Civil War Flashback

Exploring the people, events, and ideas that shaped the American Civil War. Daily history • Artifacts • Maps • Photography

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THE DEADLOCK

“We will establish a cordon of free states that shall surround you.”

Columbus Delano warned the South in 1847. The fight over slavery’s expansion became a struggle for power. Each section saw the other as a threat to its political power.

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THE DEADLOCK

Congress had several answers for slavery in the territories: the Wilmot Proviso, 36°30′, popular sovereignty or no restriction. None could win enough support. Each solution protected one section’s interests while threatening the other’s.

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-August 26, 1808-

Confederate Gen. Benjamin G. Humphreys is born. After Barksdale fell at Gettysburg, Humphreys took command of his famed Mississippi Brigade and led it through major battles until a severe wound at Berryville ended his field service.

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WHO DECIDES?

Calhoun had not always drawn such a hard line. Despite opposing the Missouri Compromise in principle, he was willing to extend 36°30′ in 1847 to preserve peace. When that failed, he hardened his position and turned to the Constitution.

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WHO DECIDES?

John C. Calhoun gave the fourth answer: Congress could not exclude slavery. He argued the territories were common property of all the states, so citizens of slave states had an equal right to enter them with enslaved property.

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-August 25, 1819-

Allan Pinkerton is born. Founder of the Pinkerton detective agency, he organized Union intelligence and exposed Rose O’Neal Greenhow’s Confederate spy network. His agents later gathered intelligence for McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.

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WHO DECIDES?

Cass left one big question unanswered: when could settlers decide? Could they ban slavery while still a territory, or only at statehood? Cass never made that clear. The uncertainty allowed North and South to interpret his idea differently.

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WHO DECIDES?

Lewis Cass offered a third answer: the people of the territory. In his 1847 Nicholson Letter, Cass argued settlers should regulate slavery for themselves rather than Congress. His idea became known as popular sovereignty.

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-August 24, 1828-

Confederate Gen. George H. “Maryland” Steuart is born. He led Maryland troops before commanding a brigade at Gettysburg, where he attacked Culp’s Hill. His brigade later fought at the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania, where Steuart was captured.

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WHO DECIDES?

James Buchanan championed extending 36°30′. To supporters, the old compromise offered something the new plans could not: a familiar solution. For over 30 years its clear boundary had helped avoid another major territorial showdown over slavery.

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WHO DECIDES?

Another answer came quickly: draw a line. Indiana Congressman William W. Wick proposed extending the Missouri Compromise line of 36°30′ west. Slavery would be barred north of the line, while lands south remained open to it.

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-August 23, 1828-

Union Gen. Alexander Chambers is born. He was wounded twice while leading the 16th Iowa at Shiloh, later served in the Vicksburg Campaign, and was captured during the Battle of Atlanta in 1864, spending months as a prisoner of war.

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WHO DECIDES?

Wilmot believed Congress had constitutional power over slavery in the territories and should use it. His answer left little room for compromise: slavery would remain untouched in the states, but barred from new territories.

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WHO DECIDES?

David Wilmot had an answer: Congress. His Proviso would bar slavery from any territory gained from Mexico. His idea had roots in the past. Wilmot drew its language from the Northwest Ordinance, which had barred slavery north of the Ohio River.

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-August 22, 1827-

Union Gen. Joseph A. Mower is born. Nicknamed “Fighting Joe,” he fought at Vicksburg and during Sherman’s March to the Sea. At Bentonville, he broke through the Confederate left and nearly cut off Johnston’s only line of retreat.

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WHO DECIDES?

Georgia’s 1802 land cession took a different path. The Northwest territorial system would apply, except for its slavery ban. North and South had developed under different rules. There was no uniform policy for slavery in U.S. territories.

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WHO DECIDES?

South of the Ohio, the precedent was different. When North Carolina ceded its western lands in 1790, Congress accepted a condition protecting slavery there. The territory later became Tennessee, entering the Union as a slave state in 1796.

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-August 21, 1810-

Union Gen. Thomas J. McKean is born. He commanded a division at the Battle of Corinth, later oversaw key Union supply districts in Tennessee and St. Louis, and received a brevet promotion to major general near the war’s end.

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-August 21, 1821-

Confederate Gen. William Barksdale is born. A Mississippi secessionist before the war, he led Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade at Antietam and Fredericksburg before being mortally wounded leading his famous charge at Gettysburg.

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WHO DECIDES?

The Northwest Territory produced five free states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Decades later, its influence returned. Wilmot sought to bar slavery from lands gained from Mexico using language from the Northwest Ordinance.

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