Chapter 14: The Civil War

Fire-eaters

militant leaders of that championed Southern nationalism

First state to secede from the Union

South Carolina voted unanimously on December 20th, 1860, to seceded from the Union.

Confederate States of America

Nation formed in February of 1861.

Formed by the first seven states to secede from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

Fort Sumter

Union fort in South Carolina.

First shots of the Civil War are fired here.

Crittenden Compromise

Proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky

Called for constitutional amendments that would satisfy Southern demands.

1. guarantee the permanent existence of slavery in slave states

2. solve issues of fugitive slaves and slavery in DC

3. reestablish Missouri Compromise line in all current and future territories of the US

General P.G.T Beauregard

Commander of Confederate forces at Charleston

April 14th, 1861: Bombards the island that Fort Sumter is located on & the Civil War starts.

Four other states that join the Confederacy

Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee

Four slave states that don’t join the Confederacy

Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri

Union Advantages

Larger population → more reserve manpower for army and workforce

More advanced industrial system → able to manufacture own war materials.

Better transportation system

Southern Advantages

Fought a defensive war on familiar territory → established infrastructure: communication lines, hospitals, etc.

Higher commitment to war

Republican Economic Policy

Aggressive & nationalistic economic program

Homestead Act of 1862

Permitted any citizen or prospective citizen to claim 160 acres of public land and to purchase it for a small fee after living on it for five years

Morrill Land Grant Act

Sell land and use proceeds to finance public ediuction

Union Pacific Railroad Company

Federally chartered corporation tasked to build a railroad westward from Omaha

Central Pacific Railroad Company

Federally chartered corporation tasked to build a railroad eastward from California.

National Bank Acts of 1863-64

Created a new national banking system with a uniform system of national bank notes.

3 Ways the Union tried to finance the war

1. Levy taxes

2. Issue paper currency

3. Borrow

“Greenbacks”

Paper currency not backed by gold or silver. Instead it was backed by the good faith and credit of the government.

Peace Democrats/Copperheads

laborers, immigrants, and Democrats that opposed the war

Most prominent Copperhead

Ohio Congressman Clement L. Vallandigham

Ex parte Merryman

Supreme Court try to curb Lincoln’s authority by requiring him to release an imprisoned Maryland secessionist leader. Lincoln ignored it

Ex parte Milligan

Military trials in areas where civil courts existed are unconstitutional

Mathew Brady

One of the first important photographers of American History.

Organized a corp of photographers that released pro-war pamphlets, posters, speeches, and songs

Election of 1864 candidates

Union Party (Republican party) nominated Lincoln

Democrats nominated George B. McClellan

Irrepressible Conflict

North and South stood positions were the issues and problems of slavery were irreconcilable 

Confiscation Act

All enslaved people used for insurrectionary purposes (supporting the Confederacy) would be considered free

Battle of Antietam

Lincoln announces that he would use his war powers to issue an executive order freeing all enslaved people in the Confederacy

Emancipation Proclamation

Executive order from Lincoln that stated all enslaved people in the Confederacy were free, except those under Union control: Tennessee, western Virginia, and southern Louisiana

Emancipation Proclamation: African Enlistment

After the Emancipation Proclamation, African enlistment rapidly increased.

Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Infantry

Best known African American regmient.

Commanded by Robert Gould Shaw

Mistreatment of Black Soldiers

Tasked to dangerous, onerous, or menial jobs.

Paid 1/3rd less than their white counterparts.

Hard Times for Workers

Purchasing power decreased as wages were stagnant compared to the substantial inflation.

Workers were taken advantage of by their employers, so union membership increased.

U.S. Sanitary Commission

Organization of civilian volunteers led by Social reformer Dorthea Dix

Traditional Gender Roles Reinforced

Female nurses faced considerable resistance from male doctors

National Woman’s Loyal League

Founded in 1863 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Diseases that soldiers faced

Malaria, Dysentery, Typhoid, Gangrene

Confederate Leadership

Provisional President → Jefferson Davis of Mississippi

Vice President → Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia

Southern Divisions

White people in the poorer “backcountry” and “upcountry” refused to recognize the Confederate government.

“food draft”

Soldiers are permitted to feed themselves by seizing crops from farms in their path

Economic Woes of the South

The South had extreme inflation & shortages from overprinting money and a blockade by the North.

