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Antebellum
America
Historical
Overview
Throughout
the Western world, the end of the Napoleonic Wars brought an
end to a period of global war and revolution and the start of
a new era of rapid economic growth. For Americans, the end of
the War of 1812 unleashed the rapid growth of cities and industry
and a torrent of expansion westward. The years following the
war also marked a notable advance of democracy in American politics.
Property qualifications for voting and office holding were abolished;
voters began to directly elect presidential electors, state
judges, and governors; and voting participation skyrocketed.
In addition, the antebellum era saw a great surge in collective
efforts to improve society through reform. Unprecedented campaigns
sought to outlaw alcohol, guarantee women's rights, and abolish
slavery.
Rapid
territorial expansion also marked the antebellum period. Between
1845 and 1853, the nation expanded its boundaries to include
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The United States annexed
Texas in 1845; partitioned the Oregon country in 1846 following
negotiations with Britain; wrested California and the great
Southwest from Mexico in 1848 after the Mexican War; and acquired
the Gadsden Purchase in southern Arizona from Mexico in 1853.
The
period's most fateful development was a deepening sectional
conflict that brought the country to the brink of civil war.
The addition of new land from Mexico raised the question that
would dominate American politics during the 1850s: whether slavery
would be permitted in the western territories. The Compromise
of 1850 attempted to settle this issue by admitting California
as a free state but allowing slavery in the rest of the Mexican
cession. But enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law as part of
the compromise exacerbated sectional tensions. The question
of slavery in the territories was revived by the 1854 decision
to open Kansas and Nebraska territories to white settlement
and decide the status of slavery according to the principle
of popular sovereignty. Sectional conflict was intensified by
the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, which declared that
Congress could not exclude slavery from the western territories;
by John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry; and by Abraham Lincoln's
election as president in 1860.
Debating
the Issues
Between
the French Revolution and World War I, the American Civil War
was the most violent conflict in the Western world. No topic
has aroused deeper disagreement among American historians than
the causes of the Civil War. James Ford Rhodes argued that the
conflict's causes lay in the issue of slavery. Charles Beard
and Frank Owsley emphasized the economic conflict between an
agrarian South and an industrializing North. Charles Ramsdale
and James Randall blamed the conflict on irresponsible agitators
and blundering politicians operating in an atmosphere of whipped-up
emotions and false propaganda.
Today,
the debate continues. Michael Holt stresses the importance of
the breakdown of the party system, due in part to a massive
influx of foreign immigrants into the country. Eric Foner and
James McPherson maintain that there were irreconcilable ideological
differences between North and South.
Recent
explanations of the coming of the Civil War stress three factors.
One is contingency - the notion that the conflict was not inevitable,
but was the result of a complex set of actions, decisions, and
reactions. A second factor is the importance of ideology, the
notion that the North and South embraced distinct and mutually
antagonistic outlooks and sets of values. The North's "free
labor" ideology portrayed the region as a land of unprecedented
equality and opportunity, free of rigid class divisions and
glaring extremes of wealth and poverty. The South, in turn,
regarded its society as the true preserve of America's revolutionary
traditions, which had been betrayed by an industrializing, urbanizing
North.
The
third factor is the significance of perception - of how Northerners
and Southerners understood the critical events of the antebellum
era. Many Northerners came to believe that an aggressive Slave
Power had seized control of the federal government, subverted
civil liberties, fomented revolution in Texas and war with Mexico
in order to expand the South's slave empire, and wanted to reduce
all laborers - white as well as black - to a state of virtual
slavery. At the same time, an increasing number of Southerners
began to believe that antislavery radicals dominated Northern
society and would rejoice in the ultimate consequences of abolition
- race war and racial amalgamation.
The
antebellum era - the period stretching from the War of 1812
to the Civil War - was an era of political democratization,
unprecedented reform energies, and explosive territorial and
economic growth. But it also saw the emergence of bitter sectionalism
and political conflicts, as the North and South developed along
diverging lines. The great question haunting the period was
whether the spirit of sectional or the spirit of nationalism
would triumph.
