Civil War Common Assessment

Secede

To leave or withdraw

Confederacy

the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861 (aka Confederate States of America)

Union

the name for the Northern states during the American Civil War - The United States of America

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general who had opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force; he lead the southern army

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the Civil War; important figure in ending slavery; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)

Ulysses S. Grant

the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

Clara Barton

Launched the American Red Cross in 1881. Called an "angel" in the Civil War, she treated the wounded in the battlefield, going against gender norms of the time

Fort Sumter

The first shots of the Civil War were fired here in South Carolina

Border States

slave states that did NOT secede in the civil war and stayed with the Union: delaware, mayland, kentucky, and missouri

Gettysburg Address

A 3-minute address by Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg

Massachusetts 54th Regiment

once Black men could enlist in the Union army, this was one of the first Black regiments; they were recognized for extraordinary bravery

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued by Lincoln in 1862, it declared that all slaves in the CONFEDERATE states were freed - symbolic, but not really enforceable

Reasons for secession

Southern states wanted to protect slavery; Lincoln won election and they feared he would end slavery

Union's ORIGINAL reason for fighting

to save the United States from breaking apart and stop the south from leaving

Emancipation Proclamation Importance

gave people a new reason to fight in the war-- to end slavery; opened the door to full abolition; weakened the Southern economy by encouraging more slaves to run away.

Union Advantages

more people, factories, railroads; stronger Navy; had an established government

Confederate Advantages

Excellent military leaders, knew the land better

Appomattox Court House

site where Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant in one of the last major battles of the war

Savannah Campaign

Known as Sherman's March to the Sea: General William T. Sherman used Total War tactics in the south allowing for capture of Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.

Total Warfare

destroy everything in their path-- supplies, resources, railroads, etc

election of 1860

Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won; the South worried he would end slavery and seceded from the United States

contraband

nickname for enslaved people who escaped to join the Union army after the Emancipation Proclamation

New York Draft Riots

mainly Irish American immigrants rioted over draft law inequalities and fear that freed African Americans would 'take' their jobs; turned into a race riot targeting innocent African Americans

Draft Inequalities

Rich men could pay $300 to avoid being drafted, but that was almost a year's wages for a poor immigrant worker.

Copperheads

Northerners who opposed the Civil War; some opposed ending slavery (named after the venomous snake)

Habeas Corpus

means that you have the right to a trial, and protects you from imprisonment for no reason

Lincoln's Response to Opposition

Lincoln suspended the right to Habeas Corpus (trial before jail) temporarily to suppress opposition from Copperheads, claiming the Constitution allowed it in times of rebellion