The American Civil War

Lincoln's Decision

  • Context:
    • Lincoln's decision-making process regarding emancipation.
    • Factors influencing his decision:
      • Lack of troops.
      • Need for military success.
      • Bolstering the war effort.
      • Achieving a military union.
      • Changing public opinion in the North.
  • Emancipation as a Military Necessity:
    • Lincoln viewed emancipation as a military necessity.
  • Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation (September 22, 1862):
    • Lincoln's decree: If the Confederacy laid down their arms, he would halt the push for the abolition of slavery.
    • Purpose: To incentivize the South to return to the Union.
  • Implications and Questions:
    • What does Lincoln's approach reveal about his views on slavery?
  • Political Opposition:
    • Congressional Elections of 1862:
      • Democrats opposed emancipation.
      • Warning: They cautioned that the North would be "africanized."
      • Outcome: Democrats gained significant victories in many states.
  • Northern Perspectives on Slavery:
    • What does the election outcome indicate about the views of many Northerners on the issue of ending slavery?

Enlisting Black Soldiers

  • Emancipation Proclamation's Impact:

    • The Emancipation Proclamation enabled Black soldiers to enlist in the Union Army.

  • Black Soldiers' Service:

    • Numbers: By the end of the Civil War, approximately 180,000 Black men served in the Union Army and 24,000 in the Navy.
    • Proportion: This was 10 times the amount of whites when adjusted for population.

  • Origin of Black Soldiers:

    • Most Black soldiers were emancipated slaves who joined the Union army in the South.

  • Inequality in the Military:

    • Segregation: Black soldiers served in segregated units in the Army (the Navy was integrated due to space constraints) under white commanders.
    • Pay Disparity: They were paid less than white soldiers.
    • Job Assignments: Black soldiers were disproportionately assigned to labor jobs rather than combat roles.
    • Treatment if Captured: If captured, Confederate forces would immediately sell them into slavery or execute them, a stark contrast to the treatment of white soldiers.

The Second American Revolution

  • Civil War Effects:
    • Effects on the Economies of the North and South
    • Impact on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
  • Lincoln's Vision
    • Abraham Lincoln connected the Civil War to the core values of northern society.
      Civil War as Part of a Larger Movement
    • Some historians view the American Civil War as part of a larger movement in the 19th century, where powerful, centralized nation-states formed in older countries, and entirely new nations emerged.
    • During this time, modern governments were becoming stronger and reducing the power of local regions.
  • Lincoln's View of the United States
    • For Lincoln, the United States stood for universal ideas like political democracy and human freedom.
    • He believed the nation symbolized the idea that governments should be based on the consent of the people and that all individuals deserved liberty.
    • Lincoln emphasized that these ideals allowed immigrants to fully become Americans.
  • Gettysburg Address
    • Lincoln explained his view of the war's purpose in November 1863 during the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, the site of the Civil War's most significant battle.
    • His Gettysburg Address, which lasted less than three minutes, is considered his greatest speech.
    • In it, Lincoln tied the nation's mission to the principle that "all men are created equal."
    • He described the war as an opportunity for a "new birth of freedom" and defined democracy as a "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
    • Lincoln declared that the sacrifices of Union soldiers would ensure this type of government would survive.

From Union to Nation

  • Shift in National Identity
    • The Union's efforts to mobilize resources for a modern war created a new American nation-state with significantly greater powers and responsibilities.
    • Although the United States remained a federal republic, with authority divided between state and national governments, the war shaped a new sense of national identity.
    • This shift was reflected in the growing use of the term "nation" to describe a unified political entity, replacing the older concept of a "Union" of separate states.
  • Lincoln's Use of Terminology
    • In his 1861 inaugural address, Lincoln referred to the "Union" twenty times but did not mention the word "nation."
    • By 1863, in the 269 words of his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln did not use the word "Union" at all. Instead, he referred to the "nation" five times, highlighting the evolving understanding of a more unified America.

The War and American Religion

  • Influence of the Civil War
    • The surge of patriotism and national power during the Civil War influenced many aspects of American life.
  • Religious Justification for the Conflict
    • Even though the war brought massive casualties, northern Protestant clergy worked to provide a religious justification for the conflict.
    • They reassured their congregations that those who died had not sacrificed in vain.
    • Religious publications shifted their focus, dedicating more attention to military and political events than to spiritual matters.

Christianity and Patriotism

  • Merging of Ideals
    • In many wartime sermons, Christianity and patriotism merged into a civic religion.
    • This belief system framed the war as God's way of eliminating slavery and transforming the United States into a true land of freedom.
  • Lincoln's Use of Religious Symbolism
    • President Abraham Lincoln, who was one of the few American presidents never to join a church, skillfully used religious symbolism to rally public support.
    • He declared days of Thanksgiving after northern victories and encouraged northern ministers to support Republican candidates.
  • Coping with Mass Deaths
    • Religious beliefs also helped Americans cope with the unprecedented mass deaths caused by the war.
    • Christianity's promise of eternal life provided comfort, but the war led to what one historian calls a "transformation of heaven."
    • Americans increasingly imagined heaven as a place for family reunions that resembled gatherings in middle-class homes.
    • Some could not wait for their own deaths to reunite with loved ones.
  • Spiritualism
    • Spiritualism, the belief that people could communicate with the dead, grew in popularity.
    • Mary Todd Lincoln, for example, held seances in the White House to reconnect with her young son Willie, who had died of disease in 1862.

