Cuban Revolution

Causes
Political

 Fulgencio Batista was an oppressive dictator.

 Ramon Grau San Martin tried to institute social reform in the 1930s.
 Fulgencio, however, instigated a coup and took over the government.
 Castro was an Orthodox party candidate in elections aborted by Batista's coup
 theft and corruption in the government

Economic

 sugar (75-85% of all export earnings)

 United States was the single export market
 U.S. Congress set quotas on Cuba's sugar export with American sugar growers in mind
 expensive and extensive sugar production limited the existence of secondary industries in Cuba
 Cuba gave preference to U.S. products in exchange (trading away Cuba's industrial opportunities)
 1953 - U.S. owned 40% of the sugar production, 50% of railroads, and 90% of utilities
 latifundia (great land and estates) dominated by minority group of elites

Social

 most of the population lived in the countryside

 43% were illiterate
 60% lived in homes with dirt floors
 1 in 14 had electricity
 rural wage workers worked only during harvest (123 days)

Impact

 force the U.S. to acknowledge deep-rooted causes for revolution in Latin America
 U.S. felt threatened by Castro (Communist influence in Western Hemisphere)
 failed attempt to overthrow Castro (Bay of Pigs)
 ended up showing Castro's strength
 provided a revolutionary model for other Latin American countries
 Alliance for Progress: small scale Marshall Plan for Latin America to encourage economic development and
democracy (not applicable to Cuba)
 failed miserably
 1960s - guerrilla movements began to develop

