EVIDENCE PLANNER PERIOD: 5[1844 – 1877]
EVIDENCE PLANNER PERIOD: 5[1844 – 1877]
EVIDENCE PLANNER PERIOD: 5[1844 – 1877]
EVIDENCE PLANNER PERIOD: 5[1844 – 1877]
EVIDENCE PLANNER PERIOD: 5[1844 – 1877]
EVIDENCE PLANNER PERIOD: 5[1844 – 1877]
PERIOD 5: 1844-1877 - Overview
SummaryAs the young nation grew in population and land, regional tensions centered around the spread of slavery and state’s rights led to a civil war that permanently transformed American society and the nature of the government. Beginning with the election of James Polk in 1844, the United States pursued westward expansion and the opening of new foreign markets. The ideology of “Manifest Destiny” led to a war with Mexico and the acquisition of vast western lands, while intense debates regarding the spread of slavery intensified sectional tensions. After Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, the southern states seceded, marking the beginning of the Civil War. After four brutal years of fighting and 500,000 casualties, the Union’s military victory resulted in a contested Reconstruction period and left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
Beginning=ManifestDestiny,MovementWest(OregonTrail), ElectionofJamesK.Polk(YoungHickory)
WhatdoIneedtoknow?
1.ThebeliefinManifestDestinyledtoterritorialexpansionoftheU.S.
a. Examples:TexasRevolution,Mexican/AmericanWar,OregonTrail,California,etc.
2.Howslavery(andattemptsatCompromises)ultimatelyfailedtopreventCivilWar.Whatsectionaltensionsexisted(economic,social,political)betweentheNorthSouth?
a. Examples:WilmotProviso,Compromiseof1850,Kansas/NebraskaAct,DredScottCase,JohnBrown’sRaids,Electionof1860
3.TheNorthwontheCivilWarduetoavarietyoffactors(militaryleaders,industrialcapacity,politicalaction,population,resources,keyvictories)andthewarhadadevastatingimpactonthecountryasawhole(deathrates,widows,Sherman’sMarch,TotalWar).
a. Examples:Leevs.McClellan,EmancipationProclamation,SuspensionofHabeasCorpus,WartimeExecutivePowers,Antietam,Sherman’sMarchtotheSea,Gettysburg,FallofAtlanta,AppomattoxCt.House,
4.HowwasReconstructionafailure?HowwasReconstructionasuccess?DidReconstructionimprovethelivesofAfricanAmericans?
a.Examples:13th,14th,15thAmendments,RadicalRepublicans,KKK,JimCrowLaws,BlackCodes,Sharecropping,Lincoln’sSecondInauguralAddress,Freedmen’sBureau,AndrewJohnson,ThomasNast’sCartoon“WorseThanSlavery”
End=Compromiseof1877endedReconstruction–ended5militarydistricts,returnSouthto“HomeRule”(Redemption)LostCauseetc.
Period Perspectives Following a philosophy of manifest destiny, land was added through negotiations, purchase, and war. With victory in the Mexican War, the United States secured its southern border and ports on the Pacific Ocean. Expansion and sectionalism intensified the differences over politics, economics, and slavery. Opposition to slavery ranging from free soilers to abolitionists and an underground railroad grew in spite of fugitive slave laws and the Dred Scott decision. A series of compromises failed and, following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, a civil war ravaged the country.
The Union victory ended the questions of slavery and states' rights. Reconstruction brought confrontations between the executive and legislative branches, and between the federal government and state governments. As the freed African Americans established new lives, Black Codes and sharecropping were established to maintain their subservience.
Alternate View Views of the Civil War have covered a spectrum from an unavoidable conflict over slavery to a failure of leadership and a need less bloodletting. Alternate views of Reconstruction considered it a half-done effort that required another 100 years to realize equality for most Americans.
PERIOD 5: 1844-1877 - Main Themes
Themes / Applied to this periodNational Identity / - Slavery vs. Free nation – ideology of democracy questioned, Wilmot Proviso, Dred Scott Decision, Emancipation Proclamation, 13-15th amendments.
- Civil Liberties in question during time of war – the draft, Habeas Corpus, etc.
- Citizenship and voting rights – 13-15th amendments
- Sectionalism vs. Nationalism – southern secession, “police action” to promote unity.
Work, Exchange, and Technology / - Industrialism of the North during the war
- Plantations/Cash crops of the South, Sharecropping and Tenant Farming
- Transportation – Canals, Railroads
- Civil War Draft conscription of soldiers – draft riots
- Technology – mini-ball and rifle, telegraph, ironclads, etc.
Migration and Settlement / - Regional differences (Sectionalism) – political, social (including religious), economic – North vs. South vs. West
- Technology – Telegraph and Railroad
- Westward expansion – Conflict with Mexico, conflict with Indians and Europeans
- Slavery in the South – Emancipation Proclamation, contraband, Underground railroad
- Western Movement – American Indians, Homestead Act
- Early immigration – Irish, Germans, Catholics
- Movements in war – Northern troops to the South
- Post war movement – carpetbaggers, western movement (veterans)
Politics and Power / - Federal vs State Rights – SC secession, Confederacy, Nullification conflicts
- New Political Parties – around issue of slavery (Free soil, Know-Nothing, Republican, Radical Republicans Parties)
- Gaining new land and territory expansion – Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Slave vs. Free state states fight for power! – Underground RR vs. Fugitive Slave Act, Bleeding Kansas, Sumner caning
- The Civil War! – a “police action”, Emancipation Proclamation, major battles
- Leaders – presidents, union vs. confederate generals
America in the World / - Mexican American War – US more dominant in North America
- Expansion – Alaska, Southwestern states
- European vs. American interests – England stays neutral due to slavery, Trent Affair
Geography and Environment / - Industrialization of the North – pollution, urbanization, deforestation
- Plantations of the south – deforestation, large scale farming, sharecropping
- War destruction of the environment – scorched earth strategy
Culture and Society / - New ideas about Abolition – Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Underground RR, Fugitive Slave Act,
- Equality Movements realized – 13-15 amendments
- Role of women – Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton.
- Role of African Americans – Fredrick Douglass, Union soldiers, Hiram Revels
- Anti-Foreign sentiment – anti-Catholic, racism, anti-Irish