vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Texas annexation
This `` safety - valve '' theory `` appealed to the racial fears of northern whites '' who dreaded the prospect of absorbing emancipated slaves into their communities in the event that the institution of slavery collapsed in the South . This scheme for racial cleansing was consistent , on a pragmatic level , with proposals for overseas colonization of blacks , which were pursued by a number of American presidents , from Jefferson to Lincoln . Walker bolstered his position by raising national security concerns , warning that in the event annexation failed , imperialist Great Britain would maneuver the Republic of Texas into emancipating its slaves , forecasting a dangerous destabilizing influence on southwestern slaveholding states . The pamphlet characterized abolitionists as traitors who conspired with the British to overthrow the United States .
Secession in the United States
Some twenty - eight years after Jackson spoke , President James Buchanan gave a different voice -- one much more accommodating to the views of the secessionists and the ' slave ' states -- in the midst of the pre-War secession crisis . In his final State of the Union address to Congress , on December 3 , 1860 , he acknowledged his view that the South , `` after having first used all peaceful and constitutional means to obtain redress , would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the Government of the Union '' ; but he also drew his apocalyptic vision of the results to be expected from secession :
Confederate States of America
The overall decline in food supplies , made worse by the inadequate transportation system , led to serious shortages and high prices in urban areas . When bacon reached a dollar a pound in 1863 , the poor women of Richmond , Atlanta and many other cities began to riot ; they broke into shops and warehouses to seize food . The women expressed their anger at ineffective state relief efforts , speculators , and merchants . As wives and widows of soldiers they were hurt by the inadequate welfare system .
American Civil War
In September 1862 , the Battle of Antietam provided this opportunity , and the subsequent War Governors ' Conference added support for the proclamation . Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22 , 1862 , and his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 , 1863 . In his letter to Albert G. Hodges , Lincoln explained his belief that `` If slavery is not wrong , nothing is wrong ... And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling ... I claim not to have controlled events , but confess plainly that events have controlled me . ''
History of the United States Constitution
In the mid-19th Century during the administrations of Abraham Lincoln , Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant , the United States suffered a tragic passage through the Civil War and Reconstruction . An important survey of the philosophical and legal underpinnings of `` States Rights '' as held by secessionists and Lost Cause advocates afterwards is found in the speeches of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government . Davis defended secession by appealing to the `` original principles '' of the Founders ' 1776 Revolutionary generation , and by expanding on William Blackstone 's doctrine of legislative supremacy . By the elections of 1872 , all states which had been admitted to the United States in accordance with the Constitution were fully represented in the U.S. Congress . Jefferson
Emancipation Proclamation
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required individuals to return runaway slaves to their owners . During the war , Union generals such as Benjamin Butler declared that slaves in occupied areas were contraband of war and accordingly refused to return them . This decision was controversial because it implied recognition of the Confederacy as a separate , independent sovereign state under international law , a notion that Lincoln steadfastly denied . As a result , he did not promote the contraband designation . In addition , as contraband , these people were legally designated as `` property '' when they crossed Union lines and their ultimate status was uncertain .
Confederate States of America
In what later became known as the Cornerstone Speech , C.S. Vice President Alexander H. Stephens declared that the `` cornerstone '' of the new government `` rest ( ed ) upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man ; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race -- is his natural and normal condition . This , our new government , is the first , in the history of the world , based upon this great physical , philosophical , and moral truth '' . After the war Stephens made efforts to qualify his remarks , claiming they were extemporaneous , metaphorical , and intended to refer to public sentiment rather than `` the principles of the new Government on this subject '' .
History of rail transport in the United States
Rail was strategic during the American Civil War , and the Union used its much larger system much more effectively . Practically all the mills and factories supplying rails and equipment were in the North , and the Union blockade kept the South from getting new equipment or spare parts . The war was fought in the South , and Union raiders ( and sometimes Confederates too ) systematically destroyed bridges and rolling stock -- and sometimes bent rails -- to hinder the logistics of the enemy .
