holt african american history chapter 5. holt african american history chapter 5 section 1 section 1...

Holt African American HistoryHolt African American History Chapter 5Chapter 5


Section 1Section 1 The Antislavery Movement

Section 2Section 2 The Coming Conflict

Section 3Section 3 The Civil War—Freedom Won

Steps to FreedomSteps to Freedom


Reading Focus

• What were the origins of the antislavery movement, and what led to its growth in the early 1800s?

• Who were some black abolitionists, and what methods did they use?

• Who were some white abolitionists, and what methods did they use?

Main Idea

Both black and white Americans helped support the antislavery movement in the early to mid-1800s.

Section 1:Section 1: The Antislavery Movement


Building Background

In the early 1800s reform movements swept the nation. Reformers sought to improve conditions for white Americans in factories, prisons, and crowded cities. In addition, a growing number of reformers turned their attention to the issue of slavery. Both black and white Americans grew increasingly vocal in their opposition to the South’s “peculiar institution.” These reformers demanded change—and they would be heard.


Origins of the Antislavery Movement

• Dates back before the American Revolution – Early colonists such as the Quakers protested against slavery– As independence struggle grew more people joined call to end

slavery; first antislavery society formed in Philadelphia in 1775

• Not a major force until early 1800s with religious revival known as Second Great Awakening – Rebirth of religious fervor encouraged reform

– Reform focus contributed to growth of antislavery movement • More Americans viewed slavery as moral wrong that went

against religious beliefs– Social reformers united and formed organizations to oppose

slavery


Analyze

What contributed to the growth of the antislavery movement in the early 1800s?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

A religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening and the subsequent focus on social reform


American antislavery groups differed in their goals; some opposed spread of slavery but wanted it kept in place where already existed; others wanted to abolish slavery.

Black Abolitionists

Abolition Movement

• Campaign to abolish, or end, slavery

• Supporters called abolitionists

• Free blacks among most vocal in group; took great risks in supporting abolition

Black Militants

• Militant black abolitionists favored use of force

• Wrote and spoke calling on African Americans to resist slavery by any means necessary

David Walker

• Free black merchant; published 1829 pamphlet, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

• Called on African Americans to rise up against slavery


Walker not alone• New York abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet urged slaves to resist

• In 1843 speech he declared, “Strike for your lives and liberties …”

• Shocked by calls for violence, others looked for more peaceful methods to end slavery

Frederick Douglass• Black abolitionist who opposed the use of force

• Had escaped slavery; was gifted writer and speaker for abolition

• Published antislavery newspaper, The North Star; wrote about his life

• Traveled across U.S. and British Isles giving speeches on evils of slavery; his eloquent appeals drew people to the movement

Many Voices


The Black Abolition Movement

Douglass one of many

• Free blacks gave speeches, held antislavery conventions

• Published many antislavery newspapers

• Personal accounts of slave life helped educate Americans

• Sojourner Truth—leading abolitionist and women’s rights activist; famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman” delivered in 1851

Racial discrimination

• Unfair treatment of people of a certain race—discrimination

• Free blacks in the North still faced unequal treatment; took direct action to fight against discrimination

• Elizabeth Jennings sued a railway company and won; paved way for second legal case which opened streetcars to black passengers


Contrast

How did militant abolitionists differ from other black abolitionists?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

Militant abolitionists favored the use of force, whereas other black abolitionists did not.


White activists

• Thousands of white activists joined antislavery movement during mid-1800s

• Many became leaders in the movement

Sensational action

• Garrison burned copy of U.S. Constitution in 1854

• Helped found the New England Anti-Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society

William Lloyd Garrison

• White journalist; one of foremost abolitionists in nation

• 1831 newspaper, The Liberator • Radical abolitionist who called

for immediate end to slavery

Cost of support

• White abolitionists contributed own money for lecture tours; purchased freedom of many slaves

• Often risked own lives

White Abolitionists


Other White Abolitionist Leaders

• To abolish slavery, needed to persuade people to join cause; white abolitionists used many methods– Published antislavery newspapers (Garrison); published pamphlets and

books (Theodore Weld)

• Weld’s Slavery As It Is helped inspire Uncle Tom’s Cabin– Uncle Tom’s Cabin was Harriett Beecher Stow’s 1852 novel of terrors and

tragedies of slave life; novel sold 300,000 copies the first year– Novel drew new supporters to abolitionist cause

• Some used political means – Arthur and Lewis Tappan favored legislation; established Liberty Party as

first antislavery political party in U.S.

