chapter 13: a nation torn apart: the civil war, 1861-1865

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1 Visions of America, A History of the United States

A Nation Torn ApartThe Civil War, 1861–1865

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A Nation Torn Apart

I. Mobilization, Strategy, and Diplomacy

II. The Early Campaigns, 1861−1863

III. Behind the Lines

IV. Toward Union Victory

THE CIVIL WAR, 1861–1865

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Mobilization, Strategy, and Diplomacy

A. Comparative Advantages and Disadvantages

B. Mobilization in the North

C. Mobilization in the South

D. The Struggle for the Border States

E. Wartime Diplomacy

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Comparative Advantages and Disadvantages

What significant advantages did the North hold over the South on the eve of war?

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Mobilization in the North

Why did Southerners seek to link secession to the American Revolution?

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Mobilization in the South

How did the doctrine of states’ rights hinder the Southern war effort?

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The Struggle for the Border States

What made the Border States so economically and militarily valuable to the Confederacy?

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The Struggle for the Border States

Border States – The four slave states, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware, that bordered the Confederacy

• The Lincoln administration succeeded in keeping these states in the Union.

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Wartime Diplomacy

Why did Lincoln decide to back down and release the Confederates in the Trent Affair?

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Wartime Diplomacy

Cotton Embargo – A ban imposed by Confederates in 1861 on the export of cotton

• The goal was to prompt cotton-importing nations to intervene to secure Confederate independence.

Trent Affair – A diplomatic incident in 1861 when a U.S. Navy vessel removed two Confederates from the British ship Trent

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The Early Campaigns, 1861–1865

A. No Short and Bloodless War

B. The Peninsular Campaign

C. A New Kind of War

D. Toward Emancipation

E. Slaughter and Stalemate

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No Short and Bloodless War

Why did the First Battle of Bull Run take place before either army was adequately prepared?

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The Peninsular Campaign

Why did the Peninsular Campaign fail?

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The Peninsular Campaign

Peninsular Campaign – The complex plan developed by General George B. McClellan to capture the Confederate capital

• Four hundred ships deposited 120,000 soldiers east of Richmond at Fortress Monroe between the James and York Rivers.

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A New Kind of War

Why is the Civil War considered the first modern war?

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A New Kind of War

Modern Warfare – Military conflict involving enormous armies that utilize the technologies of the Industrial Revolution

• Uses advances in communications, transportation, and firearms.

• Victory is secured by destroying the enemy’s army and inflicting suffering on civilian populations.

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Toward Emancipation

How did Lincoln expect the Emancipation Proclamation to benefit the Union war effort?

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Toward Emancipation

Contraband of War – The term used to justify the refusal to return fugitive slaves to their owners because they were seized property

Emancipation Proclamation – Lincoln’s 1862 decree that declared slaves in the seceded states not under Union army control “forever free”

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Images as HistoryWHO FREED THE SLAVES?

Theodor Kaufmann’s painting, “On to Liberty” Freedmen’s Memorial

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Images as HistoryWHO FREED THE SLAVES?

Women are portrayed as dignified and courageous leaders.

Two children in the middle seem reluctant.

Smoke emanates from a Civil War battle.

Slaves walk toward Union lines, which represented liberation.

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Images as HistoryWHO FREED THE SLAVES?

Lincoln stands over the slave, emphasizing his—and all white people’s—superiority.

The slave kneels, suggesting a passive role in his liberation.

Lincoln stretches out his hand, evoking a biblical prophet or Christ giving a blessing.

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Slaughter and Stalemate

Why did photography have a more powerful impact on the public than artists’ depictions of battles?

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Behind the Lines

A. Meeting the Demands of Modern War

B. Hardships on the Home Front

C. New Roles for Women

D. Copperheads

E. Conscription and Civil Unrest

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Meeting the Demands of Modern War

How did the Union fund the war?

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Hardships on the Home Front

In what ways did the war change Northern society? What were its effects on Southern society?

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New Roles for Women

What new opportunities did the war open up for women?

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Copperheads

What was the basis of the criticisms leveled at Abraham Lincoln by his critics in the North, including the Copperheads? How did he respond?

