Fearless Leader
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Part VI: The American Civil War (1849-1855)
Origins
The Origins of the American Civil War can be traced directly back to the founding of the nation. The decision to allow the cancer of slavery, a concept directly contrary to the principle of freedom upon which the republic was founded, to survive would have disastrous consequences later on as the country grew and matured. As America pushed her borders westward compromise after compromise was struck in an effort to keep the status quo between numbers of “Free States” and “Slave States”. Despite initial success, it would be the massive territorial expansion under President Polk that would see the scales shifted and America put on the course to Civil War.
Bleeding California
The establishment of popular sovereignty in the newly conquered former Mexican territories by then President Polk would lead to a great deal of unrest and conflict in these new regions. The territory of California soon took center stage in the debate over slavery as both pro and anti-slavery forces flocked to the region intent on seeing the incredibly rich region join their side of the debate. This ideologically charged influx would eventually lead to open violence as early pro-slavery control of the California territorial legislature would be contested by ever increasing numbers of Northern Immigrants.
By 1848 California had more than enough people to apply for statehood and as a result a constitutional convention was held. It would result in the San Diego Constitution would be adopted despite the boycott of the document by the ever increasing number of free state supporters. President Polk would support the document and urge Congress to accept California as a state, but Congress now dominated by the Whig and Free Soil parties refused and ordered another convention held. This convention would lead to the San Francisco Constitution, a staunchly anti-slavery document which was overwhelmingly supported by the pro-abolition majority and vehemently opposed by the pro-slavers. Unwilling to end his term as President with such controversy, Polk remained silent on the issue allowing it to drag out through the rest of 1848 and into 1849 where it was voted upon by the new Whig dominated congress.
The Election of 1848
It would be the election of 1848 that would serve as the catalyst for the American civil war. Long denied the White House the Whig party held their third national convention and nominated war hero Winfield Scott and Daniel Webster as their candidates for the Presidency. Against them the incumbent Democratic Party would run Lewis Cass and Jefferson Davis. The election would be an interesting one to say the least with anti-slavery forces rallying around Scott and the Whigs in an attempt to curtail the advance of slavery seen under President Polk. Yet for an election so centered around slavery both parties remained silent on the issue. Scott’s suspected abolitionist leanings and Cass’s suspected pro-slavery leanings would go a long way in influencing the election. Scott would end up winning the election 169 electoral votes to 121, none of which came from slaveholding states. Scott’s election coupled with events in California would lead to Southern threats of succession being acted upon as soon as it became apparent that Scott was planning to revise the Missouri Compromise extension following California’s entry into the Union as a Free State.
The American Civil War
With the acceptance of the San Francisco Constitution and the admittance of the state of California into the Union as a Free State it became apparent to the south that their fears of President Scott being an abolitionist were well founded. Threats of secession were acted upon with South Carolina being the first to secede on July 4th 1849, South Carolina’s act would be followed by the secession of five other slave holding states. Texas under the influence of Sam Houston would be initially neutral in the conflict however would eventually join the pro-slavery forces in 1850. These slave states would organize themselves as the American Confederation of States (ACS) and move to consolidate their control as well as enlist the aid of other slaveholding states within the Union.
Initial attempts to peacefully resolve the secession by the Scott Administration were met with failure. An operation intended to reinforce and resupply Fort Sumter in South Carolina would lead to the first battle of the war as Northern ships came under fire from Confederate artillery batteries. Scott would soon call for Congress to respond to the escalation of the conflict, an act that would drive many of the Border States, Texas included into the camp of the Confederation. Battle lines were drawn as both sides began to march towards war.
What followed would be one of the bloodiest wars in American history. All things considered, upon the outbreak of hostilities in 1849 both sides were fairly evenly matched with the North having more people but fewer officers and the South making up for their lack of population with superior officers. The Union was buoyed however by the defection of Louisiana General Zachary Taylor who agreed to command the US army. Taylor would lead the Union Army through its most perilous days and prevent the south from attaining the quick victory it needed to win.
