American Civil War Notes

The American Civil War (1861-1865)

Essential Question

• What were the causes of the American Civil War and how did it change America?

Causes of the War

• States' Rights:
  • Southern states desired less control from the Federal Government.
  • They wanted more control over their own laws.
  • Southerners felt mistreated and believed the Federal Government was too powerful and strict.
  • Southern states seceded (broke away) from the Union.
  • South Carolina was the first state to secede.
• Sectionalism:
  • Belief that one's own region of the country is superior to others.
  • North: Relied on factories and paid workers.
  • South: Relied on farming and slave labor.
  • Social life differed significantly between the North and South.
  • The North had more big cities than the South.
• Slavery:
  • The ownership of one person by another; slaves had no rights.
  • A main cause of the war.
  • The South claimed it could not survive without slavery.
  • The North morally objected to slavery.
• Economics:
  • Differences in how the North and South generated income.
  • North: Manufacturing products in factories with paid labor.
  • South: Agriculture and slavery. Most people in the South did not own slaves.

North Versus South

• North (Union/U.S.A.):
  • Known as the Union/U.S.A.
  • Economy based on manufacturing.
  • Had more supplies and soldiers.
  • Population: 71%
  • R.R. Mileage: 71%
  • Manufacturing: 85%
  • Ind. Workers: 92%
• South (Confederacy/C.S.A.):
  • Known as the Confederacy/C.S.A.
  • Economy based on agriculture and slave labor.
  • Low supplies but better generals.
  • Population: 29%
  • R.R. Mileage: 29%
  • Manufacturing: 15%
  • Ind. Workers: 8%
• West Virginia broke away from Virginia in 1863 to join the Union.

North V. South (Sectionalism)

• North (USA):
  • Union.
  • Yankees.
  • Billy Yank.
  • Blue uniforms.
  • Capital City: Washington D.C.
• South (CSA):
  • Confederates.
  • Rebels.
  • Johnny Reb.
  • Gray uniforms.
  • Capital City: Richmond, VA.

Uniforms

• Styles were very different, sometimes it was hard to know who was who.
• Examples of Confederate Officer Coats:
  • Staff Captain: Tuscaloosa Grey.
  • Artillery Major: Cadet Grey.
  • Infantry Lt: Light Butternut.

Political Leadership

• USA: Abraham Lincoln.
• CSA: Jefferson Davis.

Main Military Leaders

• North/Union Generals:
  • Ulysses S. Grant.
  • William T. Sherman.
  • George Meade.
• South/Confederacy Generals:
  • Robert E. Lee.
  • Stonewall Jackson.
  • James Longstreet.
  • George Pickett.

Statistics

• More Americans died in the Civil War than in all other American wars combined.
• American Deaths by War:
  • American Revolution: $4,435$
  • War of 1812: $2,260$
  • Mexican War: $13,283$
  • Civil War: $624,511$
  • Spanish-American War: $2,246$
  • World War I: $116,516$
  • World War II: $405,399$
  • Korean War: $33,746$
  • Vietnam War: $58,152$

Photography

• The Civil War was the first war to be photographed.
• Matthew Brady was the most well-known photographer.

Bloodiest Battles

• Gettysburg (3-day battle):
  • Confederate: $28,063$
  • Union: $23,053$
• Seven Days Battles:
  • Confederate: $20,614$
  • Union: $15,849$
• Chickamauga:
  • Confederate: $18,454$
  • Union: $16,170$
• Chancellorsville:
  • Confederate: $12,746$
  • Union: $16,845$
• The Wilderness:
  • Confederate: $7,500$
  • Union: $17,666$
• Antietam (one-day battle):
  • Confederate: $10,316$
  • Union: $12,410$
• Second Manassas:
  • Confederate: $9,286$
  • Union: $16,054$
• Shiloh:
  • Confederate: $10,694$
  • Union: $13,047$
• Stones River:
  • Confederate: $9,239$
  • Union: $9,532$
• Fredericksburg:
  • Confederate: $5,309$
  • Union: $12,653$

Battle of Gettysburg

• July 1st – 3rd, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
• Major turning point in the war.
• Bloodiest battle of the war.
• Union victory, boosted morale, and marked the start of Union victories.
• Confederates did not see it as a disaster.
• Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in November at the site to honor fallen soldiers and redefine the purpose of the war.

Medical Knowledge

• Medical knowledge was primitive during the Civil War.
• Doctors did not understand infection.
• Minor wounds could be fatal.
• Most soldiers died of sickness or disease.
• Dysentery, measles, smallpox, pneumonia, and malaria were the soldiers' greatest enemies.

Amputation

• There were few qualified surgeons.
• Wounds to limbs often resulted in amputation.
• Infection was common after amputation.
• If a soldier was shot in the torso, they were often left to die.

Significant Events

• Emancipation Proclamation: January 1, 1863.
  • Lincoln freed slaves in the South.
  • Slavery was no longer tolerated in the rebelling states.
  • African American military units were formed.
• Lincoln was assassinated at the end of the war (1865).
• The North won the war.
• Reconstruction began following the war.