HIS 202 test 4

The Market Revolution: Changing Patterns of Rural Labor

Before 1800 most Americans lived on self-sufficient family farms, producing goods for domestic or local consumption. After 1800 more farmers began commercial farming - producing surpluses of specific goods (crops & livestock) for sale in distant markets. This increasingly commercial economy soon effected all forms of labor.

New York City Draft Riots

Between July 13 and July 16, 1863, New Yorkers rioted against the draft killing 105 people. Both racial and class tensions fueled the violence

Turning Points

In the Spring of 1863 Lee is defeated at Gettysburg (the "high water mark" of the Confederate war effort) and Vicksburg surrenders to Grant. The South's hopes for intervention on the part of Great Britain or France are dashed. Union forces now close in on remaining Southern strongholds of Richmond (VA) and Atlanta (GA).

Cultural Outcry

The enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law prompted an outpouring of abolitionist literature and public lectures on the evils of slavery: Frederick Douglass' Autobiography Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

High Political Controversy

As the North and South diverged politically, the question increasingly became: who will control the Federal Government (The Presidency, Congress, The Supreme Court). By the late 1850s political leaders in both the North and the South no longer trusted each other and spoke of "conspiracies" being hatched to destroy the fragile equilibrium of the nation.

Why Did the Common Man Enter This Maelstrom?

In the beginning volunteers enlisted for a variety of reasons: nationalism, pride, ideas about masculinity, the opportunity for adventure, etc. As the war went on, however, necessity compelled men to fight. On both sides there was an often bitterly opposed draft. In the South, the presence of invading Union armies also led men to believe they were fighting to defend their very homes.

War Continues: The Early Years in the East

In the eastern theatre, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee beat back several Union invasions, and then began plans to launch their own attacks into the North in the Spring of 1863.

House Servants

House servants were better fed and clothed, and the labor was less back-breaking. But they were also under constant scrutiny and suffered different forms of exploitation than field workers ....

Republican Party Ideology

In theory, "free labor" allows for continuous innovation and upward mobility. Wage laborers could aspire to own their own businesses and become employers rather than employees. This ideology juxtaposed the virtue and efficiency of the North's autonomous workers with the immorality and inefficiency of the the South's slave economy. By the 1850s, the rise of the Republican party began to split the country along partisan lines between a Republican North and a Democratic South.

Reconciling Wage Labor With Jeffersonian Ideals

Rationalizing wage labor gave birth to the notion of the "self-made man". Abraham Lincoln described the great American "race of life": "The Man who labored for another last year, this year labors for himself, and the next year he will hire others to labor for him" But how much did this new ideal match with reality? Critics pointed out that less than 10% of employees in America could eventually become employers ...

Northern Opposition: "Free Soil and Free Labor"

White Northerners primarily sought to prevent the expansion of slavery into new western territories, rather than its abolition in the South. Their motto was "free soil, free labor"- they worried that the expansion of slavery in the west would deny opportunity to free workers in those territories.

Trail of Tears

example of Indian Removal

John Brown (1800-1859)

radical abolitionist, retaliated against pro-slavery forces by killing five settlers in the "Pottawatomie Creek Massacre". "Guerilla war" between the two groups continued in Kansas, ultimately killing or wounding close to 200 people ....

Ending the Missouri Compromise of 1820:

The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Idea of Popular Sovereignty

Pro-Slavery Arguments

The Bible Ancient History Racism (Of Course ...) Paternalism: Master-Slave relationship as a a "family" one.

Mechanization and gender:

The Breakdown of the Family Work System

"Five Civilized Tribes"

The Cherokees and others had adopted "white" ways (higher literacy rate than white settlers, prosperous farms/plantations, businesses, etc.). They represented an obstacle to planters' interests in the lands of the "Old Southwest" or "Deep South".

The Compromise of 1850: Crisis Averted or Escalated?

The Compromise of 1850 was actually five separate bills that attempted to satisfy both "free soil" and pro-slavery advocates. California was admitted as a free state, but pro-slavery forces pushed through a new Fugitive Slave Law ...