Political, Economic and Social causes

 
Political: (really long)
Aug. 8th 1846-Wilmot Proviso
 No slavery in the U.S. territories (California, Utah, New Mexico)- written by Pennsylvania Democrat David Wilmot
 Congress divided:
 North:
 Supported Wilmot Proviso
 Feared that adding slave territories would give slave states more members in Congress and
deny economic opportunities to free workers
 South:
 Opposed Wilmot Proviso
 Feared that additions of new free states to the Union would give more power to the North
 House of Representatives approved, Senate rejected
1850-California’s Statehood
 Populations grows due to gold rush- statehood inevitable
 California applies to join the Union
 California writes constitution- no slavery
 Southerners outraged- California exists mostly under the 36°30’ (Missouri Compromise 1820)
 Long term effect- Southerners question whether or not the South should stay in the Union
1850-The Compromise of 1850
 Began at 31st Congress in December 1849- debates:
 California’s statehood-slavery
 Border dispute in New Mexico-Texas is a slave state and borders NM
 Abolition of slavery in District of Columbia
 South threatened secession
 Henry Clay works on a compromise to avoid the splitting of the US into 2 nations-is assisted by Daniel Webster
 Southerner John Calhoun does not agree with compromise
 Calhoun believed in states rights and said that slavery should be decided by the states
 Blamed the divided nation on Northern abolitionists for pushing the slavery issue.
The Compromise of 1850 (Clay)
 California admitted as a free state
 Utah and New Mexico territories decide about slavery-popular sovereignty
 Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute resolved; Texas paid $10 mil by federal government.
 The sale of slaves banned in the District of Columbia.
 Fugitive Slave Act required people in the North to capture and return escaped slaves
 Webster’s Opinion
 Originally argued that slavery should not be extended to U.S territories
 Due to the threat of secession he advocated unity and compromise in the U.S
 Only passed after Calhoun’s death (2 months after Clay proposed the compromise), President Zachary
Taylor’s death (The new president supported it: Milliard Fillmore) and when repackaged by Stephen Douglas
Fugitive Slave Act
 Part of the Compromise of 1850
 Stated that fugitive slaves were not entitled to a trial by jury, could not testify on their own behalf, and a
statement by the slave owner would bring the slave back
 Federal Commissioners were paid to return slaves, thus they became corrupt.
 In response the north passed the personal liberty laws which directly contradicted the Fugitive Slave Act-raised
tensions
1854- The Kansas-Nebraska Act
 Slavery in the new western territories STILL an issue
 Stephen Douglass (ironic) proposes that the west be divided into Nebraska in the north and Kansas in the south
(The Comp. of 1850 granted popular sovereignty so states could decide about slavery)
 Bitter debates-it would repeal the Missouri Compromise
 Great support in the south
 Passed in May 1854
 A battle for Kansas between the North and South erupts-leads to the Pottawatomie Massacre- 200 dead
 This violence leads a Massachusetts senator, Charles Sumner to give a speech against pro-slavery colleagues-the
nephew of pro-slavery S. Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, Preston Brooks, walks into the senate chamber and beats Sumner
into unconsciousness with his cane.
Political Parties:
 Whigs
 The Compromise of 1850 divides to the party (mainly due to the Fugitive slave act)
 The Kansas-Nebraska Act breaks up the party-they cannot agree
 Know-Nothing Party
 Nativists
 Short-lived, ended over disputes on slavery
 Free-Soil Party
 Did not want slavery to extend into the territories
 This party would lead to…
 The Republican Party
 Founded by Horace Greeley
 Wanted to return to the Missouri Compromise
 Extremely popular- united anti-slavery groups
 Democrats
 Mostly pro-slavery
 Strong support in the south
 Defeat the republicans in 1856 elections (James Buchanan)
 Basically slavery is a huge political issue that makes and breaks parties and increases the division between the
north and the south
Dred Scott Decision
 After his master dies slave Dred Scott begins lawsuit to win his freedom
 Supreme Court rules that slaves do not have the same rights as a citizen and that the Missouri Compromise is
unconstitutional
 Outrages abolitionists and the north as a whole-tensions heighten
Election of 1860
 Abe Lincoln(R) vs. Stephen Douglas (D)
 Douglas-supported popular sovereignty, personally impartial to slavery, portrayed as pro-slavery
 Lincoln-wanted to pass legislature to outlaw slavery in parts of the US, thought slavery was immoral, portrayed as
anti-slavery
 Freeport Doctrine (put out by Douglas)-basically popular sovereignty
 Lincoln is elected
 South is outraged
 Acted as a catalyst- S. Carolina the first to secede in December 1860 and others follow and the
Confederacy is formed and wants independence.
 The issues of slavery and state’s rights dominated politics from the 1840s to the 1860s.
Economic: (fairly basic)
North
 Industry dominated the economy of the north
 Urban cities
 Factories rapidly produced products such as textiles and farm equipment
 The majority of railroads existed in the north to transport the goods
 Telegraph wires were strung along the railroads for easy communication
 Factories gave jobs to thousands of immigrants that eventually gained the ability to vote-opposed slavery
 Slave labor was in direct competition with free labor and threatened people’s paying jobs
South
 Agriculture dominated the economy
 Rural towns and plantations
 Relied on staple crops-COTTON
 Raw goods transported by river
 Few immigrants settled in the south because of slave labor-those that did were anti-slavery
 The south feared that if slavery ended then the south would be left in an extreme state of poverty
The Big Problem
Despite the economic differences, the north and south relied on each other. The south sent raw materials to the north to
make products that would be sent back into the south. Each region had a system (slavery vs free labor) that worked for
them, but there were social issues involved in the system of the south…
Social
North
 Mostly white population
 Large number of abolitionists that thought that slavery was immoral
 Many in the north also believed slavery was a backward system
 Abolitionists:
 John Brown-often violent, believed he was sent by God to end slavery
 Harriet Beecher Stowe-wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 Booker T. Washington-moved to the south and taught night classes on how to escape from slavery (did
no one notice?)
 Fredrick Douglas-Escaped slave that went on to preach against slavery
South
 In some states African Americans slaves outnumbered whites
 Many people in the south believed that slavery was encouraged in the Bible
 Pro-Slavery Activists:
 John. Calhoun-see The Compromise of 1850
 Preston Brooks-the guy who beat Sumner over the head repeatedly with his cane
The Underground Railway
 Routes which slaves used to escape from the south to the north
 “Conductors” hid fugitives in their houses-really illegal
 Harriet Tubman
 Former slave
 Conductor on the railroad-very successful
 Later became abolitionist
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 Book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
 Overall message extremely anti-slavery
 Accepted in north, south is outraged
 The course of the war, the role of African–American soldiers, the role of women
 
