Start of the Civil War

Vocabulary flashcards covering the underlying and immediate causes of the Civil War, the Sumner-Brooks affair, the Election of 1860, comparative regional resources, and the New York City Draft Riots.

Secede

To separate, withdraw, or break away formally from a nation, federation, or political union.

Emancipate

To legally set free from slavery.

Draft (Conscription)

A mandatory legal system requiring citizens to join the armed forces during a war.

Commutation Fee

A legal payment of $\$300$ that wealthy men could pay during the Civil War to avoid that specific round of the military draft.

Which Massachusetts senator gave a two-day anti-slavery speech before being beaten unconscious on the Senate floor in 1856?

Charles Sumner

Which South Carolina representative violently attacked Senator Charles Sumner at his desk in 1856?

Preston S. Brooks

What two insults in Charles Sumner's 1856 speech caused Preston Brooks to attack him?

Sumner talked down to Southern senators like foolish children and personally insulted Brooks's cousin, Andrew Butler, by claiming Butler loved an ugly mistress named slavery.

How did Preston Brooks carry out his brutal assault on Charles Sumner, and how severe were the injuries?

Brooks trapped Sumner at his bolted-down Senate desk and beat him over the head repeatedly with a heavy dog-training cane until it shattered. Sumner ripped the desk from the floor trying to escape, lost consciousness, and suffered severe trauma that took three years of recovery before he could return to Congress.

How did Northern writers and thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson react to the cane attack on Charles Sumner?

They expressed severe outrage, asking if free Northerners were now being treated like enslaved workers, and declared that a civilized community and a barbarous community could not remain together in one country.

How did Southerners react to Preston Brooks's violent attack on Charles Sumner?

They celebrated Brooks as a hero, re-elected him to Congress, sent him hundreds of new canes (including one engraved with 'hit him again'), and named Brooks County, Georgia, and Brooksville, Florida, in his honor.

What was the pro-slavery 'States' Rights' argument regarding the cause of the Civil War?

The claim promoted by Southern sympathizers that the war was not fought over slavery, but rather over state sovereignty and each state's legal right to control its own local economy.

Why do historians and classroom notes reject the 'States' Rights' claim as racism in disguise?

Because the specific 'right' Southern states demanded was the legal right to buy, sell, and exploit enslaved Black people, using political buzzwords to hide human bondage.

Which four Confederate states explicitly named the continuation of slavery in their official secession declarations?

South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi.

What primary source evidence from 1860–1861 disproves the claim that Southern states seceded purely for economic independence?

The written secession declarations of Confederate states directly stated that their economies and entire social systems were dependent on African slavery, citing the protection of slavery as their primary motivation for leaving the Union.

What was the true, primary catalyst of the Civil War?

Irreconcilable differences between the North and South over the morality, legal protection, and geographic expansion of human slavery.

What pre-Civil War crisis under President Andrew Jackson showed South Carolina's early defiance of federal authority?

The Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina tried to nullify (refuse to obey) federal tariffs until President Jackson dispatched federal troops to suppress the rebellion.

What proportion of enslaved people who survived the Middle Passage and arrived in the United States entered through Charleston, South Carolina?

Approximately one-half ($50\%$) of all surviving enslaved individuals.

How did the presidential election of 1860 show extreme regional division in the nation?

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with $180$ electoral votes secured entirely from the North, California, and Oregon, without winning any electoral votes from Southern states.

What action did South Carolina take in December 1860 immediately following Abraham Lincoln's election?

South Carolina held a state convention and voted unanimously to secede from the United States.

Which military engagement on April 12, 1861, marked the official beginning of the Civil War?

The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

What official stance on slavery did Abraham Lincoln take in his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861?

He stated that he had no legal right or desire to interfere with slavery where it already existed, telling the South that the momentous decision of civil war rested entirely in their hands.

What was Abraham Lincoln's main goal during the Civil War, according to his August 1862 letter?

To save the Union under the Constitution, whether that meant freeing all enslaved people, freeing some, or freeing none.

Why did western counties split away from Virginia during the Civil War to form West Virginia?

Their mountainous local economy was based on coal factories and industry rather than slave-reliant plantations, leading them to reject Virginia's secession.

How did the Union and the Confederacy compare in bank deposits and specie (coined metal money) in 1861?

The Union possessed $\$234\text{ million}$ in bank deposits and specie, while the Confederacy held only $\$74\text{ million}$ and the Border States held $\$29\text{ million}$.

What major industrial advantage did Northern factories hold over the South during the Civil War?

Northern factories produced $9\text{ times}$ more manufactured goods than Southern factories, producing weapons, ammunition, uniforms, and civilian supplies in vast quantities.

What railroad advantage helped the Union transport troops and supplies during the war?

The North had over $21{,}700\text{ miles}$ of railroad track, allowing rapid movement of soldiers, equipment, and food supplies from Midwestern farming states like Ohio.

How did the total populations of the North and the South compare at the start of the war?

