The Civil War

Southern Secession

  • More Southern states secedded from Union

  • Lincoln is sworn in as president in March 1861

    • Lincoln’s policy had no intention of interfering with insititution of slavery in states where it existed

    • was opposed to secession

      • no state could lawfully leave from Union

    • pledges there wouldn’t be military action against South unless they started fighting

Technology of War

  • Steam engine & railroads revolutionized warfare and could rapidly move troops to areas of conflict

  • Telegraph was widely used

  • New industrialized warfare emerged with new weapons and technology

Beginning of War

  • When Southern states secedded, they seized federal forts & arsenals within the Confederacy

    • only 4 forts remain in Union land

  • First shots

    • April 12, 1862 at 4:30am

    • Confederacy ordered Garrison to surrender

      • Union troops refused

      • Confederates began firing the fort

  • Northerners were outraged

    • Lincoln declared that an insurrection officially existed

    • called for 75,000 troops to put it down

  • Four more Southern states joined Confederacy once Lincoln called for troops

    1. Virginia

    2. Arkansas

    3. Tennessee

    4. North Carolina

  • Officially marked beginning of Civil War

Lincoln’s Goals

  • Preserve Union

  • Called out state militias

  • Increased size of Navy

    • approved federal funds for military while Congress not in session

  • Ordered arrest of Southern sympathizers in MD and DE

  • Suspended writ of habeas corpus in areas not in rebellion

    • serves as legal order in which you need to be told why you’re being arrested and you must see a judge

  • Declared martial law, which led to arrests of thousands for suspected disloyalty

Photography

  • First photographed war

    • propaganda!!

Military Strategies - Confederate

  • Militarily

    • fight defensive war on its own soil

    • wear Union sown until they lose their will to fight

  • Economically

    • be recognized as independent state by Europe

    • gain aid from European countries which relied heavily on cotton

Military Stratigies - Union

  • Realized that they had to conquer South to win; came up with three-point-plan

    • blockade Southern ports preventing Confederacy from importing food & supplies

    • control Mississippi

    • capture Confederate capital of Richmond, VA

  • North would rely on its superior technology and resources to win

Battle of Bull Run

  • July 21, 1861: a battle in VA was a loss for Union forces

    • Union had to retreat and 800 soldiers were dead; battle proved that war would NOT be short as the Union envisioned

  • Spring 1862: General McClellan led over 100,000 troops to VA against Robert E. Lee

    • Lee succeeded in defending VA

Battle of Antietam

  • September 17, 1862

  • Lee launched invasion of North hoping that border states would join Confederacy and that Britain and France would support Confederacy

    • General McClellan repealed attack; however 4000 were killed and 18,000 were wounded

      • deadliest day in U.S., passing 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and D-Day

  • Battle ended in tatical draw, but was a strategic win for Union

  • After battle, Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation

War in the West

  • Ulysses S. Grant - West Point graduate, very successful in military

  • February 1862 - Grant captured Fort Henry in Donelson, TN

    • first significant battle won by Union

    • Union gained control of New Orleans

  • Grant also withstood a suprise Confederate attack at Shiloh, TN

    • significant because he would later begin his advance to Mississippi Valley

Slavery and the War

  • Early in the war, Lincoln’s concerns were to keep border slave states in the Union to build support for war effort

  • Early in the war, Congress adopted a resolution saying that North had no intention of interfering with slavery

  • During war, African Americans began to escape to Union lines

Gradual Emancipation

  • Eventually, Congress prohibited army from returning slaves to their owners

    • slavery abolished in Washington D.C. (April 1862)

  • July 17, 1862: 2nd Confiscation Act passed, which liberated slaves of disloyal owners in Union occupied territories as well as slaves escaping to Union lines

  • Lincoln called for gradual emacipation with federal government paying owners for loss of property

  • Summer 1862: emancipation became a political & military necessity

    • Union lacked military success and needed more man power

  • September 22. 1862: after McClellan forced Lee to retreat and Antietam, Lincoln issued Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

    • warned that unless South laid down its arms by end of 1862, he would decree abolition

