Download Louisiana`s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict

CHAPTER 10
LOUISIANA’S CIVIL WAR
ERA: CRISIS AND CONFLICT
Pages 310-343
Focus on Skills
Cause and Effect
Page 312
Section 1
The Road to War
Pages 313-320
Section 2
The War in Louisiana
Pages 321-331
Section 3
Civilian Life
Pages 332-337
Section 4
Wartime Governments
Pages 338-339
Meeting Expectations:
The Burning of Alexandria
Page 340
Chapter Summary
Page 341
Activities for Learning
Pages 342-343
Focus
Ask students how war can change
people’s lives. Make a list of their
ideas. Tell them that, as they read
about the Civil War, they should see
if that war changed lives in a similar
way.
10
Louisiana’s Civil
War Era: Crisis
and Conflict
Chapter
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students describe the
painting of Farragut’s fleet near New
Orleans.
Research Activity
Have students use the Internet or
other reference materials to research
the ironclad vessels used during the
Civil War. Find out how these vessels
were different from those used in
previous wars.
Reading Strategy
Chapter Preview
Terms: states’ rights, Missouri
Compromise, Compromise of
1850, abolitionists, secession,
propaganda, Confederate States
of America, enlist, bounty,
conscription, campaign, Bailey’s
dam, guerrilla, Confiscation Act,
Emancipation Proclamation
People: Abraham Lincoln,
Thomas Moore, P. G. T.
Beauregard, David Farragut,
Benjamin Butler, Ulysses S.
Grant, Nathaniel Banks, Michael
Hahn, Henry Watkins Allen
Places: Fort Jackson, Fort St.
Philip, Camp Walker, Camp
Moore, Port Hudson, Mansfield
310
T
he Morgans were a well-to-do family who lived in Baton Rouge.
Before the Civil War, Sarah Morgan lived the protected and sheltered
life of a southern girl of her background. Her expected role was to
become a lady, a wife, and a mother. She was educated mostly at
home, while her brothers went away for their education.
The Civil War changed Sarah’s life, as it changed the world around her.
She recorded these changes and her reactions in a detailed diary. The wellwritten journal reveals an intelligent, observant young woman with a complex
view of life.
In her diary, young Sarah described her grief over the death of her father
and her favorite brother just before the war began. She says “I was never a
secessionist, for I quietly adopted father’s views on political subjects . . . but
even father went over with his state.” Sarah’s brothers left to join the Confederate army, and she and her mother and sisters were left to struggle through
the war years.
Louisiana The History of an American State
Sarah supported the Confederacy and, like others, described the beginning of
the war as exciting. The first hardship was minor, just having to buy a pair of
boy’s shoes because the blockade meant no women’s shoes were available. But
soon she had to run from the city, wearing those ill-fitting shoes as the shells
fell in the streets around her family. Later in the war, the Morgan home was heavily
vandalized by Union soldiers, and almost everything was stolen or destroyed.
Even though she was a Confederate, Sarah considered the women who spit on
the Union soldiers to be unladylike and said, “This war has brought out wicked
and malignant feelings that I did not believe could dwell in woman’s heart.” She
reveals her empathy for the wives and mothers of the Union soldiers and says
the women of her community should help the wounded Union soldiers.
Near the end of the war, Sarah had learned of the death of her three brothers. She said, “My life changes, changes” as the war goes on and finally
reported learning of the end of the war. “Thursday the 13th came the dreadful
tiding of the surrender of Lee.”
Chapter 10
Above: “Farragut’s Fleet
Passing the Forts below New
Orleans,” painted by Mauritz
F. H. de Haas, depicts the
bombardment of Forts St.
Philip and Jackson by the
Union fleet.
Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
311
Reading Strategy
T310
You could also use a search
engine to find a diary of a
northerner and compare those two
documents. A good source is
scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/women
/cwdocs.html, which contains
letters, diaries, and documents of
both northerners and southerners.
Reading Strategy
TEACH
Making Connections/
Compare and Contrast
Review the life of Solomon
Northrup as described in Chapter 9.
Have students compare and contrast
his life with that of Sarah Morgan,
the daughter of a well-to-do
southern family.
Compare and Contrast
Have students compare the diary
of Sarah Morgan Dawson with
another Civil War personal recollection. One possible source is the
diary of Eliza Moore Chinn McHatten
Ripley found at docsouth.unc.edu
/ripleyflag/menu.html.
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Review the meaning of blockade.
Connect the effect of the blockade
during the Civil War to other
strategies.
Class Discussion
Class Discussion
Internet Activity
Critical Thinking
Ask students to
• describe the roles of wealthy
southern girls when they grew up.
(Knowledge)
• identify early problems the
Civil War created for southern
families. (Knowledge)
Go to docsouth.unc.edu/daw
son/dawson.html to find a copy
of the diary of Sarah Morgan
Dawson. You may want students
to read portions of the diary,
which covers the period from
1862 through May 1865.
Ask students how Sarah’s view
of the mistreatment of Union
soldiers was in keeping with her
upbringing.
Have students explain what
Sarah meant when she said, “This
war has brought out wicked and
malignant feelings that I did not
believe could dwell in a woman’s
heart.” Ask students if war today
brings out similar feelings.
Ask students how Sarah’s feelings
about the war changed over time.
(Comprehension)
BLM Assign A Civil War Vocabulary
from page 130 in the BLM book to
preview chapter vocabulary.
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Each Focus on Skills defines a skill,
gives the teacher an opportunity to
conduct a guided practice on the
skill, and finally allows students to
apply their understanding by practicing the skill on their own.
Try This!
Effects of Lincoln’s Election
1. Secession
2. Firing on Fort Sumter
CAUSE:
Emancipation Proclamation
EVENT:
Freed slaves in areas in rebellion
EFFECTS:
1. Kept Britain from entering the war
in support of the South.
2. More blacks joined Union army.
3. Former slaves were unsettled.
Defining the Skill
Historical events happen because something
makes them happen. Why an event happens is the
cause. What happens is the effect. The connection
between what happens and what makes it happen is
called the cause/effect relationship. Not all cause
and effect relationships are clearly defined. Additionally, an event may have more than one effect,
and an effect may have more than one cause. At
other times, an effect may not happen immediately.
In fact, an action may cause something to happen
days or even years later.
To help you recognize cause and effect, look for
• cue words or phrases, such as because, as a
result of, in order to, effects of, consequently, for this reason, since, as a
consequence, therefore;
• the word and or a comma instead of one or
more cue words;
• a longer text passage to read because it
may take several paragraphs to illustrate a
cause/effect relationship.
Cause
Split in Democratic Party
± ±
It’s Your Turn
Focus
on
Skills
Cause
and
Effect
Event
Election of Lincoln as President
Effects
312
SECTION 1
THE ROAD TO WAR
The Road to War
INTRODUCE
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. The Election of 1860
B. Heading to War
C. Secession
D. Building an Army
E. Gathering Supplies
• the results of the election of 1860,
• the steps leading to Louisiana’s secession,
• the ways in which Louisiana prepared for the war, and
• vocabulary terms states’ rights, Missouri Compromise,
Compromise of 1850, abolitionists, secession, propaganda,
Confederate States of America, enlist, bounty, and conscription.
