely be a little different. It would probably be more hectic, The children might not be getting along, and the mother might be cooking a meal for her husband who will soon arrive at home.

In 1848, a list of Laws and Practices was made. This enraged many women because there were some rules that were just inhumane. A woman was not allowed to speak in public, divorce their husband, or go to college. Later that year, in July of 1848, many women met in Seneca Falls for a convention. They felt it was necessary for them to voice their opinion and have more equality in life. They created a list called the Declarations of Sentiments and Resolutions, in response to the Laws and Practices, that voiced the opinions of women. It starts by saying all of the things that men restricted women from doing or having, like the ability to own property of even keep their wages. Next, it lists all of the things that the women want, like having the ability to do what they want in society and that men and women were created equal and should be treated this way. There were various newspapers that responded to the events at the Seneca Falls convention. In one, called the Oneida Wig, they were very much against the convention and the ideas portrayed there. "This bolt is the most shocking and unnatural incident ever recorded in the history of womanity. If our ladies insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and our elbows?" This is completely wrong. They literally treat their wives as slaves. They think that the women's ideas are merely jokes and that they don't matter, when they truly deserve to be treated better. Some newspapers, like the National Reformer, were for the movement. They wrote "...they will carry a weight of argument which the cobwebs of misinterpreted authority and special pleadings of those who only wish for equal rights for one half of creation, can never answer." They speak of the words that the women say, and that they are legit and have true meaning. They say that these words can not be responded upon by men because they make sense and they can't use the typical excuse that they would normally use.

Unfortunately, women are not treated the way that they should be, even today. The video from above is a Pantene commercial showing the stereotypes placed on women today. One example is the first one, where they show the man as a boss, but the woman as bossy. It just shows you that the issues of women in the workplace were not only issues then, but still now. I think that the overall idea of sexism still lies in society today, While it may not be everyone, you seem to see sexism in society more than you might assume. Overall, in this time period, women were treated poorly, and even their largest attempts at having more of a role were not always successful.