The Civil War in Louisiana
Background:
· USA are divided
into North and South by different economical systems
· North: industry, banking, international trade, expanding railway
network
· South: manly agriculture (cotton, little rice, sugar, tobacco),
rather poor railway connections
A conflict rises:
1800 - 1840: cotton
production rises by factor 18 (approx. 300 million kg per year)
· slaves are used as cheap workers
· expansion of state area necessary, because cotton monoculture
exhausted the soil
· South: pro slavery attitude: "not responsible for it, cultural
habit", "more humane under slavery system than under the northern
wages system"
Northern antislavery movement:
1808: Congress abolishes
slave trade with Africa
· afterwards antislavery-protest maintained by Quakers
1831: Garrison publishes "The Liberator"
· appeals for uncompromising and complete liberation
· radical, combative, uncompromising
· "Underground Railroad"(Northerners freed slaves from the South)
1820: Missouri Compromise (slavery was limited to states where it already
existed)
1845: Texas annexed (always had slavery)
1846: USA expand westwards (California, Utah, New Mexico)
· conflict about slavery issue:
· extent Missouri Compromise to the West?
· let the new states decide ("popular sovereignty")
1848: gold rush in California
· slavery issue had to be solved, before new government could be
established
1850: Compromise of 1850
· free soil constitution in California
· New Mexico and Utah organised without mention of slavery
· more effective
machinery to catch runaways
· Northerners improve Underground Railroad
· no slave trade in D.C., but still slavery
· relieve of political situation, but no solution
1852: North influenced
by "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
1854: quarrel renewed, because Kansas and Nebraska were being settled
· it was permitted to bring slaves into these states, but they
were free to decide about slavery issue
· Lincoln holds speech against slavery ("The slavery issue
has to be decided by the whole USA, not by single states)
1858: Lincoln candidate
for US Senate election
lost election, but became famous with speeches
1860: wins president election for the young Republican party
· South Carolina leaves Union
· 6 other southern states follow
1861 (8.2.): South forms Confederate States of America and vote Jefferson
Davis as their
president
Civil War begins:
1861: (4.3.): Lincoln
was sworn in as president
· refused to recognise secession of southern states (legally void)
· plea to restore the Union
· Confederates begin war against the Union on April 12
· 4 new states join Confederation
· Union: 23
industry states, population of 22 million; naval supremacy of east American
coast (sea blockade); famous commander: Ulysses S. Grant
· Confederation: 11 agricultural states, population of 9 million;
famous commander: Robert E. Lee
1863: (1.1.): Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation
· freeing slaves; inviting them to join northern army
· July: 3-day-battle
in Gettysburg
· Lee's army was defeated
· major turning point in war
· southern resources near by their end
· northern industry improved by war, agricultural export improved
by sea blockade
1864: Lincoln is voted
president again
1865: (2.4.) Lee surrenders
· terms of surrender not too strict as America is still one nation
After War Policy:
· March: 13th
amendment to US constitution (abolishes slavery and introduces Freedman's
bureau)
· 4.4.:Lincoln's speech proclaiming a generous reconstruction policy
· 13.4.: Washington celebrates victory
· 14.4: Lincoln assassinated, died next morning
· Andrew Johnson new president
· Southern-states-issue: Lincoln: secession never was legal
· states never left union
· southern individuals made states disregard authority, only individuals
should be punished
· Johnson appoints governors for southern states, then they elect
their own governments
1866: 14th Amendment
(blacks gain citizenship)
· refused by the South
· Reconstruction
act of March 1867
· southern governments are ignored and are divided into 5 districts
placed under military rule
· states could avoid military rule by ratifying the 14th amendment
1868: 14th Amendment is ratified by all States
1870: 15th Amendment (the right to vote for everyone)
· Reconstruction:
· many southern States rejoined Union with new governments, mainly
consisting of northern politicians
· Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi: mainly black politicians
· acts of violence by southern whites
· Enforcement Act: punishment for whites ignoring the blacks' rights
1872 (May): Amnesty
Act: restoring full political privileges (except radical confederates)
1877: President Rutherford Hayes removes troops and admits failure of
reconstruction policy
Source material: "AN OUTLINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY"; photos and maps: U.S. Civil War Center (www.cwc.lsu.edu)
Research: Benedikt
Volmer and Andreas Doch
Layout: Andreas Doch
Lecturer: Benedikt Volmer
The most people think, that the Civil War was only fought to free the slaves which were caught in the South. But that is wrong! Lincoln declared, as the pugnacity of the northern soldiers was nearly at the deepest point, that the war is to free the slaves in the South. This declaration was in 1863, more then 3 years after start fighting.
The United States had been a community, built by several independent states. They were parted into two different groups:
o the industrial North
o the agricultural South
The North had a higher
population, a better industry and more money than the south.
The South depended on the industry in the North, because of the big distance
to Europe and the resulting long and expensive ways of cargo.
Lincoln called the nation "a house divided ... half slave and half
free".
Most people in the
south thought that slavery was not only necessary for the work on the
fields but insisted on slavery being a good and just thing.
The Abolitionists, that wanted to abolish slavery in the United States
and organised things like "rescuing" slaves or hiding them from
their owners always gave a steady push into this conflict.
At the beginning there
were only small armies of volunteers fighting each other, but in 1862
the draft began. In the end the North had more than 1.000.000 men in arms,
the South only had 200.000
The North had more than twice the population of the South and allowed
freed slaves to fight eagerly against their old masters.
At first the South had won a lot of fights against the North, but in the end the North was more powerful. But both sides had very good generals so there were lots of losses.
After four years Robert Lee and his army (South) surrendered. He had known that he could still go on fighting, but with the only result of dying thousands of soldiers on both side The other Confederates followed shortly after. After the surrender, in the South raged a regime of terror by the Union which exempted no one. The North used his power and his force to push a whole nation down.
As we all know, this meant the end of slavery.
The Emancipation Proclamation
ordered that every slave shall become free and the southern states returned
to the union. It changed a lot of laws, but the blacks still remained
a socially weak group. They weren't slaves anymore but they were still
far from being treated as equal.