CHAPTER 11USHC 4 .3USHC 4 .4

The American Civil War:1861-1865

SECTION I

The Civil War Begins

What is a Civil War?

Definition: war fought internally within a nation between differing factions, religious groups, or powers

Both sides in the dispute have: gained control of territory created their own governments have some sort of organized military

which performs regular operations

Union vs. Confederacy

Five Main Causes of the Civil War

1. Tariffs – States’ Rights2. Slavery – States’ Rights

1. Legal disagreement2. Moral disagreement

3. Southern frustration over representation

4. Election of 18605. Secession

1. As of now, 7 states have seceded from the Union

The Confederacy Takes Control

The 7 states that had already seceded formed the Confederate States of America (February 4, 1861)

Confederate soldiers immediately began taking over government and military buildings (courthouses, forts) By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, only two Southern forts remained in

Union hands The most important was South Carolina’s….

Fort Sumter- Charleston harbor; Union controlled

Fort Sumter Today

President Lincoln’s Dilemma

Confederate forces demanded that Major Anderson (Union) surrender the fort or face an attack Union’s supply of food and ammunition would last six

weeks at mostReinforcing Fort Sumter by force (opening

fire) would lead rest of slave states to secede

Evacuating Fort Sumter would legitimize the Confederacy, weaken his administration and endanger the Union

President Lincoln’s Dilemma

Makes a strong political move

Sends in only food “Food for hungry men”

Now it was Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy) who faced a dilemma…

The First ShotsAt 4:30A.M on April

12, 1861, Confederate

batteries began thundering away.

Charleston’s citizens watched and

cheered as though it were a fireworks

display. The South Carolinians

bombarded the fort with more than

4,000 rounds before Major Anderson

surrendered.

If Davis did nothing, he would damage the image of the Confederacy as an independent nation

If Davis ordered an attack on Fort Sumter, he would turn peaceful secession into war

Jefferson Davis chooses to turn peaceful secession into war On April 12th, 1861, the Confederacy

opens fire on the Union controlled Fort Sumter

Virginia Secedes

News of Fort Sumter’s fall united the North Volunteers rush to enlist

Virginia is unwilling to fight against other Southern states– VA chooses to secede Terrible loss for the Union Virginia was the most heavily populated state in the South

and the most industrialized (many factories, big navy yard)

Anti-slavery western counties in VA secede from Virginia and form West Virginia West Virginia is admitted to the Union in 1863

States & Secession

Three more states secede: Arkansas Tennessee North Carolina

Four remaining slave states (border states) remained in the Union: Maryland Delaware Kentucky Missouri

Union States Confederate States

Pennsylvania Kansas New York Missouri Maine Oregon Vermont California Massachusetts Illinois Rhode Island Ohio Connecticut Indiana New Hampshire West Virginia Wisconsin Iowa Michigan Minnesota Kentucky Maryland Delaware New Jersey

South Carolina Mississippi Florida Alabama Georgia Louisiana Texas Virginia Arkansas Tennessee North Carolina

States: Union or Confederate?

Union and Confederate Strategies

The development and outcome of the Civil War depended on 3 things…

1. The economic resources of the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy)

2. Geographic features that influenced battle strategy

3. Military Leadership

Grant Robert E. Lee

Economic Resources

Union (North)

Industry

Railroads

Manpower

Navy

Confederacy (South)

Cotton

Trade relationship with Great Britain

Union (North)Confederacy

(South)

Has to conquer the South to win

Offensive strategy based on geography Anaconda Plan

Has the advantage Fighting on home turf!