The Civil War came after years of struggle over the issues of slavery and states’
rights. People who believed in the doctrine of states’ rights believed that the
states could block or overrule actions of the federal government. Some supporters of states’ rights also believed that states had the right to leave the Union.
Louisiana’s political leaders hoped the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 would protect slavery and preserve the Union. But the state’s
planters saw the increasing pressure from abolitionists as an economic threat.
Louisiana, like the other southern states, could not see the desolation that lay
ahead when it entered a war expected to last only a few weeks.
Materials
Above: Abraham Lincoln’s
election as president in 1860
drew the nation closer to war.
Figure 23 Timeline: 1860–1865
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Try This!
Copy the graphic organizer that follows on a separate sheet of paper. The Democratic Party split into
factions before the election of 1860. What happened
as a result of the split in the Democratic Party? The
result was that Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. Now, read pages 316-320
to find at least two effects that were brought about
because of Lincoln’s election. Record your findings
in the appropriate boxes.
1
Section
It’s Your Turn!
Draw a second graphic organizer on a separate
sheet of paper. Read pages 334-336 to determine
the effects of the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. On your graphic organizer, write “Emancipation Proclamation” in the first box. In the second
box, tell the result of the Emancipation Proclamation. Finally, in the last box, list at least three consequences of that action.
1861
Louisiana seceded (January)
Louisiana joined the
Confederacy (March)
Civil War began (April)
Union forces blockaded
New Orleans (May)
1860
1860
Lincoln elected
president
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
1862
Union Army took
New Orleans (April)
Capital moved to
Opelousas (May)
1861
1861
Battle of Bull Run
1863
Confederate
government moved to
Shreveport (January)
Confederates
surrendered Vicksburg
and Port Hudson
(July)
1862
1862
Battle of Shiloh
1864
Battles of Mansfield
and Pleasant Hill
(April)
1865
Lee surrendered to
Grant (April)
Confederates
surrendered at
Shreveport (June)
Textbook, pages 313-320
Blackline Masters
The Role of Compromise,
page 131
Political Oyster, page 132
The Election of 1860,
page 133
Antebellum Math,
page 134
The Economy of the
North and South, page 135
Both Sides of a Story,
page 136
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
1863
1864
1863
Battle of Gettysburg
1865
1864
Lincoln re-elected
Section 1 The Road to War
313
Write “Political Party” on the
board. Ask students what would
happen if members of the same
political party had very different
views on particular issues. Lead
them into a discussion of forming
new political parties. Ask if having a
number of political parties is a good
or bad thing. Have students give
reasons for their answers.
TEACH
Objectives
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 42: Analyze situations involving scarcity (limited resources) at the
individual, group, and societal levels to determine the need for choices or what is
gained/lost by a decision.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline.)
GLE 62: Construct a timeline of key events in Louisiana history.
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Reading Strategy
Skimming and Questioning
Have students skim the content
of Section 1 and write who, what,
and why questions that they will
answer as they read the material.
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to define states’
rights and secession. Ask them how
states’ rights supported secession.
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Cause and Effect
Class Discussion
As students read the material in
the section, ask them to analyze
cause and effect.
Guiding Question 7-9
Ask students to identify
• the candidates and their parties
in the election of 1860. (Knowledge)
• the person who was elected president in 1860. (Knowledge)
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to define
compromise. Ask them to give examples of times in which they have
compromised.
BLM Assign students Political
Oyster from page 132 in the BLM
book.
Internet Activity
Have students go to alpha.fur
man.edu/~benson/docs/repplat6
.htm to read a copy of the
Republican Party Platform in 1860.
Ask them to record the main beliefs
of the party.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• what state entered the Union as
a free state to maintain a balance
when Missouri was admitted as a
slave state. (Knowledge)
• to describe how the annexation
of lands after the Mexican-American
War reopened the slavery issue.
(Comprehension)
Addressing Learning Styles
Visual/Spatial
Have students make campaign
posters for one of the four candidates in the 1860 election.
Research Activity
Have students research one or
more of the following topics:
Compromise of 1820, Compromise
of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act. Have
students analyze the causes and
effects of these documents.
BLM Assign students The Election of
1860 from page 133 in the BLM
book.
Social Studies Skill
Reading Charts and Tables
Look at Figure 24 and ask
students
• to determine how many votes
were cast in Louisiana. (50,510)
• who received the most votes.
(Breckinridge)
• if any one candidate received a
majority of the vote. (No)
BLM Assign students The Role of
Compromise from page 131 in the
BLM book.
Guiding Question 7-9
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Ask students to record on an outline map of the United States the
boundary changes created by the
compromises of 1820 and 1850. Be
sure they include a key to distinguish between the two agreements.
Guiding Question 7-1
Critical Thinking
Ask students how the KansasNebraska Act was responsible for
forming a new political party. (Have
students compare the formation of
the new party with the formation of
the Whig Party and Know Nothing
Party as discussed in Chapter 9.)
T314
Objectives (Cont.)
Objectives (Cont.)
Writing Activity
GLE 63: Interpret data presented in a timeline correlating Louisiana, U.S., and
world history.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course
of Louisiana’s history.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical
research using a variety of
resources, and evaluate those
resources, to answer historical
questions related to Louisiana’s
history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who
were influential in Louisiana’s
development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the
importance of major events and
ideas in the development of
Louisiana.
Have students write a letter to
one of the presidential candidates
in the election of 1860.
Reading a Map
Have students look at Map 32
and determine which candidate
received most of the electoral vote.
(Lincoln) Ask students to list the
states that voted for each candidate.
T315
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to look at the portrait of Stephen A. Douglas. Why
would he receive most of the votes
in the area of the state that included Assumption and Ascension
parishes?
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Lincoln made a campaign promise not to abolish slavery where it
already existed but to prevent the
practice from spreading. Have students role-play a discussion in
response to Lincoln’s promise. Have
some students represent Louisiana’s
planters, plantation slaves, and
farmers without slaves.
Guiding Question 7-10
Lagniappe
The New Orleans Picayune
reported that most of
the Louisiana votes for
presidential candidate
Stephen A. Douglas (below)
were cast in Lafourche,
Assumption, and Ascension
parishes, and that section
of the state. This was
the area that depended on
the sugar tariffs.
Reading Strategy
Determining Bias
Building Vocabulary
Campaign speeches were filled
with bias and prejudice. Have students brainstorm a list of words that
could be considered biased. (Point
out the ones mentioned in the text
— honor, self-respect, and principle.)
Ask students to write a paragraph
using at least five words or phrases
that show bias.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Language Arts Have students
debate the topic “Resolved:
Louisiana Should Withdraw from the
Union.” (Be sure they include arguments in favor of staying in the
Union for the protective tariff and
leaving the Union on the principle
of states’ rights.) You might want to
make the debate part of a mock
secession convention.
Guiding Questions 7-3 and 7-11
T316
Handbill: A small printed sheet
distributed by hand
316
Lincoln’s election brought immediate reaction. One
New Orleans newspaper said the Republican Party opposed the “dignity, interest and well-being of Louisiana.” Another predicted, “You might as well try to
breathe life into a mummy of ancient Egypt as to expect the Union to be preserved.”
