SECTIONAL Conflict: Regional Differences [APUSH Review Unit 5 Topic 5] Period 5: 1844-1877

Welcome to Heimler’s History

Overview of Regional Tensions in Pre-Civil War America

• The video discusses the growing tensions between northern and southern states regarding slavery and immigration leading up to the Civil War.

• The host introduces a resource designed to help students excel in AP U.S. History, including notes and practice questions.

Immigration and Nativism

• A significant influx of Irish and German immigrants arrived in the U.S. before the Civil War, often settling in ethnic enclaves while maintaining their cultural identities.

• Many Irish immigrants faced harsh living conditions, particularly in New York City’s Five Points neighborhood, characterized by slums with high disease rates and unemployment.

• A strong anti-Catholic nativist movement emerged, targeting Irish immigrants who were predominantly Catholic, contrasting with the Protestant majority among native-born Americans.

• The Know-Nothing Party was formed as a political response to nativist sentiments, advocating for limiting immigrant influence while ironically claiming ignorance about their beliefs.

Economic Differences: North vs South

• The economies of the North (free wage laborers in manufacturing) and South (enslaved labor on plantations) developed along divergent paths during this period.

• Northerners opposed slavery's expansion primarily for economic reasons; they feared it would hinder free wage laborers' job opportunities if new territories became slave states.

• This opposition led to the formation of the Free Soil Movement, which aimed to prevent slavery's spread into newly acquired territories from the Mexican Cession without seeking its abolition in existing slave states.

Abolitionists’ Role

• Abolitionists represented a minority within the North but were influential due to their effective strategies against slavery; they included both free blacks and whites committed to ending slavery everywhere.

Abolitionist Movements and Key Figures

The Impact of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"

• Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, a fictional work that vividly illustrated the dehumanization and brutality of slavery.

• The book gained immense popularity, shifting Northern perceptions of slavery from an abstract concept to a tangible evil perpetrated by slaveholders.

• Southern readers reacted with outrage, attempting to ban the book due to its critical portrayal of their way of life.

Frederick Douglass and Abolitionist Rhetoric

• Frederick Douglass, a former enslaved person, delivered powerful abolitionist speeches characterized by a blend of pathos, logos, and ethos.

• His unique perspective as someone who escaped slavery allowed him to articulate the horrors faced by enslaved individuals effectively.

The Underground Railroad

• The Underground Railroad was a network of trails and safehouses facilitating the escape of enslaved people from the South to freedom in the North.

• Tens of thousands utilized this route, with some traveling as far as Canada to evade stricter enforcement under the Fugitive Slave Law enacted in 1850.

John Brown's Violent Resistance

• John Brown emerged as a radical abolitionist who believed that only violent uprising could eradicate slavery in America.

• In 1859, he attempted to raid Harper’s Ferry federal arsenal to arm enslaved people for rebellion but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Consequences of John Brown's Actions

• Although his raid failed and he was executed for his actions, Brown had connections with prominent Northern abolitionists like Douglass.

• Southerners perceived Brown's actions as evidence that abolitionists aimed not just for emancipation but also sought incitement of racial conflict against them.