Strategy mostly defensive Defend territory until

Union tires and gives up

Invade North if opportunity arises

Geography

The “Anaconda” Plan

Anaconda Plan- Union strategy to conquer the South

Three Parts of the Plan: Union navy would blockade

Southern ports (no exporting of cotton or importing of much-needed goods)

Take control of Mississippi River and divide Confederacy in two

Union armies would capture Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia

Advantages of the Confederacy

“King Cotton”- made profits from cotton in the world market

Good military leaders early in the warSoldiers who were highly motivated because

they were defending their homeland South had no need to conquer anything to

win the war

Disadvantages of the Confederacy

No army at all at firstNo navyWeak new government

Resistance to the centralization of government necessary to run a war

Their economy was based on cottonThey did not have many factories or banksSmaller population with many slavesSouth had very few railroads and no capacity

to fix them

Advantages of the Union

Huge advantages in resources More fighting power More factories Greater food production More extensive railroad system Had a navy

Political leadership Abraham Lincoln– said purpose of war was to

preserve the Union and democracy

Disadvantages of the Union

Did not have many good military leaders at first

They must conquer the Confederacy (a new nation) to win the war

Union (North) Confederacy (South)

Abraham Lincoln (President) Argues for

preservation of Union & democracy

General Ulysses S. Grant

William Tecumseh Sherman

Jefferson Davis (President) Has difficulty getting

southern states to work together (states’ rights)

Robert E. Lee

Military Leadership

Abraham Lincoln

William Sherman

Ulysses S. Grant

Jefferson Davis

Robert E. Lee

Battle of Bull Run

Battle of Bull Run- first battle of the war; nearly Washington, D.C.

Lincoln orders Irvin McDowell (Union General) to attackThe Confederacy held firm, inspired by Thomas J.

Jackson “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!” Stonewall Jackson

Confederate reinforcements arrive and the South gains the victory

Significance: Confederate morale soared; many thought the war was over

Ulysses S. Grant

-West Point graduate who had failed at everything he had tried in civilian life- whether as farmer, bill collector, real estate agent, or store clerk

-In just 11 days, Grant’s forces had captured two Confederate forts that held strategic positions on important rivers

After Bull Run, Lincoln called for 1 million additional soldiers Men would serve for 3 years

instead of 3 monthsAppointed General George

McClellan to lead the new Union army in the east Soon to be known as the Army of

the Potomac General Ulysses S. Grant

heads Union army west to fight for the Mississippi River

Abraham Lincoln Responds

The Battle of Shiloh (TN)

In April 1862, Confederate troops surprised Union soldiers at Shiloh (small Tennessee church) Many Union soldiers were shot while making coffee Some died while they were still laying in their

blankets

On the edge of disaster, Ulysses S. Grant (Union) reorganized his troops, ordered up reinforcements and counterattacked

Confederate forces retreated Union victory!

The Battle of Shiloh (TN)

Importance of the Battle of Shiloh: Battle of Shiloh taught both

sides the strategic lesson of preparation Send scouts, dig trenches, build

forts Demonstrated how bloody

the war might become Nearly ¼ of the battle’s 100,000

troops were killed, wounded or captured

Proved that the Confederacy was weak in the West Union’s military strategy might

succeed

A Revolution in Warfare

Advances in technology changed military strategy and contributed to the war’s high casualty rate

Ironclads- ships; could withstand cannon fire and resist burning Instrumental in victories of Ulysses

S. Grant

March 1862- North’s Monitor vs. South’s Merrimack fight to a draw

New Weapons

Rifles were more accurate, faster loading, fire more rounds than muskets

Minie ball was a soft lead bullet that was more destructive than earlier bullets

Grenades, land mines are used

Fighting from trenches and barricades offer a new advantage in infantry attacks

War for the Capitals

Union army began tightening its blockade of Southern ports Trying to carry out the 3rd step of

the Anaconda Plan Capture Confederate capital of

Richmond, VA

General McClellan (Union General) was extremely cautious and waited to attack Richmond Drilled his troops for 5 months Convinced that he needed more soldiers

Has 120,000 but wants 270,000 before attacking

“On to Richmond”

In the Spring of 1862, Robert E. Lee took command of the Southern army

Army of Potomac vs. Army of Northern VA

Lee and McClellan fight a series of battles known as the Seven Days’ Battles (June 25 to July 1, 1862)

Union leaves the Richmond area Lee’s determination and unorthodox tactics forced McClellan to

back away from Richmond and head down the peninsula to the sea

General LeeGeneral McClellan

The Calm before the Storm…

General Lee now moved against the enemy’s capital at Washington, D.C.