The South was filled with talk of secession (the
withdrawal of a state from the Union). The cry for secession spread as quickly as a yellow fever epidemic,
and the results were just as deadly. But in 1860 Louisianians could not see what lay ahead. They heard
speeches loaded with words like honor, self-respect, and
principle. They heard Lincoln labeled a “black Republican Abolitionist” who would end their way of life.
In St. Charles Parish, a man was ordered to leave because he cheered Lincoln. A Boston piano manufacturer in Shreveport was advised to leave town because
he was a known Lincoln supporter.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to look at the
illustration of the secession
convention. Ask them to describe
the mood of the meeting. Ask them
who might be seated in the balcony.
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• if anything could have been done
to prevent the Civil War.
• why many southerners did not
believe that secession would lead to
war.
Guiding Question 7-11
Heading to War
Was secession a right or was it treason? Southerners insisted that each state had the constitutional right
to withdraw from the Union. In the North, some said
“Let them go.” But others insisted the Union formed by the U.S. Constitution
could not be dissolved; secession would be treason. When he was inaugurated,
President Lincoln had sworn to “preserve, protect, and defend the Union.”
The election of a Republican president brought a swift reaction in Louisiana.
South Carolina had seceded on December 20, 1860. Louisiana’s governor and
legislature called for a special convention in Baton Rouge to vote on secession in
January 1861. The delegates to that convention held various views. Some wanted
the state to secede immediately. Others wanted to wait to see what the other
southern states did. A few announced their total opposition to secession.
Louisiana would lose much by leaving the United States. Although it was a
southern plantation state, Louisiana was different in important ways. New
Orleans depended on the commerce from the North, and the sugar planters
needed the protective tariff the federal government enforced. The other southern
states opposed tariffs because the tariffs did not help their economies.
Powerful propaganda influenced public opinion. (Propaganda is information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause.) A well-known
New Orleans minister preached a sermon supporting slavery and favoring secession. His message was reprinted on handbills and distributed around the
state. Some voices spoke against secession but soon realized they had no chance
to be heard. Some of these people later joined the Confederacy, but others
supported the Union throughout the war.
Class Discussion
Few secessionists believed that leaving the Union would bring war. Those
who did were not heeded. Richard Taylor, son of Zachary Taylor, warned that
war would follow secession. The New Orleans Picayune warned that the only
way the Union could be severed would be with a sword and a “baptism of blood.”
Even before the Secession Convention met, Governor Thomas Moore took
action against the Union. The state militia seized Fort Jackson and Fort St.
Philip, the two forts below New Orleans on the Mississippi River. Then the governor demanded the surrender of the federal arsenal at Baton Rouge. (The arsenal stored weapons and supplies for the federal troops stationed in Baton
Rouge.) Governor Moore justified his action to the legislature by saying he was
protecting Louisiana citizens “to prevent a collision between the federal troops
and the people of the state.”
Secession
On January 26, 1861, the Secession Convention voted 113 to 17 to adopt the
Ordinance of Secession. Judge James G. Taliaferro (TOL eh ver) of Catahoula Parish was the most outspoken opponent. He warned that secession threatened the
interests and the destiny of Louisiana. He predicted war, ruin, and decline. His
opinion, however, was not included in the official record of the proceedings.
Most of the state’s citizens celebrated secession. Pine torches lighted a night
parade in New Orleans. The governor called for homes and businesses to put
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Above: The legislature
debated secession then called
for a special convention.
Lagniappe
The Secession Convention
took only three days to make
the decision to secede.
Section 1 The Road to War
Ask students
• to identify military action in
Louisiana before the state seceded.
(Knowledge)
• when Louisiana formally seceded
from the Union. (Knowledge)
• who was one of the most outspoken critics of secession. (Knowledge)
• to evaluate the accuracy of
Taliaferro’s predictions. (Evaluation)
Multidisciplinary Activity
Math The vote to adopt the
Ordinance of Secession in Louisiana
was 113 in favor and 17 opposed.
What percentage of the delegates
voted to secede? (87%)
317
Group Project
Critical Thinking
Ask students if secession is a
right or treason. Have them give
reasons to support their answers.
Guiding Question 7-11
Note: The Louisiana Ordinance of
Secession is available as a source
document on the CD-ROM.
Research Activity
Ask students to use the
Internet or other reference materials to research Judge James G.
Taliaferro.
Guiding Question 7-12
Select four or five students to
“secede” from the class for a day.
Keep them isolated. Give other students (those in the Union) small
rewards, e.g., pencils, homework
passes. At the end of the period or
day, debrief the activity by asking
students how they felt.
T317
rounded by swamp and with no safe drinking water, the camp was a poor location for an army.
An area to the north of Lake Pontchartrain attracted the Confederate commanders to a site with
hills, tall pines, and good water. Camp Moore became
the main training location for Louisiana’s soldiers.
But life in any training camp was difficult. Providing adequate food and supplies was a constant problem. Diseases spread quickly through the troops.
Epidemics such as measles killed many soldiers before they ever left the camp.
Once war became the ugly reality of blood and
death, fewer men wanted to enlist (volunteer to join
the army). When the first soldiers left home, they
expected to return quickly. Instead, the war dragged
on and families suffered. To encourage enlistment,
the Confederate government paid a bounty and some
local governments paid additional bounties. The
bounty was a one-time reward for enlisting.
Finally, the Confederacy did not have enough volunteers. A draft or conscription required all men
of a certain age to enlist in the army. The conscription law included a substitution clause, which allowed a man to pay someone else to take his place.
Newspapers carried the names of men who were
willing to serve as substitutes. The Confederate draft
also exempted (excused) anyone owning twenty or
more slaves. This exemption and the right to pay a
substitute seemed to aim the conscription law at the poor man. Soldiers on
both sides called the Civil War “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.”
Economics Activity
Assign students Antebellum Math
on page 134 in the BLM book.
Social Studies Skill
Reading a Map
Have students look at Map 33
and Map 32 on page 315. Ask them
to calculate the number of electoral
votes of the original seven seceded
states. (47) What percentage of the
electoral vote was held by these
seven states? (15.5 percent)
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Give each student a card that has
the word NORTH or SOUTH written
on it. Designate one corner of the
room as AGREE and one corner as
DISAGREE. A mid-point between the
two extremes could be designated as
NEUTRAL. Then read a number of
statements relative to the Civil War
and have each student show his or
her position by standing in one
corner of the room. Students may
stand in the middle if they are not
sure. An example might be: “I favor
protective tariffs.” Some students
with SOUTH signs might go to
AGREE while others might go to
DISAGREE. This could generate
discussion about areas that
supported the tariff in the South.
Gathering Supplies
In 1861, Louisiana was ready for war only in attitude. But motivation alone
was not enough. The focus shifted frantically to equipment and supplies.
In the early days of the war, equipment and supplies were furnished by
parish governments, wealthy individuals, or the soldiers themselves. Although
Louisiana imported most finished goods, some manufacturing did exist.
A New Orleans factory switched from making clothing for plantations to
making uniforms. Converted factories made weapons from scrap iron collected
by the citizens.