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Copperheads

Copperheads – Northern Democrats (sometimes called “Peace Democrats”) who opposed the war and the Lincoln administration and favored a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy

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Conscription and Civil Unrest

Why did the Lincoln administration impose a draft in 1863?

Why did New Yorkers riot against the draft?

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Conscription and Civil Unrest

Conscription Act – A law passed in 1863 to offset the declining number of volunteers to the Union Army

• It declared all male citizens (and immigrants who had applied for citizenship) aged twenty to forty-five eligible to be drafted into the Union Army.

• The rich could pay a $300 fee to avoid the draft.

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Conscription and Civil Unrest

Draft Riots – Four days of rioting in New York City in July 1863 by mostly poor, immigrant, and working-class men who opposed the draft

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Competing VisionsCIVIL LIBERTIES IN A CIVIL WAR

Are principles such as civil liberties subject to different treatment during a national crisis such as war?

“Copperhead” Democrats argued that placing military authority over civil authority violated the Constitution.

Lincoln argued that his actions were constitutional and were necessary to preserve the Union.

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Competing VisionsCIVIL LIBERTIES IN A CIVIL WAR

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Toward Union Victory

A. Turning Point: 1863

B. African Americans under Arms

C. The Confederacy Begins to Crumble

D. Victory in Battle and at the Polls

E. War Is Hell

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Turning Point: 1863

Why did Lee decide to invade the North a second time?

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African Americans under Arms

How were African-American soldiers treated in the Union Army?

What role did African-American soldiers play in the Union war effort?

Why did Lincoln initially agree to pay African-American soldiers less than white soldiers?

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Choices and Consequences

Early in the war, African-American soldiers received the same pay as whites.

In June 1863, pay for African Americans was cut from $13 to $7 a month.

EQUAL PERIL, UNEQUAL PAY

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Choices and Consequences

Choices regarding unequal pay

EQUAL PERIL, UNEQUAL PAY

Quietly accept lower

wages

Reject lower wages on principle,

protest and lobby for

equal pay, but continue to

fulfill duties as soldiers

Refuse to obey orders until equal

pay is offered

Accept lower wages but protest and

lobby for equal pay

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Choices and Consequences

Decision and consequences• Rejected lower wages on principle, despite

financial hardship.• Continued to fulfill duties, protested, and

lobbied for equal pay• Over a year later, Congress authorized equal

pay scale for all soldiers.

What role did African American soldiers play in the Union war effort?

EQUAL PERIL, UNEQUAL PAY

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Choices and Consequences

Continuing Controversies

•How were African Americans in the military treated after the Civil War?

EQUAL PERIL, UNEQUAL PAY

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The Confederacy Begins to Crumble

How did the Union blockade affect the Confederate war effort?

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Envisioning EvidenceHUMAN RESOURCES IN THE ARMIES OF THE CIVIL WAR

How did the Union’s 2:1 advantage over the Confederacyin overall population play a role in winning the war?

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Envisioning EvidenceHUMAN RESOURCES IN THE ARMIES OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Confederacy’s refusal to arm African Americans further decreased its human resources.

Both the Union and Confederate armies included immigrants.

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Victory in Battle and at the Polls

What distinguished Grant’s approach to war from his predecessors’?

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War Is Hell

What steps did the Republican Party take to improve Lincoln’s changes for victory in 1864?

Why did Sherman destroy so much property in Georgia?

What conciliatory measures toward the Confederates did Grant adopt at Lee’s surrender?

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War Is Hell

Sherman’s March to the Sea – The 285-mile “scorched earth” campaign of General William T. Sherman across Georgia in late 1864 and early 1865 •Sherman’s soldiers seized or destroyed $100 million in goods, hurting Southern morale and depriving the Confederate army of supplies.

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War is Hell

Special Field Order No. 15 – Sherman’s directive announced during his March to the Sea that set aside more than 400,000 acres of seized Confederate land for distribution to former slaves in 40-acre plots

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Chapter Review Questions

1. What advantages allowed the Confederacy to enjoy military success in the early years of the war?

2. Why did both North and South consider the Border States vital?

3. How did African Americans contribute to emancipation?

4. How did the war change Northern society and the federal government?

5. What approach to warfare set Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman apart from less successful Union military leaders?

6. How did social, economic, and class differences in Southern society contribute to the Confederacy’s defeat?