Download Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation
• Republicans were divided on the issue of
slavery
• Strong Abolitionist versus those Republicans
like Lincoln
• Lincoln was an abolitionist but did not want to
endanger the loyalty of slave-holding border
states that had chosen to remain in the Union
• Northerners began to agree that slavery had
to end for two reasons
1. To punish the South
2. To make the soldiers’ sacrifices seem
worthwhile
 September 22, 1862, encouraged by the
Union victory at Antietam, Lincoln issue’s
the proclamation
 The decree freed all enslaved persons in
states still in rebellion after Jan. 1, 1863
Critical Issues
The proclamation did not address slavery in
the border states (Lincoln did not want to
endanger their loyalty to the Union)
The proclamation transformed the conflict
over preserving the Union into a war of
liberation
The proclamation energized Union forces
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
• Lincoln replaces McClellan with Ambrose
Burnside and urges him to destroy Lee’s army
• December 1862 at Fredericksburg, Burnside
orders a series of bloody assaults against Lee’s
forces(Union suffers 12K casualties)
• Distressed by the defeat, Lincoln replaces
Burnside with Joseph Hooker
• May 1863 at Chancellorsville, Lee’s troops
outnumbered 2-to-1, attack and force
Hooker’s Union army to retreat
The Siege of Vicksburg
• With the lower half of the Mississippi River under
control, Vicksburg was the last Confederate stronghold
on the river
• Grant’s first attempt failed due to swampy conditions
of the area
• May 1863, Grant launched two assaults that were
repulsed inflicting heavy casualties
• Grant decides the only way to take Vicksburg is by
siege (cut off food and supplies)
• On July 4, 1863, with Confederate troops and citizens
starving, Vicksburg surrenders
• With the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederacy has been
cut in half
Road to Gettysburg
• Lee sees another opportunity to invade the
North and to get needed supplies
• Foraging in Pennsylvania, Lee’s forces
encounter Union cavalry at the town of
Gettysburg
• Confederates push the Union troops out of
town, Union troops under the leadership of
General George Meade take positions in the
hills south of town
Battle of Gettysburg
• On July 3, 1863, Lee sends 15K men under the
leadership of General George E. Pickett to
break the Union line at Seminary Ridge
• The attack becomes known as “Pickett’s
Charge”
• Union cannons and guns inflict 7K casualties in
less than a half hour
• Less than 5k Confederates made it up the
ridge, the attack was thwarted
• Confederate casualties were estimated at 28K
Aftermath of Gettysburg
• Lee is forced to retreat and will be on the
defensive the rest of the war
• Gettysburg proves to be another turning point in
the war
In November 1863, President Lincoln comes to
Gettysburg to dedicate a portion of the battlefield
as a military cemetery
His speech becomes known as the “Gettysburg
Address” and is considered on of the best-known
orations in American history
Battle of Chickamauga
• Both sides know that the path to Atlanta leads
through Chattanooga because of the railroad
• Confederate troops launch an assault in
September 1863 at Chickamauga Creek just
outside of Chattanooga
• Union troops retreat to Chattanooga but find
themselves almost completely surrounded
Battle of Chattanooga
• Lincoln sends reinforcements and puts Grant
in command of Union forces in Chattanooga
• Late November 1863, Union forces attack
Confederate positions at Lookout Mountain,
forcing them to retreat
• Grant send 23K men up Missionary Ridge and
to their surprise, Confederates scattered
leaving Chattanooga to the Union army
Grant Becomes Commander
By the Spring of 1864, Grant has accomplished
two crucial objectives for the Union:
1. Capture of Vicksburg giving the Union control
of the Mississippi River
2. Victory at Chattanooga had secured eastern
Tennessee, clearing the way for an invasion
of Georgia
Lincoln promotes Grant to General-In-Chief of
the Union army