The Course of the War:
1861- Confederate States of America formed
 Jefferson Davis elected president
 Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee,
eventually Virginia
1861-Fort Sumter
 Fort Sumter was in Union hands (S. Carolina)
 Confederacy demands that Fort Sumter be handed over or they would attack
 Lincoln commands not to hand it over or start a battle- he sends food to the fort
 Jefferson Davis (president of Confederacy) decides to start a war-shots are fired
 Fort Sumter is beaten in submission and turned over to the Conf.
 This marks the beginning of the Civil War
 Shortly after Virginia secedes
Both Sides Believe It Will Be a Short War
 Northern advantages
 Resources
 (Industrial/manufactured goods)
 Railroads
 Easy communication
 (telegraph wires)
 Southern advantages
 Conviction
 Skilled generals
 Cotton (profitable)
 Knowledge of the terrain (most of the battles were fought in the Confederacy)
Northern Strategy:
 The Union navy would blockade Southern ports, so they could neither export cotton nor import much-needed
manufactured goods
 Union riverboats and armies would move down the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two
 Union armies would capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.
Southern Strategy:
 Basically defensive
 Wanted to establish themselves as a free nation
People to Know:
 Stonewall Jackson-Confederate general
 George McClellan-Union general
 Ulysses S. Grant-Union general
 Robert E. Lee-Confederate general
 William Sherman-Union military commander
Battles to Know:
 Bull Run-Confederate victory, 1861
 Shiloh-Union victory, 1862
 Antietam-standoff (disputed among historians), bloodiest single day battle ever and prompts Emancipation
Proclamation, 1862
 Gettysburg-Union victory, 1863
 Vicksburg- HUGE Union Victory, 1863
 Sherman’s March-not really a battle, Sherman marches through Georgia, destroying everything in his path, 1864
1861-Trent Affair
 Confederacy sends two diplomats to seek supports from Britain and France
 While on a British merchant ship (Trent) the men are captured by Union
 Britain threaten to attack the Union and send troops to Canada-Confederacy gets excited
 Union releases men and Britain decides not to aid the Confederacy
1863-Emancipation Proclamation
 Freed slaves in Confederacy
 More of a military statement
 Did not immediately free any slaves
The Gettysburg Address
 Spoken at a ceremony to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg
 Lincoln uses the phrase “The United States is” instead of the “United States are”
1865-Lee surrenders at Appomattox
 General Lee surrenders when it is clear that the South has been exhausted of both it’s resources and it’s morale
The Role of African American Soldiers:
 At the beginning of the war there were no African American soldiers
 1862-Congress passes a law that allows African Americans to enlist
 Large Scale enlistment begins after the Emancipation Proclamation
 Many former slaves fought for the Union army, slaves in the south escaped to fight with the Union
 African Americans fought in separate regiments and faced discrimination
 They could not rise above a captain and there were higher mortality rates
 They were paid less than white soldiers
 Confederates did not keep African American soldiers as POWs, but killed them immediately
 1864 Pillow Massacre-Confederate soldiers killed 200 African American prisoners while they begged for their lives
 Confederacy opposed African American soldiers
The Role of Women:
 Women were left behind by the men-had to take care of home, finances, etc…
 Women often worked as nurses on the battlefield
 Clara Barton (The Angel of the Battle Field)-nurse that attended to Union soldiers
 Dorothea Dix-First superintendent of women nurses, Union
 Sally Thompson-Confederate nurse that was eventually awarded the title of captain for her bravery
The impact of the war on society
 
1865-Thirteenth Amendment
 Emancipation Proclamation didn’t really do anything…:(
 Lincoln still wanted to end slavery-13th Amendment
 “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted shall exist within the United States”
 Technically slavery is over… but not really
Many people grew tired of the war (Dissent)
 Both Lincoln and Davis cracked down on those loyal to the other side
 People could be arrested for disloyalty
 Copper heads-Northern Democrats that sought peace with the South
 Deserters became a huge problem (soldiers escaping)
Political, economic and cultural effects
 