The Decision

The Federal Government had no right to interfere with the free movement of property in the western territories (i.e. the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional). Moreover, Scott did not even have the right to bring suit in federal court since "a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves", whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen.

The Fugitive Slave Law

The Fugitive Slave Law sanctioned slave-catchers and mandated that local law enforcement assist in apprehending and returning escaped slaves, wherever they could be found. The law essentially extended slave-holding into the North and alarmed many Northerners who had not yet witnessed its brutality.

The War Begins

The Union's "Anaconda Plan": Envisioned squeezing the South with a naval blockade to force surrender without an invasion. Popular clamor for swifter action, however, drove Lincoln to mount an offensive. The first Battle of Bull Run subsequently shattered the North's early enthusiasm: the conflict would clearly not be a quick and glorious conquest.

Pro-Slavery

"Border Ruffians"

Anti-Slavery

"Jayhawks"

Pro-Slavery

"Sacking" of Lawrence, KS

First Shots (Civil war)

"The Thunderclap of Sumter"

Sherman's March to the Sea

"War is Hell": Hoping to eliminate their capacity to make war and to break Southern morale, Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah destroying everything in his path.

The Empire State

"[The Erie Canal serves as a miraculous] fertilizer - it causes towns with their masses of brick and stone, their churches, and theatres, their businesses ... to spring up" -- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Jefferson Davis on Slave Labor

"[it has] converted hundreds of thousands of square miles of wilderness into cultivated lands covered with a prosperous people [...] the production of cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco is now neatly ¾ of exports of the whole United States and has become absolutely necessary to the wants of civilized man [...]"

Texas

1821: Mexico granted land in Texas to American settlers (many of them slave-owners) led by Stephen Austin. In 1828, however, the Mexican Government restricted immigration, raised taxes, and outlawed slavery in Texas, creating tensions with Americans. War broke out in 1835 (famous battles: the Alamo, San Jacinto); Texas gained independence from Mexico and was admitted into the United States in 1845.

Constitutional consequences

13th Amendment: Abolishes slavery 14th Amendment: Grants African American citizenship 15th Amendment: Grants African American men the right to vote

Over the Mountains: A quantitative View

1790-1840: 4.5 million people crossed the Appalachians - more than the entire population of the country at the time of the Revolution. By 1840: 2/5 of the total population lived west of the mountain range.

Field Work and the Gang Labor System

75 percent of slaves were field workers; 55 percent were engaged in cotton growing. Most slaves worked in gangs of 20 to 25 from first light to dusk. Work was extremely tedious. Slaves aged fast in this regime due to poor diet and heavy labor.

The Middling Ranks

A commercial middle class of merchants, bankers, and lawyers also arose to facilitate the sale of southern crops on the world market. They lived in cities that acted as shipping centers for agricultural goods (New Orleans, Charleston, Savannah). Many acquired enough capital to purchase land and slaves and become wealthy planters themselves.

civil war conclusion

A divided people had been forcibly reunited by battle: Reconstruction would be a long and difficult process. Despite the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, the problem of racial equality was not fully resolved. In many ways the Civil War still haunts American politics and culture ....

The Planter Elite

A relative handful of planters owned the majority of Southern slaves and built palatial mansions. The extraordinary (and hereditary) concentration of wealth created an elite lifestyle, modeled loosely on the European aristocracy.

Abolitionism

Abolitionists were a diverse group of activists (men and women, black and white) who appreciated the true horror of slavery, and called for its abolition, rather than simply opposing its expansion into the west. Although they were a political minority, they played an important role in escalating tensions between North and South through protests, lectures, and publications.

Time, Work, and Leisure

Adjusting to the demands of factory work was difficult. A much more rigid separation between work and leisure developed. Leisure spots like taverns emerged, as did leisure activities like spectator sports

The Second Middle Passage: The Internal Slave Trade

After the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (1808), the cotton boom caused a huge increase in the internal slave trade. Slaves were chained, penned and treated like livestock in the markets of Natchez and New Orleans and then transported throughout the deep South More slaves (1 million) were uprooted in these migrations than were brought to North America during the transatlantic trade in the 17th and 18th centuries.

