Contextualization
The tensions were rising in the North and South in the US and the main culprit was slavery. Slavery had been pushed aside for many presidencies and the free states in the North were becoming more and more against it with the development of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the harsh conditions outlined within. On the contrary the South was very adamant about keeping their agricultural and pro-slavery way of life intact. The addition of new territory from the annexation of Texas and the Mexican cession threw off the balance of the free to slave ratio and raised the tensions even more as to which side would have the power of majority. The final breaking point comes with the election of Lincoln, a Republican not featured on many southern ballots. Secession starts with South Carolina an the other Southern states follow (leaving behind West Virginia) because they apparently had no say in the government. With the seceding of these state the Civil War is initiated.
Political Cartoons
H - The free soil party was a political party that opposed slavery mainly based in the north. They didn't want slavery in the new territories. This group was a precursor to the Republican party.
P - The artist believes that the Democratic party including Stephen Douglas - propagator of the Kansas-Nebraska Act - was forcing slavery into the north with popular sovereignty instead of going along with the 1820 compromise. P - This illustrates that Bleeding Kansas is the fault of Southern Democrats who are not opposed to slavery expanding and forcing it in to the midst of free states. |
H - The caning of Charles Sumner occurred after his speech, speaking out about and openly criticizing slavery and those who supported it. Andrew Butler was a main victim of his criticisms, and his nephew, Preston Brooks who was attending, was especially offended by this and took it upon himself to defend the honor of his uncle.
P - The POV of the artist was that the relationships of the leaders in the countries were "splintering" and the tensions between the North and South were higher than ever resulting from this historic event. P - The actions depicted in this cartoon demonstrate the weakening relations between the North and South and initiates violent retaliation from abolitionists such as John Brown. |
H - The 15th amendment for equal voting rights regardless of race had been passed and granted African Americans legal rights regarding the government and gave them direct political influence.
P - The POV of the artist was that there had been a huge step made in the civil rights of African Americans, but you can tell by the citizen inside the booth that some weren't happy about this development and they would do something to gain political control back. P - The artist depicted the first vote by an African American, but this didn't mean that all African Americans could now miraculously vote, following the 15th amendment many poll taxes and specifications had to be met which limited the black vote. |
H - The abolition of slavery was met with the end of the Civil War, but the development of Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan were born out of Southerners who still wanted to preserve their way of life, control the African Americans, and show that they were still in power.
P - The "Worse Than Slavery" on the banner clearly expresses the belief that the development of the new radical groups, like the KKK, populated by white men in the South sent the treatment of African Americans plummeting to it's rock bottom. P - This expresses the comparison of the Jim Crow laws in the south that limited black rights and the KKK's harsh treatment and slaughtering of African Americans to the harsh conditions one would have had to endure during times of slavery. |
Turning Points
Texas Annexation
Bleeding Kansas
Birth of the Republican Party
Underground Railroad
Emancipation Proclamation
|
John Brown
Mexican War
Election of 1860
Compromise of 1850
Gettysburg
|
Comparisons
Anaconda Plan v the Southern Plan
Anaconda Plan
|
Southern Plan
|
North v South Strengths
North
|
South
|
Lincoln v Johnson v Congress Reconstruction Plans
Lincoln's 10% Plan
|
Johnson's Plan
|
Congress' Plan
|