Political Changes/Effects
 Greatly increased the federal government’s power
 Before the civil war, federal gov. had little impact on citizen lives and most citizens dealt only with their county
government
 During war, federal gov. reached into ppl. pockets (taxed)
 After war, U.S citizens no longer assumed that the national govt was too far way to bother them.
Economic Changes/Effects
 Subsidized construction of national railroad system
 Passed National Bank Act of 1863, set up system of federal chartered banks, set requirements for loans and
provided for banks to be inspected
 Northern states boomed because they provided supplies for war and thus had money to invest after the war
 South’s economy devastated – war took away cheap labor, wrecked most of the region’s industry, killed 40
percent of livestock, destroyed farm machinery
 Economic gap between North and South had widened – North became richer, South became poorer
Social Effects
 Biggest change came for African Americans
 Abolished slavery using constitution- Thirteenth Amendment freed slaves everywhere
 Barton helped establish the American Red Cross
 Assassination of Lincoln
Reconstruction
Talal
 Officially lasted from 1865-1877
 Seen as necessary by the Union to reintegrate the South back into the United States
Three main plans for Reconstruction at the end of the war:
 Ten Percent Plan
 Created by Lincoln in December 1863
 10% of a state's voters had to take an oath of allegiance to the United States and pledge to abide to
emancipation before that state became part of the US again
 Only high ranking Confederate officials would be punished
 The state had to also write a new state constitution, putting in a provision to ban slavery forever
 Seen as a lenient plan
 Wade-Davis Bill
 Radical Republicans' plan
 Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and Senator Charles Sumner led the Radical Republicans
 50% of a state's voters had to take an oath of allegiance to the US before a state was readmitted
 Pocket vetoed by Lincoln
 Seen as more stringent, punishment towards the entire South
 Johnson's Reconstruction Plan
 Virtually the same as Lincoln's
 10% had to take an oath of allegiance, the state had to ratify the 13th Amendment
 High ranking Confederate officials were pardoned by Johnson, unlike in Lincoln's plan
 Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, received only 2 years of prison
 Only one Confederate was executed for war crimes, Captain Henry Wirz, head of the prison
camp in Andersonville, Georgia
Freedmen's Bureau
 Created in March 1865, but expanded by Congress in 1866
 Assisted former slaves and poor whites by distributing clothing and food
Civil Rights Act of 1866
 Forbade states from passing discriminatory laws known as black codes
 This, as well as the expansion of the Freedmen's Bureau, was vetoed by Johnson, but overridden by Congress
 Led to Congress adopting the 14th Amendment
Congressional Reconstruction (Radical Reconstruction)
 Republicans won a large number of seats in the 1866 Congressional elections, ensuring the 2/3 majority to
override all of Johnson's vetoes
 The Reconstruction Act in 1867 divided the former Confederacy into 5 military districts and forced states to ensure
that black men could vote before each state was readmitted
 Johnson vetoed this act, but was overruled by Congress
 Irritated with Johnson, Congress impeached him for violating the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate voted
35-19 to remove him from office (he was 1 vote away from being removed)
 Readmittance occurred from 1868 to 1870 under this policy (Tennessee is excluded because it was readmitted in
1866, and was not subjugated to military rule)
 Grant elected president in 1868
 15th Amendment adopted
End of Reconstruction
 In the election of 1876, Republicans ran Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrats ran Samuel J. Tilden
 20 electoral votes were disputed and Tilden received the majority of popular votes
 Democrats made a deal with Republicans, known as the Compromise of 1877
 If Hayes was chosen by a committee (which decided who received the disputed electoral votes) to be
president, federal troops would be withdrawn from the South
 This was seen as the official end of Reconstruction
To summarize Reconstruction:
In the wake of the Civil War, Congress promised many political freedoms to former slaves, but did not ensure economic
freedom. Blacks did not receive land from plantation owners nor had tools, so they had to resort to tenant farming and
sharecropping, which basically re-enslaved them legally. They became trapped in a spiral of debt to the land owners that
bound them once again to the land. Lastly, because of the stringency of the punishment towards Southerners, there was a
contempt towards Congress's radical agenda that granted blacks political freedoms, so there was a backlash in the form of
the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws.
Abraham Lincoln and the role of leadership (Sepura)
 Self-educated, successful lawyer and politician, Republican
 16th president – elected in 1860
 Major issue that he had to deal with was SLAVERY
 Believed that slavery was immoral, labor system based on greed
 His platform for the Election of 1860
 Pledged to halt the spread of slavery in the territories that were becoming part of the Union, but not to
interfere with the slaves in the South
His victory convinced the Southerners that they lost their political voice in national govt. Soon after, southern states began
to secede from the Union, the first being South Carolina on Dec 20, 1860. The Southern states established their own nation.
They become known as the Confederate States of America (The Confederacy). They started taking over public institution,
post offices, and forts. Lincoln, who has just become president, had to guide his country through the civil war.
His skillful leadership can be seen through his involvement in the following events: Fort Sumter (military) and the
Emancipation Proclamation (social- Slavery)
Fort Sumter Dilemma:
 Day after he is inaugurated, Lincoln receives an urgent dispatch from fort commander-Major Anderson. The
Confederacy was demanding that he should surrender the fort or he will be attacked. He also informs that supplies of food
and ammunition will last only six months at most.
 Dilemma-
 He could not send a navy to shoot its way to Fort Sumter, because that would increase hostility and lead
to more southern states to secede from Union, and might lead to war
 He couldn’t surrender because that would disappoint Republicans in North and would mean that he
accepted the new govt in the South
 Lincoln executed a clever political maneuver – He did not abandon Fort Sumter, but did not reinforce it with
weapons, but he DID send food to feed “the hunger people”, justified by its morality. If war was to happen, it was not his
fault. If he had provoked war, many more states would have sided with the Confederates (4 states did leave the Union after
war was initiated, but it could have been more)
 When the confederates did attack Fort Sumter in April 1860, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers
 Though he was not able to prevent war, he was able to inspire people to join the war effort and maintain
a fair amount of stability in a time of war
 Was able to take advantage of all resources and new weaponry (quicker rifles)
Emancipation Proclamation
 Symbolic importance
 Freed slaves in confederate territory which Union had no control over
 Lincoln found a way to use his constitutional powers to end slavery, but not in his own territory
 First president who took an initiative in freeing slaves
 As commander in chief, he deicide that just as he could order the army to seize Confederate supplies he could
order them to free the slaves
 Clever move because Britain, who would have potential supported the confederates, would be
discouraged because the abolitionist movement was strong in Britain
 Skillful took advantage of the moral aspects of slavery, but also used it has weapon weaken the supports
of the South
 Lincoln turned war into a fight for freeing the slaves – encourage more slaves to side with Union