Civil War and Reconstruction Notes

Civil War Length

• Initial assumption: War would be short.
• High casualties: Battles resulted in losses of 8,000-10,000 soldiers or more.
• Draft importance: Extended the war by replenishing troop numbers.
• South's limited resources: Original 250,000 soldiers would have been exhausted quickly.
• Total deaths: Almost 700,000 people died in the Civil War.
• Draft impact: Without a draft, the war likely would have ended sooner.

Union Advantages

• Resources: Federal money, resources, and a larger pool of men.
• Union strategy: To prolong the war, anticipating Confederate surrender over time.
• Lincoln's view: Initially wanted a fast war, but most others recognized the advantage of a longer conflict.
• Extended war: Union advantages allowed them to prolong the war.
• Union support: Initially had support from Great Britain and France, but this waned.
• Slow war: Union favored a slow war due to resource advantages, anticipating Confederate exhaustion.

Confederate Advantages

• Terrain: Familiar with the land, as battles were fought in the South.
• Military leadership: Well-trained generals and soldiers.
• Motivation: Strong cause for fighting.
• Resource limitations: Hindered their ability to fight a fast war.
• Building a military: Confederates had to build their military from the ground up.
• Foreign influence: Relied on foreign assistance to get started.
• Resource disadvantage: Lacked resources for both a fast and prolonged war.
• Late efforts: Attempts to speed up efforts came too late once resources dwindled.
• Combined effect: The Union's advantages and the South's disadvantages resulted in a slow war.

Foreign Influence

• Foreign involvement: Great Britain and France didn't fully commit.
• Potential impact: Full involvement could have changed the course of the war, especially if they had favored the Confederacy.
• Hesitation: Great Britain didn't want to damage relations with the U.S. or risk losing Canadian territories; France had similar concerns.
• Limited support: Provided Confederates with funding, uniforms, and ammunition.
• Naval support: Provided some converted ships, but didn't go all in.
• Impact on war length: Limited foreign influence prolonged the war, while some assistance helped the Confederacy get started.

Impact of the Civil War on Society

• Lincoln's actions: Suspended civil liberties, including the writ of Habeas Corpus (due process).
• Arrests: Targeted individuals involved in acts of treason.
• Cases: Not essential to know specific cases but can be mentioned when discussing Habeas Corpus.
• Due process: Individuals were arrested without being informed of the charges or given a trial.
• Reasons for suspension: Lincoln believed these individuals were threats to the Union and democracy.
• Maintaining morale: Aimed to keep morale up and support the war by detaining potential threats.
• Unconstitutionality: Considered by many, even Lincoln's supporters, as an overreach of presidential power, akin to dictatorship.
• Concerns: Worries about how far Lincoln would extend this power.

Jefferson Davis' Actions

• Confederate President: Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederacy.
• Initial promise: Initially stated he wouldn't suspend civil liberties like Lincoln.
• Martial law: Later imposed martial law, placing everything under military control, including military trials.
• Suspension of Habeas Corpus: Suspended due process for draft dodgers.
• Confiscation of land: Confiscated land to use resources for soldiers and war efforts.
• Contradiction: Went against his word by suspending civil liberties.
• Timing: Actions taken mid-war, not immediately after becoming president.
• Draft dodgers: Primarily targeted draft dodgers, with arrest and no trial.
• Land confiscation: Focused on land from Southern farmers to use crops for soldiers.

Emancipation Proclamation

• Limited scope: Did not end slavery as federal law; the Thirteenth Amendment did.
• Shift in war's purpose: Changed the war's focus to the moral issue of slavery.
• Timing: Introduced near Lincoln's reelection, following the Gettysburg Address.
• Moral issue: Framed the war as a fight against slavery.
• Gettysburg Address: Aimed to unite the nation and justify the war's casualties.
• New motivation: Ending slavery served as a new motivation for the war.
• Key battles: Gettysburg and Vicksburg were turning points (Vicksburg secured the Mississippi River).
• Original war aim: Lincoln initially focused on reuniting the nation, not slavery.
• Shift in focus: Lincoln later framed it as ending slavery and reuniting the nation.

Contraband and Confiscation Act

• Territorial impact: In territories, the Act confiscated goods, including slaves, when the Union conquered a territory.
• Contraband: Defined African Americans as contraband of war.
• Liberation: Union troops freed African Americans in conquered Southern territories.
• No federal law: Without a federal law, if the South had won, slavery would have been reinstated.
• Reconstruction: Reconstruction and subsequent amendments addressed this gap.

Lincoln: The Great Emancipator?

• Compromise: Debated whether Lincoln could compromise.
• No compromise: Some argue the South was unwilling to compromise, especially over state rights.
• Lincoln's position: Lincoln initially allowed slavery to continue in existing territories but opposed expansion.
• Emancipation Proclamation: Praised but executed by the military; Lincoln, as commander-in-chief, received credit.
• Gettysburg Address: United the nation, showcasing Lincoln's political skills.
• Political skills: Lincoln was a great politician but not necessarily a great emancipator.
• Slavery stance: Never took a definitive stance against slavery, leading to varied interpretations.

Life in the Confederate States During the War

• Devastation: Land was destroyed due to fighting.
• Poverty: Widespread poverty.
• Government control: Government controlled most factory production for the war effort.
• Economic issues: Raised taxes, high inflation, disrupted trade with the North.
• Loss of faith: Initial support waned due to rising death toll, land confiscation, and economic hardship.
• Sentiment: By the end of the war, most people were ready to surrender.
• Terrible conditions: Life was generally terrible in the South due to economic and political factors.

Reconstruction

• Lincoln's approach: Favored using the federal government to restore the South, avoiding punishment.
• 10% Plan: Required 10% of loyal voters to sign an oath for a state to rejoin the Union.
• Radical Republicans: Opposed Lincoln’s leniency; wanted to punish Confederate leaders and require 50% loyalty oath.
• Support for African Americans: Supported education and voting rights for freed African Americans.
• Military districts: South divided into five military districts to ensure order and enforce new amendments.
• Johnson's Reconstruction: Similar to Lincoln’s plan; Johnson took over after Lincoln's assassination and largely continued his policies.
• Constitutional Amendments: The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were passed during this period.

Success of Reconstruction

• Successes: Included passage of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, opportunities for African Americans to move North for jobs, and access to education.
• Radical Republican support: Freedmen had support from politicians.
• Failures: Included the rise of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, discrimination, and segregation.
• Sharecropping: Could be seen as both positive (providing jobs) and negative (trapping people in debt).
• KKK: Formed to intimidate African Americans and suppress voting rights.
• Limited improvement: Life improved for African Americans, but not significantly.