Ranches in southwest Louisiana and Texas supplied the cattle for a slaughterhouse south of Alexandria. The beef was preserved by salting it. This method left
the meat tough and very salty, and the soldiers had to boil the meat for hours
before they could eat it. They learned to ignore the bugs floating on the water.
Geography Activity
Ask students
• why the location of Camp Walker
was unsatisfactory. (Place)
Guiding Question 7-2
• where the main training camp
was moved. (Location)
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
conscription. Have students
distinguish between enlisting in
the military and being drafted.
Ask students what incentives were
offered to entice men to enlist in
the army.
Have students describe the
substitute clause that was included
in the conscription law.
Critical Thinking
Above: Confederate General
P. G. T. Beauregard was born
in 1818 near New Orleans.
He commanded the artillery
that fired the first shots
of the Civil War at Fort
Sumter, South Carolina.
This statue of Beauregard
is located near the New
Orleans Museum of Art.
Section 1 The Road to War
319
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• identify people from Louisiana
who played a major role in the Civil
War. (Judah P. Benjamin, John
Slidell, Braxton Bragg, Leonidas
Polk, Richard Taylor, and P. G. T.
Beauregard) (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 7-10
• identify the location of the first
training camp in Louisiana.
• Ask students how the Civil War
was different from the expectations
of southerners.
• Children as young as twelve, and
thousands as young as sixteen,
fought in the Civil War. Ask students
if there should have been an age
limit in order to fight.
• Have students explain the phrase
“a rich man’s war and a poor man’s
fight.” Ask them if men should have
been given the opportunity to pay
others to take their places in the
army.
Guiding Question 7-11
Multidisciplinary Activity
Class Discussion
Research Activity
Research Activity
Economic Activity
Ask students how people in
Louisiana showed their support
for the Civil War. (Knowledge)
Have students research the
lives of Jefferson Davis and
Abraham Lincoln through 1860.
Then have them make a Venn diagram to compare and contrast
their lives.
Guiding Questions 7-10 and
7-12
Have students research the life
of P. G. T. Beauregard. One source
of information is www.civilwar
home.com/beaubio.htm.
Guiding Questions 7-10 and
7-12
Ask students
• how the factories in Louisiana
were changed by the war.
(Comprehension)
• how the changes were a result
of supply and demand.
(Application)
Guiding Question 7-4
Art (1) Have students make a
mobile illustrating either the advantages of the North or the advantages
of the South. (2) Have students
design a poster promoting the draft.
BLM Assign Both Sides of a Story
from page 136 in the BLM book.
BLM Assign The Economy of the
North and South from page 135 in
the BLM book.
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T319
2
Section
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe how meat was preserved
so it could be used in the military
camps. (Comprehension)
• explain how the diet of soldiers
might affect their health.
(Application)
• identify the role of women in the
Civil War. (Knowledge)
The War in Louisiana
Above: New recruits were
drilled at training sites, first
at the Metarie Race Track and
later at Camp Moore.
The salt for preserving the beef came
from several salt deposits around the
state. Brine (a mixture of salt and water) was pumped out of the ground and
Another source of salt
boiled down in kettles to get the salt.
during the Civil War was
Discovering the extensive salt deposDrake’s salt works in
its at Avery Island gave the ConfederBienville Parish.
ates a valuable resource.
The women of Louisiana also helped
“The Cause.” Ladies’ sewing circles
made uniforms and cartridge bags. Their new sewing machines became part of
assembly lines. But too soon the ladies stopped designing battle flags and began
making bandages. Monogrammed linen pillow cases became sandbags at Port
Hudson, and treasured carpets became blankets for freezing soldiers.
Lagniappe
Check for Understanding
Check for Understanding
T320
Outline
• the importance of the Mississippi River to both sides during
the war,
• the purpose of the Red River campaign, and
• vocabulary terms campaign and Bailey’s dam.
ASSESS
1. Slavery
2. Sugar planters needed
protective tariffs that
northern states supported
and southern states opposed;
New Orleans depended on the
commerce from the North.
3. Most of the citizens
celebrated secession.
4. Providing adequate food and
supplies and fighting diseases
and epidemics
5. They made uniforms and
cartridge bags, battle flags,
and bandages. They gave up
household items, e.g., pillow
cases and carpets, for the
cause.
INTRODUCE
As you read, look for:
Multidisciplinary Activity
Home Economics A number of
foods from the Civil War era may not
be familiar to students. Write the
following list on the board: cracklings, hush puppies, chitlins, dogers,
hog jowl, Johnny cakes, cobbler,
fatback, hog maws, okra, collard
greens, grits, Hoppin’ John, and salt
pork. Ask which ones students have
eaten. For those they have not
heard of, ask them to go to the
Internet to determine their origin.
SECTION 2
THE WAR IN LOUISIANA
The first eager volunteers from Louisiana fought with General Robert E. Lee’s
army in Virginia. One famous company was known as the Louisiana Tigers. They
gained a reputation as being wild and uncontrollable off the field but heroic
fighters once the battle began.
However, the bodies shipped home from Shiloh silently predicted what lay
ahead. This reality brought fear and anxiety. There were few troops left in
Louisiana for protection. The state was almost defenseless against an attack.
Below: This 1861 map
entitled “Panorama of the
Seat of War” gives a bird’s
eye view of the Gulf Coast of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Alabama.
Materials
Textbook, pages 321-331
Blackline Masters
United States – Which Side?,
page 137
Letters from the Battlefield,
page 138
Occupied Louisiana, page 139
Civil War Casualties, page 140
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Ask students to think about ways
to settle conflict peacefully. Have
them make suggestions for how the
differences between the North and
South might have been settled
peacefully.
1. What was the main issue in the 1860 election for president?
2. How would the Louisiana economy be affected if the state
seceded?
3. How did most people react to secession?
4. What problems were faced in the training camps?
5. How did women help prepare for war?
320
A. The Fall of New Orleans
B. Baton Rouge Falls
C. Battles along the Bayous
D. Taking the Mississippi River
1. Vicksburg
2. Port Hudson
3. The Red River Campaign
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Section 2 The War in Louisiana
321
TEACH
Critical Thinking
Alternative Assessment
Lesson Closure
Objectives
Make a set of Blue and Grey
cards and pass them out to students. (NOTE: Each student should
have one of each.) Then, read the
resources from the blackline master on page 135. Have students
hold up a BLUE card if the
resource refers to the North or a
GREY card if the resource refers to
the South. You might want to also
include names of people, places,
etc.
Have students respond in a
journal to this prompt: “Imagine
an issue or situation that would
divide the country so decisively
that one part might secede.”
Describe the situation.
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 6: Describe ways in which location and physical features have influenced historical events in Louisiana and the development of the state (e.g., Mississippi
River/swamp in the Battle of New Orleans).
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 57: Explain reasons for trade between nations and the impact of international trade.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline.)
Seventy-seven years before the
Civil War, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill to prevent slavery from
any other states entering the Union.
The bill failed by one vote. Ask
students if the Civil War could have
been avoided if the bill had passed.
BLM Assign United States – Which
Side? from page 137 in the BLM
book. (NOTE: This activity asks students to identify the Confederate
states, the Union states, and the
territories. It should be used as a
review of the previous section.)
