Henry McNeal Turner

http://theforgottenprophet.blogspot.com/

He was born in 1834 in Newberry courthouse, South Carolina. Although not born into slavery due to ancestral status, he was still perceived by others as a black man. He was never officially sold; instead he was taken in to live with the Quaker family. While under their household, and 15, he took a janitorial ob at a law firm. Although his task most often consisted of cleaning and organizing, the lawyers working at this from were able to notice the intelligence and knowledge this man beheld. Here, he was able to receive a suitable education. Toward the end of his janitorial job, he was converted into a Methodist and therefore decided his purpose in life would be to become a preacher. After many successful years of preaching and giving life changing revivals, when the civil war came around, he transferred his main focus onto politics. He helped greatly in the organization of the first regiment of the U.S colored troops and Georgia Republican Party. 

Andersonville

Andersonville prison, also known as camp Sumter, was a confederate military prison. It was known to hold more than the limit stated therefore not recognized positively. 45,000 men were imprisoned here. 13,00 of these men dying g=from diseases, poor sanitation, lack of food, not enough space, and the lack of shelter and a home before it was shut down in 1865, 14 months after it was opened and utilized. These prisoners only had 2 sources of food. One, being the daily truck bringing in portions of food for the prisoners. Keep in mind that these trucks only carried enough food to provide for the men within the limit of the prison. The second source was the Sweetwater creek, the stockade branch, in which flowed through the camp. Not only did this serve as a source of water but as well as a toilet. 

http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/11andersonville/11visual2.htm

Sharecropping and tenant farming

http://wikihistoria.wikispaces.com/Sharecropping

Sharecroppers

Sharecropping was a system used after the reconstruction period. A sharecropper, someone who was unable to own land but instead worked for someone who did, was paid for their labor with crops instead of cash. This was because farm owners, yet rich in land, were yet not rich in cash. This system was theoretically benefiting both parties, referring to land owners and sharecroppers. This was so because in the case of landowners, previously, they relied heavily on slaves to tend their crops. Since slavery has been newly abolished, a farmer has no one to tend to their crops. This is when sharecroppers, most often former slaves, step in. when enslaved, slaves were somewhat provided a decent shelter and a portion of food to survive on. By themselves, they had no one and nothing.  By becoming a sharecropper, the idea of not knowing when your next meal would be and where you would sleep tonight was relieved.  Also, while working, they were ensured with half of the harvest.

Tenant farmers

http://giselagehlerkarrasch.girlshopes.com/chartonsharecroppersandtenantfarmers/

Tenant farmers, unlike sharecroppers were able to own plowing animals, equipment and other supplies. As well, after each harvest they7 would receive either two thirds or three quarters of the harvest. Sharecroppers, on the other hand, were only promised half of the harvest; while also deducting from their “pay” extra necessities they asked for.   He “bosses” of tenant farmers often provided food and the most basic necessities due to the lack of farm credit. 

Freedmen's Bureau

The freedmen’s bureaus sole purpose was to ease the transition from a nation based on slavery, to one containing free black men. Another goal this bureau strived for was providing education for black women and men. In this, they exceeded. They were able to create fundamental colleges such as Howard University. Unlike their idea of having education provided for black, the transition itself was not easy when Politian’s or citizens refused to cooperate.  Day to day humans can relate to this situation in a way. Let’s say I was to make a goal of losing weight in the year 2013. For this I would have to do 2 things. 1;being eating healthy. My secondary action towards my goal would be to workout daily. I accomplish my second goal, but because my stomach will not cooperate with me, I keep on eating junk food. 

http://vshadow.vcdh.virginia.edu/freedmen1.html

Reconstruction Plans

The reconstruction was basically based on bringing southern states back into the union, regard that this as well brought many complications. One major complication that seemed to influence this movement the most were radical republicans. Radical republicans were those who strongly believed that those who were part of the confederate states should be punished toughly. Their reasoning for this was because the rebellious states were the ones responsible for the starting of the civil war.  They surely were not advocates for the idea of having 10% of the rebellious states oath to be part of the union, and be readmitted into the union. 

http://historygcp.wordpress.com/unit-iv-reconstruction/freedmens-bureau/

13th, 14th and 15th Amendment

http://www.xtimeline.com/error.html?aspxerrorpath=/__UserPic_Large/1634/ELT200711111851448733674.BMP

The 13^th amendment was added to the constitution in 1865. It declares slavery illegal in the United States. It was effective then, and is still effective now. Even though Abraham Lincoln had previously freed all slaves in rebellious states within the emancipation proclamation, it was never really followed through until later on.