• Militant John Brown thought that only force could end slavery– 1849 moved to black community to learn evils of slave system firsthand

from former slaves; he believed nothing short of war would end slavery


Find the Main Idea

What methods did white abolitionists use to spread their message?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

Published newspapers, distributed pamphlets, gave public speeches, published accounts of slavery by former slaves, created a political party


Reading Focus• How did the expansion of slavery create rising tensions

between the North and the South?

• How did black and white northerners react to the Fugitive Slave Act?

• What conflicts intensified the debate over slavery into a crisis?

• What further events led the nation to split apart?

Main Idea

Disagreement over the expansion of slavery led to conflict between the North and the South, and in time to the secession of the southern states.

Section 2:Section 2: The Coming Conflict


Building Background

As tensions over slavery intensified, the North and the South edged closer to conflict. Disputes over the expansion of slavery began to escalate and erupt into violence. Could the country continue like this—half slave states and half free states? The rising tensions between these two opposing forces would soon tear the country apart at its seams.


Rising Tensions

• Growing number of Americans now settling the West– Hoping to find wealth, obtain land of their own– Issue of slavery’s expansion into new territories arose

• The Missouri Compromise – Tension between slave and free states increased in early 1800s– 1819 Missouri Territory applied to enter the Union as a slave state; if

accepted would tilt slave state–Free state balance in Senate in South’s favor; Northerners upset about losing power in Senate

– Others opposed expansion of slavery on moral grounds – Issue resolved with Missouri Compromise of 1820, which admitted

Missouri as slave state and Maine as free state and banned slavery north of the 36°30′ N latitude in unorganized territory of Louisiana Purchase

• Delicate Senate balance was maintained but tensions remained high


New territories sought statehood• Issue of slave or free states continued

• Politicians fought over issue; a few tried hard to maintain balance

• In 1848 the U.S. gained vast amount of land in West as result of Mexican-American War; debate over allowing slavery intensified

California applies• California’s leaders applied for statehood as free state in 1849

• This would upset the balance in the Senate

• The South feared loss of economic and political power; Southern leaders threatened to secede from the Union as a last result

• Some northerners countered, “Let them secede!”

The Compromise of 1850


Henry Clay, author of the Missouri Compromise, came up with a plan to solve the California problem. After much debate, Congress passed a series of laws called the Compromise of 1850.

Henry Clay

Details

• Compromise resulted in California joining Union as free state

• Rest of land gained from Mexico was organized into New Mexico and Utah territories

Territories

• Popular sovereignty, a vote of the people, would determine slave issue

• Slave trade ended in the District of Columbia

Appeasement

• Agreement included a tougher fugitive slave law to appease the slave states

• Neither side completely satisfied with compromise


Find the Main Idea

Why were the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 necessary?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

to allow new states to join the Union while maintaining either the balance of power in the U.S. Senate or peace between the North and the South


The Fugitive Slave Act

• Compromise of 1850 settled one dispute and triggered another—a dispute over the Fugitive Slave Act– Southerner slaveholders felt that northerners ignored the law and offered

aid to escaped slaves

– New law made assisting runaway slaves a federal crime; commissioners were appointed to enforce law; citizens expected to “aid and assist”

• New law meant anyone who helped or hid fugitive slaves was subject to heavy fines and imprisonment – Federal marshals had great power; could arrest fugitive slaves who had

been free for decades

– African Americans accused of being runaways had to prove that they were free, a difficult and near impossible task

• Law put many black northerners —whether legally free or escaped— at risk


Northerners infuriated• More were encouraged to support the fight against slavery

• In the North people openly resisted new law; organized against it

• Abolitionists urged African Americans to prepare to defend themselves

Harriet Tubman• Famous black conductor for the Underground Railroad determined to

help fight the Fugitive Slave Act

• In Troy, New York she came to the aid of Charles Nalle who had been captured and was going to be returned to slavery in Virginia

• As a crowd pushed forward Tubman helped him escape

Fighting the Fugitive Slave Act


Black Self-Protection Groups

Blacks organized

• As threat of capture increased blacks organized to protect themselves

• Self-protection groups were successful

• Developed alert plans if slave catchers were seen in area

• William Parker, one of the organizers, used the plan to save four men at his house

Warrants for escapees

• September 1851 armed group pounded on Parker’s door to serve warrants

• Parker’s wife blew a horn for help and neighbors came to their aid; in the battle that followed, the slave catchers retreated

• Arrests for treason followed and Parker became a fugitive, leaving his family behind


Summarize

What did African Americans do to try to protect themselves from the Fugitive Slave Act?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

They helped captured African Americans escape, and they formed self-protection groups to warn one another of danger.


