Election of 1860 in Media

          Recently, we have been discussing the Civil War in class. This week we have been specifically focusing on the Election of 1860. In a group we discussed 5 pictures, from Civil War in Art website. We wrote notes on each picture, all answering the question,  "How were the results of the  Election of 1860 representative of the deep divisions  over slavery?". Next, we found 3 more pictures to fit into our notes, we chose two of Abraham Lincoln and one of Jefferson Davis. We put all the pictures in an Educreations and answered the essential question. We answered, the Election of 1860 represented the deep divisions over slavery, because after Lincoln was elected, the South states joined the Confederate, with Jefferson Davis as a president. When Lincoln tried to reunite the union they still furthered themselves.

    LINK TO EDUCREATION: Educreation

Why did the North win the Civil War?

          The North and the South had very different strategies and statistics when it comes to the Civil War. The North had more necessary resources where the South had necessary military power. I chose to make a pie chart of the total and the slave populations in the North and the South, because it accurately describes the differences of the two divisions in the country. It shows that overall, the North had far more people which gives them advantages in the war, however the people of the North can chose if they want to fight. In the South, however, the majority of the population is slaves, which can be forced to fight in the war, creating a strong army. I chose to make another pie chart demonstrating the resources each half of the country had. I used this information because it proves that the North had more resources that they could use against the South in the war. Because they had more access to resources, they had access to weapons,like guns. that they could use against the South. This idea was also shown in the quote I used. It explains the advantages of having resources for the north. Lastly,I put a fact about the military forces in the South, because having military bases in the South, gives them an advantage over the North in the war.

Resources vs. strength: the civil war  | Create infographics

One HUGE Elephant

          As we know, slavery was a huge debate between the north and the south. It was considered the "elephant in the room" for the north and south and ultimately lead to the Civil War. The real reason that slavery was considered the "elephant in the room" is because the government was not willing to take part in the debate over slavery. They left it open to the people of the US to tackle and debate slavery. When the government refused to partake in the extensive dispute, the people handled it poorly, resulting in a great deal of violence.
         One prominent example of the negligence of the government is the Dred Scott case. When Dred Scott filed a law suit against his owner in 1857, saying he and his wife should be free because they had lived in free states where slavery was illegal. Instead of taking a real interest in the case, the supreme court ruled 7 to 2 against Scott because slaves weren't allowed to sue. The government unfairly pushed the Scott trial to the side because they didn't to deal with slavery and rebelling slaves. "Bleeding Kansas" was the governments version of quickly dealing with the problem then pushing it aside. In 1856, they broke Kansas into 3 sections, Free Soilers, Pro Slavery and Anti Slavery. Eventually, the "quick fix" that the separation was supposed to be, plummeted downwards resulting in a rebellion, giving the decision its name, "Bleeding Kansas".
         When the government ignores the slavery debate, the people take protests into their own hands.
 In 1856, Charles Sumner wrote a speech called "The Crime Against Kansas" highlighting that the southern states were forcing slavery onto the west. Upon hearing the speech, Preston Brooks stormed to Sumner's office and beat him with a cane, to defend the honor of the south. Another instance of people taking the dispute into their own hands is John Brown's Raid. In 1859, John Brown assisted by 21 men raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Before they could complete the raid, almost half of Browns men were killed, forcing the others to surrender. Brown was captured and hanged for treason, but he was still considered a martyr by northers.
          The governments ignorance towards slavery made the topic an "elephant in the room". When they ignore the injustice that slaves like Dred Scott face, the are forced to deal with much more pressing consequences of the debate. They have to deal with beatings, rebellions and raids. I the government had paid more attention to slavery in the beginning, they could have made much bigger steps towards resolving it, maybe even avoiding the Civil War.