The North and the South

Why can’t we all just get along?

How were they so different?

After the War for Independence, several northern states passed laws to abolish slavery

The Southern states chose not to Many disagreements took place over

the issue Why do you think the South would

want to keep a system of slavery in place?

Cotton=one Very Important Crop

The cotton gin was invented in 1793; it made cotton easier to produce Southerners wanted more slaves to work in

their cotton fields The value of cotton is rising-it is in high

demand all over the world. Textile mills in Britain and New England

needed more cotton

Cotton Cotton became the South’s most

important crop and it was growing it for the entire world!

Plantation owners used the money they were making to buy more land and slaves

Slavery grew even bigger!

The slavery argument rages

The South said that slavery was too important to their economy to give up!

The North said that slavery was slowing the country’s economy

The North thought slavery was unfair and wrong

More differences than just slavery

The South’s economy was agricultural and based on farming

The North’s economy was changing as cities grew and factories were being built

The Tariff Tiff A tariff is a tax on imported goods Congress passed high tariffs on goods

made outside the U.S. like British textiles The tariffs were used to help American

manufacturing The taxes greatly helped the North, but

not the South The South was unhappy to have to pay

these taxes and not get any benefit from them

States’ Rights

John Calhoun, a Southerner started arguing against the tariffs

He believed in states’ rights which is the idea that the states, not the federal government should make decisions

Many Southerners agreed with him

Sectionalism Develops

Sectionalism is when one has loyalty to one part of the country

Disagreements over slavery, tariffs, and the issue of states rights led to people caring more about their section of the country rather than the U.S. as a whole

Check all the characteristics that match the South:

Factories Believed in states’ rights Farming Many Manufactured goods Many slaves

Check all the characteristics that match the North:

Big city life Plantations Cotton growing Supported the tariffs Against slavery

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe was against the Fugitive

Slave Law Stowe was a writer from New England She wrote a story describing the cruelty of slavery

and how slavery was not just a Southern problem, but a national problem

Her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin convinced many northerners that slavery was wrong

The Southerners thought that Stowe’s picture of slavery was wrong

The book was another source of disagreement between the North and the South

John Brown’s Raid

An abolitionist named John Brown took matters into his own hands

He tried to start a rebellion against slavery by attacking a US Army post at Harper’s Ferry, VA.

Soldiers captured Brown and his group Brown was taken to trial, found guilty,

and was hanged The North saw Brown as a hero!

A Country Divided

The conflict bet. the North and the South worsens

People in the South were worried that the abolitionists were trying to start a slave rebellion

Some Southerners believed that secession was the only way to protect their way of life

Secession is when part of a country leaves and breaks off from the rest

Lincoln’s Election In 1860, the country elected a

newpresident The Democratic Party was split

between 2 candidates The Republican Party chose Abraham

Lincoln as their candidate Lincoln has support in the North, but

very little in the South

A New President

Lincoln won the election overall, but did not win in one Southern state

The South was upset and thought that the federal gov’t was growing too strong and Lincoln would try to end all slavery

They believed the succession was the only way to protect their rights

The South starts to secede

South Carolina withdrew first followed by 6 other Southern states

Delegates from the 7 states met and decided to form their own confederation in which the states would have more power than the central gov’t

These states called themselves the Confederate States of America or the Confederacy

Two Presidents

The Confederacy decided to elect Jefferson Davis as President

Meanwhile, President Lincoln just wanted to keep the country together, but it was too late

In Charleston, SC the state militia had surrounded Fort Sumter, a federal fort with US soldiers inside

Fort Sumter

The Confederacy wanted control of the fort

The fort remained in union hands, but were running out of supplies

If supplies were not sent soon, then they would have to surrender

Lincoln wanted to keep control of Fort Sumter, so he sent more supplies

The start of a war

Davis made the decision to attack the fort before the supplies arrived

Confederate leaders saw the refusal to surrender the fort as an act of war

The Union troops ran out of supplies and were forced to surrender

The Civil War has begun A civil war is a war between two

groups in the same nation

The following causes contributed to the start of the Civil War:

Disagreement over States’ rights Disagreement over slavery Disagreement over tariffs Uncle Tom’s Cabin Lincoln’s Election John Brown’s Raid The attack on Fort Sumter