Taylor’s death in 1850 shortly after the decisive Union victory at Antietam Creek would be a defining moment during the conflict. At Antietam, the Union had managed under Taylor’s direction to completely rout the advancing Confederate Armies and prevent them from taking Washington D.C. Following their defeat at Antietam, the Confederation would cease offensive operations against the North and revert to a purely defensive strategy trying to bleed the North white. And bleed them white they did, for Taylor’s death meant that the command of the Union Army shifted to men far less qualified for the job. Again and again Northern armies tried to invade the south and again and again they were repulsed. However eventually the weight of Northern Numbers overcame Southern ingenuity and bravado and the Confederate armies crumbled under the industrial weight of the Northern states.
General Jefferson Davis and General Thomas Jackson would surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1855 heralding an end to the conflict. The South would be put under martial law for a time until new governments could be put in place. Slavery had been dealt a death knell as a policy of gradual emancipation was enacted in the south showing Scott’s government’s commitments to both the Union and the cause of Abolition. The war however would claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of American boys a cost for which the rewards of gradual emancipation seemed to pale in comparison.
Cuba in the American Civil War
The Kingdom of Cuba would remain neutral for much of the American Civil War quietly supporting their ideological allies, the abolitionist north. Many Cuban Negroes would head to Boston and lead Freemen battalions in the conflict but other than that Cuba refused to take sides in the conflict. However the events leading to the Great Mutiny would cause the conflict to come to Cuba. Perceiving Cuba as a weak state, ripe for conquest, and as a potential fall back area should Confederate forces be defeated by the numerically superior Union, The Confederate Government declared war in 1855 and authorized the invasion of the Island Kingdom with a substantial portion of their reserves and remaining navy.
The resulting battles would define the Kingdom of Cuba as it’s decimated armed forces valiantly turned back the Confederate invasion with the aid of the Northern Navy. In many ways Cuba’s participation in the American Civil War would serve to solidify the Kingdom as a proper nation. No longer were its inhabitants subjects of a Spanish Crown in exile, they were a nation of their own unified by the ties of blood shed in defense of their own land. Their participation would also mark the emergence of a Cuban officer class and the establishment of numerous industries that would see to it that Cuba had the means available to retain its independence.
Origins
The Origins of the American Civil War can be traced directly back to the founding of the nation. The decision to allow the cancer of slavery, a concept directly contrary to the principle of freedom upon which the republic was founded, to survive would have disastrous consequences later on as the country grew and matured. As America pushed her borders westward compromise after compromise was struck in an effort to keep the status quo between numbers of “Free States” and “Slave States”. Despite initial success, it would be the massive territorial expansion under President Polk that would see the scales shifted and America put on the course to Civil War.
Bleeding California
The establishment of popular sovereignty in the newly conquered former Mexican territories by then President Polk would lead to a great deal of unrest and conflict in these new regions. The territory of California soon took center stage in the debate over slavery as both pro and anti-slavery forces flocked to the region intent on seeing the incredibly rich region join their side of the debate. This ideologically charged influx would eventually lead to open violence as early pro-slavery control of the California territorial legislature would be contested by ever increasing numbers of Northern Immigrants.
By 1848 California had more than enough people to apply for statehood and as a result a constitutional convention was held. It would result in the San Diego Constitution would be adopted despite the boycott of the document by the ever increasing number of free state supporters. President Polk would support the document and urge Congress to accept California as a state, but Congress now dominated by the Whig and Free Soil parties refused and ordered another convention held. This convention would lead to the San Francisco Constitution, a staunchly anti-slavery document which was overwhelmingly supported by the pro-abolition majority and vehemently opposed by the pro-slavers. Unwilling to end his term as President with such controversy, Polk remained silent on the issue allowing it to drag out through the rest of 1848 and into 1849 where it was voted upon by the new Whig dominated congress.