Throughout the 1850s the dispute over slavery raged on. Three key events brought the crisis between the North and the South to a head.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Passed in 1854, the Act organized Kansas and Nebraska into territories and allowed the issue of slavery to be determined by popular sovereignty

• The Act bitterly divided the nation; proslavery and antislavery forces sent supporters to Kansas to help influence the vote there

• Abolitionist John Brown settled in Kansas • “Bleeding Kansas” became a violent battleground

The Conflict Becomes a Crisis


The Dred Scott Decision

• 1857 Supreme Court case

• Enslaved Missouri man traveled with his slaveholder to Illinois and Wisconsin Territory where slavery was illegal

Lawsuit

• Upon return to slaveholding Missouri Dred Scott sued for his freedom

• His argument: living on free soil had made him free

The Court ‘s Decision

• Deeply divided Court ruled against Scott’s argument; Scott could not sue because he wasn’t a citizen under the U.S. Constitution

• Also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional

Fifth Amendment

• Based decision on property rights; the Compromise deprived slaveholders of those rights without due process of law

• Abolitionists felt ruling put Supreme Court on side of slavery


John Brown’s Raid

Radical Abolitionist

• John Brown contributed another link in the chain of events

• By 1859 he had decided force was only way to end slavery; came up with plan to attack federal arsenal, capture guns, and arm a slave revolt

• Harriet Tubman supported his plan; others warned him against it

October 16, 1859

• Brown and his 21 men set out for Harper’s Ferry, Virginia

• Broke into the arsenal; but few slaves joined his revolt

• Trapped the next day; Brown was convicted and hung for treason before year’s end

• Many Northerners viewed Brown as a hero; church bells tolled in salute at his death


Sequence

What series of events in the mid-to late 1800s led to increased conflict between the North and the South?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s raid


Unpopular compromises, laws, and court decisions of the 1850s had deepened the divisions in the United States. Ideological, economic, and political divisions over slavery would rip the country apart.

The Nation Splits Apart

The Election of 1860

• Established in the 1840s, antislavery political parties had limited success

• In 1854 antislavery parties united to form the Republican Party in time for the upcoming election

Gained Support

• Abraham Lincoln joined the new party in 1856; addressed the Illinois Republican convention in 1858 with dire prediction

• Lincoln stated, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”

Lincoln Chosen

• In 1860, Republicans selected Lincoln as party’s presidential candidate

• With a division in the Democratic Party, Southerners split their vote and Lincoln won the presidency


• Many Southerners irate over Lincoln’s election• “A party founded on the … hatred of African

slavery is now the controlling power,” wrote the New Orleans Delta

• Election propelled seven southern states—South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas—to secede

• New nation formed in December 1861• The Confederate States of America, also

called the Confederacy

The First Southern States Secede


Draw Conclusions

Why did many southerners oppose Lincoln’s election to the presidency in 1860?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

They feared that because Lincoln was a Republican, he might try to outlaw slavery in the South.


Reading Focus• What events led to the outbreak of war between the Union and

the Confederacy?

• In what ways did African Americans contribute during the Civil War?

• What led Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation?

Main Idea

The Civil War led to new roles, rights, and freedoms for African Americans in the North and the South.

Section 3:Section 3: The Civil War—Freedom Won


Building Background

After years of painful dispute, the United States broke apart. Several southern states formed the Confederate States of America to protect their way of life, including the institution of slavery. Secession, however, did not end the dispute between the North and the South. The tense situation would require only a spark to unleash the heat of war.


War Breaks Out

An Attack Leads to War

• Confederate officials started seizing federal arsenals, forts, and other property in the South; Lincoln declared property still belonged to Union

– Ordered U.S. Military to protect all such property

• Confederates determined to take Fort Sumter, South Carolina

– Lincoln sent in ships with essential supplies; worried troops would follow, Confederates fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 and took the fort

• The Civil War had begun and Lincoln sent troops to put down rebellion

– Most states rallied to his call for troops; several slave states still in Union refused

– Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the Confederacy

Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861. He hoped the states would return peacefully to the Union. Instead war came two months later.


