The Civil War and Land of the Free?
- Before 1800: both NORTH and SOUTH owned slaves
- 1858: Americans thought of their nation has having 2 part:
- Differences between North and South
- NORTH
- place of big cities and factories
- small farms producing enough food for growing population
- against slavery
- believed it was unprofitable and morally wrong
- believed the South should be allowed slavery
- runaway slaves should be returned to their owners
- didn't want slavery to spread west as new states were formed
- SOUTH
- only a few big cities and factories
- slow growing population
- agricultural depended mainly on 3 crops: sugar, tobacco, cotton
- for slavery
- farmers needed cheap labor
- cotton became very profitable
- plantation owners depended on slaves to pick cotton
- Minnesota had mixed feelings about slavery
Freedom for Eliza Winston
- abolitionist: someone who opposes slavery
- Mississippi River brought many Southern household slaves to Minnesota
- Visitors were good for business
- Eliza Winston
- slave
- came to MN with Christmas family
- was in a free state
- she could walk away from her master
- met Emily and Ralph Gray who were a FREE African American couple
- judge grants Winston her freedom
- some MN were angry
- didn't want to lose money from Southern tourists
- Winston was sent to Canada and later came back to speak in favor of the abolition of slavery
Dred and Harriet Scott
- Supreme Court decided:
- African Americans were NOT citizens and had NO rights under the Constitution
- slaves were "property" and citizens could not be denied their property
Home of the Brave
- secede: to withdraw from the Union of States
- Union: the Northern States during the Civil War
- Confederacy: the 11 Southern States that seceded from the Union during the Civil War
1) 1860: Abraham Lincoln elected President
2) Southern States seceded; formed Confederate States
3) Spring 1861: Civil War began
4) MN had a regiment of 1,009 men trained at Fort Snelling: First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Charley Goddard Goes to War
- 15 years old when enlisted
- June 22, 1861 - Charley and the 1st MN Regiment headed for Washington D.C.
- July 21, 1861 - Battle of Bull Run: 1st major fight of the Civil War; Charley got sick and had to stay behind
- Sept. 17, 1862 - Battle of Antietam: bloodiest battle of the war; Charley survived - MN at the Crossroads: Antietam 1862
- Battle of Gettysburg: Battle video
- lasted 3 days
- 2nd day the 1st MN Regiment played an important role: held back Confederates just long enough for reinforcements to arrive
- First MN Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg
- Charley was seriously wounded but survived
Land of the Free
- Emancipation Proclamation: the presidential decree that stated that as of Jan. 1, 1863, the slaves in the Confederate States were free
- made it clear that if the North WON the war ALL SLAVES would be FREE!
- another reason for the soldiers of the North to fight
Journey to Freedom
- Robert Hickman:
- One of the first slaves to make the journey to MN
- He could read and write
- Preacher and leader in his community
- Helped establish: Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul
- May 1863: 2 steamboats arrived carrying 360 African Americans
- some MN were afraid they might take their jobs and tried to stop the boats
- others welcomed them
- North DEFEATED the South in 1865!
Home Front
- Support for soldiers while they were fighting:
- Soldiers' aid societies gathered supplies and sent them to soldiers
- raised money for families of men who had died in war
- provided companionship for soldiers' wives and mothers
- sent many letters and packages to the battlefields