SUGGESTIONS

Preparation is especially important in teaching this period.  The teacher will find references to larger books in Channing’s Students’ History.

Show how the question of slavery was really at the basis of the Mexican War.  Geographical conditions and the settlement of the Western country should be carefully noted.  A limited use of the writings and speeches of prominent men and writers is especially valuable at this point.

Have a large map of the United States in the class room, cut out and fasten upon this map pieces of white and black paper to illustrate the effects of legislation under discussion, and also to illustrate the various elections.

The horrors of slavery should be but lightly touched.  Emphasize especially the fact that slavery prevented rather than aided the development of the South, and was an evil economically as well as socially.

[Illustration:  THE UNITED STATES IN 1860.]

XII

SECESSION, 1860-1861

Books for Study and Reading

References.—­Scribner’s Popular History, IV, 432-445; McMaster’s School History, chap. xxvi (industrial progress, 1840-60).

Home Readings.—­Page’s The Old South.

CHAPTER 35

THE UNITED STATES IN 1860

[Sidenote:  Area of the United States, 1860.]

[Sidenote:  Population, 1860.]

361.  Growth of the Country.—­The United States was now three times as large as it was at Jefferson’s election.  It contained over three million square miles of land.  About one-third of this great area was settled.  In the sixty years of the century the population had increased even faster than the area had increased.  In 1800 there were five and a half million people living in the United States.  In 1860 there were over thirty-one million people within its borders.  Of these nearly five millions were white immigrants.  More than half of these immigrants had come in the last ten years, and they had practically all of them settled in the free states of the North.  Of the whole population of thirty-one millions only twelve millions lived in the slave states, and of these more than four millions were negro slaves.

[Sidenote:  New states. McMaster, 365-368.]

362.  Change of Political Power.—­The control of Congress had now passed into the hands of the free states of the North.  The majority of the Representatives had long been from the free states.  Now more Senators came from the North than from the South.  This was due to the admission of new states.  Texas (1845) was the last slave state to be admitted to the Union.  Two years later the admission of Wisconsin gave the free states as many votes in the Senate as the slave states had.  In 1850 the admission of California gave the free states a majority of two votes in the Senate.  This majority was increased to four by the admission of Minnesota in 1858, and to six by the admission of Oregon in 1859.  The control of Congress had slipped forever from the grasp of the slave states.