VF

The Civil War DEUS

The American Civil War

  • “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Confusion of Names

North

  • Union

  • Federal

  • Yankee

  • “Billy Yank”

  • “Blue”

  • USA, US, United States, United States of America

South

  • Dixie

  • Rebels

  • Rebs

  • “Johnny Rebs”

  • “Red” or “Grey”

  • CSA (Confederate States of America)

Different Names of the Civil War?

  • Various titles include:

    • The War for Constitutional Liberty

    • The War for Southern Independence

    • The Second American Revolution

    • Mr. Lincoln's War

    • The Civil War Between the States

    • The War of the Rebellion

    • The War Against Northern Aggression

Causes of the Civil War

  • Sectional disagreements over:

    • Tariffs

    • Slavery's expansion into territories

    • States’ rights

  • Key events:

    • Northern abolitionists vs. Southern slavery defenders

    • Dred Scott Supreme Court decision

    • Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

    • Ineffective leadership in the 1850s

    • Failed compromises on slavery expansion

    • Lincoln’s election and federal troop call in 1861

Secession Continues

  • Seven states secede, taking over federal installations (US govt goods/supplies, forts, courthouses, post offices, lighthouses).

  • Confederate States of America founded in February 1861 in Montgomery, Alabama.

Fort Sumter

  • Only two Southern forts in Union hands by March 1861; Fort Sumter is critical.

  • Major Robert Anderson (commander of the forts) sends message to Lincoln about surrendering or attacking.

    • Lincoln didn’t provide any weaponry, but Anderson refused to abandon it.

The War Begins

  • Jefferson Davis chooses war; conflict starts on April 12, 1861 at 4:30 AM.

  • Fort Sumter falls on April 13, 1861 after intense bombardment.

Lincoln Calls For Troops

  • Calls for 75,000 volunteers; Virginia secedes on April 17, 1861.

    • Virginia is the most crucial state since it was the most industrialized in the South, and had the only ironworks in the South + a navy yard.

The Confederacy Is Formed

  • By May 1861, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina join, totaling 11 seceded states.

  • Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri didn’t secede (apart of the South) these states are known as Border States.

  • Capital City moved to Richmond, VA + Citizens from those states ended up fighting for the Confederacy.

Advantages

Union

  • More manpower, factories, food production, and railroads.

  • Skilled leadership under Lincoln.

Confederate

  • King Cotton, experienced generals, and motivated troops defending homeland.

Union Strategies

  • Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan (“Scott’s Great Snake”):

    • Blockade Southern coasts (stop supplies coming in n out)

    • Split the Confederacy via Mississippi River

    • Capture Confederate capital, Richmond

Confederate Strategies

  • Survive until the Union would recognize themselves as an independent country.

  • Primarily defensive strategy with some encouragement from leaders to attack the North.

  • Jefferson Davis held the country together until this was accomplished

The First Years of War (1861-1862)

First Manassas (Bullrun)

  • July 21, 1861; Thomas J. Jackson nicknamed “Stonewall.”

  • First use of Rebel Yell !

  • Confederate victory boosts morale; Lincoln calls for over 1 million troops.

Battle of the Ironclads

  • CSS Virginia vs. USS Monitor; marks end of era for wooden ships.

  • CSS Virginia

    • Created this to break Union blockade

  • USS Monitor (“cheese box on a raft”): Invented by John Ericsson

Battle of Hampton Roads

  • March 8-9, 1862; CSS Virginia attacks and sinks Union wooden ships blocking the harbor → Union unaware Confederates have an Ironclad

    • USS Monitor arrives and fights CSS Virginia (battle is a draw)

New Weapons

  • Rifle, Minie ball (soft lead bullet), Primitive grenades, land mines

“On to Richmond and Beyond!”

  • Spring 1862; US General George B. McClellan moves army forces down the Potomac River to Fortress Monroe in Hampton Roads

    • Union controlled “Fort Monroe” + March up the Peninsula between York/James Rivers to capture Richmond

  • Attacked by Confederates lead by Robert E. Lee → threatens D.C

Antietam

  • Lee wins at 2nd Bull Run → heads to Maryland → Union corporal finds Lee’s Army orders → Armies fought at Antietam Creek

  • Fought on September 17, 1862; bloodiest single day battle; result is a tie.

  • Leads to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Proclaiming Emancipation

  • Lincoln disliked slavery & used “victory” at Antietam to promote emancipation as a war aim.

  • Believes the federal govt had the power to abolish it

  • Major reason for fighting the war is preservation of the Union

    • Lincoln adds emancipation of slaves as a war aim & as a weapon of war

    • Issued Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

  • Effective January 1, 1863; applied to areas behind Confederate lines outside Union control, does not apply to slave states (not seceded) + Southern territory occupied by Union.

    • Military action aimed at the states in rebellion

Reactions to the Proclamation

  • Symbolic significance, moral purpose added to the war; Confederates view it as a threat.

  • Free blacks liked they could enlist in the Union army

    • War became a fight to the death with the issue of slavery being settled at its outcome (Confederates)

African American Soldiers

  • Law passed in 1862 allowing African Americans to join the military.

  • Greatly supported by Frederick Douglass, former slave/abolitionist

  • Faced discrimination, lower pay, couldn’t rise above being a captain.

  • Had a higher mortality rate, usually executed/returned to slavery (not treated as POWs)

Confederate Slave Resistance

  • Slaves sought freedom behind Union lines (Contrabands): some stay on plantations to destroy the farm

  • Weakens plantation system

War Affects Economies

Southern Shortages

  • Food shortages lead to riots; Union blockade blocked needed supplies.

Northern Economic Growth

  • Economic boom with new jobs (manufacturers & farmers); women began to enter workforce (obtained govt jobs, served as battlefield nurses).

    • Wages didn’t keep up with prices + Standard of living declined

    • Congress enacts first income tax

Soldiers Suffer

  • Bad hygiene among soldiers, common aliments: body lice/diarrhea, army rations: beans, bacon, hardtack

After Antietam

  • Lincoln urges McClellan to act & chase Lee → replaced by Burnside → Burnside settles into winter quarters (attempts winter attack, lots of battle deaths) → replaced by General Hooker (disastrous)

The War Continues (1863-1865)

Chancellorsville

  • Lee forced the Union to retreat → General Stonewall Jackson accidentally shot by own Confederate forces (dies) → Lee’s greatest victory (attempts to reinvade North, Southern spirit high)

Gettysburg

  • Turning point battle from July 1-3, 1863; heavy casualties on both sides.

  • Most decisive battle of the war → After 3 days of fighting, Lee believed he can break the Union Lines → Lee orders an attack at Pickett’s Charge (Union center)

Siege of Vicksburg

  • Union Major Ulysses S. Grant continues his campaigns in the West + begins siege of Vicksburg

    • residents took shelter in caves, food supplies ran low (ate rats)

  • Confederate defeat cuts the South in two on July 4, 1863.

Gettysburg Address

  • Ceremony held to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg ~ First Speaker: Edward Everett

  • November 19, 1863, Lincoln’s speech (2 minutes) redefines the war’s purpose.

Confederacy Wears Down

  • Gettysburg + Vicksburg defeats → cost south power + no foreign support from England/France

    • Low on goods + morale deteriorated + many soldiers deserted

  • Jefferson Davis had a hard time governing because of internal discord