Ch. 15-16: Beginning of War and Turning Points (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapters 15-16 about the Civil War.

Union advantages

Larger population; industrial base; railroads; tariffs revenue; stronger banks supporting the war effort.

Union disadvantages

Occasional poor military leadership; war unpopular among some Northern citizens.

Confederate advantages

Better military leadership; defending their own territory in battles.

Confederate disadvantages

Limited industry; weak central government.

Southern strategy

Defensive war intended to wear down Union forces and force negotiation.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade Confederate ports and control the Mississippi River to split the Confederacy.

Bull Run (Manassas)

First major battle; near Manassas, VA; initial Union victory, then Confederate reinforcement under Stonewall Jackson; showed the war would be long.

New Orleans (1862)

Union capture of New Orleans by Farragut in April 1862; control of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Shiloh

April 1862 Western battle; Confederate surprise attack; Union reinforcements; high casualties (about 13,047); first major Western battle.

Antietam

September 17, 1862; bloodiest single-day battle; Confederates retreat; provided Lincoln basis for Emancipation Proclamation.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued September 22, 1862; effective January 1, 1863; freed slaves in states not occupied by the Union; reframed war as anti-slavery crusade.

13th Amendment

Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

Habeas corpus

Right to a court hearing; Lincoln suspended it in Maryland during the Civil War; martial law used.

Homestead Act

Gave 160 acres to settlers who cultivated for five years; accelerated settlement of the West.

Morrill Land Grant Act

Gave each state land to fund public universities (land-grant colleges).

54th Massachusetts

African American regiment in the Union Army; example of Black soldiers facing discrimination.

Clara Barton

Nurse during the war; later founded the American Red Cross.

Frances Clayton

Woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Civil War.

Vicksburg siege

Union siege and capture of Vicksburg (July 4, 1863); enabled control of the Mississippi River.

Gettysburg

July 1–3, 1863; Lee’s invasion of the North; Pickett’s Charge; turning point; Union victory.

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s 1863 speech at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication; spoke of a “new birth of freedom.”

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Nov 1864; Sherman’s march from Atlanta to Savannah; destruction across a 60-mile-wide path; Savannah captured.

Appomattox Court House surrender

April 9, 1865; Lee surrendered to Grant; effectively ended the Civil War.