Trent Affair
The disruption of trade threatened the Union war effort as well as British prosperity . British India was the only source of the saltpeter used in Union gunpowder . Within hours of learning of the Trent Affair Russell moved to halt the export of saltpeter and two days later the Cabinet banned the export of arms , ammunition , military stores and lead . Britain was one of the few sources of weapons designated `` first class '' by the Union army , and between 1 May 1861 and 31 December 1862 it supplied more than 382,500 muskets and rifles and 49,982,000 percussion caps to the Union . One historian concluded of the Union 's source of weapons that `` The domestic market , which consisted of few sporting arms and a few hastily manufactured and often inferior rifles and muskets , was soon exhausted ... Foreign arms became the major source of supply in the first year and a half of the war ... British and European arms allowed the Union army to take the field early in the war . ''
Confederate States of America
Escott argues that Davis was unable to mobilize Confederate nationalism in support of his government effectively , and especially failed to appeal to the small farmers who comprised the bulk of the population . In addition to the problems caused by states rights , Escott also emphasizes that the widespread opposition to any strong central government combined with the vast difference in wealth between the slave - owning class and the small farmers created insolvable dilemmas when the Confederate survival presupposed a strong central government backed by a united populace . The prewar claim that white solidarity was necessary to provide a unified Southern voice in Washington no longer held . Davis failed to build a network of supporters who would speak up when he came under criticism , and he repeatedly alienated governors and other state - based leaders by demanding centralized control of the war effort .
Confederate States of America
Although Confederates had suffered major reverses everywhere , as of the end of April the Confederacy still controlled territory holding 72 % of its population . Federal forces disrupted Missouri and Arkansas ; they had broken through in western Virginia , Kentucky , Tennessee and Louisiana . Along the Confederacy 's shores , Union forces had closed ports and made garrisoned lodgments on every coastal Confederate state except Alabama and Texas . Although scholars sometimes assess the Union blockade as ineffectual under international law until the last few months of the war , from the first months it disrupted Confederate privateers , making it `` almost impossible to bring their prizes into Confederate ports '' . British firms developed small fleets of blockade running companies , such as John Fraser and Company , and the Ordnance Department secured its own blockade runners for dedicated munitions cargoes . CSS
Confederate States of America
Even before Fort Sumter , U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward issued formal instructions to the American minister to Britain , Charles Francis Adams :
Confederate States of America
Seward instructed Adams that if the British government seemed inclined to recognize the Confederacy , or even waver in that regard , it was to receive a sharp warning , with a strong hint of war :
Trent Affair
The British strongly believed that they had naval superiority over the Union . Although Union ships outnumbered Milne 's available force , many of the United States fleet were simply remodeled merchant ships , and the British had an advantage in the number of total guns available . Bourne suggested that this advantage could change during the war as both sides turned more to ironclads . In particular , British ironclads had a deeper draught and could not operate in American coastal waters , leaving a close blockade dependent on wooden ships vulnerable to Union ironclads .
Trent Affair
As a naval power , Britain had a long record of insisting that neutral nations honor its blockades of hostile countries . From the earliest days of the war , that perspective would guide the British away from taking any action that might have been viewed in Washington as a direct challenge to the Union blockade . From the perspective of the South , British policy amounted to de facto support for the Union blockade and caused great frustration .
United Kingdom and the American Civil War
Through the action of disloyal citizens , the working people of Europe have been subjected to a severe trial for the purpose of forcing their sanction to that attempt . Under the circumstances I can not but regard your decisive utterances on the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country . It is indeed an energetic and re-inspiring assurance of the inherent truth and of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice , humanity and freedom .
Trent Affair
Confederate ships could obtain fuel , supplies and repairs in neutral ports but could not secure military equipment or arms . The availability of Britain 's far - flung colonial ports made it possible for Confederate ships to pursue Union shipping throughout much of the world . France , Spain , the Netherlands , and Brazil followed suit . Belligerency also gave the Confederate government the opportunity to purchase supplies , contract with British companies , and purchase a navy to search out and seize Union ships . The Queen 's proclamation made clear that Britons were prohibited from joining the military of either side , equipping any ships for military use in the war , breaking any proper blockade , and from transporting military goods , documents , or personnel to either side . Charles
Confederate States of America
Large numbers of families relocated to safer places , usually remote rural areas , bringing along household slaves if they had any . Mary Massey argues these elite exiles introduced an element of defeatism into the southern outlook . Collapse
Trent Affair
The London Standard saw the capture as `` but one of a series of premeditated blows aimed at this country ... to involve it in a war with the Northern States . '' A letter from an American visitor written to Seward declared , `` The people are frantic with rage , and were the country polled I fear 999 men out of 1,000 would declare for immediate war . '' A member of Parliament stated that unless America set matters right the British flag should `` be torn into shreds and sent to Washington for use of the Presidential water - closets . '' However , the seizure provoked only one anti-Union meeting , held in Liverpool ( later a hub of Confederate sympathy ) and chaired by the future Confederate spokesman James Spence .
History of United States foreign policy
British financiers built and operated most of the blockade runners , spending hundreds of millions of pounds on them ; but that was legal and not the cause of serious tension . They were staffed by sailors and officers on leave from the Royal Navy . When the U.S. Navy captured one of the fast blockade runners , it sold the ship and cargo as prize money for the American sailors , then released the crew .