1.
Why did the first reform movements in American history arise
during the early nineteenth century?
Certain
religious developments made Americans more sensitive to sin
and increased their faith in peoples' ability to cure social
problems. The liberal revolt against Calvinism convinced many
reformers that people were basically good and that only a flawed
environment caused social evils. The evangelical revival defined
sin and concrete terms and encouraged reformers to address social
problems. At the same time, in an increasingly urban society,
some problems had become more visible. But reformers also had
a heightened faith in peoples' ability to cure social problems.
2.
Why was the antislavery movement, which was nearly as unpopular
in the North as the South in the early 1830s, able to persuade
a growing number of Northerners that slavery was an intolerable
moral evil?
3.
What changes made the American political system more democratic
between 1820 and 1840?
The
elimination of property qualifications for voting; direct election
of judges, governors, and presidential electors; the emergence
of political nominating conventions; the elimination of voting
by voice; and popular campaigning.
4.
The doctrine of "manifest destiny" makes westward
expansion seem like a noble thing to do. Why did Americans move
westward between 1820 and 1850. Were they motivated mainly by
national pride and a desire to spread American institutions
or by lust for land and resources? Motives varied widely. Some
were motivated by land hunger. Others sought to preempt settlement
by other nations. The Mormons were motivated by a desire for
religious freedom.
5.
On the eve of the Civil War, a growing number of Northerners
had come to believe that an aggressive southern Slave Power
had seized control of the federal government and threatened
to subvert republican ideals of liberty, equality, and self-government.
Why had many Northerners come to hold this view? The debate
over the Gag Rule, the Amistad case, Texas annexation, the Mexican
War, the Fugitive Slave Law, the defeat of the Wilmot Proviso,
the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, and the Dred Scott decision convinced many Northerners
that slavery threatened their civil liberties and that the Slave
Power had seized control of the federal government.
6.
Why did John Brown's raid and Lincoln's election as president
convince slaveholders that they needed to secede from the Union?
Because they were convinced that the South was losing the ability
to shape national decisions; that the North was unified in opposition
to slavery; and that an antislavery president could take steps
to weaken the institution of slavery.
What
If?
How
would American history have been different if:
1.
Texas had remained an independent republic and had not been
annexed by the United States?
2.
James Knox Polk had not been elected president in 1844?
3.
President Zachary Taylor, who opposed the Compromise of 1850,
had not died in that year?
Making
Ethical Judgements
1.
Did the United States rob Mexico of its territory? If so, in
what way, if any, should the United States compensate Mexico
for its loss of territory?
2.
Suppose you learned of Thoreau's refusal to pay a government
tax. Like Thoreau, you oppose slavery and the war with Mexico.
Would you join Thoreau in his refusal to pay the tax?
3.
John Brown believed that the only effective way to fight slavery
was through violence. "We must fight fire with fire,"
he said. Does Brown's goal - slavery's abolition - justify his
means? Do you approve or disapprove of John Brown's raid and
his resort to violence, bloodshed, and an attack on a federal
arsenal? Are freedom fighters justified in killing civilians
in order to overcome oppression?
Interpreting
Maps
Ask
your students to locate the Missouri Compromise line, north
latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes. Have them determine how many
states were created out of the area north of the compromise
line, within the Louisiana Purchase, and how many states were
created south of that line.
Ask
your students to identify the states acquired from Mexico.
Analyzing
Primary Sources
The
American Revolution did far more than simply win American independence.
It also popularized a set of values emphasizing liberty and
equality. This ideology has represented an ideal against which
later generations of Americans have measured the imperfections
of their society. It has inspired reformers to seek to expose
and correct abuses, like slavery, that contradicted the nation's
fundamental principles.
