Download Ch 14 The United States Civil War

The United States
Civil War
Chapter 14
The Secession Crisis
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The Withdrawal of the South
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“fire eaters” demand withdrawal of southern
states from union after 1860 election
President Buchanan told Congress that no
state had the right to secede form the Union,
but suggested that the federal government
had no authority to stop a state if it did (!)
Seceding states immediately seized federal
property within their boundaries
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The Failure of Compromise
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after Southern guns fire on Northern ship at Fort
Sumter, one last effort at compromise
Senator John Crittenden: permanent slavery
and reestablish Missouri Compromise Line
Remaining southern states willing to accept the
plan, Northern Republicans not
Lincoln sneaks in on a train at night in disguise...
inaugural address*
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First Battle: Fort
Sumter
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FS was an island off
the coast of S.
Carolina
Lincoln send munitions
to re-supply the fort
Choice for Confederate
government:
submission or war
Union forces surrender
after two days
bombarding
More states follow
seccession after
Southern victory
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The Opposing Sides
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All important material advantages lay with the
North (see graph on pg. 474)
North advantages
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population
industrial system
transportation system
South advantages
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defensive war
clear and firm commitment from supporters
communication
European dependence on “King Cotton”
Annapolis military leadership*
The Mobilization of the North
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Economic Measures
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Homestead Act of 1862
Morrill Land Grant
transcontinental railroad
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Union Pacific and Central Pacific
National Bank Acts: 1/3 to government securities
Financing the War
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levying taxes: goods, services and first income tax
issuing paper currency: “greenbacks” backed by gov’t
similar to today
borrowing: $400 million worth of public bonds, $2.6
billion total (banks)
Raising the Union Armies
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1861 US army consisted only of 16,000 troops
Lincoln calls for an increase to 23,000 troops
Congress authorizes enlisting of 500,000 volunteers for
three year terms
Small enlistment = construction of national draft law
man could escape service by hiring someone to go in his
place or by paying the government fee of $300 (!)
Opposition to draft: laborers, immigrants and “Peace
Democrats”
Draft Riots in New York
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Irish workers blaming blacks
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strike breakers
war being fought for the benefit of slaves who would take their
jobs
lynchings
burning of an black orphanage
federal troops
Over 100 people dead
Over 2 million men would serve in the Union army
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The War and Economic Development*
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sped up development of certain industries:
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coal: up 20%
railroad: standard gauge track
agricultural technology: farm hands fighting war
Costs rise
Lincoln and Wartime Politics
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“foolish to lose the whole by being afraid to
disregard part”
Regarding war tactics
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domestic insurrection, no formal declaration of war
increased the size of the army without receiving
legislative authority
naval blockade of the South
Lincoln and Wartime Politics Cont’d
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Regarding the opposition to war (biggest problem)
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suppression of “Peace Democrats” AKA “Copperheads”
ordered military arrests of civilian dissenters
suspended habeas corpus (right to a speedy trial)
martial law = military rule
Rep. Vallandingham exiled to the South
Election of 1864
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Republican Party = Union Party after losing in 1862
Congressional Elections
Lincoln nominated for President, Andrew Johnson for
Vice President (AJ = a War Democrat from Tennessee,
who opposed his states decision to secede)
Democrats nominate George McClellan (GM = a Union
general who had been relieved by Lincoln)
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adopted a platform denouncing the war and calling for a truce
hoped to win based on growing war weariness and Union’s
discouraging military position
Crucial Moment: North gains several victories and
captures Atlanta Georgia
Lincoln wins re-election
The Abolition of Slavery
The Politics of Emancipation
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Republicans disagree sharply
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Radicals: wanted to use war to abolish slavery immediately and
completely
Conservatives: slower and gradual process for ending slavery
The Confiscation Acts
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First Confiscation Act
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Second Confiscation Act (considered “Radical”)
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any slave fighting the South would be freed
subsequent laws passed banned slavery in Washington and the
West
any slave belonging to owners fighting for the South would be freed
President could employ African Americans as soldiers
Radicals grow in power and prestige in the North
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The Emancipation Proclamation
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September 22, 1863 after Union victory at Antietam*,
Lincoln announces that as part of his war powers he would
issue an executive order freeing all slaves in the
Southern Confederacy
January 1, 1863, Lincoln formally signs Emancipation
Proclamation; freed all slaves in territories NOT under
Union control... thus states and areas that belonged to
the Union, did not have to free their slaves.