General Lee wins Second Battle of Bull Run; a few days later he marches into the Union state of Maryland

McClellan and the Union has a tremendous stroke of luck A Union corporal found a copy of Lee’s army orders wrapped around

a bunch of cigars The plan revealed that Lee’s and Stonewall Jackson’s armies were

separated for the moment

The Battle of Antietam

McClellan ordered his men forward after Lee

The two armies fought September 17 beside the Antietam Creek

The Battle of Antietam proved to be the bloodiest single-day battle in American history 26,000 soldiers were killed, wounded

or missing after 12 hours of savage combat

General Lee had lost a quarter of his army

Confederacy retreats to Virginia

What do you think Lincoln might have said to McClellan?

Click icon to add pictureMcClellan could have pursued the battered Confederate army and possibly ended the war

- Instead, he acted cautiously and did nothing!

On November 7, 1862 Lincoln fired McClellan

SECTION I I

The Politics of War

Britain Remains Neutral

Britain remains neutral in Civil War No longer dependent on Southern cotton Accumulated a huge cotton inventory just before

outbreak of war Found new sources of cotton in Egypt and India

Proclaiming Emancipation

Many Northerners believed that just winning the war would not be enough if the issue of slavery was not permanently settled

Lincoln’s Views of Slavery: He did not like slavery, however he did not believe that the

federal government had the power to abolish it where it already existed

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery.”

As the war progressed, Lincoln found a way to use his constitutional war powers to end slavery

Proclaiming Emancipation

Emancipation Proclamation: issued January 1st, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln; freed slaves in all regions behind Confederate lines Did not have much practical

effect Had immense (massive)

symbolic importance Gave the war a high moral

purpose by turning the struggle into a fight to free the slaves

Both Sides Face Political Problems

Neither side in the Civil War was completely unified Confederate sympathizers in the North Union sympathizers in the South

Abraham Lincoln suspends the ‘writ of habeas corpus’ to deal with dissidents/rebels Court order that requires authorities to bring a person held in

jail before the court to determine why he/she is being jailed More than 13,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers in the

Union were arrested and held without trial Lincoln also seized telegraph offices to make sure no one used

the wires for subversion

Copperheads & Conscription

Copperheads: Northern democrats who advocated peace with the South Many arrested by Lincoln usually freed shortly after

Both armies originally relied on volunteers However, it didn’t take long before heavy casualties

and widespread desertions led to conscription Conscription: a draft that would force certain

members of the population to serve in the army

SECTION I I I

Life During Wartime

African Americans Fight for Freedom

African Americans played an important role in the struggle to end slavery. Some served as soldiers, while others took action away from the battlefield

When the Civil War started, it was a white man’s war Neither the Union nor the Confederacy officially

accepted African Americans as soldiers

African American Soldiers

Union army allows African Americans to serve as soldiers in 1862 Large scale enlistment after Emancipation

Proclamation African Americans made up only 1% of North’s

population, but by the war’s end nearly 10% of the Union army was African American

Slave resistance in the South compounded the stresses of war Slaves remaining on

plantations engaged in sabotage- breaking plows, destroying fences, neglecting livestock

African Americans waited to welcome the Yankees who had the power to liberate them

The Massachusetts 54th Regiment

First all African-American troop in the Union

Led an assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston harbor Attack failed Nearly 40% of the soldiers were

killed Confederates found the

regiment’s flag under a pile of dead soldiers

Among the dead was white commander, Colonel Robert Shaw

Southern Shortages

Confederacy soon faced a food shortage due to 3 factors:1. Drain of manpower into the army2. Union occupation of food-growing areas3. Loss of slaves to work in the fields

Meat became a once-a-week luxury at best Food prices sky-rocketed

In 1861 average family spent $6.65 a month on food Mid-1863 average family spent $68 a month on food

Northern Economic Growth

Most industries boomed during the war The army’s need for uniforms, shoes, guns, and other

supplies supported woolen mills, steel foundries, coal mines and many other industries

Wages did not keep up with prices and many people’s standard of living declined When white male workers went out on strike, employers

hired free blacks, immigrants, women and boys to replace them for lower pay

1863: Congress passes first income tax Congress decided to pay for the war by tapping its citizens’

wealth Income tax tax that takes a specified percentage of an

individual’s income

Soldiers Suffer on

Both SidesGarbage disposal and latrines in army camps were almost unknown.