Within the 14^th amendment, it states, no matter the color of a man’s skin, a man born in the United States therefore had the right and privilege to become a citizen of the United States.

Also relating to the 14^th amendment, comes the 15^th amendment. The in the 15^th amendment, it implicates that, again, no matter the color of a man’s skin, while still being a citizen of the united states, had the entitlement to vote. 

sherman's atlanta campaign and march to sea

http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/11/1115-sherman-march-to-sea/

The Atlanta campaign was the first out of 2 campaigns that union general William t. Sherman commanded. His principle was to gain and occupy Atlanta, due to Atlanta’s role as a major railroad hub of the south and its industrial capabilities, in which would cause a significant loss for the confederacy. Confederate general Joseph Johnston army was outnumbered 2 to 1 by the union’s army. He then decided to use defensive tactics against Sherman to at the very least try to slow down union soldiers. This defensive work ethic was utilized as a distraction. Similarly, when you’re hiding something from your parents, you do or say things to distract them. While Johnston hoped to lure Sherman into costly head on attacks, Sherman would simply go around, or out flank, the CSA’s position. He then continued to advance to what he really wanted, Atlanta. By the time general Johnston would realize this, it would be too late to attack on the union soldiers to they would have to withdrawal from their defensive strongholds. Because he repeatedly had to withdrawal, allowing Sherman and his men to get closer and closer to Atlanta untouched, he was replaced by a more aggressive general, confederate general john b. hood. Hood was instructed to take on Sherman’s army head on and protect the city of Atlanta, and he did so as commanded. Even thought he put in his best effort to halt and stall the union soldiers, he was unsuccessful, allowing Sherman to get close enough to Atlanta to begin to bombard it with cannon fire. On September 2, 1864, General Hood was forced to withdraw from Atlanta leaving the city open for Union occupation. Sherman held the city for more than two months planning for what was to be called The March to the Sea. On Nov 15, 1864, Sherman’s army left Atlanta. He left Atlanta burning, ruining everything in his path. from 

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/8620/Fires-blaze-while-Union-soldiers-destroy-railroad-tracks-in-Atlanta

from November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of this “March to the Sea” was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. After conquering Atlanta, Sherman set his mind on the rest of Georgia, and the punishment they deserved for being responsible for starting this war and these were to be the consequences they were to face. From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 300-mile long and 60 miles wide march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. Throughout this time, Hood attempted to once again, lure Sherman in their direction towards Tennessee, leaving Sherman and his men a clear, smooth path to savannah. Sherman’s men were instructed to liberally forage on the county during the march. They were also instructed to not disturb citizen unless they resisted and fought back, then they were allowed to set their houses and crops on fire. There were only two battles during Sherman’s March to Sea and the battle of Griswoldville was the most tragic. Sherman’s battle-hardened army was attacked by a force of Georgia militia made up of men too old and boys too young to fight in the regular army.  In this battle over 650 of the Georgians were killed in comparison to 62 Union soldiers.  With no confederates to fight off any longer, they arrived in savannah Georgia December 22, 1864. When they arrived at savannah, they not wanting to be bombarded just like griswoldville was, surrendered to the union almost immediately. He then sent Abraham the good news in a telegram enunciating, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah. . . .” This win was imperative for Lincoln to be reelected in 1864. 

http://www.ducksters.com/history/shermans_march_to_the_sea.php

video of shermans march to sea: http://www.history.com/topics/shermans-march/interactives/shermans-march

shermans field orders: http://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/Willis/Civil_War/documents/Sherman120.html

Anaconda plan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_blockade

The purpose of the union blockade was to prevent the south from trading with England and France for weapons and other necessary supplies for war. The man behind this master plan was General Winfield Scott. This plan was also named the “anaconda plan” meaning that they were going to squeeze the CSA to its “death.” In the beginning of this developing plan, it was unsuccessful for two main reasons.  The Union navy was not able to completely blockade Georgia's coast, it was simply impossible to block everything at once when men and warfare materials were limited. Another problem the union encountered were the Many blockade runners. Blockade runners were Private citizens who took the risk of escaping the union blockade, for the chance of huge profits, and traveling to and, if they were not caught, back from Europe trading supplies.    

