 Minnesota And The Civil War How Did Being A North State Effect Minnesotans In Regards To The Civil War?

Was America Really The Since 1776, The United States had struggled to live up to the ideal in the Declaration of Independence that stated: “All men are created equal”. Slavery prevented this ideal from being reached.

What Were The Differences Between The North And The South? North Big Cities Big Factories Big Farms Produced a variety of goods and foods Had a growing population South Fewer railroad tracks Fewer cities Produced mainly sugar, tobacco, and cotton Population was growing at a much slower rate

What Was The Main Difference Between The North And The South? The issue of slavery

Who Were Dred And Harriet Scott?  Dred and Harriet were two enslaved people brought to Fort Snelling by their owners  They met there and were married  Fort Snelling was a free territory / slavery was illegal  No one really enforced the law

What Impact Did Dred and Harriet Have on Slavery Laws?  The Scott’s owner returned to Missouri  Missouri was not a free state  In1846 the Scott’s sued for their freedom  The case was fought in courts for 11years

What Was the Decision Of The Scott’s Case  The courts  Ruled against the Scotts  Refused to free them  Stated: African Americans are not citizens  Africans have no rights under the constitution  Africans are property  Ruled that Congress did not have the legal right to stop slavery from spreading

What Were Some Beliefs About Slavery? North  Slavery was morally wrong  Slavery was unprofitable  Some established states passed laws to make slavery illegal  New states banned slavery from the start  Some believed the South should get to keep slavery but didn’t want slavery to spread to the Northern states South  Some believed slavery was wrong  Believed in was essential to their way of life  Needed the cheap labor to turn a profit on their farms

How Did Minnesotans Feel About Slavery?  The Mississippi was well traveled between MN and the cotton farms in the South  Southern families would bring their slaves when they stayed in MN to do business  Some MN hated this  Others did not want to lose the money from the Southern tourists

What is an Abolitionist?  Someone who wants to end slavery  MN had a large and active abolitionist group

Who was Eliza Winston?  A Southern slave brought to MN while the family she was working for was traveling  A freed black couple (The Greys) brought her to a judge  The judge ruled her free

What Was the Outcome Of This Ruling? AA mob of people went to the Grey’s house TThey threw stones and demanded that she be returned to her owners SSoutherners were angry and tourist declined NNorthern business owners were angry at abolitionists

What Happened in The 1860 Election?  All Northern States voted for Abraham Lincoln  No Southern States voted for Abraham Lincoln  There were more Northern States, so Lincoln won the election  Southerners saw this as an end to their way of life and succeeded from the Union

What Was The Result Of The South Succeeding  The Southern States form the Confederate States of America  Lincoln announced it was illegal for the U.S. to split in two  The Confederates didn’t back down  On April 12 th 1861 The Confederate army fired upon the Union army  America was at war

How Did The Cause Of The War Change? OOn January 1 st 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation TThis stated that all enslaved people fighting against the Union were free TThe war stated as a battle to preserve the Union and turned into a battle to end slavery

What Was Life Like In Minnesota During The War?  People supported soldiers  Sent supplies  Raised money for soldiers families  Sent letters and packages Life went on in Minnesota because we were further away from the fighting. Families with soldiers fighting had to work harder, women and young children took on extra work on farms

How Was Minnesota Effected By The War?  The North defeated the South in 1865  No battles were fought in MN  Our economy boomed because farm prices increased with the demand for food  More immigrants moved in because a government law granted land to any settler  Newly freed Africans flocked to the state for work  Families needed to mend from fallen and wounded soldiers