The American Civil War Lecture Notes

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering the key figures, elections, battles, and soldier experiences of the American Civil War as detailed in the lecture transcript.

Abraham Lincoln

The Republican candidate who won the 1860 election with $180$ electoral votes and $39.9\%$ of the popular vote.

John C. Breckinridge

The Southern Democrat candidate in the 1860 election who received $72$ electoral votes.

Stephen A. Douglas

The Northern Democrat candidate in the 1860 election who secured $12$ electoral votes and $29.4\%$ of the popular vote.

John Bell

The Constitutional Union candidate in the 1860 election who won $39$ electoral votes.

Secession

An action Lincoln described as the "essence of anarchy" in his reasoning against the breakup of the Union.

Habeas Corpus

The legal principle Lincoln questioned suspending to ensure the government did not "go to pieces" while other laws remained unexecuted.

South Carolina

The first state to secede from the Union on December $20$, $1860$, with a vote of $169-0$.

Fort Sumter

The site whose fall prompted the secession of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina in $1861$.

Anaconda Plan

Also known as "Scott's Great Snake," the Union military strategy depicted in an $1861$ map.

George McClellan

A Union General known by the nicknames "Young Napoleon" and "Little Mac."

U. S. Grant

A General whose philosophy was to "Find out where your enemy is, get to him as soon as you can, and strike him as hard as you can."

Bull Run

The first major battle of the Civil War, occurring in July $1861$ near Washington, D.C.

Antietam

A major battle in September $1862$ characterized by heavy casualties and described by soldiers as a predicament of "exceptional awkwardness."

Fredericksburg

A December $1862$ battle where Robert E. Lee felt depressed despite victory because the Union could easily replace lost manpower.

Minie Ball

A type of ammunition responsible for severe battlefield wounds, including stomach wounds mentioned in soldier accounts.

Substitute

A person hired to serve in the draft in place of another, often associated with a $300$ fee.

Elmira

A Union prison where Confederate inmate Joseph Riley famously ate rats to survive the "torture of gnawing hunger."

Vicksburg

A Mississippi River stronghold that fell to Grant on July $4$, $1863$, after a lengthy siege.

Gettysburg

A pivotal battle occurring July $1-3$, $1863$, in Pennsylvania, known for its extreme smells and sights of battlefield dead.

Sherman's March to the Sea

A military campaign through Georgia and South Carolina intended to apply "cruelty" to the Confederate population to end the war.

Appomattox Court House

The location where Robert E. Lee surrendered to U. S. Grant on April $9$, $1865$.