The Election of 1848
It would be the election of 1848 that would serve as the catalyst for the American civil war. Long denied the White House the Whig party held their third national convention and nominated war hero Winfield Scott and Daniel Webster as their candidates for the Presidency. Against them the incumbent Democratic Party would run Lewis Cass and Jefferson Davis. The election would be an interesting one to say the least with anti-slavery forces rallying around Scott and the Whigs in an attempt to curtail the advance of slavery seen under President Polk. Yet for an election so centered around slavery both parties remained silent on the issue. Scott’s suspected abolitionist leanings and Cass’s suspected pro-slavery leanings would go a long way in influencing the election. Scott would end up winning the election 169 electoral votes to 121, none of which came from slaveholding states. Scott’s election coupled with events in California would lead to Southern threats of succession being acted upon as soon as it became apparent that Scott was planning to revise the Missouri Compromise extension following California’s entry into the Union as a Free State.
The American Civil War
With the acceptance of the San Francisco Constitution and the admittance of the state of California into the Union as a Free State it became apparent to the south that their fears of President Scott being an abolitionist were well founded. Threats of secession were acted upon with South Carolina being the first to secede on July 4th 1849, South Carolina’s act would be followed by the secession of five other slave holding states. Texas under the influence of Sam Houston would be initially neutral in the conflict however would eventually join the pro-slavery forces in 1850. These slave states would organize themselves as the American Confederation of States (ACS) and move to consolidate their control as well as enlist the aid of other slaveholding states within the Union.
Initial attempts to peacefully resolve the secession by the Scott Administration were met with failure. An operation intended to reinforce and resupply Fort Sumter in South Carolina would lead to the first battle of the war as Northern ships came under fire from Confederate artillery batteries. Scott would soon call for Congress to respond to the escalation of the conflict, an act that would drive many of the Border States, Texas included into the camp of the Confederation. Battle lines were drawn as both sides began to march towards war.
What followed would be one of the bloodiest wars in American history. All things considered, upon the outbreak of hostilities in 1849 both sides were fairly evenly matched with the North having more people but fewer officers and the South making up for their lack of population with superior officers. The Union was buoyed however by the defection of Louisiana General Zachary Taylor who agreed to command the US army. Taylor would lead the Union Army through its most perilous days and prevent the south from attaining the quick victory it needed to win.
Taylor’s death in 1850 shortly after the decisive Union victory at Antietam Creek would be a defining moment during the conflict. At Antietam, the Union had managed under Taylor’s direction to completely rout the advancing Confederate Armies and prevent them from taking Washington D.C. Following their defeat at Antietam, the Confederation would cease offensive operations against the North and revert to a purely defensive strategy trying to bleed the North white. And bleed them white they did, for Taylor’s death meant that the command of the Union Army shifted to men far less qualified for the job. Again and again Northern armies tried to invade the south and again and again they were repulsed. However eventually the weight of Northern Numbers overcame Southern ingenuity and bravado and the Confederate armies crumbled under the industrial weight of the Northern states.
General Jefferson Davis and General Thomas Jackson would surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1855 heralding an end to the conflict. The South would be put under martial law for a time until new governments could be put in place. Slavery had been dealt a death knell as a policy of gradual emancipation was enacted in the south showing Scott’s government’s commitments to both the Union and the cause of Abolition. The war however would claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of American boys a cost for which the rewards of gradual emancipation seemed to pale in comparison.
Cuba in the American Civil War
The Kingdom of Cuba would remain neutral for much of the American Civil War quietly supporting their ideological allies, the abolitionist north. Many Cuban Negroes would head to Boston and lead Freemen battalions in the conflict but other than that Cuba refused to take sides in the conflict. However the events leading to the Great Mutiny would cause the conflict to come to Cuba. Perceiving Cuba as a weak state, ripe for conquest, and as a potential fall back area should Confederate forces be defeated by the numerically superior Union, The Confederate Government declared war in 1855 and authorized the invasion of the Island Kingdom with a substantial portion of their reserves and remaining navy.
The resulting battles would define the Kingdom of Cuba as it’s decimated armed forces valiantly turned back the Confederate invasion with the aid of the Northern Navy. In many ways Cuba’s participation in the American Civil War would serve to solidify the Kingdom as a proper nation. No longer were its inhabitants subjects of a Spanish Crown in exile, they were a nation of their own unified by the ties of blood shed in defense of their own land. Their participation would also mark the emergence of a Cuban officer class and the establishment of numerous industries that would see to it that Cuba had the means available to retain its independence.