"Filibustering"

After theMexican-American War, Southern "filibusters" such as William Walker attempted to seize parts of Central America which they hoped to join to the United States as slave-holding territories. Though unsuccessful, their actions added to the growing controversy over slavery and westward expansion

North and south: Two Perspectives on the West

Although celebrated by many, westward expansion ultimately divided the country. Northerners and Southerners had different visions for the future of the west based upon their own societies: Northerners viewed their region as a more dynamic society of economic growth and social mobility in contrast to the stagnant slave owning South. Southerners viewed the cotton industry as a national economic engine, and a blessing to an "inferior race". They criticized the north for its class divisions and "wage slavery".

The Republican Party and the Election of 1856

Although the Democratic candidate (Buchanan) won the election, it signaled a major change which would lead to the Civil War: Republican leaders realized they could win with only two more Northern states and no Southern support. Southern Democrats would not tolerate this, and began thinking of secession ......

Preindustrial vs. Industrial Ways of Working

Before Lowell, 97% of Americans still lived on farms, and most work was done near or in the home. Meanwhile, urban work was done by "skilled craftsmen" and organized around apprenticeship systems. Preindustrial labor, both urban and rural, was patriarchal and followed existing family patterns dominated by fathers and husbands. Industrialization threatened threatened this "family work system", transporting labor into the factories where individual men, women, and children assumed new roles.

The Transportation Revolution

Between 1800 and 1850, the building of roads and canals and the inventions of the steamboat and train created a Transportation Revolution. Improvements in transportation "annihilated space and time" radically transforming life in America by integrating the regions of the country into a national system.

Lincoln's Election

By 1860, the nation was politically polarized: Republicans in the North and Democrats in the South. Lincoln was a moderate Republican who did not run on the issue of abolition, but Southern leaders nonetheless felt threatened. Following the election, South Carolina seceded from the Union, forcing Lincoln to take action: should he try to preserve the Union by force?

All the While: A Staggering Toll

Civil War Battles were appallingly deadly. New technologies made old tactics of mass infantry or cavalry charges suicidal. At Shiloh (TN), Fredericksburg (VA) and Antietam (MD), casualties were unprecedented. Antietam was the bloodiest single day of the war with over 22,000 casualties

The Lecompton Constitution

Conflict continued in Kansas as free-soilers boycotted a constitutional convention orgaznied by pro-slavery forces, and then formed their own territorial government. The pro-slavery "Lecompton Constitution" was eventually submitted to Congress, but rejected after heated debate (and an open brawl in the House of Representatives!). The question of slavery in Kansas was thus not settled - yet another sign that compromise between Northern and Southern interests was becoming seemingly impossible ....

The Debates: The Stakes

Douglas (Democrat) accused Lincoln (Republican) of favoring social equality for whites and blacks. Lincoln denied this and accused Douglas of supporting the spread of slavery. The debate raised the profile of the Republican Party in the North, deepening sectionalism.

"Capital Concentrates"

Economic transformations produced an explosive growth in the nation's output and general standard of living. But at the extremes it widened the gap between industrialists and "unskilled" laborers, who they employed.

The Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney's new technology enables huge increase in production Prior to its invention cleaning one pound of cotton required a days work; now fifty pounds could be cleaned in a day

The Politics of Emancipation (Part Two)

Following the battle of Antietam, Lincoln used his Presidential "war powers" to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in areas still under the control of the Confederacy would be considered "contraband" and freed following Union victory.

Free African Americans

For most, freedom dated from before the cotton boom: after 1830 manumission was virtually impossible due to tightening black codes. And for those who were free, "civil liberties" were non existent: they couldn't carry arms, purchase slaves, testify against whites in court, serve in militias, vote, or hold office

The New Middle CLass

Formerly independent craftsmen or farmers became "white collar" workers who helped organize the industrial economy. Managers, accountants, bank tellers, clerks, bookeepers, insurance agents, lawyers, etc. Middle class values: sobriety, responsibility, steadiness, etc.

Slave Revolts

Gabriel's Rebellion, The Denmark Vesey Plot, Nat Turner's revolt were prominent examples They demonstrated that only force kept African Americans enslaved. Because no system of control could ever be total, White Southerners could never completely feel safe .... Revolts thus often deepened pro-slavery arguments as Southerners grew more and more fearful ...