The
theory of natural rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence
- that "all Men are created equal," that they are
endowed with certain natural, essential, and inalienable rights
- would serve as a powerful stimulus for later reformers. Proponents
of women's rights, world peace, temperance, public schools,
and abolition all drafted Declarations of Sentiments modeled
on the wording of the Declaration of Independence. America's
pre-civil ware reformers saw their own crusades as attempts
to realize the republican ideals enshrined in the Declaration
and as the fulfillment of the political struggles begun during
the Revolution.
Document
7
What
were schools like before the introduction of public school systems?
School
terms were short; the tenure of teachers was brief; classes
were very large and included some very young students; and
the school houses themselves were poorly maintained.
Document
16
Was
President James Monroe justified in sending Major General Andrew
Jackson into Florida and demanding that Spain cede the area
to the United States?
Monroe
contends that Spain had failed to properly govern Florida,
and that the area had become "the theater, of every species
of lawless adventure."
Document
31
In
his "Proclamation to the People of South Carolina,"
President Jackson affirmed the supremacy of the federal government
over the states, declared nullification illegal, and became
the first president to declare the Union indissoluble. Why did
Jackson oppose nullification?
Because
the doctrine violates the Constitution and threatens the existence
of the Union.
Document
32
On
what grounds did South Carolina Governor Robert Y. Hayne defend
nullification?
He
claimed that the federal government had exceeded its constitutional
powers, violated the rights of the states, and threatened
to reduce South Carolina to "a condition of 'Colonial
vassalage.'"
Documents
42
How
does the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison compare and contrast
his experience in jail to a slave's experience in bondage?
He
sees one parallel - that both are confined to a limited geographical
area. But he says his food is better and more abundant; he
can freely choose his activities; he can read and write; and
he eventually will be freed.
Documents
46, 47, and 48
Nat
Turner's insurrection was the most violent antebellum slavery
revolt and marked a major turning point in attitudes about slavery.
In the South, slave codes were made stricter and after a debate
about abolishing slavery in the Virginia legislature, serious
discussions of emancipation ended. In the North, abolitionists
became more vocal in their attacks on slavery. What do each
of the following have to say about the significance of Turner's
insurrection and what this incident has to say about the nature
of southern slavery: Samuel Warner? The Liberator? Thomas R.
Dew?
Warner
argues that the slaves revolted because of the discrepancy
between American ideals of liberty and the reality of perpetual
bondage. The Liberator contends that the revolt was the result
of the sinful way slaves were treated - whipped, denied adequate
food, and kept in ignorance - while whites celebrate liberty.
Dew claims that Turner suffered from a mental aberration.
Documents
50-56
What
was it like to be a slave? How well were slaves fed, clothed,
and housed? What kinds of punishment did slaves face? What was
the impact of slavery on family life? How do you think that
slaves were able to endure the hardships and oppressions of
slavery?
Document
59
On
what grounds does Elizabeth Cady Stanton demand equal rights
for women?
Like
the American revolutionaries, she protests against a government
that exists without the consent of the governed. Even though
women pay taxes and are citizens, they are denied the vote
and the right to change unjust laws that give husbands authority
over their wives.
Document
100
What
did the Supreme Court rule in the Dred Scott decision and why
do you think the decision is significant?
The
Supreme Court overturned the Missouri Compromise; ruled that
African Americans, both free and enslaved, had no right to
citizenship; and prohibited Congress from restricting slavery
in the territories. The decision made war almost certain because
it placed resolution of the slavery issue outside of Congress
and the courts.
Document
101
How,
according to Hinton Rowan Helper, had slavery harmed poor Southern
whites?
Slavery
discouraged commerce, left many southerners in poverty and
ignorance, and made the South economically dependent on the
North.
Document
124
On
what grounds did South Carolina justify its decision to secede
from the Union?
Because
northern states have refused to fulfill their constitutional
obligation to return fugitive slaves; have denounced slavery
as sinful; have given African Americans citizenship rights;
and elected a president opposed to slavery.
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