How did the American Civil War Actually Happen? (Part 1) - From 1819 to 1861

Summary

The video script explores the turbulent history of the United States leading up to the Civil War. It delves into the delicate balance between slave and free states, the concept of Manifest Destiny, and the Missouri Compromise. Key events such as the annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act are highlighted, illustrating the escalating tensions over slavery. Notable figures like Abraham Lincoln and John Brown, along with pivotal moments like the Dred Scott Case and the attack on Harper's Ferry, are covered. The summary concludes with the secession of Southern states and the beginning of the Civil War, setting the stage for a conflict that would define America's future.

Takeaways

• 🗽 The United States in 1819 was delicately balanced with 11 free states and 11 slave states, reflecting a false harmony.
• 🌟 The concept of Manifest Destiny drove the U.S. to expand westward, although the term was coined later in the 19th century.
• 🔄 The Missouri Territory's push for statehood threatened to upset the balance between slave and free states, leading to heated debates.
• 🏛️ The Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily resolved the issue by admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, setting a pattern for future state admissions.
• 📈 Texas's annexation as a slave state in 1845 disrupted the balance between slave and free states, intensifying sectional tensions.
• 🛑 The Mexican-American War, initiated by President Polk's aggressive expansionist policies, resulted in significant territorial gains for the U.S., further complicating the slavery issue.
• 🔄 The Compromise of 1850 attempted to address the slavery issue by admitting California as a free state and allowing popular sovereignty to decide the status of other territories.
• 🔄 The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and led to violent conflict over the status of these territories, known as 'Bleeding Kansas'.
• 🏛️ The Dred Scott Decision by the U.S. Supreme Court further inflamed tensions by ruling that African Americans were not U.S. citizens and could not sue in federal courts.
• ⚔️ The election of Abraham Lincoln, an anti-slavery candidate, led to the secession of Southern states and the formation of the Confederate States of America, sparking the Civil War.

Q & A

What was the balance of power between free and slave states in the United States around 1819?

In 1819, there was an equal balance of power between free and slave states in the United States, with 11 free states and 11 slave states.

What was the concept of Manifest Destiny, and how did it influence U.S. expansion?

Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was the United States' destiny to expand westward across the continent. This idea drove the U.S. government to pursue territorial expansion aggressively, even before the phrase was coined in the mid-1800s.

How did the Missouri Compromise attempt to maintain balance between free and slave states?

The Missouri Compromise, passed in 1820, allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also established a boundary at the 36º 30’ latitude line, north of which slavery was prohibited in new states.

Why did the addition of Texas to the United States create tensions between the North and the South?

Texas joined the United States as a slave state in 1845, upsetting the balance between free and slave states. Texas also made claims to territories that led to conflicts with Mexico, further increasing tensions between the North and South.

What role did the Mexican-American War play in the expansion of U.S. territories?

The Mexican-American War, initiated by President James K. Polk, resulted in the U.S. acquiring vast territories including California, New Mexico, and parts of modern-day Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado, among others, through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and how did it lead to the period known as 'Bleeding Kansas'?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, passed in 1854, allowed the residents of the Kansas and Nebraska territories to vote on whether to allow slavery. This led to violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas, a period known as 'Bleeding Kansas.'

How did the Dred Scott case contribute to rising tensions between the North and South?

The Dred Scott case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857, ruled that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens and had no right to sue in federal court. This decision outraged abolitionists and further inflamed tensions between the North and South.

What impact did the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 have on the secession of Southern states?

Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, as an anti-slavery Northerner, was the final straw for many Southern states. South Carolina seceded from the Union shortly after his election, followed by 10 other Southern states, leading to the formation of the Confederate States of America.

Why was the Union at a strategic disadvantage at the beginning of the Civil War?

At the start of the Civil War, the Union was at a strategic disadvantage because it had limited holdings in Confederate states, and one of its last strongholds, Fort Sumter in South Carolina, was outmanned and undersupplied, leading to its eventual surrender.

What were some of the key advantages the Union had over the Confederacy during the Civil War?

The Union had several key advantages over the Confederacy, including a larger population (about 22 million compared to 9 million), more soldiers (around 2 million compared to 900,000), and a more extensive railroad network, which facilitated better movement of troops and supplies.

