Civil War and Reconstruction
Page One:
When did the Civil War begin and end?
April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865
What was the North called?
The Union
What was the South called?
The Confederacy
Who was the President of the North?
Abe Lincoln
Who was the President of the South?
Jefferson Davis
Who were the Military leaders of the North and what did they do?
Ulysses S Grant: Effective military leader, gained control of the entire Union military after McClellan’s failure at Antiedam, employed “total war” tactics, trapped tons of Union prisoners in Andersonville because he didn’t want to free southern prisoners out of fear for the safety of his army.
William T Sherman: Gained control over the Southwest army after Grnat was promoted, burned down Atlanta (wrote a letter explaining why he had to for the end of the war), said “war is hell”, supported paying reparations for slaves in the form of land, engaged in total war tactics.
Who were the Military leaders of the South and what did they do?
Robert E Lee: Effective military leader, despite the little resources he had.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson: Lee’s second in command, effective until killed in battle
Page Two:
Advantages of the North: More available men, more railroads, more weapons, more industrialization and factories.
Advantages of the South: War mainly fought on home turf, fighting a defense war (just had to outlast the North).
The strategy of the North: “Anaconda Plan”= Blockade the entire South ports capture the Mississippi River and split south in half.
Strategy of the South: Invade the North to provoke distaste for war in the North, convince the North to leave the South, and outlast the North.
Early policies towards runaway slaves: Union declared runaway slaves as contraband, and did not return them, instead setting them to manual labor. One General, General Fremont, declared slaves that flocked to his army free, but Lincoln, fearing border state retaliation, reversed this procedure.
Antietam: Sept 1862, the single bloodiest day of the war in which both sides suffered massive casualties, eventual Northern victory (partially since northern soldiers discovered a copy of Lee’s battle plans), crucial for Lincoln’s plan to redirect the war to abolishing slavery.
Emancipation Proclamation: “Issued as
a military decree, it freed all enslaved people in
states still in rebellion after January 1, 1863. It
did not, however, apply to loyal border states or to
places that were already under Union military
control”
Emancipation Proclamation consequences: Redefined the war to be about slavery, actively encouraged black troops to fight, swayed the opinion of European countries to support the North (they were already over slavery) which cut off European aid as an option for the South
54th Massachusetts Regiment: An all-black regiment that was created after the Emancipation Proclamation that heavily encouraged black people to fight, supported by the abolitionist Massachusettes governor
Page 3:
Difficulties facing black troops: Given less medical care, paid less, given more dangerous and heavier tasks, weren’t at first given the right to fight (54th Massachusetts Regiment was expected to fail, due to racist attitudes of whites) prejudice, also if the were captured, they were killed.
Slaves’ efforts during the war: Ran away, refused to work, and did everything in their power to challenge the regime, which was easier because there were so few white men to control the enslaved people.
Lincoln’s views toward slavery: His biggest priority was the reunification of the Union, although he hated slavery, he was a moderate who was very careful to keep himself in power (he listened to public opinion regarding slavery, hence why he didn’t carry out the Emancipation Proclamation until Union victory at Antietam).
Income tax/bonds: (1861) 3% tax on all income 800% a year to help meet the cost of the Union military, bonds were also heavily used to raise money for the military.
Greenbacks: the name given to paper money, which was the first national currency, used to help people buy bonds and finance the war.
Homestead Act (1862): an act passed by Congress that made westward land extremely cheap for Northerners, settling the dispute of what to do with westward land (lots of Northerners migrated there).
Conscription/New York Draft Riots: Any white man between 20-45 could fight, though one could pay $300 to evade the draft, which angered a lot of working-class white men, leading to draft riots.
Copperheads: Name given to Northern democrats who wanted an end to the war, opposed the draft, and made the war about slavery.
Economic and political issues in the South: Lack of discipline (southerners didn’t want to pay for war), didn’t want to follow Jefferson Davis (succession was formed around the idea of rejecting a centralized gov.) as a result disorganized an ineffective (states controlled their militaries), disintegration of slavery left south in a destitute state.
Disease and medical care: Lack of necessities in the South (famine, poor sanitation), twice as many soldiers died of disease as those who died of violence, unsanitary
Andersonville, GA: Prison in the south, soldiers were not fed, and sacrificed by Grant.
New roles for women: Factory workers (especially North), nursing, teaching, nearly all of the men’s duties in the South, and supervising large farms.
Total War: employing every aspect of society in the war (gov, will of people, economy)
election of 1864: Copperheads vs Lincoln, (Lincoln chose to preserve democracy, even though it wasn’t a guarantee that he would win), Lincoln won because the North started to win and Andrew Johnson was his VP, before election north and Sherman was winning (Sherman captured Atlanta).
13th Amendment: Ended slavery everywhere (fully passed at the end of 1865)
Appomattox Courthouse: location where Lee surrendered
Lincoln assassination: April 1865
What factors ultimately allowed the North to win the war?: cohesion as a society, a stronger economy, more manpower, and better political leadership, Southern blockades.
Sherman’s March to the Sea:
Reconstruction:
When did Reconstruction begin and end?
1865-1877
Black Codes: (1865)loophole around the 13th amendment, targeted blacks and made little things incriminating, so they could employ black prisoners as slaves
Compromise of 1877: 1876 election between Hayes (republican) and Tilden (democrat) led to disagreement over vote count, eventually a compromise was reached in which Hayes would be president, troops would be taken out of the South, a Democrat would be appointed to a strong cabinet position, and south was free to continue building railroads. ENDED RECONSTRUCTION.
10% plan 1863: 10% of confederate states must swear loyalty to union and recognize the abolishment of slavery
Wade Davis Plan 1864: counteract to 10% plan, made 50% of southern states have to swear loyalty to union, establish new constitutions and acknowledge the abolishment of slavery, overturned by a pocket veto
Johnson’s policies: attempted to veto the Civil Rights Act, supported the creation of black codes, and attempted to veto a lot of the radical republican policies, but Republicans held a majority in Congress.
Radical Reconstruction Act 1867: divided south into military factions, laid out terms of readmisson for southern states
Amnesty Act 1872: pardoned all former confederates, signed by Grant, sparked shift in political power back to southern whites
Redeemers: group that attempted to “redeem” the south
KKK: hate group targeting African Americans
Freedman’s Bureau: provided care and education for African Americans to help them restart their lives, supported by Lincoln, dissolved in 1872.
poll taxes: taxes put on voting aimed at discouraging African Americans from voting
literacy test: test given at polls, often made up on the spot, evading the 15th amendment
reconstructions affect on federal vs state power: federal power greatly increase following the civil war