Guiding Question 7-1
T321
The Fall of New Orleans
Reading Strategy
Point of View
Read the following excerpt from a
Massachusetts private describing the
Battle at Gettysburg: “The hoarse
and indistinguishable orders of commanding officers, the screaming and
bursting of shells, canister and shrapnel as they tore through the struggling masses of humanity, the death
screams of wounded animals, the
groans of human companions,
wounded and dying and trampled
underfoot by hurrying batteries,
riderless horses, and the moving lines
of battle—a perfect Hell on earth,
never, perhaps, to be equaled, certainly not to be surpassed, nor ever
to be forgotten in a man’s lifetime. It
has never been effaced from my
memory, day or night, for fifty
years.” (Taken from www.carroth
ers.com/billyboy/civwar.htm.) Ask
students what adjectives come to
mind when listening to this
description. Ask them what point
the author makes.
Research Activity
Have students use the Internet or
other reference sources to research
major battles of the Civil War outside Louisiana. Have them find the
locations, leaders, number of casualties, and results. Have them compare these battles to the ones
fought in Louisiana.
Guiding Question 7-7
The port of New Orleans was a key location for the state and for the Confederacy. The Union navy had already blocked the mouth of the Mississippi. If the
Union could seize the city, the Confederacy would be crippled.
General Beauregard had warned the Confederate government
not to leave New Orleans unguarded. But Confederate President Davis thought the Union would attack from upriver. The
Confederate navy was not sent to protect New Orleans.
South of the city, the Confederates held the river with Fort
Jackson and Fort St. Philip. They added to the defense by
blocking the river with chains. Cypress rafts carrying pine
knots and cotton ready for burning were added to the defense
efforts.
The Union threat came when the United States Navy sent
forty-seven ships under the command of Admiral David
Farragut up the river. Farragut ordered David Porter, the commander of the Union gunboats, to open fire on the two forts
on April 18, 1862. The constant shelling was heard fifty miles
away. One soldier described the noise as being like an earthquake. But the forts held.
On the night of April 23, Farragut decided to take his ships
past the forts. Exploding shells lit the night to the brightness
of day. The Confederates at the forts saw excitement and fear
on the faces around them. When the Union ships broke the
Confederate chain, no barriers were left between the Union
fleet and New Orleans.
The river was high with spring floods, and the ships easily sailed up the
river. Union gunboats faced directly into Jackson Square. The church bells
warned that the city had fallen. The children and teachers in their schoolrooms
counted the twelve bells and left their books, crying “The Yankees are here.”
Panic filled New Orleans.
Once the people knew the city was lost, they made sure the Union army
could not seize their valuable goods. The wharf blazed with 29,000 bales of
burning cotton. The huge fire also consumed warehouses filled with rice, corn,
sugar, and tobacco. An amazed onlooker reported that molasses flowed in the
gutters. The wealth of the city was destroyed.
On May 1,1862, Union General Benjamin Butler took command of the city.
The residents lived through the war in an occupied city, isolated from the rest
of Louisiana.
Baton Rouge Falls
Admiral Farragut then headed up the Mississippi to take the state capital.
Union gunboats fired on the unprotected city, which surrendered on May 7,
1862. The Union army moved in to hold the location.
The Confederates under General John Breckinridge tried to retake Baton
Rouge on August 5. They attacked by land from the east, but the Union gunboats stopped their drive at the river. The Confederate ironclad Arkansas headed
south from Vicksburg to join the attack. But it did not reach Baton Rouge. As
the ship rushed south from Vicksburg, its engine overheated. The Arkansas
was burned to keep it out of Union hands.
The Union army left Baton Rouge on August 21, because the Confederates
threatened to recapture New Orleans. But federal troops returned to Baton Rouge
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Lagniappe
Both Fort Jackson and Fort
St. Philip were built by
the United States before the
War of 1812.
Below: The Confederate
ironclad Arkansas was
burned to keep it from
Union hands.
Above: Admiral David
Farragut led forty-seven
Union ships up the
Mississippi River, capturing
New Orleans. Right: In this
engraving, the Confederate
ship Governor Moore is
firing through its bow at
the Union ship Varuna.
322
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Section 2 The War in Louisiana
323
Have students look at the
engraving of the battle between the
Governor Moore and the Varuna on
page 322. Ask them what happened
to the Varuna.
Have students look at the
illustration of the Arkansas on page
323. Ask them how this ship is different from the ones pictured on
page 322. Why would the
Confederates burn their own ship?
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• explain how the Confederacy
would be crippled if the Union
gained control of the port at New
Orleans. (Comprehension)
• tell how geography aided the
Union fleet at New Orleans.
(Comprehension)
Guiding Question 7-2
• explain what the people in New
Orleans did to prevent the Union
troops from gaining greater advantages from the fall of New Orleans.
(Comprehension)
• name the Union commander who
took command of New Orleans.
(Knowledge)
• explain how New Orleans became
isolated from the rest of the
Confederacy when it fell into Union
hands. (Application)
Social Studies Skill
Critical Thinking
It is said the boys of the South
went to war with their feet planted
firmly in the clouds. Ask students to
explain the meaning of the
statement.
T322
Objectives (Cont.)
Objectives (Cont.)
Internet Activity
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 75: Describe the contributions of ethnic groups significant in Louisiana
history.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts in context of Louisiana history (e.g., Rebellion
of 1768, the French and Indian War).
GLE 78: Describe and analyze
the impact of Louisiana’s
geographic features on historic
events, settlement patterns,
economic, development, etc.
GLE 79: Explain how Louisiana’s
natural resources shaped its
history (e.g., petroleum).
Have students go to www.any
thingarkansas.com/arkapedia/pe
dia/CSS_Arkansas/ to find
information on the Confederate
ironclad Arkansas. Have them
use a search engine to find the
dimensions of a ship in service
today. Compare the information
on the two ships.
Guiding Question 7-12
Drawing a Political Cartoon
Have students draw a political
cartoon to represent their stand on
the Civil War.
T323
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Reading Strategy
Ask students how this illustration
shows how close the war was to
civilians.
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to define the word
siege. Have them give examples of a
siege.
Reading Strategy
Reading Strategy
Cause and Effect
Ask students to identify the
effects of the fall of Baton Rouge.
Guiding Question 7-9
Point of View
Divide the class into two groups.
Ask students to go to www.civilwar
home.com/siegeofvicksburg.htm
to find links to a description of the
Battle of Vicksburg from the
viewpoint of a Confederate and a
description from the viewpoint of a
northerner. Have half the class read
one version and the other half the
second version. Ask them to summarize the main ideas. As students
report their findings, compare the
two accounts.
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to define the term
hogshead. See if they can find the
derivation of the term. (NOTE: The
term signifies a measure of weight
associated with a barrel containing
approximately 50 gallons of dry or
liquid material.)
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Have students locate major battles on an outline map of Louisiana.
Note which parishes or sections of
the state saw the most fighting.
Guiding Question 7-1
Above: Union soldiers
preparing supper accidentally
started a fire in the State
Capitol. The fire totally
gutted the building.
A hogshead of sugar weighed
1,000 pounds.
Critical Thinking
Have students describe what
advantage the Union would have as
a result of stranding Arkansas,
Texas, and Louisiana.
