Chapter 14 A New Birth of Freedom

The Union

Possessed overwhelming advantages in population (22 million vs. 9 million, including 3.5 million enslaved people in the South), industrial manufacturing, railroad mileage, financial capital, and naval power.

The Confederacy

Possessed defensive military advantages, skilled military leadership (such as Robert E. Lee), and a highly motivated population fighting on home territory.

The Eastern Theater

Characterized by indecisive battles and Union frustrations near the capitals.

• First Battle of Bull Run (1861): Shattered illusions of a quick war.

• Seven Days' Campaign & Second Bull Run (1862): General Robert E. Lee repeatedly repelled Union advances on Richmond.

• Battle of Antietam (Sept 1862): Lee’s first invasion of the North was halted by General George B. McClellan in the single bloodiest day in American history (over 4,000 dead, 18,000 wounded).

The Western Theater

General Ulysses S. Grant won critical early Union victories, capturing Forts Henry and Donelson and securing control of key river networks after the brutal Battle of Shiloh (1862).

Initial War Aim

Lincoln initially insisted the war was solely to preserve the Union, fearing that targeting slavery would drive crucial Border States (Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware) into the Confederacy.

January 1, 1863

The final Emancipation Proclamation freed all enslaved people in areas currently in rebellion against the United States.

Emancipation Proclamation Limits

It did not free slaves in the loyal Border States or areas of the South already under Union control.

The Greenbacks

Issued the nation's first paper currency not backed by gold/silver.

National Banking Act (1863)

Established a unified national banking system.

Internal Revenue System

Imposed the nation’s first federal income tax and excise taxes.

Homestead Act (1862)

Granted 160 acres of free public land to western settlers who agreed to cultivate it for five years.

Morrill Land-Grant Act (1862)

Provided public land to states to fund agricultural and mechanical colleges.

Pacific Railway Act (1862)

Authorized federal subsidies to build a transcontinental railroad from Omaha to San Francisco.

Suspending Habeas Corpus

Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus repeatedly, allowing the military to arrest political dissenters without trial.

Copperheads (Peace Democrats)

Northerners who opposed the war, criticized emancipation, and demanded an immediate negotiated peace.

New York City Draft Riots (1863)

Outrage over the federal draft law (which allowed wealthy men to pay $300 for a substitute) erupted into four days of violent rioting led largely by Irish working-class laborers, targeting draft offices, wealthy citizens, and Black residents.

States' Rights vs. Centralization

The Confederacy was built on states' rights, yet President Jefferson Davis was forced to centralize power—imposing a draft (conscription), seizing food and supplies (impressment), and levying taxes.

Hyperinflation

Printing unbacked paper money led to runaway inflation, causing severe food shortages and triggering "bread riots" led by white women across Southern cities in 1863.

The "Twenty-Negro Provision"

Exempted one white man on every plantation with 20 or more slaves from the military draft, fueling class resentment that the conflict was "a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight."

Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863)

Lee’s second and final invasion of the North ended in a disastrous defeat after "Pickett’s Charge." Lee retreated, never to attack on Northern soil again.

Battle of Vicksburg (July 4, 1863)

General Grant captured the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River and cutting the Confederacy in two.

The Gettysburg Address (Nov 1863)

Lincoln dedicated the military cemetery, framing the war as a test of whether a nation "conceived in Liberty" could endure, promising a "new birth of freedom."

Grant’s War of Attrition

Named general-in-chief, Grant engaged Lee’s forces in Virginia in a series of bloody battles (Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg), knowing the Union could replace its casualties while the South could not.

The Election of 1864

Lincoln defeated Democratic nominee George B. McClellan after the fall of Atlanta boosted Northern morale, ensuring the war would continue until total victory.

The Thirteenth Amendment (Jan 1865)

Congress passed the amendment permanently abolishing slavery throughout the entire United States.

Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Lee surrendered his army to Grant in Virginia, effectively ending the war.