Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

     The Battle of Antietam (also known as Sharpsburg by the Confederates) was by far the bloodiest day of all in the American Civil War. Antietam was the first battle to be fought on Northern soil. This battle was considered a draw, however in Lincoln's opinion, and many of the Union soldiers, it was thought to be a win. General Robert E. Lee had a defensive battle strategy throughout the war, however during the Battle of Antietam he advanced his troops into Maryland (offensive battle strategy). The Northern general, McClellan, should've won this battle for multiple reasons. Primarily, the Union's troops outnumbered the Confederate's troops two to one. Also, McClellan had a copy of Lee's battle plan because it had been left behind at a past campsite. Finally, the Southerners couldn't retreat easily because they had their backs to a river. Even though it seemed as if McClellan found every way to lose the battle, there was some profitable news. For one the Confederates didn't manage to invade the North, and the European powers decided against entering the war on the Southern side. Antietam was the single bloodiest day of battle, with a number of 22,000 combined casualties. Antietam had three major outcomes: the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, people finally realized how bloody the war was, and the Confederates didn't manage to invade the North.

   

   
     After the Battle of Antietam ensued, it seemed as if there was nothing good to come from the future. It turns out due to the Northerners "victory" Abraham Lincoln was able to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This Proclamation freed all slaves living in Southern (also known as rebellious) states. Sadly, the slaves in the Northern (also known as border) states remained enslaved. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the war in multiple ways. Primarily, there was a change in focus for the Northerners. This change was that the war became a "moral force", meaning that the soldiers were fighting for "human freedom", and not just to beat the Confederates. Additionally, new soldiers were accepted into the war. Black soldiers could now fight on the Union side in the Army or the Navy. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation didn't end slavery, it was the first step to its abolishment.

   
Even more Antietam battle facts:

• The Battle of Antietam was really three battles
• By 10:00 am 8,000 men were wounded
• Gordon (Southern soldier) was shot two times, however he remained to encourage his men
• The Union had multiple chances to win the battle
• Clara Barton had to ring out the bottom of her dress every time she walked due to all the blood on the ground

Sources: 

http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-antietam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antietam

http://www.history.com/topics/emancipation-proclamation

http://www.nps.gov/clba/historyculture/antietam.htm

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Battle_of_Antietam.png/300px-Battle_of_Antietam.png

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/09/09/antietam2-aefb1be71a6200956861634e83a26bb1526f82f8-s6-c10.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/proclamation.jpg

Video in Class 2/19/13

Dred Scott case, election of 1860, secession in Georgia and Alexander Stephens's Role

     The Dred Scott case infuriated the Northerners about slavery even more than they were already. This case ruling also bolstered many anti-slavery followers' views. Dred Scott, a slave, worked on a plantation for most all of his life. However, in 1864 Scott and his wife Harriet tried to sue Irene Emerson (formerly known as Irene Sanford) for their freedom after Emerson attempted to hire out Scott and his family to work for other families. Scott had lived in free slave territories for almost nine years, although he never bought his freedom. Scott believed he deserved to be a free slave. After eleven years fighting in court, Dred Scott was determined as Irene Emerson's property, and had no right to be a free slave. Property is property, and it must return to its owner. Dred Scott was treated like an animal in this case, and the ruling infuriated many Northerners. However, Dred Scott was (and still is) viewed as a hero for standing up to his owner and all slavery supporters. 

     The election of 1860 was an extremely controversial one between the Southerners and the Northerners. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was sworn in due to a major rift in the Democratic Party.  Obviously, many Southerners were extremely upset at Lincoln winning the presidency. They believed that Lincoln would try to abolish slavery as soon as possible. It turns out, Lincoln had a completely different idea of what to do. Lincoln believed that slavery was wrong, however he accepted how it was a part of the Southern culture, and the key to its existence. Lincoln believed that the Union could not separate, that it must stay as one, although the Illinoisan native did believe that slavery either needed to be abolished completely, or legal everywhere. Abraham Lincoln went on to become the greatest president of all time. 