Made clear that the war was now being fought for
preserving the Union and to eliminate slavery
slave states in the North began to free their slaves
Actually ended up freeing no slaves in the South, since
they were no longer under “Union” control
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African Americans and the
Union Cause
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186,000 emancipated
Southern blacks served as
soldiers, sailors and laborers
for Union forces
54th of Massachusetts,
Commander Robert G. Shaw
Black Soldiers
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Most assigned menial tasks
behind lines
High fatality rate from hard
work
Paid 1/3 of white salary
Captured black soldiers were
returned to slavery or
immediately executed
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Thirteenth Amendment
1865: abolished slavery
After War 1865:
Freedman’s Bureau
directed by General Oliver
O. Howard *
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agency of the army that
distributed food to millions of
former slaves
established schools
made efforts to give blacks
their own land
far too small of an
organization to deal with
enormous problems facing
South
not enough funding to achieve
goals
The Mobilization of the South
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The Confederate Government
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The Confederate Constitution
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Almost exactly the same as the Constitution of the
United States, but with a few significant exceptions
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it explicitly acknowledged the sovereignty of the
individual states
specifically sanctioned slavery and made its abolition
practically impossible
Jefferson Davis named President
Like the Union, leadership dominated from the West
No formal political parties, but there was dissention
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Finance and Mobilization
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The impossible task: raising money
South had to create national revenue base in a
society unaccustomed to taxes
small and unstable banking system
idea to collect money from states, but states
unwilling
income tax imposed, but unsuccessful
borrowing did not work: too many bonds sold
(unvaluable)
prices in the South rose 9,000 percent (in
economics called Hyperinflation!)
Finance and Mobilization Cont’d
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Mobilization
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decrease in volunteers in 1861
Conscription Act in 1862, no substitutes allowed after
1863*
exemptions for plantations which had 20 or more slaves
“rich man’s war, poor man’s fight”
after 1862, Confederacy had trouble drafting more men
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1864 desperation
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northern capture of cities
decrease in the Southern optimism
men as young as seventeen and as old as fifty
100,000 desertions
300,000 black troops trained but surrender occurred first
900,000 Confederate Soldiers served during the entire war/
2 million in Union
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States rights versus Centralization
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Greatest source of Southern Division during War
State’s rights enthusiasts resisted virtually all
efforts to exert Confederate national authority
Confederacy succeeded in creating a larger
bureaucracy than in Washington
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imposed regulations on industry
impressed slaves for military efforts
seized control of railroads and shipping
Military Strategy, Campaigns and
Battles
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The Commanders
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North
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Lincoln realizes manpower and numbers were on his side
Searched for a general who was willing to use that to his
advantage
March 1864: Ulysses S. Grant, referred to some as a
“butcher” but his willingness to continue attack countered
Southern tact
goal: attack enemies army and resources, not territory
South
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West Point and Annapolis factor
Jefferson Davis = control freak
General Robert E. Lee (why did Lee fight for the South?)*
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The Sea Power*
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Union had overwhelming advantage of naval power,
served two important roles
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enforced blockade of the southern coast
assisted Union armies in field operations
emergence of ironclads Monitor v. Virginia (formerly the
Merrimack)
Europe and the Disunited States*
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France and England sympathetic to Confederacy at first
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dependent on Southern Cotton importation
saw United States as an economic rival
South had to rely on imports from Europe during the war
Abolitionist movement in England kept England (thus
France) from joining South
“King Cotton Diplomacy” fails
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The American West and the
War*
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Texas was the only new territory
to join the Confederacy, the rest
joined the Union
Brutal fighting in Kansas and
Missouri
Indians divided
Opening Clashes 1861
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First Battle of Bull Run... Union
believed one decisive victory
could win it for the union troops
retreat through the city of
Washington
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picnic baskets
Lincoln lost confidence in his
commanders
dispelled illusion that the war
would be a quick one
Missouri
The Western Theater
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Ulysses S. Grant makes a name for himself by gaining control of
Southern communications and forcing Confederates out of
Kentucky and part of Tennessee
Victories for the North
The Virginia Front aka “the Eastern front”
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General McClellan (head of US forces at the time) staged huge
campaign to attack Richmond, but didn’t go directly towards the
city
150,000 man army became known as “Army of the Potomac”
Peninsular campaign (see pg.492)
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson marches army towards
Washington, defeats two separate Union forces
McClellan was 25 miles from Richmond, but continued to find
reasons for delay
Pope brashly leads Union in Second Battle of Bull Run... loses to
Lee
September 17 at Antietam Creek, bloodiest day of battle in the
Civil War... McClellan has forces Lee into retreat, but does not
follow
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1863: Year of decision
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Hooker moves into position
to attack Lee at
Fredericksburg, but
withdrawals
Lee attacks and divides the
forces at Battle of
Chancellorsville, Union
retreats (loses Stonewall
Jackson)
Lee defeats Union objective
of Richmond, but did not
defeat union army
Stonewall Jackson dead
Ulysses S. Grant continues
to win in the West with a
siege-style victory at
Vicksburg
Union gains control of
Mississippi River
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1863: Year of decision Cont’d
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Lee’s big decision: Invade the North,
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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania July 1-3 1863, most celebrated battle of
the war
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Meade v. Lee
75,000 Confederate Forces v. 90,000 Union forces
“Pickets Charge” second Confederate charge, one mile of distance in
the open
Lee retreats (Confederacy will never invade Northern lands again)
Also, Confederacy has lost so much, they can not recover!