Confederate States of America
Many secessionists were active politically . Governor William Henry Gist of South Carolina corresponded secretly with other Deep South governors , and most southern governors exchanged clandestine commissioners . Charleston 's secessionist `` 1860 Association '' published over 200,000 pamphlets to persuade the youth of the South . The most influential were : `` The Doom of Slavery '' and `` The South Alone Should Govern the South '' , both by John Townsend of South Carolina ; and James D.B. De Bow 's `` The Interest of Slavery of the Southern Non-slaveholder '' .
Border states (American Civil War)
I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game . Kentucky gone , we can not hold Missouri , nor Maryland . These all against us , and the job on our hands is too large for us . We would as well consent to separation at once , including the surrender of this capitol ( Washington , which was surrounded by slave states : Confederate Virginia and Union - controlled Maryland ) .
United Kingdom and the American Civil War
Lincoln appointed Charles Francis Adams , Sr. , as minister to Britain . An important part of his mission was to make clear to the British that the war was strictly an internal insurrection and afforded the Confederacy no rights under international law . Any movement by Britain to recognizing the Confederacy officially would be considered an unfriendly act toward the US . Seward 's instructions to Adams included the suggestion that it should be made clear to Britain that a nation with widely - scattered possessions , as well as a homeland that included Scotland and Ireland , should be very wary of `` set ( ting ) a dangerous precedent . ''
Latin American wars of independence
Great Britain 's trade with Latin America greatly expanded during the revolutionary period , which until then was restricted due to Spanish mercantilist trade policies . British pressure was sufficient to prevent Spain from attempting any serious reassertion of its control over its lost colonies .
Confederate States of America
Southern Democrats had chosen John Breckinridge as their candidate during the U.S. presidential election of 1860 , but in no Southern state ( other than South Carolina , where the legislature chose the electors ) was support for him unanimous ; all of the other states recorded at least some popular votes for one or more of the other three candidates ( Abraham Lincoln , Stephen A. Douglas and John Bell ) . Support for these candidates , collectively , ranged from significant to an outright majority , with extremes running from 25 % in Texas to 81 % in Missouri . There were minority views everywhere , especially in the upland and plateau areas of the South , with western Virginia and eastern Tennessee of particular concentration .
History of United States prison systems
To many Southerners , writes historian Edward L. Ayers , `` republicanism '' translated simply to freedom from the will of anyone else : Centralized power , even in the name of an activist republican government , promised more evil than good . Ayers concludes that this form of Southern republicanism owed its particular shape to slavery . The South 's slave economy perpetuated a rural , localized culture , he argues , in which men distrusted strangers ' claims to power . In this political milieu , the notion of surrendering individual liberties of any kind -- even those of criminals -- for some abstract conception of `` social improvement '' was abhorrent to many .
Trent Affair
Of course , the military option was not needed . If it had been , Warren concluded that , `` Britain 's world dominance of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had vanished ; the Royal Navy , although more powerful than ever , no longer ruled the waves . '' Military historian Russell Weigley concurs in Warren 's analysis and adds :
Confederate States of America
In the last year before the end of the war , the Confederate railroad system stood permanently on the verge of collapse . There was no new equipment and raids on both sides systematically destroyed key bridges , as well as locomotives and freight cars . Spare parts were cannibalized ; feeder lines were torn up to get replacement rails for trunk lines , and rolling stock wore out through heavy use . Horses
Texas annexation
Tyler submitted his treaty for annexation to the Senate , delivered April 22 , 1844 , where a two - thirds majority was required for ratification . Secretary of State Calhoun ( assuming his post March 29 , 1844 ) had sent a letter to British minister Richard Packenham denouncing British anti-slavery interference in Texas . He included the Packenham Letter with the Tyler bill , intending to create a sense of crisis in Southern Democrats . In it , he characterized slavery as a social blessing and the acquisition of Texas as an emergency measure necessary to safeguard the `` peculiar institution '' in the United States . In doing so , Tyler and Calhoun sought to unite the South in a crusade that would present the North with an ultimatum : support Texas annexation or lose the South .
John C. Calhoun
Organization and strategy were widely demanded in Southern defense , and Calhoun came to be regarded as the main source of plans , arguments , and inspiration . His devices were manifold : to suppress agitation , to praise the slaveholding system ; to promote white Southern prosperity and expansion ; to procure a Western alliance ; to frame a fresh plan of government by concurrent majorities ; to form a Southern bloc ; to warn the North of the dangers of Southern desperation ; to appeal for Northern magnanimity as indispensable for the saving of the Union .