     Georgia was the only Southern state that was not all for secession from the Union. Alexander Stephens blazed the trail of attempting to convince the other Southern states that secession was not the answer. For a while, Georgia tried to convince the Southern states throughout many conferences that they could not secede. Alexander was a true Union loyalist, however even he knew that secession was inevitable. During the month of January in 1861 on the 19th, Georgia finally seceded. The finishing vote tallies were 208 for secession, and 89 for the Union. Even though the secessionists won, Georgia was still the only state to have qualms about seceding. The rest of the Southern states were overjoyed at the fact of Georgia seceding. As it turns out, Georgia also reinvented their Constitution for the first time ever in January, when it was established in 1798.

Some Civil War Stats:

• Bull Run was the first major battle to occur
• The war started in William McLean's front yard, and ended on his front porch
• The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places
• Three million men fought- 600,000 of them died
• The Civil War made some rich, and some incredibly poor
• "The war was about a new birth of freedom," said Abraham Lincoln
• Fewer than 4 out of 100 slaves lives to be 60
• Slaves were treated like dogs
• In 1860, 1 out of every 7 individuals were slaves
• In 1860 4 million men, women, and children are enslaved

Sources:

In Class Video 2/ 8/13

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/dredscott.htm

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3250

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLean_House_(Appomattox,_Virginia)

http://www.illinoiscivilwar150.org/images/chronos_images/1861%20Jan%2019%20Georgia%20secession%20LOC.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Alexander_Stephens.jpg/220px-Alexander_Stephens.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/dredscott.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg/220px-Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg

State's rights, nullification, Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850 and the GA Platform, Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Missouri Compromise was enacted in 1820. This compromise was only a temporary fix for a looming problem. The Missouri Compromise established that Congress had to have an equal amount of representatives from free states and slave states. The problem was, that if Missouri entered as a slave state, the balance of Congress would be upset. The way the government fixed this issue, is that Missouri still entered as a slave state, however Maine also entered as a free one. This policy worked for the moment, although soon it would lead to many unsolvable problems.

     A tariff was placed on important foreign goods in 1828. This tariff enraged Southerners because imported goods became incredibly expensive. South Carolina was more upset about this tariff than any other Southern state. John C. Calhoun (the current Vice- President of the United States) and many South Carolinian citizens got together and established a form of a petition disagreeing with this new tariff. The petition was sent to the Federal government and entailed that South Carolina was not going to obey this tariff. The government was not pleased with this petition and sent troops down to South Carolina. War almost broke out. Luckily the tariff was lowered, however Southern legislatures wanted to govern themselves more freely. These legislatures believed that states deserved more individual rights, and should be able to make more decisions for themselves. This belief plays a leading role in the belief of the Republican party today. 

     The Compromise of 1850 was yet another temporary fix to a problem neighboring the Missouri Compromise. There was a sudden gold rush in California, which led to California's want to be a state. Now the only problem was that if California entered the Union, (United Sates) there would no longer be a balance of free and slave states in the Congress because California was most likely going to enter as a free state. The North would then be given an upper hand in the Congress and the South did not like the sound of that. Now, five things were done in order to satisfy the both the North and South: Texas became a state (had larger borders), land that was formerly claimed by Texas was divided into New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada (the South had the chance to convince these states to enter the Union as slave states), slavery was abolished in Washington D.C., California entered the Union as a free state, and the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. 

     

     The Georgia Platform was a proclamation to Congress that is said to had saved the Union from separation. Georgian delegates, led by Howell Cobb, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Toombs, powerfully presented their case on how the Union needed to remain as one. Congress was won over by Georgia's overwhelming evidence on how the Union could not afford to separate and remained as one. Georgia is credited with saving the Union.