Although army regulations called for washing one’s hands and face every day and taking a complete bath once a week, many soldiers failed to do so.

As a result, body lice and diarrhea were common.

Both Union and Confederate soldiers had marched off to war thinking it would prove to be a glorious affair They were soon disillusioned, not

just by heavy causalities but also by poor living conditions, diet, and medical care

Civil War Medicine

Soon after Ft. Sumter fell, the federal government set up the United States Sanitary Commission Purpose was to improve the hygienic

conditions of army camps and to recruit and train nurses

The death rate among Union wounded showed considerable improvement over that of previous wars

Clara Barton: Union nurse; often cared for the sick and wounded on the front lines After her courage under fire at Antietam, a surgeon

described her as the “angel of the battlefield”

Prisons

Conditions in prisons were even worse than in army camps

Andersonville (GA): Worst Confederate prison; jammed 33,000 men into 26 acres Prisoners had no shelter from broiling sun or chilling rain Drank from same stream that served as their sewer Roughly 1/3 of Andersonville’s prisoners died

Northern prisons were only slightly better While there was barracks for sleeping

and adequate food, thousands of Confederates were housed in quarters with little or no heat many died of pneumonia

SECTION IV

The North Takes Charge

Prelude to Gettysburg

Chancellorsville, VA 1863 South defeats North at

Chancellorsville, VA General Lee outmaneuvered

Union General Joseph Hooker and forced the Union into retreat

General Stonewall Jackson dies General Lee decides to press

his military advantage and invade the North Lee crossed the Potomac into

MD and pushed on into PA

The Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg, PA 1863 General Lee crosses into Northern territory

Confederates were looking for shoes 3 day battle considered the ‘turning point in

the war’ The battle of Gettysburg crippled the South so badly that

General Lee would never again possess sufficient forces to invade a Northern state

General Lee and General Longstreet vs. General Meade

Union victory Confederacy defeated General Meade does not pursue General Lee; General

Lee slips back into Virginia Losses are staggering- 51,000 soldiers are killed or

wounded

War in the West

While the Army of the Potomac was fighting off the Confederates in Pennsylvania, Union General Ulysses S. Grant continued his campaign in the west.

Vicksburg , MI was one of the only two Confederate holdouts preventing the Union from taking complete control of the Mississippi River Mississippi River was an important waterway for

transporting goods

Vicksburg

Spring 1863- General Grant sent a cavalry brigade to destroy rail lines in central Mississippi and draw attention away from the port city While Confederates were distracted, Grant was able to land

infantry south of Vicksburg and take the capital, JacksonWith their confidence growing, General Grant

ordered a siege (blockade) of the city Set up a steady bombardment of artillery, shelling the city

from both the river and the land for several hours a day Residents forced to take shelter in caves they dug; starving Confederate soldiers cried, “If you can’t feed us, you’d

better surrender”

Vicksburg

July 4, 1863- Vicksburg falls to the Union Confederates ask for terms of surrender July 3 The Union takes Mississippi and the Confederacy

is cut in two

The Gettysburg Address

November 1863, ceremony held to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg

Abraham Lincoln gives the “Gettysburg Address” “Four score and seven years ago…” 2-minute speech said to ‘remake America’ Why:

Lincoln wanted to re-state the goal for the Union in the war

Wanted to preserve the Union and make sure that Union men did not die for no reason

Confederate Morale

As the war progressed, morale on the Confederacy’s home front deteriorated Confederate morale was low Confederate Congress urged planters to grow fewer

cash crops and increase food production In every state except for South Carolina, there were

soldiers who decided to turn and fight for the North Disunity made it impossible for Jefferson Davis to

govern effectively Members of Confederate Congress squabbled among

themselves

Grant & Sherman

In March of 1864, Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant, the hero at the battle of Vicksburg, commander of ‘all Union armies’

