Civil War

Secession and reactions to it (1860-61)

Lincoln’s victory in the elections of 1860, possessed a threat to Southerners, who were afraid of the ruling of a party hostile to their values. Not wanting to accept their role as a minority now, Lower South struck for independence of the region. South Carolina seceded as the first station December 20 1860, followed by other Cotton Kingdom states. It ultimately divided the nation to Union and Confederacy, which in the following months adopted own Constitution choosing Jefferson Davis for president. 


First Inaugural Address (1861)

  • Abraham Lincoln 

  • 4th March 1861 - after the Deep South seceded from the Union 

  • Addressed to the Southerners to persuade them to return to the Union. He reassured the slave states that he had no intention of outlawing slavery, and states that the property, peace and security of the slaveholding states won’t be endangered by the new administration.

  • Showcases Lincoln’s stance on slavery - not wishing to abolish it as his primary objective is to preserve the Union 

Fort Sumter (1861)

  • April 12 1861

  • Lincoln informed the governor of Fort Sumter beforehand about the humanitarian mission he’s sending to replenish the food supplies

  • Jefrfrson Davis ordering his troops to take the fort

  • 1st battle of the Civil War

  • Confederates captured the federal fort in South Carolina

  • Lincoln took that as an insurrectionist tactic and launched Union’s war effort


Civil War as the first “modern war”

  • Called “modern war” because of the use of deadly weapons created by industrial revolution 

  • Transporting goods, troops and weapons by railroads, making the transport much quicker and efficient 

  • Ironclads revolutionizing naval warfare 

  • Observation balloons used to patrol the sky and to view enemy lines

  • Telegraph used for military communication

  • Introduction of modern rifle, replacing traditional musket  


Battle of Antietam (1862)  ???

  • September 17 1862, Maryland 

  • One of bloodiest battles of Civil War

  • McClellan and the Army of the Potomac repelled Lee’s advance

  • Almost 4,000 men were killed and 18,000 wounded

  • Union’s first victory - turning point 

  • Citizens came to watch the battle happening, laying out picnics 


Emancipation Proclamation (1862)

  • Declaration issued by Abraham Lincoln 

  • September 22 1862

  • Emancipation became a necessity because of lack of military success, hope that emancipated slaves might be of support as manpower, changing public opinion and belief that it will prevent the British from recognizing the legitimacy of Confederacy

  • Declared slaves, in the areas that rebelled against the Union, free and allowed for enrollment of Blacks into the Union’s army 

  • Escaped enslaved people became the contrabands (property of military value)

  • Military for Blacks was a liberating exprience 

  • War for perseverance of the Union became the war to abolish slavery 

  • Military service of Blacks convinced Republicans that emancipation should bring equal protection regardless of race


Battle of Gettysburg/Gettysburg Address (1863)

  • 1-3 July 1863

  • Pennsylvania 

  • “Bloodiest battle” - 51.000 casualties (⅓ of the population)

  • Union’s victory

  • Significance: it was the turning point in the military battle; it was the last time Confederacy stepped on the Union’s lands, failing miserably and returning to the South

Gettysburg Address 

  • Abraham Lincoln

  • Less than 3 minutes speech - 3-minute-speech

  • Dedicating cemetery and honoring soldiers and people that died during the war

  • Significance: addressed everybody (both Union and Confederacy); discusses the importance of Nation; it was a healing speech; called on history to provide a path forward 


Battle of Vicksburg (1863)

  • May-July 1863, Mississippi River Valley 

  • After 2 months of General Ulysses S. Grant’s siege, the Confederate Vickburg surrendered 

  • 37,200 total casualties

  • Union gained control of the whole Mississippi River, which was the main supply and communication conductor, dividing the Confederacy

  • Dual victory with Gettysburg marked the turning point of the war 


Blockade of the South (1861-1865)

  • 1861-1865, part of the Anaconda Plan

  • Winfield Scott came up w/ the plan

  • Lincoln proclaimed the naval blockade of the South 

  • Put blockade on Southern ports 

  • Aimed to strangle the South economically, cutting the ways of international export and import of goods and supplies, forcing the Confederacy to surrender 

  • Cotton did not reach the markets in Europe, preventing Britain from formally recognizing the Confederacy 


Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864)

  • September-December 1864

  • March from Atlanta to Savannah (Georgia)

  • Led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman 

  • 300 mile long march, 60 mile wide swath cut through Georgia 

  • Intent to make war terrible (“Total War”) - did not distinguish military and civilian targets, very violent and brutal, enlarging the destruction

  • His aim was “to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their innermost recesses, and make them fear and dread us.”


Second Inaugural Address (1865)

  • March 1865, after Lincoln was reelected for president 

  • Lincoln’s speech as the war was coming to an end

  • He emphasizes unity, urging Americans to move beyond the hostility that had fueled the war. He showed his desire for a generous, forgiving approach to reunification of the states, calling for reconciliation. 

  • Expressed his view of the war as God’s punishment for not dealing with the sin of slavery

  • Addressed moral issues of slavery and plans for Reconstruction


Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse (1865)

  • Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant 

  • 9 April 1865: Lee surrenders 

  • The beginning of the end of Confederacy (which officially ended in 1866 when Texas established a state government)

  • Marks the end of the Civil War