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Gave the President personal power to make treaties with Indian nations. Set aside land west of the Mississippi for removal, which would "forever" be Indian Country. Very popular in the South (of course), but Northern opposition was considerable - why?

"Capital Concentrates" (2)

In Massachusetts (the most industrialized state) 5% of the population owned more than half the wealth. In Philly, the top 1% owned more wealth than the rest of the population combined. This inequality became entrenched: Because industrial labor was "unskilled" and there was a surplus of it industrialists held the upper hand - working conditions worsened, wages declined, etc. Was this "White Slavery"?

Markets and Social Relations

In both rural and urban areas, the decline of the "self-contained household economy" increased the family's reliance upon money (wages) to purchase basic needs. This was worrisome for many who had traditionally linked "freedom" with self-sufficiency and economic independence

Union Victories in the West

In contrast, out west Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant made steady progress by capturing a number of forts before laying siege to the city of Vicksburg which controlled the Mississippi.

The Mexican-American War

In some ways a continuation of the War for Texan Independence. Expansion to the Pacific Coast was a popular idea championed by President James Polk who prepared for conflict with Mexico. Border disputes led to war in 1846, resulting in a sweeping American victory and huge land acquisitions.

Black Fighting Men

Lincoln also permitted the recruitment of African American troops after the Emancipation Proclamation. Nearly 200,000 African Americans served under white officers, many of whom had been abolitionists. African-American soldiers encountered racism on both sides (the Confederacy declared "no quarter"), but were greeted as heroes by southern slaves.

Lincoln Takes Charge

Lincoln faced an imposing task as president In Washington he struggled to gain the support of his own (Republican) party while also acting as commander-in-chief, directing military policy. His primary objective was reconciliation - of bringing the war to a quick, and bloodless, end.

The Politics of Emancipation

Lincoln personally hated slavery but for political reasons he initially opposed emancipation. Would Northerners collectively fight a war of such magnitude to free slaves? What about conservative Republicans? What about border states? What about the poor, immigrants, etc. being drafted into the army and sent to the front lines? The timing would have to be right

Removal

Many Indian groups signed treaties, stipulating their removed to Oklahoma. The process involved: Intimidation by the U.S. and State Governments. Internal divisions within Indian communities ("Treaty Parties" and their rivals) Outright force ("Trail of Tears")

Southern Whites

Many Southern whites were landless laborers and/or tenants without slaves. Others owned self-sufficient family farms in the "upcountry" regions (where plantation agriculture was unsuitable and slave-holding was not prevalent). But both groups supported slavery, even though they owned few or no slaves. Why? Democratization: "Populism" and the enactment of universal white manhood suffrage created "white skin privilege", masking inequality amongst whites ...

The Fugitive Slave Law (2)

Mobs of Northerners unsuccessfully tried to prevent the law from being carried out. Boston especially emerged as a center of resistance to slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law. Thousands of escaped slaves, however, chose to flee even further north, into the safety of Canada.

Radical republicans

More vigorously opposed slavery than moderate Republicans (such as Lincoln). Some advocated not simply a halt to the westward expansion of slavery but abolition of the institution altogether.

The Matchup

North- Much larger population Greater industrial capacity to feed, clothe, and equip an army and navy Fighting for a cause that could garner international moral support South- They would fight a defensive, rather than offensive, war Southern military leadership was perhaps superior Cotton exports might allow them to gain foreign support

Mobilizing for War

Not knowing the carnage that lay ahead, both sides greeted the outbreak of war with enthusiasm. Communities held patriotic rallies, assembled volunteer regiments and created war relief organizations that sent supplies to the front. By comparison, border states became scenes of strife as communities struggles against each other over the question of allegiance.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe based upon first-hand accounts of escaped slaves. The book combined a literary style with harrowing historical detail. Remains the all-time American best seller in proportion to the population.

Gettysburg

Pickett's Charge

The Dred Scott Case (U.S. Supreme Court, 1857)

Scott sued for his freedom since his master had brought him north of the Missouri Compromise line in the western territories. The case posed the following questions: Can slaveholders bring their human "property" onto "free soil" where slavery is outlawed? What legal recourse do African-Americans (free or enslaved) actually have?

