Slave owners defended slavery by pointing out that it had existed in virtually every civilization throughout history, citing the many biblical references to slavery. Other defenders of slavery argued that blacks were an inferior race who should be treated like children and that eradicating slavery would bring economic disaster.
In Virginia in 1831, Nat Turner's Rebellion became the bloodiest slave revolt in American history and further fueled the slavery issue.
The civil war was different from other wars since both sides were from the same country and shared a common past.
Sub-Chapter 2: Attempts at compromise
The Mexican War brought new attention to slavery because territory gained had to be declared free or slave.
Henry Clay authored the Compromise of 1850, which stipulated that California would enter the Union as a free state while the other territories acquired from Mexico would decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. To appease southerners, Congress also imposed new requirements for the capture and return of runaway slaves. But even with this compromise, the issue of slavery was not resolved.
In 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was published. It highlighted the discouraging effects of slavery on slave families and significantly affected Northern public opinion regarding the institution of slavery. Today, it is considered one of the most important works in American history.
Sub-Chapter 3: Popular sovereignty
In 1854, part of the land received from France in the Louisiana Purchase was divided between the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
Popular sovereignty would decide whether these territories would be free or slave states once admitted to the Union. Northerners and Southerners rushed to Kansas to influence the outcome. Abolitionist John Brown murdered five pro-slavery southerners around the same time that pro-slavery forces were nearly destroying the town of Lawrence. Violence escalated, and in 1856 the territory received the nickname "Bleeding Kansas."
In March 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision further fueled the slavery issue by ruling that slaves were not citizens, but private property. This decision effectively rendered the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Compromise of 1850 unconstitutional.
Subchapter 4: The spark
John Brown's raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859 helped start the war.
Brown was convinced that the end of slavery could only come through the shedding of blood. Brown hoped to rally the region's slaves, but his plan was ill-conceived and executed in chaos. John Brown and his men killed four innocent townspeople, including a free black man, Heywood Shepherd.
U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee captured Brown while he was taking refuge in a fire station in Harpers Ferry.
Brown was tried, found guilty and hanged on December 2, 1859.
Sub-Chapter 5: Election of 1860
As the 1860 presidential election approached, Democrats were unable to agree on a platform and divided into three factions. As a result of this division, Republican Abraham Lincoln won the election with only 40% of the votes cast and despite not even appearing on the ballot in several Southern states.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, followed soon after by six other states.
In Montgomery, Alabama, the Confederate States of America was established, with Jefferson Davis as president and Alexander Stevens as vice president. Two months later, the capital was moved to Richmond.
President Lincoln and his administration did not support the right of any state to leave the Union and refused to abandon federal forts in rebel states.
One of these was the Federal garrison of Ft. Sumter, South Carolina. On April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons began firing on the fort; 34 hours later, the garrison surrendered. This was an act of war that Lincoln could not let go unchallenged.
Lincoln responded by issuing a call for 75,000 volunteers to quell the rebellion. As the Deep South states joined the Confederacy and the Northern states remained loyal to the Union, the border states found themselves caught in the middle and forced to choose between the two.
Subchapter 6: Virginie decides
Virginia initially did not want to join the Confederacy, but was opposed to Lincoln's plan to use military force to force the Southern states to remain in the Union.
On April 17, 1861, Virginia severed its ties with the Union.
Both sides' war goals were simple: the Confederacy was fighting for independence and the North was fighting to preserve the union. No compromise was possible.
Virginia during the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Memory
Funded by a Virginia Sesquicentennial grant from the American Civil War Commission
Executive Producer: Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr.
Produced by Blue Ridge PBS
October 2009
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