Ask students why the Union
strategy was called the “Anaconda
Plan.”
before the year’s end. In December 1862, the State Capitol burned, and many
official state records were lost. The fire was apparently caused by careless troops.
Social Studies Activity
Battles along the Bayous
Reading a Map
Have students look at Map 34
and answer the following questions:
• What railroad would be affected
by the control of Vicksburg?
• What role did the Mississippi
River play in the battle?
Guiding Question 7-1
In the fall of 1862, General Butler turned his attention to the rich Bayou
Lafourche. This plantation region helped support the Confederate army. Butler
wanted to seize the riches and supplies of the region for the Union army. He
ordered that any goods belonging to “disloyals” along the bayou be confiscated
(seized). This included the valuable hogsheads of sugar ready for shipping.
As the Union and Confederate armies moved through southeast Louisiana,
they fought along Bayou Lafourche and Bayou Teche. The residents of this region
faced either battles or an occupying Union army during most of the war.
Taking the Mississippi River
Union General Winfield Scott advised President Lincoln to take the Mississippi River. Early in the war, the Union’s strategy was to block all of the Confederate ports and seize the Mississippi. Taking control of the river would split
the Confederacy in two, leaving Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana stranded. This
324
Writing Activity
Have students write journal
entries as civilians from Vicksburg
during the time the city was under
siege. Have them describe how the
siege affected the residents. (NOTE:
You may want to have them read an
account of the siege at www.civilw
arhome.com/insidevicksburg.htm)
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Internet Activity
Have students use a search
engine to view photos from the Civil
War. Ask students to examine the
photos and choose one to analyze
the message it portrays.
T324
Lagniappe
Research Activity
Geography Activity
During the Battle of
Gettysburg, in which so many
soldiers died, only one civilian
was killed. Twenty-year-old Jennie
Wade was in her kitchen making
bread when a Confederate bullet
came through her door and killed
her.
Have students use a search
engine or other reference
materials to research the Battle
of Gettysburg. Have students
compare the two battles that
were fought on the same day.
Guiding Question 7-12
Ask students to explain the
role geography played in the siege
at Vicksburg. How did geography
affect the battle strategy? How
did man plan to change the
geography in order to achieve
their objective?
Guiding Question 7-2
T325
their trenches. An official dispatch from General
Grant informed General Franklin Gardner, the
Confederate commander, that the Union had
taken Vicksburg. General Gardner then surrendered to General Banks. The long siege at Port
Hudson ended on July 9. Later, Lincoln praised
the Union victory by announcing, “The father of
waters again flows unvexed to the sea.” The Union
now had full control of the Mississippi River.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• name the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.
(Knowledge)
• identify how long the siege of
Port Hudson lasted. (Knowledge)
• describe the problems soldiers
faced in the hot Louisiana summer.
(Comprehension)
Above: Union troops under
General Augur cross Bayou
Montecino on their way to
Port Hudson, the last
Confederate stronghold on
the Mississippi River.
Research Activity
Have students research Civil War
battles that were fought in
Louisiana. An Internet site that
contains the names of the battles
and their locations is americancivil
war.com/statepic/la.html. You may
want to show students the map on
the web site and then assign them
or have them select one of the
battles to research.
Guiding Questions 7-1, 7-12
BLM Assign Letters from the
Battlefield from page 138 in the BLM
book.
T326
• On November 26, 1860, a meeting
was held in the Bossier Parish
community of Rocky Mount. At this
meeting, the men voted to secede
from the Union. The Red River
Volunteers of Bossier were formed
with sixty-eight members.
• Firing during battles was so
inaccurate that some historians
estimate that 240 pounds of
gunpowder and 900 shots of lead
were used for each Confederate
soldier killed.
The Red River Campaign
Multidisciplinary Activity
Language Arts Have students write
a newspaper article describing the
siege of Port Hudson or Vicksburg.
Have students write a letter from
Port Hudson to Vicksburg describing
their conditions. Have some students respond from Vicksburg.
Compare the conditions described.
Math At Port Hudson, the Union
army numbered 30,000, while the
Confederates had 6,800 troops. How
much larger (in percentage) was the
Union army? (The Union army had
82% of the troops, while the
Confederates had 18%. Therefore,
the Union army had 64% more
troops.)
Lagniappe
326
Port Hudson
At Port Hudson, 150 miles south of Vicksburg, the Confederates had stopped
Union forces from moving supplies upriver to Grant’s army. The fort controlled
a large bend in the river. From its high bluffs, the Confederates fired on Union
ships heading north from New Orleans. An assault by the Union navy failed to
silence the Confederate guns.
The next Union attack came by land. On May 23, 1863, General Nathaniel
Banks surrounded Port Hudson, trapping the Confederate army within the
earthworks (embankments) and trenches. For forty-eight days (the longest siege
of the Civil War), the 30,000-member Union army assaulted the 6,800 Confederates troops.
In the hot Louisiana summer, soldiers collapsed from the heat and sickened
from the bad water. The tiniest enemies—mosquitoes and lice—tormented both
armies. The worst were the snapping beetles, which crawled into the ears of
sleeping soldiers. Surrounded on all sides by Union troops, the barefoot and
ragged Confederate troops ran out of food. Their hunger forced them to eat
the horses, the mules, and finally the rats.
Despite these hardships, the Confederates held out until they learned that
Vicksburg had fallen on July 4. A Union officer claimed he informed the Confederates by wrapping the surrender notice around a stick and throwing it into
The final Union campaign in Louisiana headed
toward Shreveport and Texas. (A campaign is a
military plan with a specific goal that may have
several battles in more than one location.) By 1864,
Shreveport was the Confederate capital of Louisiana and the headquarters for the Confederate command west of the Mississippi. The Confederates
shipped cotton from Shreveport through Texas to
Mexico. Eager European buyers bought all the
cotton the southerners could supply. Often, the
cotton was exchanged for essential supplies.
The Union planned to seize the cotton from
the Red River Valley and then take Shreveport.
To prepare for this assault, federal troops moved north along Bayou Teche. Along
the way, the Union army seized horses and anything else they found useful.
After they had passed, the people along the bayou had little left.
From there, the federal army headed to Alexandria. The Union navy’s gunboats moved up the Red River to join them. On March 16, 1864, Union forces
took Alexandria. General Banks then led his troops upriver to Natchitoches. He
turned away from the river and headed toward Shreveport, choosing the shorter
and more traveled route. When Banks moved his army away from the river, he
lost the protection of Admiral Porter’s gunboats. Confederate General Richard
Taylor used this to his advantage. The outnumbered Confederates, led by General Taylor, waited for Banks in the wooded hills forty miles south of Shreveport.
The fierce Battle of Mansfield was fought on April 8, 1864. The Confederate
cavalry and infantry charged the Union forces, following Taylor’s orders to draw
first blood. Their respected General Alfred Mouton was killed as he led his men
in battle. Later, General Taylor commented, “The charge made by Mouton across
the open was magnificent.” More than 1,500 Union soldiers were killed,
wounded, or captured.
Amid the confusion, General Banks called for a night retreat. At Pleasant
Hill, twenty-two miles further south, Taylor again struck the Union army. This
battle had no clear winner, but Banks continued retreating.