Outlines

00:00

🗽 Early 19th Century U.S. Expansion and Tensions

The United States in 1819 was a nation in a delicate balance between free and slave states, with 11 of each. The concept of Manifest Destiny, the belief in the nation's destiny to expand westward, was driving territorial acquisitions. The push for statehood by Missouri and Maine threatened this balance, leading to debates on whether they should be admitted as slave or free states. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 attempted to maintain the balance by admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, and established a latitude line that determined the status of future states.

05:03

🚩 Texas Annexation and the Mexican-American War

Texas, after gaining independence from Mexico, sought to join the U.S. as a slave state, which threatened the balance between slave and free states. President James K. Polk, an advocate of Manifest Destiny, attempted to purchase territories from Mexico, including California and New Mexico. When diplomacy failed, Polk used military pressure, leading to the Mexican-American War. The U.S. emerged victorious, forcing Mexico to cede a vast amount of territory. This expansion fueled further debates over the institution of slavery within the union.

10:04

🔩 The North-South Divide Over Slavery and State Rights

The North and South diverged significantly in their economic and cultural reliance on slavery. The industrialized North questioned the morality of slavery, while the agrarian South, dependent on slave labor, was resistant to change. The invention of the cotton gin further entrenched the South's reliance on slavery. The issue of federal versus state rights also played a role in the growing divide, with Southerners often prioritizing state autonomy. The Fugitive Slave Act and the formation of the Republican Party by Northern abolitionists further intensified the conflict.

15:06

🔥 Escalating Tensions: Bleeding Kansas and the Dred Scott Case

The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise's border, allowing settlers to vote on slavery's legality in their territories. This led to 'Bleeding Kansas,' a period of violent conflict between pro and anti-slavery settlers. The Dred Scott Case further inflamed tensions when the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott's bid for freedom, asserting that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens and therefore had no right to sue in federal courts.

20:07

🔪 John Brown's Raid and the Onset of the Civil War

Abolitionist John Brown led a raid on Harper's Ferry in an attempt to incite a slave rebellion, but was captured and executed. The election of Abraham Lincoln, an anti-slavery candidate, prompted South Carolina to secede from the Union, followed by ten other Southern states forming the Confederate States of America. The Union, with a larger population and industrial capacity, was at a military advantage, but the Confederates held strategic positions. The attack on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War.

Keywords

💡Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was a widely held belief in the 19th-century United States that the country was destined to expand across the North American continent. This concept is central to the video's theme of American expansion and its impact on the balance between slave and free states. The script mentions how the belief in Manifest Destiny drove the U.S. to acquire more territory, which in turn led to conflicts over the institution of slavery in new territories and states.

💡Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise was an agreement between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress in 1820. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance of power between slave and free states. The compromise also established the 36°30' parallel as the dividing line between slave and free territories. In the script, the Missouri Compromise is highlighted as a pivotal moment that temporarily eased tensions but set a precedent for future conflicts over statehood and slavery.

💡Slave State

A slave state, as used in the script, refers to a state in the United States where slavery was legal. The video discusses how the balance between slave and free states was a critical issue in the early 19th century, with the addition of new states like Missouri potentially upsetting this balance. The term is integral to understanding the political dynamics and conflicts leading up to the Civil War.

💡Free State

A free state, in contrast to a slave state, is a state in the United States where slavery was prohibited. The script emphasizes the struggle between Northerners and Southerners over the status of new states like Maine and Missouri, with Northerners advocating for more free states to counterbalance the influence of slave states. The concept of free states is key to understanding the sectional tensions that characterized American politics in the 19th century.

💡Texas Annexation

The Texas Annexation refers to the process by which the Republic of Texas was incorporated into the United States as a slave state in 1845. The script notes that Texas's entry into the Union as a slave state threatened to disrupt the balance between slave and free states, which was a significant point of contention leading up to the Civil War. The annexation also had international implications, as it heightened tensions with Mexico over disputed territories.

💡Mexican-American War

The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, which resulted in significant territorial gains for the U.S. The video script mentions this war as a consequence of President James K. Polk's aggressive support for Manifest Destiny and his desire to acquire territories like California and New Mexico. The war is a critical part of the narrative of American expansion and its impact on the issue of slavery.

💡Bleeding Kansas

Bleeding Kansas refers to a period of violent conflict over the issue of slavery in the Kansas Territory during the 1850s. The script describes how settlers from both pro and anti-slavery factions flocked to the territory, leading to a violent struggle that foreshadowed the Civil War. The term 'Bleeding Kansas' encapsulates the escalating violence and political turmoil that characterized the era.