Wartime Government Policies Enacted

  • Legal Tender Act - a new federal banking system created, established a national currency, made buisness transactions easier between states

  • In 1862, Congress passed three additional acts

    • Homestead Act - provided for settlement of western land

    • Pacific Railroad Act - authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad

    • Revenue Act - Congress created an income tax to help fund war in the South

Emancipation Proclamation

  • Lincoln was struggling with slavery, abolitonists were becoming impatient

  • European countries frowned upon slavery; waited to see what U.S. would do

  • January 1, 1863: Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation as a military decree

    • stated that slaves in areas against the Union are now free

    • didn’t apply to states under Union control or border states

    • Union couldn’t enforce it becayse it freed slaves only under Confederate control

  • Added humanitarian objective to war

  • Widely praised by free African-Americans, northern abolitonists, and “contrabands”

  • Offered no compensation to slave holders

  • Comitted the government to enlisting black soldiers

    • at the start of the war, the Union didn't accept black soldiers

    • hardly any monuments praise the bravery of the black soldier

High Tide of the Confederacy

  • First two years of Civil War; Confederacy is able to check northern attacks

  • With limited supplies & effective generals, South prevails on the battle field

  • Lincoln kept replacing his inept generals

Battle of Vicksburg (May-July 1863)

  • South’s luck is starting to run out

  • Grant headed into Vicksburg and gained control of its railroads

  • Surrounded, lacking supplies, the Confederate commander surrendured

  • South was divided; Grant appointed to lead Union army

Battle of Gettysburg

  • South begins an offensive of its own

    • General Lee wins two battles in east during Grant’s campaign

  • Lee decided to go north and win in order to demoralize them

    • Confederate army marched into Pennsylvania and engaged in conflict with Union soldiers in Gettysburg

      • largest battle fought in North America

    • 3 days later, Lee’s army suffered a crippling defeat

    • Confederate forces marched back south and never invaded the north again

Gettysburg Address

  • Given on November 19, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln

  • His summarization of the conflict and wars’ meaning with breif remarks

  • Very short, but considered one of the best American speeches of all time

1864

  • Grant moved east; began a war against Lee’s army in VA

  • May 1864: a 115,000 man Army of Potomac battled with Lee in VA

    • Grant’s army had 18,000 casualties while Lee’s had 7,500

      • end of six weeks, Grant had 60,000 casualties while Lee had 30,000

Sherman’s March

  • September 1864: General William T. Sherman entered Atlanta and seized Gerogia’s main railroad center

  • November 1864: Sherman conducted his march to the Sea, with 60,000 troops cutting a 60 mile swath through GA, destroying everything in his path

    • January 1865: moved into S.C. and brought greater destruction

Abolition of Slavery

  • January 31, 1865: Congress approved the 13th amendment abolishing slavery throughout the Union

April 1865

  • Major events in U.S. History

  • April 2: Grant broke through Lee’s lines at Petersburg; left Richmond defenseless & Union forces captured the South’s capital

  • April 4: Lincoln walked streets of Richmond; many people came to greet him

  • April 9: Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House, VA

  • April 14: Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth; died next day

Human Costs of War

  • Bloodiest war in U.S.

    • 600,000 Americans lives lost

    • families along the border were devistated as family members fought on opposite sides

  • Worst day occured in 1862 at Battle of Antietam in MA

    • 5,000 people died, 17,000 wounded

Impact of Civil War: Economically

  • North

    • farm and factory production increased

    • women and African Americans took more factory jobs

    • North created single currency

  • South

    • women ran farms while men were away

    • imports were scarse; supplies were limited

    • lacked industrial support

    • transportation was unreliable

    • South was devistated at end of war

Second American Revolution

  • Union’s victory consolidated northern understanding of freedom

  • War expanded power of federal government

  • Americans began to see themselves as part of a nation rather than citizens of a state

War on Native Americans

  • Sioux killed hundreds of farmers in MN before being subdued by army

  • Union army launched campaign against Navajo in southwest; destroyed much of their livliehood and were forced to move

  • Post-war; efforts to assimilate Native Americans into everyday life increased