     The Kansas- Nebraska Act was created by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois on May 30, 1854. This Act allowed states north of the 36° 30´ latitude line to have slavery. If any states were established north of this line, the citizens could decided whether the state would enter the Union as a free or slave state. The citizens residing in these states were often very split between pro-slavery and anti-slavery views, and conflicts broke out regularly. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Compromise

http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/nullification-crisis-/

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-798

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html

http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/tucker/strusky_m/webquests/VUS6_madisonmonroe/Missouri_Compromise_map.jpg

http://www.ushistory.org/us/images/00080486.gif

http://www.jaysonblair.com/images/slave-wanted-s.JPG

Slavery as a cause

Slavery

     Slavery was an awful ordeal that went on throughout the United States (and some other countries too) for many years. Slavery started back as early as ancient Rome and continued on until it was abolished in 1865. It turns out that slaves were first used as hostages in Africa during wars.  

     Most slaves in the South either worked on rice or cotton plantations. Each of these types of plantations were far different than the other. For starters, rice plantations had the task system while cotton plantations had the gang system. The task system assigned each slave a certain amount of work that had to be done in a day, while the gang system forced slaves to work from sunup to sundown. Obviously, the task system was most slaves' preference. Rice plantations were filled with many dangers however. For instance, when the fields would flood, animals such as snakes and alligators would lurk in the waters, while mosquitoes would spread disease throughout the slave community. On rice plantations children would earn their first tasks at around the age of ten. Rice and cotton plantations did have some things in common although. First, there were drivers on both plantations, which were slaves that the owner thought were loyal. Also, some of these larger plantations would contain house servants and artisans. Most slaves would live in one or two room cabins with ten to twelve others. Food was basic rations: cornmeal, pork, and molasses. Many slaves suffered from gaunt cheeks, scurvy, bowed legs, and loose teeth due to malnourishment. Slaves only received clothing once a year, and were given shoes only during the winter.

     Even though slave marriage was not legal with a license from a courthouse, slaves still married. It turns out slave owners wanted their slaves to marry in order to establish  more stable communities and increase the slave population with no charge. Family was a large part of slaves' lifestyles, and they constantly feared separation. Slaves liked to attend church whether it was with their owner, or to an all black church. If slaves went to a white church they had to sit in separate balconies. Additionally, slaves saw religion a hope of equality one day, while masters saw it as a way to control their slaves. 

     There were many unfair slave laws and many acts of resistance against these laws. Some of these laws were: slaves were not allowed to read and write, couldn't work in print shops, had to travel with written passes from their owners, couldn't testify against whites and couldn't be granted freedom from their owners. Some acts of resistance were working slowly, eating extra food, and breaking tools. Men were more likely to flee than women, however most attempts were unsuccessful. 

     Many fugitive slaves and abolitionists had many goals they wished to achieve and many reasons for extreme measure against their masters. These individuals wanted to earn freedom for Negroes, longed for equality, and believed that they were soldiers for freedom. Many slaves went to extreme measure to get revenge on their master. For instance, one lady cut off her fingers so she could not be sold and her master would not make a profit off of her. 

     Georgia had many slave codes throughout the time period of slavery. A couple were: slaves could be publicly whipped for buying or selling goods, slaves could be killed for fighting back during a whipping, minorities could be presumed as slaves unless proven otherwise, and slaves could be sold publicly. 

     Slavery was an awful historical event that never should have happened. The life of a slave was full of cruelty, poverty, inhumane treatment, and embarrassment. Slaves had to suffer in order for white people to be happy and this is wrong in every way. People should have to earn their happiness themselves, not through their slaves. It is perfectly understandable why the North disagreed with slavery.

Sources: 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/house-passes-the-13th-amendment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition_in_the_American_Slave_System

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/5-slavery-rice-plantation-granger.jpg

http://www.gwu.edu/~folklife/bighouse/images/vii1.jpg

In Class Video 2/6/13