chickamauga, the river of death

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chickamauga

Chickamauga was the first major battle fought in Georgia in a small town of Chickamauga located in Walker County. Not only did it last three days, but it was also the second bloodiest war of the civil war. This battle was part of a larger northern objective. The first step would be to capture Chattanooga, an important rail center, to then use it as a “stepping stone” to capture the most important rail hub; Atlanta. Just like when you first buy an itouch, just to start off, then afterward you purchase an iphone,the true prize. The union general in charge was William s. Rosecrans, in whose army captured Chattanooga. While doing this, they also decided to circle around Braggs (confederate General Braxton Bragg) army and cut their southern supply lines in western Georgia. However, bragg found out about this surprise attack before Rosecrans crew had even arrived and then decided to attack. The battle was so symbolic for 2 specific reasons. One of them being it was the largest union defeat in the western theater of the civil war. Secondly, because the south won this battle, they turned their focus once again to recapturing Chattanooga. Though they were unsuccessful, the union defended and secured Chattanooga. This became the launching point for Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. 

turning point of the war

Historians refer to the battle of Gettysburg as the true “turning point” of the civil war. This battle followed the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863.  It all began when Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia in its second invasion of the North—the Gettysburg Campaign.   Similarly to what happened at the battle of Antietam, the south had won a series of victories and lee was determined to bring the war to northern territory. The confederates hoped that a victory on northern ground would cause them to give up and realize that they were not going to be able to keep the south in the union. After three days of heavy losses for lees outnumbered army, the southern army retreated back to Virginia. Combined with the U.S victories in the western theater that were occurring at the same time, the south was demoralized. Never again did the south invade the north. Kind of like when your little siblings come into your room and touch your stuff, you scream at them and push them and tell on them, they never do it again. it was this battle that inspired Lincoln to write one of him most famous speeches, the Gettysburg address. the speech displayed a rationale for the war and a purpose for why so many men made the decision to fight on the unions side and sacrifice their lives. 

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html?tab=facts

Antietam and its connection to the Emancipation Proclamation

The battle of Antietam took place in September 17, 1862. It was the bloodiest one day battle of all of the United States history wars, with a total of 22,717 estimated casualties. Before Antietam, the confederate states had a string of victories and General Robert e. lee was determined to bring the war to the north. Lee’s army decided to confront General George b. McClellan’s army in Sharpsburg, Maryland.  The reason for this location was that lee hoped to bring Maryland, a slave state, into the CSA. Both armies’s fought until late the last night of September 18, when they both tended their wounded and consolidates their lines, and both withdrew. While the Battle of Antietam is considered a draw from a military point of view, Abraham Lincoln and the Union claimed victory. .  Even though the north and south fought to what can be considered a “draw” with no clear winner, there is one specific reason in which fro this union victory. Special order: number 191, three union soldiers discovered a copy of the strategic plans concerning the movement of lee’s army in an envelope containing three cigars.   Lincoln saw this as the victory he needed to release the emancipation proclamation thus freeing all slaves in rebellious states on January 1, 1863. This laws is often confused  as the document that freed all slaves, when realistically it only freed, as stated previously, only  those slaves who lived in, and were owned by, those living in rebellious states. Think of it as classroom rules, lets say your french teacher does not allow any of his other classes eat during class but only your class because the period you have his class, is your lunch period. back to the actual emancipation itself, all slaves in states that fought with the union were not freed. also meaning that if the southern states would've surrendered before January 1, they too, would have been allowed to keep their slaves. The emancipation proclamation was the one moral issue that kept other European powers out of the conflict. 

photo from http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/EmanProc.html  

election of 1860 and secession in GA

Four men ran for the election of 1860, including john Breckenridge (southern democrat whose goal Was pro slavery), Abraham Lincoln (republican who did not want slavery), john bell (constitutional union party whose main goal was to avoid secession), and Stephen Douglas (northern democrat whose goal was anti slavery).   The final event that led to the civil war was, in fact, the election of presidency in 1860.  Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860; he was the president during the civil war. “Honest Abe” won presidency, not by popular vote, but by electoral votes, 180 electoral votes. Lincoln was part of the Republican Party, a party that began in 1854, and whose main goal was to prevent the expansion of slavery.   Following the election, southern states, one by one began to secede from the union thinking that Lincolns primary goal to forever abolish slavery. It took three long days of tough debating and rationing for Georgia to decide to secede. Georgia was part of the confederacy from 1861-1865. Even before Georgia became part of the confederacy, many arguments were to be settled on this topic of secession. During this debate many representatives who opposed the idea of seceding were northern GA counties, small farmers and non-slave holders, and one of the most important reps, Alexander Stephens. Stephens  served as governor of Georgia, U.S congressman, U.S senator, and vice president of the confederacy. He also played a major role in assisting with the passage of the compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska act. Even though he fought until the very end against seceding from the union, he was an advocate for slavery. Those who did want to secede consisted of large farmers, slave holders, Georgia governor Joseph e. brown and influential men such as Robert Toombs. During the first round of votes concerning secession, the assembly was split 166 to 130 in favor of secession. At the final round of votes, the general assembly voted 208 to 89 in favor of seceding from the union. the states that did decide to secede, became known as the confederate states. their first and only president was Jefferson Davis.  

