Life Before the American Civil War

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Life Before the American Civil War

• By Jihan Habeeb

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The American Civil War was

• A military conflict between the United States of
  America (the Union), and the Confederate States
  of America (the Confederacy) from 1861-1865
• North- the Union
• South- the Confederacy (the south was also called
  the ante-bellum which stood for before the war)

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Major Differences

• North
• Industry
• Middle Class
• Immigrant labor
• Protected Tariff (a tax placed on imported goods)

• South
• Agriculture (cotton)
• No middle class
• Slave labor
• No protected tariff

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Free States and Slave States Before the Civil
War Red- slave states, Green- free states,
Beige- territories open to slavery
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Lets Start with the South

• Economy was based on cotton production which
  depended on slave labor.
• Southern economy was weak and vulnerable because
  it depended entirely on cotton but was still very
  profitable.
• The period of cotton growing was called King
  Cotton.

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Southern Population

• 11 states
• 9,000,000 people
• 3,500,000 slaves

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3 Classes of Southern Society

• Gentry- Highest class Small group (2500 people)
  that owned large farms.
• Yeomen- Large group that owned small farms,
  usually less than 100 acres. They were poor and
  depended on the gentry to do business with.
• Slaves- Lowest class whose lives were completely
  controlled by the gentry.

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Slavery

• Slaves originally came from Africa they were
  taken by white colonists to America and became
  personal property of the gentry.
• The main purpose of having slaves was to serve
  white peoples every need, especially picking
  cotton from the cotton plantation fields.

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Slaves Working on a Plantation, 1862
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Slavery cont.

• Slaves were a big investment for wealthy
  plantation owners in 1860, a slave could cost
  2,000.
• Slave masters had total control over slaves
  lives.
• Slaves were often physically abused and raped.

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Slavery cont.

• Slave owners also threatened to kill slaves and
  their families if they tried to escape.
• Plantations had codes, or customary treatment, to
  control slaves.
• If you would like to read first-hand accounts of
  slaves and how they lived during the time, go to
  http//xroads.virginia..edu/HYPER/wpa/wpahome.htm
  l

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Codes

• Slaves could not own guns.
• Slaves could not strike a white person.
• Slaves could not testify in court.
• Slaves could not leave the masters plantation
  without permission.
• Slaves were not allowed to read or write.

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Other Characteristics

• Not many big cities
• Not many schools (people hired tutors)
• The very rich studied at universities or the
  military and became kernels.
• Government- the main political party of the south
  was the Whig party.
• Southern Whigs were pro-slavery.
• Popular Sovereignty- idea suggested by southern
  states that people of a certain territory should
  have the right to decide whether the territory
  should be admitted as a slave or free state.

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And now the North

• Economy was based on industries and major
  businesses, commerce and finance.
• North had many manufacturing factories that dealt
  with textiles, lumber, clothing, machinery,
  leather, and wooden goods.
• The biggest business of the north was in railroad
  construction. Transportation was easier because
  of railroads.

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The North

• 23 states
• 23,000,000 people
• Bigger cities than the south such as New York and
  Boston

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The North cont.

• Unlike the south, the north had tariffs on their
  products in order to protect them from cheap
  foreign competition.
• The south opposed tariffs because it increased
  the price of manufactured goods.
• Labor for industries and factories depended on
  immigrants that came mainly from Europe.

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The North cont.

• In addition to having a strong economy, the north
  had a strong government as well.
• They had better representation in Congress than
  the south did.
• Democrats- the main political party of the north.
  They were abolitionists- people against slavery.

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Acts and Bills

• Wilmot Proviso- 1846 named after David Wilmot,
  Democrat from Pennsylvania, this bill stated that
  the Mexico territory that belonged to America
  should be free territory without slavery.
  Southerners opposed this bill but it was passed
  anyway.

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Bills and Acts cont.

• Compromise of 1850- Stated that California should
  enter the Union as a free state.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act- 1854 Created by senator of
  Illinois, Stephan Douglas, this act was to
  organize the rest of the Louisiana territory so
  that it would steer the meeting of railroads in
  Chicago.

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References

• Shi, David Emory and George Brown Tindall.
  America A Narrative History. W.W. Norton
  Company New York 2000
• Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000
• Civil War Traveler- www.civilwar.org
• From Revolution to Reconstructionand what
  happened afterwards- http//odur.let.rug.nl/usa/H
  /1994/ch6_p2.htm
• The Civil War- www.teacheroz.com/civilwar.htm
• Slavery in America- www.slaveryinamerica.org
• The History Place- www.historyplace.com/civilwar