Download Secession and the Civil War

SECESSION AND THE CIVIL WAR
South Carolina and…?
Warm Up-To Secede or not to secede…?
 The contest is really for empire on the side of the
North, and for independence on that of the
South, and in this respect we recognize an exact
analogy between the North and the Government
of George III, and the South and the Thirteen
Revolted Provinces. London Times, 1861
 In the above quote they compare secession to
the Am. Rev. in another quote it says, “If the
revolution succeeds, history justifies them,” do
you believe this is true or is secession not
justified regardless? Why?
Secession of the South
 Reasons for secession (First State, Leaders,
Constitution)
 Emotional-North wants to establish black rule in the South.
Goal was not equality, but the reversal of roles for the races.
 Economic-policies of a Republican president-protective tariffs,
free homesteads in the west, etc.--will prevent the South from
prospering.
 Northern reaction to secession
 Most opposed forcing the South to return to the Union
 Buchanan refused to act when a federal supply ship was
attacked in Charleston Harbor in January 1861
 Crittenden Compromise
 proposed the prohibition of slavery north of the Missouri
Compromise line (36 30), but allowing it south of the line in addition
to compensation to owners for runaway slaves
Secession of the South
 Lincoln’s reaction
 Inaugural Address
 Protect Federal Property
 Nation indissolvable
 Would retaliate if forced
Fort Sumter
 employed force because the South was denying the
democratic principle that formed the basis of the Union.
 sent supplies to Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor (April 12,
1861)
 Confederates opened fire on the fort, starting the war
Lincoln Declares War
 Union Generals
 Winfield Scott, George
McClellan, Ambrose
Burnside, Joseph Hooker,
George Meade, Ulysses S.
Grant
 Confederate Generals
 Robert E. Lee
North vs. South
North's advantages over the South
 Potential fighting and working force: 20 million
citizens
 Population: 2.5:1
 Free male population (ages 18-60): 4.4:1
 Wealth produced: 3:1
 Factory production: 10:1
 Iron production: 15:1
 Coal production: 38:1
 Transportation--superior in every respect
 Railroad mileage: 7:1
 Naval tonnage: 25:1
 Merchant ship tonnage: 9:1
North vs. South
South's advantages over the North
 Fighting a defensive war
 Local support
 familiarity with terrain
 Positive goal: seeking independence
 Short communication lines and friendly population
 United public in contrast to the North
 Non-slaveholders eager to volunteer to fight
 Experienced officer corps
 many veterans of the Mexican-American War joined the
Confederacy
 Cotton (24:1 advantage over North)
 necessary for textile factories of England and France
Union Home front
Mobilization and Finance
 Conscription
-poor fight, rich get out of it
-Draft riots (NYC 1863) http://youtu.be/x5kil3Pfkng
 Money
-Increase tariffs, income tax, “greenbacks”
 War Profiteers
-Manufacturers and industrialists made lots of
money, many through corrupt means.
Union Home front
What Civil Liberties?
 Save the Union
 Blockade
 Increase size of Army
Not in the Constitution
 Keep the Border states
 Suspends habeus corpus
 Supervised voting
 Newspapers/editors influenced/pressured
Southern Home front
 Declared martial law
 Suspended habeus corpus
 Confederate Constitution
 Strong Constitution vs. states rights
 Mobilization and Finance
 Conscription
 Conflict, Rich vs. Poor
 Confederate currency
 Not currency, bills of credit
Leading to Emancipation
 Lee’s first mistake




decision to invade the North
Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, MD)
Gain support from border states and England.
Decrease morale of North
 Lee’s second mistake





Lost plans for battle
Found by North
Decisive/Important victory for North
No British support
Set platform for Emancipation
Emancipation Proclamation
 Moral Cause for the War
 Emancipated slaves in the South, not border
states.
 Must win the war to have impact
 Prelude to the 13th Amendment
 Gave slaves a reason to rebel and join Union army.
Gettysburg
 The beginning of the
end
 3 days of battle
 South won first two
 North won the third
 Pushed Lee out of the
North and put South
back on the defensive.
 Turning point of the war.
War in the South
 Grant becomes Northern
commander
 Captures Vicksburg, MS
 Coincides with Gettysburg
 Sherman’s “March to the
Sea”
 Total War
 Scorches Atlanta to
Savannah
 Grant outlasts Lee
 Willing to continue the fight
 Knew North had more
troops and supplies
 Takes Richmond
Sherman’s “March to the Sea”
Southern Surrender?
 Appomattox Court
House
 Lee surrenders to Grant
in April 1865 (VA)
 Lincoln assassinated
 April 14, 1865
 Ford’s Theatre
 John Wilkes Booth
 Lincoln Martyred
 Radical Republicans use
death to support their
cause.
Outcome of Civil War
 Costs
 600,000 lives
 $15 million
 Animosity b/t North and South
 Benefits
 US resilience
 Abolished slavery
 US now major player in the world