💡Dred Scott Case

The Dred Scott Case was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 that ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal courts. The script highlights the case as a significant catalyst for the growing tensions between the North and South, as it underscored the legal and social divisions over slavery that would lead to the Civil War.

💡Secession

Secession refers to the withdrawal of a state from the United States, as was done by several Southern states in the years leading up to the Civil War. The script discusses South Carolina's secession as a pivotal event that led to the formation of the Confederate States of America. The concept of secession is central to understanding the breakdown of the Union and the onset of the Civil War.

💡Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter is a historic site in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and the event of its bombardment by Confederate forces in 1861 is considered the start of the American Civil War. The script mentions Fort Sumter as the last Union stronghold in the South, emphasizing the symbolic and strategic importance of the fort in the lead-up to the war. The attack on Fort Sumter is a key moment in the narrative of the Civil War's outbreak.

Highlights

The United States in 1819 was in a delicate balance with 11 free states and 11 slave states.

Manifest Destiny was a driving force behind the U.S. government's push for westward expansion.

The Missouri Territory's push for statehood threatened to upset the balance between slave and free states.

The addition of Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state was proposed to maintain balance.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 established a line at 36º 30’ latitude to determine slave or free state status for new territories.

Texas's annexation as a slave state threatened the balance between slave and free states.

President James K. Polk's aggressive support for Manifest Destiny led to the Mexican-American War.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo forced Mexico to cede a vast amount of territory to the U.S.

The Compromise of 1850 addressed the institution of slavery within the union and the balance of slave and free states.

Popular sovereignty was introduced, allowing territories to vote on whether to permit slavery.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and led to the violent 'Bleeding Kansas' period.

The Dred Scott Case further intensified the divide between the North and South over slavery.

John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry was a failed attempt to spark a slave rebellion.

The election of Abraham Lincoln as president led to the secession of Southern states and the formation of the Confederacy.

The Union and Confederacy had significant differences in population, military resources, and industrial capacity.

The attack on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the American Civil War.

Transcripts

1819. The newly-born United States of America sat in a state of delicate balance. 11:11.

11 free states, 11 slave states. From the outside looking in, it appeared to be perfect

harmony. Equal states, equal representation, equal influence in federal affairs. But this

was only from the outside looking in. In reality, there was no focus on balance for the Americans.

Instead, all that mattered now, was expansion…

Manifest Destiny - that was the reason why the United States government was hellbent

on snagging more and more territory. Although the phrase wouldn’t be coined until the

mid-1800s, the belief held by many Americans that it was the nation’s destiny to expand

westward as far as can be, drove the U.S. to do just that.

Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South

Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky,

Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Alabama. That was the whole

of the United States thus far as of 1819, but only a year later, this would change.

In 1818, the Missouri Territory, previously obtained as part of the Louisiana Purchase,

began its push for statehood. The following year, the district of Maine would be allowed

to break off from Massachusetts and do the same. It didn’t take long for this to cause

a conundrum for the contemporary U.S., however, because the addition of two more states had

the potential to upset the numerical balance between slave states and free states. On the

one hand, Northerners and pro-abolitionists in Congress argued that the addition of Missouri

- which seemed to quickly lean toward wanting to become a slave state - would expand slavery

and thus bring them further away from their goals.

The Southerners, though, were obviously in favor of adding another slave state and thus

argued that any new candidate for statehood should have the right to decide for themselves,

just as the first 13 colonies, which side of the fence they want to fall on. The debate

in both the House of Representatives and the Senate would continue into 1819, at which

point Maine was now brought into the mix as Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House at the

time, suggested that Missouri should be added to the union as a slave state, but that Maine

should also be added, contrarily as a free state.

This proposal was subsequently debated into yet another year, when in 1820, the Senate

added to the bill, requiring that any other territories north of the 36º 30’ latitude

line that had been agreed upon below Missouri’s lower border could only enter the union as

free states. With everyone finally in some level of agreement, the Missouri Compromise

was signed into law.

This triggered a tit-for-tat war of adding one new slave state for every new free state

and vice versa, starting with Arkansas in 1836, Michigan the next year, and Florida

in 1845. And since Florida was a slave state, it was assumed that the next territory to

enter the union and statehood would be another free state - but things became complicated

when Texas had a demanding request for the United States: annex us, now.

