Key terms

• Emancipation Proclamation: Presidential executive order during the Civil War that said all slaves shall be free

• Radical Republicans: Republicans who strongly wanted to punish the South and give African Americans rights

• Reconstruction: 1865-1877, Process of restoring rights to African Americans and uniting the south with the north

Reasons why the Civil War lasted 4 years…

Imbalance of Resources

• The North had more workers, banks, factories, etc.

• However, the South did have a strong military and food source.

Leadership

Abraham Lincoln

• Leader of Union/North

• Charismatic

• Not a very good military leader

Jefferson Davis

• Leader of Confederacy/South

• Not very charismatic

• Great military leader

• Bad at economics, bro literally crashed the Southern economy by existing

Military Strategies

North - Anaconda Plan

• Blockade southern ports to cut off/limit their imports

• Break the confederacy in two at the Mississippi River

• Destroy transportation and communication systems of the south to lower morale

• Attack Confederate capital at Richmond

South - Cordon Strategy

• Troops scattered from Virginia to Texas trying to defend the border

THE BATTLES WOOOOOOOO

(these are important, also not in chronological order, C means Confederate win, U means Union win, and - means undecided)

1861 Fort Sumter (C) - Started the war (explained in Unit 1 notes)

1861 Bull Run (C) - First major land battle, North was surprised by Southern victory

• Its outcome sent northerners who had expected a quick, decisive victory reeling, and gave rejoicing southerners a false hope that they could pull off a swift victory.

1863 Gettysburg (U) - South tried to invade the north (they failed LOL)

• The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's attempt to invade the North.

1862 Monitor vs Merrimack (-) - First clash between ironclad warships, changed future of naval warfare

• history's first naval battle between ironclad warships was part of a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern ports, including Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, that had been imposed at the start of the war.

1863 Vicksburg (U) - Union took control over the Mississippi River, split south in two

• gave control of the Mississippi River—a critical supply line—to the Union, and was part of the Union's successful Anaconda Plan to cut off all trade to the Confederacy

1862 Antietam (U) - First significant Union win

• The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North and led Abraham Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

1864 Atlanta - They lit Atlanta on freaking fire, “Sherman’s March to Sea”

• Sherman's March to the Sea was an American Civil War campaign lasting from November 15 to December 21, 1864, in which Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman led troops through the Confederate state of Georgia, pillaging the countryside and destroying both military outposts and civilian properties.

1865 Appomattox Court House (U) - ended the war

• The Battle of Appomattox Court House started during the early morning hours of April 9, 1865. By the afternoon of the same day, General Robert E. Lee, commander of all Confederate forces, surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.

Foreign Influence

Britain - Trent Affair

• On November 8, 1861, a U.S. Navy Officer named Charles Wilkes seized two Confederate representatives from the British mail ship, the Trent. This action led to a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Great Britain, as Britain accused the U.S. of breaking their neutrality during the Civil War.

• Overall tho, Britain didn’t want to be involved and claimed “neutrality”.

Limitations of Civil Liberties

Habeas Corpus: a person charged with a crime must be brought to a courtroom to hear what they’ve been charged with

• Lincoln said NAH, and he started immediately arresting people who supported the Confederacy.

• Jefferson Davis ALSO did this

Emancipation Proclamation

• Antietam Union victory gave Lincoln the confidence to administer this

• Declared that slaves be set free (not including border states) and could help the North fight the South

• But like bfr… Lincoln had no authority in the South so it wasn’t that effective

• Many slaves who fought in the war hoped it would give them more rights

Three Views on Reconstruction

Lincoln

• 10% plan - It required 10% of voters in a Confederate state to take an oath of allegiance to the Union, forming a new state government. Once this was achieved, the state could be readmitted to the Union.

• Emancipation proclamation

• Died 🧍‍♀

Andrew Johnson

• 50% plan - Under this plan, he required 50% of voters in each Confederate state to take an oath of allegiance to the Union before being readmitted. Additionally, Southern states had to abolish slavery and nullify secession ordinances.

• Vetoed Freedmen’s Bureau (It was created to assist newly emancipated African Americans and impoverished whites in the South by providing food, medical care, housing, education, and legal assistance.)

• Vetoed Civil Rights Act (aimed to grant citizenship and equal rights to all individuals born in the United States, regardless of race or color.)

• Got impeached, but not removed from office

Radical Republicans

• Wade-Davis Bill - The bill required a majority of white male citizens in each Southern state to pledge allegiance to the Union before the state could be readmitted. It also required a state constitutional convention wherein only those who had not supported the Confederacy could participate. Additionally, it demanded the abolition of slavery and repudiation of Confederate debts.

• Made states include the 13th and 14th amendments

• Enforcement Acts w/ military zones

Changing Position of Ex-Slaves

• Hiram Rhodes Revels, an African American man, replaces Jefferson Davis in the Senate

• HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) start forming

• More active in politics

South was sooo pressed

Restrictions on voting

• Grandfather clause (if your grandfather wasn’t born here you can’t vote)

• Poll taxes

• Literacy tests (questions could be answered multiple ways, so they could easily discriminate)

Work wise

• Black codes (such as not allowed to own guns, if you don’t have a job, we’ll force you to work without pay)

• Sharecropping - Under this system, landowners would allow tenants, typically freedmen, to use their land in exchange for a share of the crops produced. The tenant would provide labor, tools, and often seeds, while the landowner would provide the land, housing, and sometimes additional resources.

Significant Court Rulings

1873 Bradwell v Illinois

• Illinois would not allow a woman to go into law despite the state saying anyone could have any job. US Supreme Court said that “women belong in more civil jobs, such as the household”.

1876 US vs Reese, et. al

• Court restricted congressional power to enforce the KKK act, and said the 15th amendment did not guarantee anyone the right to vote, it was just that they couldn’t base it on race. (SOOOOO they could base it on education, restricting black voters)

1876 U. S. vs Cruickshank

• White supremacists are accused of attacking African Americans. The court would not protect the victims because their amendments only prevent discrimination offered by states.

1896 Plessy v Ferguson

• Louisiana required railroads to separate white and black people into different passenger cars. US Supreme Court said, “separate but equal is okay”.

Grant’s Reconstruction

Corruption!

Panic of 1873 - 6-year economic depression

• It was triggered by the collapse of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company, which was heavily invested in railroad construction. The failure of this prominent bank caused a chain reaction of bank failures, stock market crashes, and widespread business closures.

Also…

• Anti-KKK laws

• 15th amendment

• Civil Rights Acts of 1870 and 1875 (The Civil Rights Act of 1870, also known as the Enforcement Act or the Force Act, was enacted to enforce the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted African American men the right to vote.

  The Civil Rights Act of 1875, also known as the Enforcement Act of 1875 or the Civil Rights Act of 1875, was intended to guarantee equal rights in public accommodations and jury duty regardless of race.)

• Worked on peace policies with Native Americans

Compromise of 1877

Republicans get: Hayes as President

Democrats get:

• Withdrawal of remaining federal troops in the south, thus ending Reconstruction

• A Southerner in Hayes's cabinet

• Support for federal funding on improving the South