John Brown's Raid

Sectional tensions intensified when John Brown raided the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in an unsuccessful effort to instigate a slave revolt. Brown was hanged but Southerners were shocked by Northern attempts to celebrate Brown a martyr Talk of secession mounted in the South.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

Senator Stephen A. Douglas (Illinois) pushed through a bill to open the Kansas Territory, paving the way for statehood. To win Southern support, he advocated that the question of slavery in the new state should be decided by "popular sovereignty", even though slavery had already been banned in that area by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Slave Families

Slave marriages were not recognized by law but were central to plantation life: a haven of love and intimacy for the slaves. Slave families, however, were often split through sale. "Family" could thus include supportive networks of "fictive kin" - unrelated "uncles", "aunts", and "cousins".

The International Market for Cotton

Textile Mills in New England and in Europe needed cotton and American investors saw new opportunities in the "Deep South" -- the fertile lands of central Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

The Centrality of Slavery to the American (And Global) Economy

Southern slavery supported Northern industrialization (textile mills), while Northern businesses provided insurance and shipping services for slave states.. Southern slavery was also an important part of the global economy: cotton represented more than half of U.S. exports by 1840 (see the chart to the right).

The Failure of Southern Nationalism

Southern solidarity was also challenged as class resentments began to grow. On the front lines, desertions of common soldiers increased. Meanwhile, on the home front, inflation left many destitute, and by 1863 food riots broke out throughout the South.

Senator Charles Sumner (Abolitionist): "The crime against kansas"

Sumner: "Not in any common lust for power did this uncommon tragedy have its origin. It is the rape of a virgin Territory, compelling it to the hateful embrace of slavery; and it may be clearly traced to a depraved desire for a new Slave State, hideous offspring of such a crime, in the hope of adding to the power of slavery in the National Government."

The South Leaves the Union

The election frightened Southerners: were they now a permanent political minority in a nation dominated by a political party that was pledged to either stop the growth of slavery or abolish it altogether? By January of 1861 SC, FL, GA, AL, LA, and MS had formally seceded from the Union.

A New form of Slavery

The internal slave trade broke apart families (many of whom had lived on a single plantation in the east for generations) Without their families and the networks of other social institutions, masters in the Deep South subjected women to more sexual exploitation and enslaved men to harsher punishments. Mortality rates of slaves climbed, but profits still remained high ....

Controlling the Mississippi

The key to the war in the west

The "Empire State"

The linked Transportation and Market Revolutions had a dramatic impact upon New York State. Think about the cities and towns you grew up in. When were they built and why? What was/is the relationship between them? Why does New York City become the financial capital of American (and the world .....)?

Labor vs. Capital

The preindustrial notion of a "community of interest" between owners and workers began to break down. Early strikes protested low wages and poor working conditions. Some strikes succeeded in establishing a 10hr work day, but most were unsuccessful since owners could always find other willing workers (e.g. Irish immigrants, French Canadians)

Violence and Coercion

The slave system rested on coercion and violence. Slaves labor was driven by the whip and slaves were brutally punished for any resistance to the work regime. The South became a large "police state" patrolled by armed militias to control slave populations.

Home-frontS: the North

The war stimulated the northern economy, but not all industries profited: with $1 billion in government contracts, profiteers flourished. For most, the war only brought inflation that outpaced wages, and fear of the draft: working-class whites resented the Union draft that allowed rich conscripts to buy their way out of the fight for $300.

The North

Transportation, Market and industrial revolutions

Preston Brooks vs, Sumner

Violence on the floor of the senate

"Bleeding Kansas"

With popular sovereignty deciding Kansas' fate, pro- and ant-slavery forces poured in after 1854, hoping to gain a majority. Extremists on both sides stoked violence, and Kansas soon became a battleground. Had the Civil War already begun ....?

The Liberator

was Garrison's (William Lloyd Garrison, Founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society) Boston based abolitionist newspaper (1831-1865) whose very first issue cited the Declaration of Independence's opening lines that "all men are created equal" .....