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Class Discussion
The surrender of Vicksburg was
announced by a Union soldier,
who wrapped the surrender notice
around a stick and threw it into
the Confederate trenches. Have
students discuss this manner of
surrender with that of today.
Class Discussion
Above: At the Battle of
Mansfield, Confederate
forces were led by General
Richard Taylor, the son of
President Zachary Taylor. The
Confederate victory stopped
the Union from advancing
into Texas.
Lagniappe
Confederate cotton was
shipped out of the port at
Brownsville, Texas.
Section 2 The War in Louisiana
BLM Assign students Civil War
Casualties from page 140 in the
BLM book.
327
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Give students an outline map
of Louisiana and ask them to draw
the route the Union troops
followed in their quest to capture
Shreveport.
Guiding Question 7-1
Ask students to
• identify the final Union campaign
in Louisiana. (Knowledge)
• name the Confederate capital of
Louisiana. (Knowledge)
• identify the areas the Union
troops moved through on their way
to capturing Shreveport.
(Knowledge)
• identify the major military figures
in the final campaign in Louisiana.
(Knowledge)
Economic Activity
Ask students why
• the South maintained trade with
Europe during the Civil War.
• the South had to send their cotton to Europe through Mexico.
Guiding Question 7-6
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Have students propose routes,
other than through Mexico, that
southerners might have used to
trade with Europe.
Guiding Question 7-3
BLM Assign students Occupied
Louisiana from page 139 in the BLM
book.
T327
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students describe the
assault on Port Hudson. Ask them
to generate a list of sensory words
to describe the scene.
Writing Activity
Ask students to recall what they
know about the Battle of Fort
McHenry during the War of 1812.
(Lead them to remember its influence on the writing of the “Star
Spangled Banner”). Ask students to
write a poem about the bombardment of Port Hudson from looking
at the picture.
Have students read an account of
the Battle of Port Hudson and then
write a newspaper article reporting
the main facts of the battle. (An
account of the battle may be found
at www.crt.state.la.us/crt/
parks/porthud/pthudson.htm).
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Ask students to research and
then draw pictures of the uniforms
that were worn in the Civil War.
Have them draw either Confederate
or Union uniforms.
Lagniappe
Two African American regiments
were chosen to participate in the
assault on Port Hudson. The First
and Third Louisiana Native Guards
led an attack against a well-fortified
Confederate position. This action,
which was applauded in the North,
led to the acceptance of African
American troops into the war effort.
After the siege, the garrison at Port
Hudson became a recruiting center
for African American troops until
1866.
T328
Spotlight
Hudson
Port
The town of Port Hudson is gone, but
the Civil War site is today a State Commemorative Area and a National Historic Landmark. The wooded, wellkept park has over six miles of hiking
trails. You can climb the earthworks
and hide in the trenches prepared by
the Confederate soldiers. You will hear
birds, the wind in the trees, and children laughing and roughhousing.
You will not hear the boom of cannons and shouted warnings like “Rats,
Above: Civil War enthusiasts portray
Confederate infantry at a re-enactment
of the battle of Port Hudson. Right:
This painting depicts the U.S. Navy’s
assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana.
328
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
to your holes” as you and your fellow Confederates
scramble into the trenches. You will not hear the
ping of rifle fire, as you look frantically for a hidden
sniper. You will not see a moss-covered Confederate
hiding in a cypress tree. You will not hear an order
to advance and join the charge of your fellow soldiers in the Corps d’Afrique. You are more than a
century too late. The sounds and the sights of the
summer of 1863 are gone. You can only imagine the
experience.
To hear the horror of war, imagine the boys who
laughed and roughhoused here in 1863. Some of
them were as young as thirteen years old, and many
were not yet twenty. The young soldiers waited for
battle by sharing the games they played at home.
Marbles and leapfrog filled time in the summer heat.
The Union troops even played their new game of
baseball. They played their games one day and died
from sniper bullets the next. They now fill the cemetery next to the battle site.
Section 2 The War in Louisiana
329
Research Activity
Port Hudson no longer exists,
although there is a commemorative
site located where it once was. Have
students research other sites in
Louisiana (cities, towns) that no
longer exist or that have had their
names changed.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to compare the
illustration on this page with those
on pages 322 and 323. Ask them to
identify similarities and differences.
Ask them why most of the
illustrations show a nighttime event.
Multidisciplinary Activity
Language Arts Ask students to
imagine they are visiting one of the
battlefields in Louisiana. Have them
tell a story that might have been
told by someone who was there
during a battle. (NOTE: You might
want to have them locate on the
Internet battlefields that have been
preserved. As they tell their story,
show a picture of the now-quiet
battlefield in the background.)
Internet Activity
Have students go to american
civilwar.com/statepic/index.html
to find links to Civil War battles in
each state. Ask them to choose one
state and compare the battles there
with the ones in Louisiana. (NOTE:
They can call up Louisiana from the
same site to get the information to
use in the comparison.)
T329
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Have students read the description of a wing dam and make a
sketch showing how it worked.
Ask students to write captions
for the photos found on this page.
Have students locate other
pictures of Civil War scenes.
ASSESS
Multidisciplinary Activity
Check for Understanding
Language Arts Have students
pretend they are going to interview
a Confederate soldier. Ask them to
write questions they would ask in
the interview.
1. New Orleans provided access
to the Mississippi River. If
the city were seized, the
Confederacy would be
crippled.
2. They did not want the goods
to fall into Union hands.
3. Taking control of the
Mississippi would split the
Confederacy in two, leaving
Arkansas, Texas, and
Louisiana stranded.
4. The fall of Vicksburg
5. He lost the protection of
Admiral Porter’s gunboats.
Internet Activity
Have students go to www.sulli
vanballou.info/letter_2.html to
read a letter written by Sullivan
Ballou to his wife Sarah. The letter
is typical of the correspondence
between soldiers and their loved
ones. The letter was written in 1861
— in the early stages of the war.
Ballou was killed at Bull Run
(Manassas) a week after writing the
letter. (NOTE: You could make copies
of the letter for the students to use
in class.)
Ask students to describe the tone
of the letter. Have them explain the
soldier’s view of the war, his
country, and his family.
Lagniappe
General Banks wanted to
build a political career and
run for president.
Alternative Assessment
Group Activity
Have students find examples of
Civil War lyrics or poetry. A good
site is www.civilwarpoetry.org/,
which has links to music as well as
Confederate poetry and Union
poetry. Have each member of the
group choose a poem or song and
share it with other members of the
group. Then, ask the group to select
the song or poem that they believe
is most representative of the times.
Share the song or poem chosen as
the most representative from each
group with the class.
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330
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Addressing Learning Styles
Multidisciplinary Activity
Class Discussion
Geography Activity
Visual/Spatial
Have students make a class
bulletin board of Civil War
pictures. (NOTE: The pictures
could be placed on a large map of
Louisiana to illustrate where
various events took place or they
could be made into a collage.)
Music Have students find
examples of Civil War music. Play
excerpts and ask students to
interpret the words.
