Download Powerpoint - 15 - The Civil War (Part III)

The Civil War
Chapter 15 (Part III)
Daily Life During the War
Emancipation Proclamation
 Northerner’s opinions
about abolishing slavery
varied
 Laborers opposed it
 Were afraid that they would
lose their jobs to freed slaves
that would work for lower
wages
 Abolitionists believed the
war would be useless if
slaves weren’t freed
 Would still keep the nation
divided
 Republicans feared voters would get upset
 Would lose the 1862 midterm elections
 Lincoln worried that he would lose support for the war
 Finally in 1862 Lincoln
wrote the Emancipation
Proclamation
 Emancipation
Proclamation – the order
to free Confederate slaves
African Americans Participate in the
War
 As casualties rose African
Americans were allowed to
join the military
 Contrabands – or
escaped slaves were also
allowed to join
 The 54th Massachusetts
Infantry was the most famous
African American regiment
 (Glory)
 180,000 African Americans
served in the Union army
 They received $10/month
while whites received
$13/month
 Confederates usually killed
African American captives,
or sold them into slavery
Growing Opposition
 In 1863 Congress approved
a draft – a forced military
service
 If you could pay $300 you
could buy your way out of
military service
 That was a year’s wages for
most people
Difficult Lives of Soldiers
 Armies fought in rows facing each other, firing directly at
each other, then attached bayonets and charged at each other
 Doctors didn’t have
medicine to stop infections
so some people died from
minor wounds
 Others had to have arms
and legs amputated
without painkillers
 The largest cause of death was disease
 Typhoid, tuberculosis and pneumonia
 Twice as many people died from diseases as they did fighting
 Soldiers that were captured were packed into prison camps
that were meant to hold very little soldiers
 There was little shelter, food or clothing
 Starvation and disease killed thousands of prisoners
 Clara Barton was a nurse
during the war who is
credited with starting the
Red Cross
The Tide of War Turns
Battle of Gettysburg
 Battle of Gettysburg – key battle that turned the tide
against the Confederation
First Day
 General Lee positioned his
troops outside the
Pennsylvania town of
Gettysburg, not knowing
that Union soldiers were
camped closer to the town
 One of the Confederate
raiding parties ran into the
Union Calvary
 This was the start of the
Battle of Gettysburg
 As Confederate troops
pushed back Union troops,
Union troops took
defensive positions on top
of two hills
 Cemetery Ridge and
Culp’s Hill
 Confederate troops
camped at a parallel ridge
called Seminary Ridge
 Both sides gathered
reinforcements for battle
the next day
Second Day
 General Lee attacked the
left side of the Union line
 He felt he could win the
battle if he captured Little
Round Top
 However the Union held off
the Confederates and
remained in control of Little
Round Top
Third Day
 General Lee planned to
blitz the center of the
Union lines
 General George Pickett led
“Pickett’s Charge” of
15,000 men
 It failed as fewer than half of
his soldiers reached the top of
Cemetery Ridge
Fourth Day
 General Lee began planning his retreat back to Virginia
Aftermath
 Victory – Union
 Importance – Turning
point as Confederate
troops would no longer
launch another attack in
the north
 Famous Generals – Robert
E. Lee, George Pickett
 The South’s attempt at
Cotton Diplomacy failed
 France and Great Britain
refused to provide aid to
the Confederates
The Gettysburg Address
 At the dedication of the
Gettysburg cemetery,
Lincoln gave a short but
moving speech which
remains one of the most
important speeches in
American history
 It was dedicated to the
bravery of the Union
soldiers
Union Campaigns Cripple the
Confederacy
 Gen. William Tecumseh
Sherman carried out the
Union plan to destroy
southern railroads and
industries
 He marched 100,000 soldiers
through the mountains to
Georgia
 He avoided Confederate
defenses and held Atlanta
under siege
 Most of Atlanta was
destroyed by fire and artillery
and residents were ordered to
leave the city
 Sherman’s next campaign
was his March to the Sea to
capture Savannah
 During his march he
practiced total war
 Total War – destroying
not only military
resources, but economic
and civilian resources as
well
 Troops destroyed railways,
bridges, crops and
livestock
 They also burned
plantations and freed slaves
 Sherman reached Savannah
leaving a path of
destruction and hatred of
the North that, to some
degree, still exists today
The South Surrenders
 On April 9, 1865 General
Robert E. Lee surrendered
to General Ulysses S. Grant
in the town of Appomattox
Courthouse
 Grant let Lee keep his
sword and promised his
men would be fed, they
could keep their horse and
wouldn’t be tried for
treason
Effects of the War
 620,000 Americans lost
their lives
 The defeat of the South
ended slavery
 Former slaves had no homes
or jobs
 The southern economy was
destroyed
 Hostility towards the
North still remained