Ch. 14 TTK

Anaconda Plan

A military strategy by the Union during the Civil War aimed at blockading southern ports and controlling the Mississippi River to suffocate the Confederacy's economy and resources.

 Radical Republicans

members of the Republican Party who wanted to see the abolition of slavery and equality of whites and blacks in America. They opposed President Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan, which they felt was too lenient on the South and Southern slave owners.

Bull Run

the location of the first major battle of the American Civil War, which resulted in a Confederate victory. It shattered illusions of a quick war and set the stage for how bloody the Civil War would be. 

George B McClellan

A Union Major General in the Civil War who was known for being one of the leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He also ran for president in 1864 as the Democratic candidate against Lincoln where he was defeated.  

Ulysses S Grant

A Union General during the Civil War and later the 18th POTUS who is known for his aggressive and decisive military leadership and for his role in forcing Robert E. Lee’s surrender, ending the war. Vicksburg

Vicksburg

The city where a 47-day siege that ended with a Union victory took place. This victory gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and effectively split the Confederacy into two. Considered a major turning point in the war. 

Peninsular campaign

a failed Union attempt to seize the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia by General George B. McClellan

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order made by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that declared slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free.

Note: it didn't apply to border states, but also paved the way for Black soldiers to enlist in the Union Army

Conscription Act

the Union's first national military draft during the Civil War, implemented due to dwindling volunteer enlistments

Twenty negro law

allowed an exemption from military service for slaveholders who owned twenty or more slaves.

Homestead Act

a law passed in 1862 to encourage westward expansion that granted 160 acres of public land to any citizen, provided they improved the land by building a dwelling and cultivating crops

Greenbacks

refers to U.S. paper currency issued during the Civil War that was not backed by gold or silver. It also describes the political movement, the Greenback Party, which advocated for the continued issuance of this paper money to keep prices up and make debts easier for farmers and laborers to pay. 

United States Sanitary Commission

a private relief agency established in 1861 to support Union soldiers during the Civil War by improving medical care and sanitation

Andersonville

refers to the city that contained one of the largest Confederate military prisons during the Civil War, Camp Sumter

Gettysburg

The site of a three day battle which resulted in the Union Army's decisive victory over the Confederate Army, considered a major turning point in the war as it shifted the momentum of the war in favor of the Union

Gettysburg Address

a speech by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery

Total War

a military strategy that involves mobilizing all of a nation's resources, including its economy, industry, and population, to wage war. the lines between combatants and non-combatants blur, often involving the targeting of civilian infrastructure and morale

Copperheads

a derogatory term used to described mostly Northern Democrat politicians who wanted an end of hostilities with the South even if it meant not achieving the full victory and thus not abolishing slavery.

March to the Sea

a devastating march led by General William T. Sherman through Georgia in late 1864, capturing Savannah, Georgia and crippling the Confederacy's ability to fight. Its goals were to cripple the Confederacy's ability to fight by destroying infrastructure, resources, and civilian property, and to demoralize the Southern population to end the war. 

John Wilkes Booth

the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.