Civil War

  • Fort Sumter

    • A very valuable fort that still supported the North with less than 100 soldiers manning it

    • Decided to send notice that it would be “provisioned”

    • Confederate forces attacked the fort using cannons on April 12, 1861

    • This first civil war conflict where the first shots were fired

    • This led to Lincoln blockading the southern seaports

  • Bull Run

    • These were two major battles fought near the Bull Run Stream in Virginia

    • The First battle was fought near the Manassas Junction in Virginia

    • The goal of the Union Army was to capture the Confederate capital, Richmond Virginia

    • The Union originally had the upper hand until Confederate forces led by General “Stonewall Jackson” attacked the Union troops, forcing them to flee back to Washington D.C.

  • Bleeding Kansas

    • Series of violent confrontations in the Kansas territory on whether Kansas should be a slave state or not

    • This was sparked by the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed the people in Kansas to decide the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty

    • This led to a series of clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers

  • Pottawatomie Massacre

    • John Brown killed 5 pro-slavery soldiers in the state of Kansas

    • This marked the beginning of Bleeding Kansas

  • John Brown

    • Determined abolitionist, attacked, & chopped up pro-slavery men in Kansas

    • He led the revolt in Harpers Ferry

      • Took over federal arsenal to incite a slave rebellion across the south

      • Brown was tried for treason, murder, and inciting a slave insurrection. He was found guilty and hanged on December 2, 1859

  • Harriet Beecher Stowe/Uncle Tom’s Cabin

    • Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin to expose the North to the horrors of slavery

  • Advantages & disadvantages of each side of the war

  • Harpers Ferry

    • This was a town in Virginia (present-day West Virginia)

    • In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown organized a revolt against the pro-slavery forces in Harpers Ferry

    • They captured the arsenal and key points in the town 

    • 7 innocent people died

    • Confederate forces led by Robert E. Lee suppressed the raid

    • Brown was charged with treason for this and hanged to death

  • Border States

    • Consisted of the states of, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, & West Virginia

    • These were slave states loyal to the Union mainly because the South fired first

    • These states did not secede from the Union which prevented the Confederacy from taking over completely

  • Lincoln as President

    • A republican lawyer and abolitionist from Illinois won the election of 1860

    • As he took office, secession from the Union began

    • He used methods such as deploying troops during the war

    • Blockade

    • Increased size of the army

    • Had $2 million forwarded to 3 people for military purposes

    • Suspended writ of habeas corpus

    • Supervised voting in border states

    • Suspension of some newspapers

    • He continued to repeat that his goal was to save the Union

    • He delivered the Gettysburg Adress which was a two-minute speech meant to honor those who died in the Battle of Gettysburg

    • He also ordered the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states

    • He was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth while watching a play in a theater

  • African Americans as soldiers on each side of the war

    • Only 180,000 African American soldiers served as soldiers

    • They all served either in the Union Army or Union Navy

    • There were no African Americans on the Confederate side of the war

  • Antietam

    • The bloodiest battle of the Civil War

    • It was one of the only two battles fought in the north

    • Over 22,000 soldiers were killed 

    • This ended General Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the north 

  • Gettysburg

    • A small town in Pennsylvania

    • The battle of Gettysburg took place in this town which was one of the largest and most important battles of the war

    • It was a major turning point, marking the Union Army’s victory over Confederate General Robert E Lee

    • More than 50,000 soldiers were killed or missing on both sides of the war

    • After the war, the Gettysburg National Cemetery was established to honor the soldiers who died fighting for the Union

    • Lincoln gave a speech at the cemetery known as the “Gettysburg Adress” which was a two-minute speech to remind everyone that the war wasn’t just a fight for the Union but for fundamental freedoms established in the Declaration of Independence such as liberty and equality

  • Andrew Johnson

    • He was Lincoln’s running mate in the election of 1864

    • Lincoln selected him as he wanted to partner with a pro-Union Democrat to help end the civil war

    • He and Lincoln were inaugurated on March 4, 1865

    • A month after their inauguration, Johnson succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln 

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    • This was an executive order signed by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863

    • This declared all enslaved people in the Confederate States or states that were against the Union to be free

    • This changed the war into not only trying to preserve the Union but also fight for human rights and freedom

    • This included the foundation which would later be used to ratify the 13th Amendment and abolish slavery

  • 13th Amendment

    • Ratified on December 6, 1865

    • This abolished slavery across the United States, making it illegal unless in the case of a punishment

    • On January 31, 1865, it was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification

    • By December it passed a ¾ approval by the states officially making it a law

    • This officially ended slavery even in states not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation

  • Know-Nothing Party/American Party

    • The party sought to restrict immigration, particularly from predominantly Catholic countries like Ireland and Germany.