• With outbreak of war, both sides prepared armies to fight

• Black men in the North volunteered to fight; the Union army turned them away; African Americans created informal military units and trained for possible active duty

• A few Union generals disagreed with the decision not to accept blacks in the army

– Contrabands, escaped Confederate slaves, began turning up at Union army camps seeking protection and offering to help the Union cause

– Offered noncombatant positions such as cooks or hospital orderlies

– The navy approved active enlistment of black men in September 1861

• African Americans contributed to the war effort of the Confederacy– Slaves grew much of the food; such labor freed white men to fight

– Slaves served in noncombat positions as cooks or wagon drivers

Preparing for War


Analyze

Early in the war, how were Confederate slaves able to contribute to the war effort in the North?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

They escaped to Union army camps where they contributed to by serving in noncombat roles


African American finally got the chance to fight in the Union Army and played a crucial role in the war effort in many capacities.

African Americans in the Civil War

Enlistment of BlackTroops

• No quick victory for Union; war continued and more died

• Northern attitudes about use of black troops changed

• July 1862 Congress approved limited enlistment of blacks

Black Regiments

• Some formed in Union controlled South

• 1862 First Louisiana Native Guards also known as the Corps d’Afrique organized

• Two more regiments fielded; general recruitment approved in 1863

More Recruitment

• Black leaders called on men to serve; the 54th Massachusetts Infantry one of first black regiments

• Confederacy tried to recruit in March 1865; few enlisted

• War was over one month later


Hardships and HeroismUnique Hardships

• Black troops received fewer supplies, less training, and less pay

• Took steps to counter such discrimination

• Members of the 54th Mass. Infantry protested unequal wages by refusing pay for over a year

• U.S. government finally agreed to pay same to all troops

Treatment

• If captured, black troops faced more severe treatment

• Confederate troops enslaved or executed captured black soldiers

• White troops were held as prisoners of war

• In all, 186,000 black men served bravely in the Union forces

U.S. Navy

• One-fourth of all Union sailors in the War were black

• Robert Smalls was one who proved his bravery and loyalty

• Black troops fought with distinction in more than 250 engagements; with 23 Medals of Honor, nation’s highest military award


Heroic Black Women in the Civil War

• Black women displayed outstanding bravery during the conflict– Many women served as nurses– Others traveled with troops to help cook, sew, and wash

• Nursing the sick most common job – Nurse Susie King Taylor, wife of officer in 1st Carolina Volunteers – Also taught soldiers to read and write in spare time

• Sojourner Truth – Leading black abolitionist worked to support war effort– Helped raise money and supplies for southern black refugees– Met with President Lincoln, who convinced her to nurse wounded

black soldiers in Freedmen’s Hospital


More War Efforts

• Served Union Army as spies

• Union officials found black spies were very effective at passing Confederate information

• Found to be better at avoiding detection than white spies

Female Spies

• Harriet Tubman gathered information from southern slaves

– Praised for her “remarkable courage, zeal, and fidelity”

• Mary Elizabeth Bowser another well-known black spy; worked in home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis

– Pretended she could not read; listened to conversations and examined documents; passed valuable military information to Union officials

Black Military Spies


Summarize

In what ways did African Americans contribute to the war effort for both the North and the South?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

They served as soldiers, manual laborers, spies, nurses, and support personnel.


One crucial unanswered question—what would Lincoln do about issue of slavery? Abolitionists argued war pointless if not to end slavery; many white northerners opposed emancipation, or the freeing of slaves.