New Roles for Women

With the men off at war, Women once again had to take up new roles: schoolteachers, government agents, nurses, etc.

Women learned how to manage enslaved workforces, plow fields,and harvest crops.

Union Generals before Grant

1. Winfield Scott

2. George B. McClellan

3. Henry W. Halleck

Committe on the Conduct of War

Joint investigative committee of the two houses of Congress chaired by Senator Benjamin F. Wade of Ohio.

Confederate Military advisors

1. General Robert E. Lee

2. General Braxton Brigg

Professional officers were graduates from

U.S. Military Academy at West Point and U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis

Ironclads

Warship that was plated in iron

Merrimac

U.S. frigate that the Confederates confiscated, then made into an ironclad. The Confederates then renamed it the Virgina.

Monitor

A Union ironclad that was used against the Confederate ironclad ship, the Virgina.

Judah P. Benjamin

Confederate secretary of state

Charles Francis Adams

Son of John Quincy Adams.

Minister to London.

Provided invaluable assistance to William Seward the American secretary of state during the Civil War.

European sympathies

France and England were generally sympathetic to the Confederacy because of the Southern cotton industry.

Neither nation wanted to take a side in the conflict.

John Bright & Richard Cobden

English liberals that supported the Union cause against slavery.

King Cotton diplomacy

Counter antislavery forces in Europe by saying that Southern cotton was vital for English and French textile industries.

Trent affair

Diplomatic Crisis between the US and Britain.

American frigate San Jacinto stopped the British steamer, the Trent, and arrested James M. Mason and John Slidell, who were Confederate diplomats.

Charles Wilkes

Commander of the San Jacinto

2 famous Commerce destroyers that the Confederacy bought from Britain

Alabama and Flordia

William C. Quantrill

Ohio native who became a captain of the Confederate army after organizing guerilla fighters.

Jayhawkers

Union sympathizers in Kansas that partook in guerrilla warfare

The Civil war has often been called the first

Modern & total war

Samuel Colt

Patented the repeating pistol (revolver) in 1835

Oliver Winchester

Introduced the repeating rifle in the 1860

Importance of the railroad

Allowed for convenient method of transporting men.

U.S. Military Telegraph Corps

Led by Thomas Scott and Andrew Carnegie.

Telegraphs became the primary source of communication during the war.

First Battle of Bull Run/First Battle of Manassas

General Irvin McDowell of the Union almost defeated the Confederate forces, but would retreat after a brutal counter attack

Wilson’s Creek

Nathaniel Lyon is defeated secessionists in Missouri. These secessionists were led by Governor Claiborne Jackson and other state officals.

New Orleans Captured

David G. Farragut led a Union squadron of ironclads into the Gulf of Mexico and defeated several Confederate forts near the mouth of the Mississippi. They would sail up to New Orleans and capture the city.

Shiloh

Grant defeated Confederate forces led by Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. Johnston was killed and Braxton Bragg succeeded him as Commander of the Confederate Army in the West.

Battle of Murfreesboro/Stone’s River

Braxton Bragg is forced to retreat after fighting a Union army commanded by Don Carlos Buell and later William S. Roscrans.

George B. McClellan

Commander of the Army of Potomac, Known well for the Peninsular campaign

Seven Pines

Troops under Joseph E. Johnston attacked McClellan outside of Richmond. It was 2 day battle where the Confederates failed to drive out Union forces.

Antietam

Lee went on the offensive but would end up retreating into Virginia. McClellan would be removed from command and be replaced by Ambrose E. Burnside(was quickly removed from command)

Battle of Chancellorsville

Union General Joseph Hooker was attacked by Stonewall Jackson and Lee. Jackson was wounded and would die from pneumonia. Lee failed to destroy the Union army.

Vicksburg

A Confederate stronghold was in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant would siege the city and would finally give the Union control of the entire length of the Mississippi river.

George C. Meade

Replaces Hooker as the Commander of the Union Army of the Potomac.

Battle of Chattanooga

Union forces drive Confederates back into Georgia. Union finally gained control of the Tennessee.

John B. Hood

Dude that President Davis chooses to replace Joseph Johnston with.

Fails to defend Atlanta, and Atlanta is captured by the Union.

March to the Sea

William T. Sherman uses his army to cut a sixty mile swath of desolation across Georgia.

Appomattox Court House

Lee surrendered what is left of his forces on April 9th. Joseph Johnston would do the same shortly after.