Chattanooga
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divert Union’s attention from the Mississippi
a major victory on Union soil might bring European countries to
Southern aid
Grant saves Union forces under southern siege
Union now effectively controls four of the eleven confederate states
Southern goal shifts: no longer for a decisive military victory, but
rather exhaust the Northern will to fight
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Last Stage: 1864 –1865
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Ulysses S. Grant (now head of
Union army), plans two great
offensives in 1864
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Army of the Potomac would
advance toward Richmond and
force Lee into decisive battle
(see pg. 498)
William T. Sherman would
advance to Georgia and destroy
the remaining Confederate forces
(see pg. 499)
Grant leads army into Virginia
and encounters Lee on several
occasions and endures huge
loses but keeps going (Grant
would loose 55,000 men in one
month)
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Last Stage: 1864 –1865 Cont’d
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Seizes and sieges Petersburg which is Richmond’s
communication center...siege would last nine
months....
Decisive battle for Sherman was battle of
Nashville, crushed Southern army
Tecumseh Sherman “March to Sea” ; “War is all
hell” theory = destruction of enemy resources as
vital
...Meanwhile back in Virginia Grant seizes vital
Railroad connection southwest of Petersburg...
Lee can now no longer hope to defend Richmond
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Last Stage: 1864 –1865
Cont’d
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Lee tries to escape, but
path is blocked by Union
forces
General Lee makes
arrangements to meet with
General Grant in the small
town of Appomattox
Courthouse, Virginia
April 9, 1865 Lee
surrenders to Grant
Nine days later near
Durham, North Carolina,
Johnson surrenders to
Sherman
Effects of War on Society
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Statistics
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More than 618,000 Americans died during the Civil War,
far more than the 115,000 that died during WWI and the
318,000 that died during WWII
Inflation and Public Debt
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In the North, $70 million in “greenbacks” fluctuated and
production caused inflation
In the South, Confederacy had issued a total of $1.5
billion in paper money none of which was supported by a
single, uniform banking system
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Role of Women
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In North: took positions vacated by
men: teachers, retail sales, office
workers, factory hands
In South: managed slave work forces,
learned to plow fields and harvest
crops, and teachers... this would later
cause many to question southern
chivalry
U.S. Sanitary Commission and
Dorthea Dix
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nursing used to be dominated by men
women of both North and South
worked in field hospitals for war
added feminine roles and care to
nursing
sharp criticism from doctors
Elizabeth C. Stanton & Susan B.
Anthony: National Woman’s Loyal
League 1863
Clara Barton, founder of American
Red Cross 1888
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Devastation of the South
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Economic
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Southern cotton market cut off from Northern
Markets
Sale of cotton overseas much more difficult
production went up in the North, but decreased in
the South
Physical: almost all of the major battle of the war
took place in the South
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railroad system destroyed
plantations destroyed
cities destroyed
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Devastation of the South Cont’d
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Communities
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Union naval blockade produced shortages in everything
male farm workers went off to fight, land went untended
doctors, blacksmiths and carpenters in short supply
food riots
Changing Labor Patterns
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Widowed and single women needing to find employment,
necessity rather than choice, expanded the number of
acceptable roles for women in both regions
Free slaves escaping to the North caused huge decrease in
manual labor supply