photo from http://deedrad123.blogspot.com/2011/12/election-of-1860.html    

dred scott case

Dred Scott was a black slave whose case went to the U.S supreme court, march of 1857. His case pleaded that he was free. It stated so because Scott had lived in the slave state of Missouri but had traveled and lived in the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin; therefore, he should have been considered a free man. The U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the owner stating that slaves were property. The ruling also affirmed that blacks, even if freed, were still not citizens, hence, Dred Scott could not sue against a white man. This reigning greatly privileged the southern view of slavery. This lead to even greater ideological divide between the north and the south.  The dred scott case, as well as the judge that led the united states supreme court, declared the 1830 Missouri compromise unconstitutional, like so, permitting slavery in all of the country’s territories. 

http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/places/dred_scott

leading events

Because the northern and southern parts of the United States has such distinctive goals and desires, states rights were upheld. Such as, the north believed in a strong national government. While the south believed that states had the right to rule themselves. States rights basically stated political powers that were reserved for the U.S state government rather than the federal government. Such as now in present time, but the U.S state government lays down general, more basic laws, while federal government are only allowed to decide on much lighter subject laws within their own borders.  Instead, during this time period, states’ rights allowed states to decide on decisions such as slavery inside their own borders. This later affected the United States negatively by unintentionally giving states more power than they bargained for. States held so much power that the federal government was unable to tax states for revenue. Consequentially, this also gave states the ability to nullify laws, or invalidate any federal laws which that state has deemed unconstitutional. States being able to nullify laws, as they pleased, lead to the nullification crisis. It was the sectional crisis, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, by south Carolinas 1832 ordinance of nullification. South Carolina was the first to threaten to secede over tariffs amid the “nullification controversy” in 1832. To go more into to detail, the south’s perspective was that it opposed this tariff because it took away profits from cotton farmers based on Great Britain’s vengeful on cotton. The northerners supported tariffs to aid their nestling manufacturing industry against the cheaper products that could be sent to the United States by Great Britain. To settle the tensions, Henry clay proposed the Missouri compromise. It was an agreement between the north and the south to balance of power between slave and Free states. Maine entered the union as a free state whilst Missouri entered as a slave state. Missouri’s southern border is what is what separated slave states from Free states. Following was the compromise of 1850 stating another agreement between northern and southern states admitting California as a Free State and New Mexico and Utah could vote on slavery. This compromise also abolished slavery in Washington DC and stop slave trading in the District of Columbia. Georgia’s way of accepting the compromise was the Georgia platform, declaring that as long as the north honored the federal fugitive slave act, Georgia would remain in the union. The Missouri compromise had been broken once before and was shattered again by the Kansas-Nebraska act, permitting the possibility of slavery above the 36’ 30’ parallel. Stephen a. Douglas, senator of Illinois, was the man behind the Kansas Nebraska act, in who believed in popular sovereignty or the ability for the states to decide for themselves if they would be a slave or free state. 

http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=169037   

Slavery

    


http://thegrio.com/2012/01/08/slavery-theme-used-in-math-lessons/

  Slavery has never been a subject taken lightly. Slaves suffered most of their lives. From the moment they were born to the moment they died, or in many few cases, granted freedom. From a very young age, they were given tasks. There were two kinds of slaves, those who worked rice, cotton plantations, or those who were house servants. Being a field slave was harsh. As for those slaves who worked on cotton plantations used a gang system. This meant they worked from sun up to sun down. Since it did not matter how much cotton was picked but that they had to work all day, slaves would work slowly. This caused for owners to pick drivers. Drivers were slaves who were loyal to their owners who then were then given the task of watching slaves as they worked and made sure they kept a steady pace. As for the field slaves who worked the rice plantations had task systems. This simply meant that they were told what to do in a certain time and then were able to do what they'd like. Just like when your mom gives you chores. You wash the dishes and clean your room in 35 minutes and then you get the rest of the day for yourself. In this free time, slaves spent their time with family or at church. Even though it was illegal for slaves to get married, slave owners found that this favored them. Not only would this bring their communities together but it would increase the number of slaves he owned without purchase. As for their time in church, they either went to church with their owner or attended a black church with the exception of a white man present to supervise. Basically, slaves had absolutely no rights. They couldn't even defend themselves in court for being treated publicly inhumanely. They’re education was denied and so was their freedom.