APUSH Chapter 14: Two Societies at War

Jefferson Davis

A Mississippian who became the Confederacy’s president, previously serving as a senator and secretary of war

Fort Sumter

A garrison in South Carolina that was demanded by Buchanan to be surrendered, yet refused to use navy to supply it; the first battle of the war

The Crittenden Compromise

Proposed by Crittenden of Kentucky, created a constitutional amendment to protect slavery from federal interference in states where it already exited, extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the California border; it failed as a compromise

Robert E. Lee

recommended by Scott to lead the new Confederate Army; one of the strongest war leaders located in the eight middle south and border states; served as the leader for the entirety of the Civil War

Bull Run

Union started off with a strong assault, yet Confederates led a stronger counter attack; led to a Confederate Victory and showed the strength of the rebellion

“Stonewall” Jackson

led a Confederate force towards the Shenandoah Valley in west Virginia and threatened Washington, though ended up returning to Richmond to strengthen their own army

Antietam

Lee hoped to fight off McClellan’s attacks until Jackson’s troops could arrive, allowing them to retreat to Virginia; McClellan was untrusted by Lincoln after this because it showed a lack of trying to end the war as soon as possible

Ulysses S. Grant

a Union general that became the army commander later on, using iron plated river boats to capture Fort Donelson and Fort Henry

Total War

a war where all of society’s resources, economic, political, and cultural would be mobilized

Enrollment Act of 1863

required ages 20-45 to register for the war, or to find a substitute, gained opposition from German and Irish immigrants who claimed that the war was not theirs to fight

Clara Barton

founder of the American Red Cross, claimed that the war advanced the position of women in society by ~50 years

Homestead Act of 1862

gave settlers 160 acres of public land after five years of residence, meant to increase agricultural output for the union

Greenbacks

the paper currency printed, totaling to $150 million, used as legal tender

Confiscation Act

authorized seizure of all property, including slaves, used to support the rebellion

Emancipation Proclamation

based by Lincoln, it abolished slavery in states not in the Union, yet freed not a single slave, claiming that the South is to be destroyed and replaced by a system of free labor

The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Infantry

an infantry that convinced Union officers of the value of black soldiers, winning Fort Wagner in South Carolina

Thirteenth Amendment

Ended slavery in the United States; used to ease the idea that the Emancipation Proclamation would only last during the war

William Tecumseh Sherman

believed that slavery upheld social stability, but that secession was anarchy; created the idea of a hard war; led the March to the Sea

Special Field Order No. 15

400 thousand acres of prime rice growing land provided to blacks for the exclusive use of freedmen, called “Sherman Lands”

Appomattox Court House

the place of Lee’s surrender, ending the Civil War

Habeas Corpus

issued by state judges, legal instruments used to protect people from arbitrary arrest, yet Confederates overrode judge’s authority

King Cotton

reliance on cotton by the Confederacy, as it was the leading American export and a staple of the economy, used to purchase clothes, boots, blankets, and weapons from abroad

“Contrabands”

enemy property that can be legitimately seized, according to international law, without the need of returning to the original country

Radical Republicans

members of the Republican party who were opposed to slavery, and advocated for a strong rebuild of the south

scorched-earth campaign

destruction of grain, barns, and other resources in the area; considered a violation of military norms; used in the March to the Sea

War Democrats

wanted to continue the fight until the South’s rebellion ended

Peace Democrats

wanted to end the war as soon as possible, and to negotiate for a peace settlement

“hard war”

the idea that when a nation is at war with another, people of either side are also enemies of one another

March to the Sea

led by Sherman, a March from a destroyed Atlanta, where the army consumed and demolished everything in its path, utilizing the scorched earth policy