Download - The Civil War and Reconstruction 1860-1877
THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION 1860-1877
“ The Greeks did not understand each other any longer, though they spoke the same language” Thucydides
END OF THE WAITING GAME Lincoln Conciliatory toward the south in his
inaugural address. He had no intention to interfere with slavery where it existed, but he would preserve the Union.
There would be no war unless the south started it, the north did not want to be viewed as the aggressor
Southern states seized federal forts and arsenals. 1861- South Carolina seized Fort Sumter, by
April 1861 they needed food and supplies and Lincoln notified the government of South Carolina that he was sending supplies.
Confederates were suspicious of his motives and they wanted the total surrender of the fort. They began to fire on the fort and Lincoln declared this an act of war
April 15 Lincoln asked for 75,000 Union troops to fight against the confederacy The Confederacy began to raise troops and
Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina left the Union
Both sides predicted a short war…..
BORDER STATES Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and
later West Virginia Huge strategic prize in population and
manufacturing capacity KY and WVA strategic because of Ohio River Maryland- Lincoln sent in troops and
declared martial law To keep border states on side of Union
Lincoln would not declare publicly he was fighting to free slaves
Indian Territory- Five Civilized tribes fought on side of Confederacy because many owned slaves
War became “brothers war” in many families
ADVANTAGE FOR NORTH AND SOUTH
Foreign Policy Europe’s ruling classes
sympathetic to Southern cause (agreed with southern social order)
So why did King Cotton diplomacy fail them? Enormous cotton exports of
late 1850’s, caused oversupply of fiber
Hoped for “cotton famine” never happened,
Union supplied Britain through captured cotton, British turned to India and Egypt for cotton production
Northern states supplied England with corn and wheat
Problems with Confederate Government
Confederate government wrote Constitution similar to US Constitution, except it protected slavery
Fatal weakness in Confederate government was tension between Southern idea of state’s rights vs. the need for a strong central government
Union Government During Wartime North had an established and
internationally recognized government
Congress not in session when war started, Lincoln proclaimed blockade and increased size of army
Lincoln did suspend some freedoms protected by the Constitution Suspended habeas corpus
(jailing somebody without telling them of crime) so anti-Union sentiment could be controlled
“Supervised” voting in the border states, suspended the press
Volunteers and Draftees When war first started
volunteers filled ranks, by 1863 pace had dropped off and Union Army began to draft soldiers
Many were immigrants, poor Wealthy could pay substitute
to go in their place 1863 draft riots in NYC South had fewer men to draw
from and needed manpower more quickly, rich could also buy their way out of service
Deserters problem in both armies
War Economy North customs fees and tariff fees major sources of revenue
Without southern opposition Morrill Tariff Act passed (1861) Money backed by nations credit, not gold Bonds sold to finance war National Banking System established to back bonds and
provide sound credit (existed until 1913) South had customs duties choked off because of blockade
Had to increase taxes, resisted by states righter's Government printed money was worthless, inflation was a
huge problem Confederate government had little international credit or
revenue stream South had 30% of national wealth in 1860, 12% ten years
later South experienced food and material shortages during the
war Many southerners turned to stealing from northern army
and blockade running to supply basic necessities
War Economy Wartime prosperity for
north Protective tariffs, need for
war time goods stoked manufacturing
Many speculators profited from war
Lack of labor caused innovation, made factories more efficient
Westward settlement kept growing, Homestead Act 1862
New opportunities for women due to labor shortage in factories
Fighting the War The Civil War was the
first modern war. New technologies and
devices mobilized men and materials- railroad transport, artillery, repeating rifles, ironclad ships, telegraph, trenches, wire entanglements were all battlefield devices used for the first time
Photography brought the war to others not involved in fighting living far away
Brought violence and life of war home
War Turns for the North Anaconda Plan gradually began to work
and the Union began to make progress in the western part of the Confederacy by late 1862. They began to cut supply lines, destroy crops and rail lines.
The first major blow to the south occurred at Antietam in Maryland in 1862
By the beginning of 1863 the north was beginning to use its advantages of men and materials to defeat the Confederacy
War Turns for the North Lee took tried to take the war to the
north in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July of 1863. He was defeated and retreated south.
Ulysses Grant was named commander of Union forces in 1864 and he began to purse Lee until he was defeated
Union General William T. Sherman led 60,000 troops on a march through Georgia and South Carolina in the fall of 1864.
400 mile “march to the sea” used a strategy called total war - targeted troops, support and supplies needed to feed, clothe and support the army.
Troops burned crops, destroyed railroad tracks, homes and plantations. They burned the city of Atlanta in the fall of 1864
By the spring of 1865 the south was exhausted and Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox courthouse April 9, 1865
Emancipation Proclamation When the war began Lincoln did not think he had the
authority to abolish slavery- his chief goal was to preserve the Union
In the fall of 1862 after the Battle of Antietam he decided the time was right to issue the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves
January 1, 1863 all slaves in the south were declared free.
It did not apply to free states or areas of the south already under federal control (to keep border states happy)
Union army began to actively recruit former slaves to join their cause
This changed the nature of the Civil War from something to preserve the Union and redefined it as to being about slavery, gave war a moral tone
Removed any chance of negotiated settlement to war
Politics of War 1864 presidential election fell in the
midst of war Many Northerners did not support
Lincoln Resented expansion of presidential
power and the war itself Democrats against the war
(Copperheads) obstructed the war efforts in Congress
Election of 1864 between Lincoln (R) and George McClellan (D)
Lincoln choose Andrew Johnson of TN as his running mate to attract war Democrats and border state vote
Lincolns election was secured by a series of Union victories in the months before the election
1865 Five days after Lee’s surrender Lincoln was assassinated at the pinnacle of his fame by a fanatically pro-southern actor John Wilkes Booth
Aftermath 600,000 died; 1 million wounded or
maimed Generation of men lost to war Idea of states’ rights moot Passage of 13th Amendment officially
ended slavery, 14th Amendment guaranteed civil rights
US became a singular nation, not a collection of states
Power of federal government expanded, banking, judicial system became more powerful, government expected to protect rights above state powers
Industrial growth kick started because of war effort
National legal, industrial and governmental institutions came out of war
Results of War