    • They believed Catholic immigrants were loyal to the Pope rather than American democracy and feared Catholic influence in politics.

    • The party emphasized preserving Protestant cultural and political dominance.

    • They advocated extending the residency requirement for citizenship to 21 years.

    • This party dissolved over the issue of slavery

    • Former President Millard Filmore was nominated by this party for the 1856 election but he only won one state as the party declined on the national stage

  • George McClellan

    • He was appointed to reorganize the Union army after they were defeated in the first Battle of Bull Run

    • He commanded the Union forces during the Battle of Antietam 

    • He was nominated for president by the Democrats in 1864 but lost to Abraham Lincoln

  • Union Party

    • This was a temporary political party created during the 1864 election

    • This party helped allign Republicans and pro-Union Democrats

    • Abraham Lincoln was nominated by this party in 1864 and chose Andrew Johnson, a Democrat who was supposed to help bring unity by uniting the parties

    • This helped the Union win the war over the confederate states

  • Dred Scott decision

    • This was a landmark supreme court case

    • Dred Scott, a black slave who had lived with his master in Illinois and Wisconsin sued for freedom after living in free territories for a while

    • Court ruled that he couldn’t sue because wasn’t a citizen, plus a slave was private property & would be a slave anywhere his master took him

  • Clara Barton

    • She was a nurse who contributed to the roles of women in the workforce

    • She dedicated herself to helping wounded soldiers 

    • She brought medical supplies to the battlefield even under dangerous conditions

    • Her role earned her the nickname, “Angel of the Battlefield”

  • popular sovereignty

    • This allowed residents of a US territory to decide whether or not they wanted to enter as a slave state

    • This led to the Kansas-Nebraska Act  repealing the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel

    • This led to the fighting in the war over the spread of slavery

  • Secession

    • This was the act of states leaving the Union to be slave states

    • The expansion of slavery saw many states secede from the Union into the Confederacy where they chose that they wanted to allow slavery to spread

  • Robert E. Lee

    • He joined the Confederate Army when Virginia seceded from the Union

    • Joining the Confederate Army, he resigned his commission to the US army

    • In 1861 he became commander of the Confederate army

    • He was known for many of his aggressive tactics in battle

  • Ulysses S. Grant

    • He served in the Union Army as a colonel

    • He was appointed General-in-Cheif by Lincoln as a way to focus attacks on Confederate forces, forcing them into a defensive position

  • Effect of the war on the economies of the North and South

    • North

      • The north’s economy was prospering and in a better state than it had ever been before

      • The North became more industrialized with factories to produce weapons, ammunition, and war supplies

      • Railroads were built and expanded boosting trade and transportation

    • South

      • The South went through a severe economic depression

      • High unemployment

      • Infrastructure was destroyed

  • Capitals of the Confederate States of America

    • These were states that seceded from the Union to maintain slavery

    • The initial capital was Montgomery Alabama when the Confederate states were formed

    • Richmond was the new capitol after that and remained the capitol until the war ended

    • The location of Richmond as the capital was helpful as it was close to the Union capital of Washington D.C.

  • Final war strategy of the Union

    • They aimed to capture the Mississippi River to divide the Confederacy into two

    • This was supposed to make it harder for the Confederate forces to communicate

  • Surrender at Appomattox

    • Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S, Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia

    • Lee’s soldiers would be granted parole, meaning they would not be imprisoned and would be allowed to return to their homes

    • Officers were allowed to keep their horses and personal possessions

    • Confederate soldiers would not face prosecution for their role in the war

    • Grant offered food rations to Lee's starving army, which had been struggling to find supplies during their retreat

    • This marked the end of the Civil War