The history of Texas had been a rollercoaster thus far, and yet it was only now preparing

for its biggest climb yet. Texas, up until recently a part of Mexico after being freed

from the grip of the Spaniards, wanted to join a different nation - the U.S.A. The Texans’

pleas were initially ignored by the U.S. government, which wasn’t in much favor of annexing the

nearby territory.

With growing pressure from Britain for Texas to be an independent nation and America’s

undeniable thirst for expansion, opinions would soon change nevertheless and Texas would,

in fact, join the union on December 29, 1845. Here was the issue though: Texas wanted to

be a slave state, which would offset the balance the Northerners had tried so hard to keep.

Furthermore, Texas had made claims to territories that put it in direct conflict with its former

host of Mexico.

And with Texas newly a part of the United States, those presumptuous claims were now

the responsibility of the U.S. - something that Mexico didn’t take lightly.

Recently elected President James K. Polk, however, didn’t care one bit what the Mexicans

thought. Instead, he was an aggressive supporter of Manifest Destiny and quickly upon his inauguration

hoped to seize the contested territories. Thus, Polk at first attempted to purchase

his desired lands.

He sent American diplomat John Slidell to offer the administration in Mexico City $30

million in exchange for California, New Mexico, and disputed territories along the Texas border.

The Mexicans, aghast and unshakeably against such an idea, declined to even meet with Slidell,

which angered Polk. The Manifest Destiny supporter would not be swayed by this rejection and

instead decided that, if diplomacy wouldn’t work, he would reel his neighbors into a war

he knew the United States would win. As a result, in the early weeks of 1846, the president

sent American troops to the Texas border to egg the Mexicans on - and it worked. It only

took a few months for Mexican soldiers to fire on the Americans and give Polk the excuse

to declare war…

With the Mexican-American War underway, debates continued within the United States pertaining

to the slave state vs. free state debacle. With the free states now outnumbered, the

Northerners felt that Polk, being a Southerner himself, was actually committing his land

grab in order to further bolster the slave state advantage, which boosted North-to-South

tensions. Still, the war raged on with now-famed generals like Ulysses S. Grant and Robert

E. Lee showing their prowess and adding to their resumes while the Americans inched closer

to Mexico's capital. The city was eventually taken and warfare halted, leading to the long-awaited

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - which now forced Mexico to cede not only the contested territories

in California and New Mexico but also lands of modern-day Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma,

Colorado, and Wyoming. Polk had gotten his way and more, but it wasn’t all sunshine

and rainbows. New land meant more to fight over back home.//

Over the next few years, Iowa, Wisconsin, and California would all give their bids for

statehood, eventually bringing about the Compromise of 1850. This series of bills would address

a multitude of things, though mostly focused on the institution of slavery within the union.

In short, it determined that California would join the Union as a free state but was required

to send one pro-slavery senator to the Senate in order to maintain the readjusted balance.

From now on, however, slave or free states from the remaining territories gained from

Mexico would be decided as such by popular sovereignty.

This went alright at first, as would the admission to statehood of Minnesota in 1858 and Oregon

in 1859, but predictably, there was simultaneously another reason for tensions to rise.

As part of the new establishment of popular sovereignty, Senator Stephen Douglas suggested

applying the strategy to a proposed newly organized Nebraska territory that would at

once repeal the Missouri Compromise slave-state border and split the Nebraska territory in

two. Now, despite a struggle to actually pass the new bill that would become known as the

Kansas-Nebraska Act, the populations of both territories were left to vote on whether they

wished to permit slavery or not. The consequence of this, and maybe unpredictably so, was that

settlers began flooding to both Nebraska and Kansas - settlers from both sides of the slavery

debate. This slippery slope ushered in a tragic era known as Bleeding Kansas, which would

eventually see Kansas enter the union in 1861, surprisingly, as a free state. This would

be the final state admitted to the union before the start of the Civil War…

Why did things get to this point? How could such a young nation have fallen into battle

with itself so fast? Why were the North and South so opposed to each other?

The issue of slavery and thus the North vs. South contention can be blamed on vastly different

cultural aspects of the two halves of America. For the North, slavery was not really needed

as the upper states had quickly become industrialized and thus didn’t have to rely on as much

manpower.