Southern United States
The Confederate cause was hopeless by the time Atlanta fell and William T. Sherman marched through Georgia in late 1864 , but the rebels fought on , refusing to give up their independence until Lee 's army surrendered in April 1865 . All the Confederate forces surrendered , and the region moved into the Reconstruction Era .
Confederate States of America
The CSA was overwhelmingly rural land . Few towns had populations of more than 1,000 -- the typical county seat had a population of fewer than 500 people . Cities were rare . Of the twenty largest U.S. cities in the 1860 census , only New Orleans lay in Confederate territory -- and the Union captured New Orleans in 1862 . Only 13 Confederate - controlled cities ranked among the top 100 U.S. cities in 1860 , most of them ports whose economic activities vanished or suffered severely in the Union blockade . The population of Richmond swelled after it became the Confederate capital , reaching an estimated 128,000 in 1864 . Other Southern cities in the Border slave - holding states such as Baltimore , Washington , D.C. , Wheeling ( W.Va. , formerly Va . ) , Alexandria , Louisville , and St. Louis never came under the control of the Confederate government .
United Kingdom and the American Civil War
Earl Russell , British Foreign Secretary , had given Mason no encouragement , but after news of the Second Battle of Bull Run reached London in early September , Palmerston agreed that in late September , there could be a cabinet meeting at which Palmerston and Russell would ask approval of the mediation proposal . Then , Russell and Palmerston decided not to bring the plan before the cabinet until they got further word about Lee 's invasion of the North . If the Northerners were beaten , the proposal would go through ; if Lee failed , it might be well to wait a little longer before taking any action .
Confederate States of America
In early 1862 , the popular press suggested the Confederacy required a million men under arms . But veteran soldiers were not re-enlisting , and earlier secessionist volunteers did not reappear to serve in war . One Macon , Georgia , newspaper asked how two million brave fighting men of the South were about to be overcome by four million northerners who were said to be cowards . Conscription
Trent Affair
The Russian Minister in Washington , Eduard de Stoeckl , noted , `` The Cabinet of London is watching attentively the internal dissensions of the Union and awaits the result with an impatience which it has difficulty in disguising . '' De Stoeckl advised his government that Britain would recognize the Confederate States at its earliest opportunity . Cassius Clay , the US minister in Russia , stated , `` I saw at a glance where the feeling of England was . They hoped for our ruin ! They are jealous of our power . They care neither for the South nor the North . They hate both . ''
Trent Affair
At the beginning of the Civil War , the U.S. minister to the Court of St. James was Charles Francis Adams . He made clear that Washington considered the war strictly an internal insurrection affording the Confederacy no rights under international law . Any movement by Britain towards officially recognizing the Confederacy would be considered an unfriendly act towards the United States . Seward 's instructions to Adams included the suggestion that it be made clear to Britain that a nation with widely - scattered possessions , as well as a homeland that included Scotland and Ireland , should be very wary of `` set ( ting ) a dangerous precedent . ''
Confederate States of America
The Confederate citizen was not any freer than the Union citizen -- and perhaps no less likely to be arrested by military authorities . In fact , the Confederate citizen may have been in some ways less free than his Northern counterpart . For example , freedom to travel within the Confederate states was severely limited by a domestic passport system .
John C. Calhoun
Anti-slavery Northerners denounced the war as a Southern conspiracy to expand slavery ; Calhoun in turn perceived a connivance of Yankees to destroy the South . By 1847 he decided the Union was threatened by a totally corrupt party system . He believed that in their lust for office , patronage and spoils , politicians in the North pandered to the anti-slavery vote , especially during presidential campaigns , and politicians in the slave states sacrificed Southern rights in an effort to placate the Northern wings of their parties . Thus , the essential first step in any successful assertion of Southern rights had to be the jettisoning of all party ties . In 1848 -- 49 , Calhoun tried to give substance to his call for Southern unity . He was the driving force behind the drafting and publication of the `` Address of the Southern Delegates in Congress , to Their Constituents . '' It alleged Northern violations of the constitutional rights of the South , then warned Southern voters to expect forced emancipation of slaves in the near future , followed by their complete subjugation by an unholy alliance of unprincipled Northerners and blacks . Whites would flee and the South would `` become the permanent abode of disorder , anarchy , poverty , misery , and wretchedness . '' Only the immediate and unflinching unity of Southern whites could prevent such a disaster . Such unity would either bring the North to its senses or lay the foundation for an independent South . But the spirit of union was still strong in the region and fewer than 40 % of the Southern congressmen signed the address , and only one Whig .