Liberty in Wartime

  • Nationalism and Criticism
    • This strong wave of nationalism made any criticism of the war effort or of Lincoln's policies seem like treason to many Republicans.
  • Limits of Dissent
    • While some persecution of opponents occurred during the Mexican War, the Civil War was the first time since the American Revolution that the limits of dissent during wartime became a major issue.
    • The Republican New York Times declared that "the safety of the nation is the supreme law."
  • Arrests and Imprisonment
    • Thousands of people were arrested arbitrarily during the war, including opposition newspaper editors, Democratic politicians, individuals who discouraged army enlistments, and even ordinary citizens.
    • For example, a Chicago man was briefly imprisoned for calling Lincoln a "damned fool."
  • Suspension of Habeas Corpus
    • The Constitution did not clearly state who had the authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, the right to not be jailed without charges or a court hearing.
    • Claiming this power under his presidential war powers, Lincoln suspended the writ twice during the war for those accused of "disloyal activities."
  • Court Rulings
    • The courts mostly allowed the administration to act freely.
    • For instance, a military court convicted Clement L. Vallandigham, a leading Ohio Democrat known for his fierce antiwar speeches, of treason. Lincoln ordered him banished to the Confederacy.
    • In 1861, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney demanded that Lincoln release John Merryman, a civilian arrested by the military in Maryland, but Lincoln ignored the order.
    • It wasn't until 1866, after the war ended, that the Supreme Court ruled in Ex parte Milligan that it was unconstitutional to try civilians in military courts if civil courts were operating.
    • Justice David Davis declared that the Constitution applies equally in both "war and peace."

Fragility of Civil Liberties

  • Lincoln's Policies
    • Lincoln was not a dictator. Most of those arrested were quickly released, Democratic newspapers continued to operate, and elections were held throughout the war.
    • However, the policies of the Lincoln administration showed how fragile civil liberties can be during times of intense patriotism and wartime demands for national unity—a pattern that would repeat in later wars.

The North's Transformation

  • Changes in Northern Society
    • While Lincoln often appealed to traditional values, he also oversaw major changes in northern society.
    • The Union's efforts to mobilize resources greatly increased the power of the federal government and boosted a growing class of capitalist entrepreneurs.
    • Unlike the South, which faced severe economic hardship, the North experienced the war as a time of economic growth and prosperity.
  • Industry Profits
    • Industry profits surged, fueled by wartime inflation and government contracts.
    • Factories in New England operated around the clock to produce blankets and uniforms for the Union army, while Pennsylvania's coal mines and ironworks expanded rapidly.
    • Many industries, such as boot and shoe manufacturing and meatpacking, became more mechanized to meet the army's growing demands.
  • Agricultural Growth
    • Agriculture also thrived despite the war.
    • Even though hundreds of thousands of young men left farms to join the Union army, the agricultural frontier continued to expand westward.
    • New machinery and immigrant labor helped make up for the loss of workers.
    • For example, Wisconsin sent 90,000 men to fight in the war, but its population, grain production, and farm income still increased during the conflict.

Government and the Economy

  • Economic Development
    • Like contemporary Germany and Japan, the new American nation-state that emerged during the Civil War focused on rapid economic development.
    • Congress passed policies aimed at boosting economic growth and permanently changing the nation's financial system.
    • With Southern lawmakers absent from Congress, northern leaders were able to enact long-standing proposals.
  • Homestead Act
    • To encourage agricultural expansion, the Homestead Act offered settlers in the West 160 acres of free public land.
    • This act went into effect on January 1, 1863—the same day as the Emancipation Proclamation—and, like the Proclamation, sought to advance a vision of freedom.
    • By the 1930s, more than 400,000 families had obtained farms through the Homestead Act.
  • Land Grant College Act:
    • Another key law, the Land Grant College Act, helped states create "agricultural and mechanic colleges" to promote education and practical skills.

Building the Transcontinental Railroad

  • Government Support
    • Congress also made massive grants of money and land for internal improvements, including up to 100 million acres for the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad companies.
    • These two companies, chartered in 1862, were tasked with building a railroad connecting the Missouri River to the Pacific coast.
    • This marked the first federal corporate charters issued since the creation of the Second Bank of the United States in 1816.
  • Initial Dismissal
    • When entrepreneur Asa Whitney first proposed the idea of a transcontinental railroad in 1846, Congress dismissed it as "too gigantic" and "entirely impracticable."
  • Project Challenges
    • The project was indeed monumental. For the first three years, the Central Pacific Railroad managed to build only 20 miles of track per year due to the nearly impassable Sierra Nevada mountains.
    • Constructing the railroad required about 20,000 workers, many of whom were Chinese immigrants employed as contract laborers, often referred to as "coolies" by Americans at the time.