This gave Northern citizens the opportunity to unbiasedly consider the moral standing

of the entire institution of slavery, prompting many to call it into question. Supported by

the ideas of European immigrants who had come from nations that had already outlawed slavery,

these Northerners began to turn toward abolitionism. This was in total opposition to their fellow

Americans down south, of course, but this was because the South had failed to industrialize

as the North had.

Instead, Southerners were more economically dependent on free labor for plantations and

the like, which meant that their personal finances and way of life could be entirely

affected by the banning of slavery - thus making it hard for a Southerner to even give

the moral aspect a second thought - though some did and still supported the institution.

And with the invention of the cotton gin, the matter only became more solidified - the

South needed slavery. The problem then arose as the North wondered if Southerners wanted

to extend slavery even further, whereas the latter worried that the former was going to

take the slaves they already had. Both, ironically, would be right. The North and South were miles

away from reconciling this difference.

Debatably, there was also the issue of federal vs. state rights, although this factor is

hard to blame entirely. Not only did the later-formed Confederacy have a shockingly large bureaucratic

system for a collection of states who were opposed to overbearing federal governments,

but there had also been previous opportunities, such as during the Nullification Crisis a

few decades prior, for the South to go to war with the North or at least raise more

of a ruckus if state rights were the core issue. Still, it is true that many people

at the time, particularly in the south, had more loyalty to their state than country as

a whole, and state vs. federal disconnect likely played somewhat of a role in tensions,

even if second fiddle to the slavery argument.

The fanning of the flames, however, came from a string of amplifying events. The Fugitive

Slave Act, for example, had been part of the Compromise of 1850 and galvanized abolitionists

as it had made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and penalizing escaped

slaves and anyone who aided them - even if they made it to a free state.

With the Northerners deeply troubled by this development, politically active citizens of

the upper United States would soon form their own opposition party to the pro-slavery Democrats

- the Republican Party.

This new entity would also become host to the controversial Abraham Lincoln shortly

after its birth.

Lincoln had previously served on the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 before joining

the Republicans and running for Senate a decade later. Although he lost the Senate race to

Stephen Douglas, the series of speeches and debates that proceeded the election had both

catapulted him to popularity in the North while earning him a fair share of enemies

in the South. His mere existence as a political entity, thus, stirred the pot and increased

tensions. But then, so did Bleeding Kansas.

Guerilla warfare is one way that this period, from 1855 through 1859, has been described.

While Nebraska was somewhat hit by the flood of both pro and anti-slavery settlers hoping

to sway the coming vote, it was Kansas that was truly beaten. Pro-slavery residents of

neighboring states used legal loopholes to cross the border and vote in Kansas’s territorial

elections, setting off a domino effect that would lead to a split government and all-out

violence.

Historians estimate that anywhere from 50 to 200 Americans died as a consequence in

the 4 years span, something akin to pouring a couple of gallons of gasoline on the growing

fire burning toward Civil War.

Charles Sumner’s congressional speech about Kansas would further heighten the situation.

A Republican Northerner, Sumner had actually memorized every last word in his impassioned

speech titled “The Crime Against Kansas” in which he lambasted the entire institution

of slavery and even took direct jabs at pro-slavery senators.

This instance serves as a clear example of the current level of tensions in the union

and Congress, as South Carolina Representatives Preston Brooks and Laurence Keitt reacted

to the damning speech by physically assaulting Charles Sumner with a cane, beating him so

severely that he would need 3 full years of leave to recover. And this was only a year

before one of the most controversial and anger-fueling incidents of the entire lead-up to the civil

war.

It was the Dred Scott Case that soon put the move toward all-out military conflict between

the North and South into hyperdrive. The case revolved around a slave-since-birth by the

name of Dred Scott. After the death of his original owner in 1832, Scott had been purchased

by a man named John Emerson, and upon his death, Scott and his family would then be

transfered into the ownership of Emerson’s wife, Irene. Previously, Scott and his family

had been brought along for travels across multiple free states and territories, although

at no point had they attempted to run or sue for their freedom. Instead, once Irene took

ownership, Scott attempted to buy their freedom off of her. Irene was obstinate and insisted

on keeping her slaves around, which led Dred and his wife Harriet to, finally, go the route

of a lawsuit.

They each filed on the basis of two Missouri statutes, as they were currently living with

Irene in St. Louis. One stated that any slave taken to a free state would thus be free and

could not be returned to enslavement even if they left the free state, while the other

allowed for anyone to file a suit for wrongful enslavement.