General Grant then appointed William Tecumseh Sherman as commander of the military division of the Mississippi

Both men believed in total war Total War: Believed it was important to

fight not only the South’s armies and government, but its civilian population as well

The strength of the people’s will kept the war going THEY WANTED TO DESTROY ALL IN PATH

Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’

General Grant’s overall strategy was to immobilize Lee’s army in VA while General Sherman raided Georgia

General Sherman and his troops had been occupying the transportation center of Atlanta When Confederates tried to circle his troops, he abandoned his supply

lines and marched southwest through Georgia

As Sherman marched, he created a wide path of destruction He would make Southerners “so sick of war that generations would

pass away before they would again appeal to it” Burned most of Atlanta and set out toward the coast Then troops turned north to help Grant ‘wipe Lee out’

25,000 former slaves now joined his troops Marched through South Carolina and totally destroyed it TOTAL

WAR

Election of 1864

As the election of 1864 approached, Lincoln faced heavy opposition Many Democrats, dismayed at the war’s length, its

high casualty rates, and recent Union losses, joined pro-Southern party members to nominate George McClellan who would enforce an immediate armistice if elected

Lincoln was pessimistic about his chances– he knows something has to change in order for him to stand a chance in the election

Lincoln is Re-Elected

General Sherman takes Atlanta on September 2 This is followed by General Sheridan chasing the

Confederates out of the Shenandoah Valley in northern VA

The victories solidified the North and with the help of absentee ballots cast by Union soldiers, Lincoln won a second term

General McClellan ran against Lincoln -- Lincoln had fired McClellan!

The Surrender at Appomattox

By March 1865, it was clear the end of the Confederacy was near

Northern armies closed in on Richmond President Davis and his government abandoned their capital Set it afire to keep the Northerners from taking it Northerners

tried to put out the fire, but flames destroyed some 900 buildings and damaged hundreds more

General Lee and General Grant met on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House to discuss surrender

Terms of the

Surrender

May 1865, the Army of the Potomac marched through Washington, D.C. to mark the end of the Civil War

At Lincoln’s request, the terms of surrender were generous Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent

them home with their personal possessions, horses, and three day’s rations

Officers were permitted to keep their side arms

Within two months, all remaining Confederate resistance collapsed

After four long years, at tremendous human and economic costs, the Civil War was over

SECTION V

The Legacy of the War

The War Changes the Nation

Legacy of the war: The Civil War caused tremendous 1.) political, 2.) economic, 3.) technological, and 4.) social change in the U.S.

Political Changes

Before the war, Southern states had threatened secession when federal policies angered them

After the war, the federal government assumed supreme national authority and no state has ever seceded again The states’ rights issue did not go away; just led in different direction States’ rights vs. federal control usually focuses on issues of money

War greatly increased the federal government’s power Federal government has more impact on people’s daily lives

Economic Changes

Civil War had a profound impact on the nation’s economy

National Bank Act of 1863: Set up a system of federally charted

banks Set requirements for loans Provided for banks to be inspected

The North’s economy boomed while the South’s economy was devastated War took away course of cheap labor Economic disparity between regions

would not diminish until 20th century

Human Cost

The human costs of the Civil War were staggering They affected almost every

American familyApproximately 650,000

deadVeterans with missing limbs

became a common sight nation wide

Historians estimate that the Union & Confederate governments spent a combined total of $3.3 billion

Thirteenth Amendment

The Emancipation Proclamation had freed only slaves who lived in the states that were behind Confederate lines and not yet under Union control

Government had to decide what to do about border states where slavery was still legal

Lincoln believed the only solution would be a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery

• Thirteenth Amendment: abolished slavery

-- “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States”

Red Cross

Some civilians tried to turn their wartime experience to good

Clara Barton, inspired by the horror she witnessed during the war, helped to found the American Red Cross in 1861

The Assassination of Lincoln

Whatever plans Lincoln had to reunify the nation after the war, he never got to implement them

On April 14, 1865, five days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln and his wife went to Ford’s Theatre

Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth “The South is avenged!”