Resolving the Issue of Slavery

• Lincoln in difficult position; personally opposed to slavery, he could not afford to lose northern support for the war

• Many white northerners would not risk lives for African Americans

• Ending slavery was not a war aim; preserving the Union was; Lincoln feared ending slavery might lead other states to secede

The Emancipation Proclamation


Fear of Consequences

Border States

• There were still slave states in the Union

• Border states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri stayed in the Union

• Strategic militarily because of their location between the North and the Confederacy

• Union could not risk losing these states

Issue Still Raised

• As Union troops pushed into Confederate territory thousands of contrabands sought refuge with them

• At first the administration supported returning contrabands to slaveholders; some commanders did so

• Actions infuriated abolitionists; pointed out this was helping the Confederacy


Taking Action

• Lincoln and his advisors decided to take action against slavery

• Dilemma: Lincoln did not believe he had constitutional power to end slavery

Lincoln’s Plan

• Lincoln proposed compensated emancipation in the border states

• Border states to receive federal funds in exchange for passing laws to abolish slavery over time

Border States Refused

• These states loyal to Union, but not ready to end slave system on which economies based

• All four border states rejected Lincoln’s plan

War Struggles

• Union leaders convinced Lincoln that ending slavery in the South was important militarily

• Confederacy would be crippled without slave labor


Lincoln’s Decision

Commander in Chief

• Lincoln used constitutional power as commander in chief to end slavery in the areas that were rebelling

• Began forming new plan for emancipation; first step was April 1862, ending slavery in the District of Columbia

• Soon after, Congress outlawed slavery in all U.S. territories

Needed Victory

• Lincoln waited for a Union victory to announce full plan; Chose Battle of Antietam in September 1862

• Once again Lincoln offered compensated emancipation to slaveholders in border states

• Also declared would free all enslaved African Americans in rebel areas of the South on January 1, 1863


Reaction to Lincoln’s announcement was mixed. Some abolitionists were hopeful that it would deal a death blow to the institution of slavery. Others were angry because the plan did not go far enough.

• Plan called for end to slavery in areas in rebellion and did not include border states and parts of the Confederacy under Union control

• Other northerners opposed Lincoln’s plan

– As Lincoln feared, some white Union soldiers resigned rather than fight to end slavery in the South

– Unskilled workers in North feared flood of black workers would increase job competition; had rioted in Illinois earlier when former slaves were hired to help harvest crops

• Many northerners rallied behind Lincoln’s plan; for them, freeing slaves would help shorten the war

• Many Union soldiers in favor of destroying all that gave the enemy strength

Response to Lincoln’s Plan


• Emancipation Proclamation issued January 1, 1863 • Groundbreaking order proclaimed all enslaved African

Americans in rebel areas to be emancipated, or free • Many African Americans and abolitionists rejoiced as

news spread; a major step for ending slavery achieved• Great emotional impact in the North; initially little effect

in the South – Applied only to slaves in Confederate areas where Union had

no power to enforce order

– Effect on the South changed with Union advances; advancing troops freed slaves they encountered, liberating thousands of enslaved people each day

Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation


Northern African Americans risked their lives to spread the word of freedom in Confederate-held parts of the South. Upon learning the news, many slaves put down their rakes and hoes and escaped to Union lines.

Spreading the Word

Weakened South

• Confederate war effort weakened

• Reduction in slave labor force hurt Confederate armies and plantations

• Proclamation ended any hope for foreign support for the South

Great Britain

• Major cotton importer considered aid to Confederacy

• Abolitionism was strong in Britain and once ending slavery made a war aim, Britain no longer willing to help South

Stronger Union

• Union recruited black soldiers after Proclamation

• Black soldiers and sailors played important role in Union victory

• Fought hard for people’s freedom


Enslaved African Americans

Profound Impact

• Emancipation Proclamation very important to blacks in the South

• Union troops freed millions of African Americans from lives of cruel labor

• In areas where the proclamation did not apply, many slaves decided they were free as well and courageously escaped

Historical Value

• Proclamation is key document of American history; Lincoln called it central act of his administration and the great event of 19th century

• Proclamation significant in setting legal precedent for African Americans

• Later in war Congress would pass amendment to abolish slavery across nation


• Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date the proclamation was announced in Galveston, Texas

– Federal troops did not reach Texas to free slaves until the Civil War was over

– In 1980 Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas– Not an official holiday elsewhere but is gaining in popularity

with large celebrations in Minneapolis and Milwaukee

• Juneteenth festivities include public speeches, parades, rodeos, and picnics

• Many people gather with their families to rejoice in the gains African Americans have made and to reflect on future hopes

The Emancipation Proclamation’s Legacy


Summarize

Whom did the Emancipation Proclamation free, and how did African Americans react to it?

Reading Check

Answer(s):

It was a presidential order freeing all slaves in areas at war with the Union. Many joyful southern African Americans fled from slavery; northern African Americans spread the word.

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