The Scott couple was given logistical support from abolitionists, fellow churchgoers, and

ironically, the family of their previous owner.

This allowed them to actually take their case to court, which was first shot down in 1847

on a technicality but was given the option of a retrial. The next trial would come in

January of 1850 and this time, the Scotts actually won their freedom. Irene, however,

quickly appealed the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court. Two years later, the court

sided once more with Irene, thus re-enslaving the Scott family.

Unwilling to give up now, Scott filed a federal lawsuit with the United States Circuit Court

for the District of Missouri the following year.

Before the case could be decided upon again, Irene would transfer the Scotts over to her

brother, John Sandford, hence the name of the new case: Dred Scott vs. Sandford. In

the spring of 1854, the federal court ruled in favor of Sandford, thus prompting Scott

to appeal yet again, now to the United States Supreme Court.

This final trial would start on February 11, 1856, with a growing list of abolitionist

and even politician supporters in favor of the Scotts. Nevertheless, less than a month

later, a decision was made, and once more, Dred Scott had lost.

And not only this, but the judge most notably credited for the final ruling, a Southerner

named Roger Taney, asserted that no African American even had the right to sue for anything

in the federal court, because they lacked the ability to be United States citizens.

While the Scotts would already have their freedom by now thanks to Irene's new abolitionist

husband and the help of their old owner’s family, the case itself was the final straw

for many abolitionists…

John Brown has gone down in history as one of America’s most infamous abolitionists,

and on October 16, 1859, he would prove exactly why. He warned an armory watchman as he and

a group of fellow abolitionists launched what would be an ambitious but ultimately failed

raid on Harper’s Ferry. After taking several hostages from the town and capturing the U.S.

Armory and Arsenal, the raiders would be stalled by a local militia as General Robert E. Lee

made his way into the town to wrap things up.

Brown and his men had aimed to spark a local slave rebellion, but instead, many of the

raiders were killed once Lee and his Marines arrived, with Brown himself being captured

and later hanged for his acts of treason against the state of Virginia. John Brown had failed

and he had died, but his animosity for the South was shared by far too many for the tide

to be turned by this point.

With the election of anti-slavery Northerner Abraham Lincoln in 1860 to the presidency,

enough was enough…

Immediately after the future “Emancipator” was elected to office, the South Carolina

General Assembly called for a convention to consider secession. Much to the pleasure of

the locals, South Carolina thus voted unanimously to leave the United States of America. Days

later they issued a document justifying their decision to secede, and making one dramatically

important point in the process: “A geographical line has been drawn across the Union”.

And it truly had. 10 more Southern states would follow suit and join the newly founded

Confederate States of America, led by their chosen president, Jefferson Davis. The Union

president, Abraham Lincoln, refused to recognize the Confederacy as legitimate, insisting that

he wished to take no one's slaves and simply wanted to keep the Union together. This meant

nill to the Southerners, who were rapidly attempting to create a unified nation out

of a handful of states who had all made a big fuss about state autonomy. And not just

that, but the South was at a major disadvantage for the impending war.

Precise numbers are debated, but it can be estimated that at the time of the mass secession

and formation of the Confederacy, the Union boasted a population of roughly 22 million,

in comparison to the South’s approximate 9 million. Of those numbers, the Union would

eventually enlist around 2 million soldiers whilst the Confederates could only tally about

900,000. Furthermore, the Northerners had something close to 20,000 miles worth of railroads,

which was double what the Confederate states could claim, thus giving the Union a better

advantage for moving troops and supplies in wartime.

And while its often argued that the Confederate generals, such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall

Jackson, James Longstreet, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Patrick Cleburne gave the South

a tactical military edge on their upstairs neighbors, the North was surely ahead in other

ways; like the fact that they produced around 90% of goods in the former United States at

the time.

But still, the Union was losing its grip on the South. It only had limited holdings left

in Confederate states, and it was about to lose another…

Fort Sumter was the last Union stronghold in South Carolina, and “strong” is being

generous. It was outmanned and undersupplied, to say the least, and with Southerners now

cracking down on Union property within their borders, it was surrounded. The Confederates

attempted to force the little remaining Union forces at the fort to surrender. The latter

refused, and the Confederates opened fire. The Civil War had begun…