The Union had roughly $22\text{ million}$ to $22.5\text{ million}$ people, while the Confederacy had only about $9\text{ million}$ people (more than one-third of whom were enslaved).

What Southern economic condition led to the Confederate idea of 'King Cotton'?

The South produced $75\%$ of the world's raw cotton supply ($5\text{ million}$ bales in 1860), leading Southern leaders to believe European nations would intervene in the war to protect their cotton supply.

What geographic and morale advantages did Confederate soldiers have at the start of the war?

They fought on familiar home territory and had strong personal motivation to defend their own families, homes, and land.

How did Union and Confederate generals compare in the early stages of the Civil War?

The Confederacy had skilled, inspiring commanders who maximized limited resources, while early Union generals were hesitant, feared losing soldiers in battle, and mistakenly assumed the South would surrender easily.

What major military disadvantage did the Confederacy face immediately upon seceding?

It had no established regular army or navy and had to build, train, and supply a military force from scratch.

Ironclad

A warship protected by thick iron armor plating rather than traditional wood, introduced by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.

Border States

Four slaveholding states—Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware—located along the boundary line that decided not to secede and remained in the Union.

What caused the New York City Draft Riots in July 1863?

Outrage among working-class citizens and immigrants over the federal military draft and the unfair $\$300$ fee that allowed wealthy men to buy their way out of service.

What violent acts took place during the New York City Draft Riots in July 1863?

Rioters carried out racial violence, brutally attacking and lynching Black residents and burning down the Colored Orphan Asylum.

How were the New York City Draft Riots ended, and what was the result?

Federal army troops were sent directly from the Battle of Gettysburg to restore order, and approximately $120$ people were killed during the riots.

Sectionalism

Decades of deep regional loyalty and division between the North and South over economic systems, federal power, and the expansion of slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

A political doctrine allowing settlers in a territory to vote on whether to permit slavery, which triggered violent fighting following the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Jingoism

Extreme, aggressive patriotism that favors a warlike foreign policy.

Why did western counties split away from Virginia during the Civil War to form West Virginia?

Their mountainous local economy was based on coal factories and industry rather than slave-reliant plantations, leading them to reject Virginia's secession.

How did the Union and the Confederacy compare in bank deposits and specie (coined metal money) in 1861?

The Union possessed $\$234\text{ million}$ in bank deposits and specie, while the Confederacy held only $\$74\text{ million}$ and the Border States held $\$29\text{ million}$.

What major industrial advantage did Northern factories hold over the South during the Civil War?

Northern factories produced $9\text{ times}$ more manufactured goods than Southern factories, producing weapons, ammunition, uniforms, and civilian supplies in vast quantities.

What railroad advantage helped the Union transport troops and supplies during the war?

The North had over $21{,}700\text{ miles}$ of railroad track, allowing rapid movement of soldiers, equipment, and food supplies from Midwestern farming states like Ohio.

How did the total populations of the North and the South compare at the start of the war?

The Union had roughly $22\text{ million}$ to $22.5\text{ million}$ people, while the Confederacy had only about $9\text{ million}$ people (more than one-third of whom were enslaved).

What Southern economic condition led to the Confederate idea of 'King Cotton'?

The South produced $75\%$ of the world's raw cotton supply ($5\text{ million}$ bales in 1860), leading Southern leaders to believe European nations would intervene in the war to protect their cotton supply.

What geographic and morale advantages did Confederate soldiers have at the start of the war?

They fought on familiar home territory and had strong personal motivation to defend their own families, homes, and land.

How did Union and Confederate generals compare in the early stages of the Civil War?

The Confederacy had skilled, inspiring commanders who maximized limited resources, while early Union generals were hesitant, feared losing soldiers in battle, and mistakenly assumed the South would surrender easily.

What major military disadvantage did the Confederacy face immediately upon seceding?

It had no established regular army or navy and had to build, train, and supply a military force from scratch.

Ironclad

A warship protected by thick iron armor plating rather than traditional wood, introduced by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.

Border States

Four slaveholding states—Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware—located along the boundary line that decided not to secede and remained in the Union.

What caused the New York City Draft Riots in July 1863?

Outrage among working-class citizens and immigrants over the federal military draft and the unfair $\$300$ fee that allowed wealthy men to buy their way out of service.

What violent acts took place during the New York City Draft Riots in July 1863?

Rioters carried out racial violence, brutally attacking and lynching Black residents and burning down the Colored Orphan Asylum.

How were the New York City Draft Riots ended, and what was the result?

Federal army troops were sent directly from the Battle of Gettysburg to restore order, and approximately $120$ people were killed during the riots.

Sectionalism

Decades of deep regional loyalty and division between the North and South over economic systems, federal power, and the expansion of slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

A political doctrine allowing settlers in a territory to vote on whether to permit slavery, which triggered violent fighting following the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Jingoism

Extreme, aggressive patriotism that favors a warlike foreign policy.