Ask students to
• identify the engineering feat
that permitted the Union troops
to leave Alexandria. (Knowledge)
• describe the Union troops’ final
action in the Red River expedition. (Comprehension)
Have students brainstorm a list
of physical features in Louisiana
that affected the war, e.g.,
crossing the Red River. Ask them
to select one feature and explain
its effect on the war. (NOTE: You
might want to ask the students to
draw a picture to illustrate the
point.)
Guiding Question 7-2
The inscription on the monument
to the dead of the Confederate
States Army, at Arlington National
Cemetery in Washington, D.C., reads:
Not for fame or reward,
Not for place or for rank,
Not lured by ambition,
Or goaded by necessity,
But in Simple
Obedience to Duty
As they understood it,
These men suffered all,
Sacrificed all,
Dared all — and died.
Ask students what this inscription
means, using information from the
section to validate their answers.
Lesson Closure
Have students identify causes in
the world today for which people
are willing to die. Have them
complete journal entries in which
they discuss whether they would
respond in the same way in those
situations.
T331
SECTION 3
CIVILIAN LIFE
3
Section
INTRODUCE
Civilian Life
Outline
As you read, look for:
A. Shortages and Sacrifices
B. Freeing the Slaves
C. Secession
D. Life in Occupied New Orleans
• the effects of the war on civilian life, and
• vocabulary terms guerrilla, Confiscation Act, and
Emancipation Proclamation.
Materials
Textbook, pages 332-337
Blackline Masters
Memories of the War,
page 141
Civil War Math, page 142
General Butler’s Letter,
page 143
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Ask students what they know
about a drought. Ask them to define
the term and list characteristics of a
drought. Tell them that the Union
policy in destroyed parts of
Louisiana was known as a scorched
earth policy. Ask them to predict
how the scorched earth created by
the Union armies is like a drought.
(NOTE: You might ask them to
describe what happens in each
instance and mention that a
drought is a natural phenomenon
while scorched earth is manmade.)
Above: Union troops pillaged
the countryside while they
were in the state. Troops,
like these shown near
Baton Rouge, left little for
the civilian population.
332
Not all guerrillas were Union sympathizers. Later in the war, the citizens
in the Florida Parishes asked for protection from the Union soldiers. ConThere was such a shortage
federate officers gave their approval for
of coal during the war
guerrilla activity. These irregulars were
that southerners mixed coal
often hard to control. They took no
dust, sawdust, sand, and
prisoners and sometimes bushwhacked
wet clay for fuel. These
their enemies by hiding in the bushes
were labeled “fireballs.”
and shooting them in the back.
It wasn’t only the Union army that
brought misery to the people. Confederate troops also foraged (searched) for
food, horses, and cattle. The shortages caused by the war forced them to take
their supplies from the people. “Hungry Confederate troops took what the
Yankees had left,” said one farm woman.
Class Discussion
Lagniappe
Whatever southerners’ reasons were
for entering the war, defending their
homes became the reason for continuing. The Union policy of total war
destroyed parts of Louisiana. The purpose of this “scorched earth policy”
was to leave nothing for the Confederates to use to make war. The Union
also intended to end the war sooner
by making life miserable for the
civilians.
Some troops were ordered to pillage (to take goods by force), but others vandalized even against orders.
Federal troops were sent to destroy a
railroad bridge at Pontchatoula. Instead, they destroyed the town. The
uncontrolled vandalism fueled the civilians’ hatred. Mailbags were slit open,
and mail scattered in the streets. Private homes were ransacked and treasured
possessions were lost.
At Baton Rouge, a Union officer filed a complaint about the looting done by
a Massachusetts company. But another officer said he deliberately left “nothing but blackened chimneys as monuments to the folly and villainy of the
owners.” Baton Rouge was saved from burning only when another officer reminded General Butler about the orphanage there.
Another threat to the citizens came from the Jayhawkers. Confederates labeled these men draft dodgers, but they called themselves irregular guerrillas.
A guerrilla is a member of a small military group that harasses the enemy.
Some Jayhawkers helped the Union army, and some just hid out. But others
robbed their neighbors. The Catahoula and the Pearl River swamps harbored
gangs of these men. These were often the poor whites who felt that this was
not their war.
Shortages and Sacrifices
Once the war began, people at home suffered. The federal blockade of New
Orleans at the beginning of the war quickly created shortages. Ships could not
reach the city with needed goods. For a city based on trade, the blockade was
a death grip. Speculators drove up the prices of basic goods. Counterfeiters
made Confederate money even more inflated and worthless.
Shortages affected every area of life. People were hungry for war news, but
newspapers struggled to survive. A shortage of paper forced The Weekly News
Ask students to
• describe the actions of guerrillas
during the Civil War.
(Comprehension)
• explain why the Confederates
stole from their own people.
(Comprehension)
BLM Assign students Memories of
the War from page 141 in the BLM
book.
Below: The Federal naval
blockade of New Orleans
was a death threat for the
city. This painting by
William Challoner shows the
Confederate sidewheeler
Webb attempting to run the
blockade.
Making Connections/
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to define the term
vandalism and give examples of it.
Ask them to give examples of vandalism during the Civil War and
compare it to vandalism today.
Ask students how those who are
affected by vandalism react to it. Do
people today react in the same way?
T332
Ask students to describe the
effect of the Union blockade. (Prices
increased as a result of supply and
demand.) You may want students to
find examples of cause and effect in
this section to reinforce a skill
introduced earlier.
Guiding Questions 7-4, 7-5
Ask students how counterfeiters
caused Confederate money to
become less valuable. (This could be
another example of cause and
effect.)
Lagniappe
An estimated 6,000 vessels carrying $200 million in goods escaped
through the blockade.
Internet Activity
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Section 3
Civilian Life
333
TEACH
Reading Strategy
Critical Thinking
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 42: Analyze situations involving scarcity (limited resources) at the
individual, group, and societal levels to determine the need for choices or what is
gained/lost by a decision.
GLE 51: Use economic concepts (e.g., scarcity, opportunity cost) to explain
historic and contemporary events and developments in Louisiana.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline.)
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course of
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 75: Describe the contributions of ethnic groups significant in Louisiana
history.
Have students go to www.civil
warhome.com/warcosts.htm to
find information on the cost of the
Civil War in terms of money and
lives. Ask students to make a
graphic representation to show
these costs.
BLM Assign Civil War Math from
page 142 in the BLM book.
T333
of Shreveport to become the Semi-Weekly News. The editor was finally forced
to print his newspaper on the back of wallpaper rolls!
Imported coffee was also not available. Acorns, parched cornmeal, and okra
seeds were all tried as substitutes. These “make do” products were soon
labeled “Confederate.” For example, a Confederate bridle was a rope halter,
and a Confederate bonnet was a simple hat woven of
palmetto fronds. Confederate flour was poor quality
cornmeal.
The items that were available were often so inflated
in price that few could buy them. The price of a dozen
eggs reached $5, as did a pound of butter. An apple
cost 50 cents—if one could be found. Often there was
no flour, sugar, or meat available at any price. High
prices, almost worthless Confederate money, and a
shortage of money choked the economy.
As the war dragged on, people reverted to the skills
of the past to make what they needed. The oldest
women in the communities remembered how to weave
cloth on the old looms and the plant dyes used to
color the hand-woven cloth. Confederate Governor
Allen encouraged this home manufacturing.
Class Discussion
Ask students to describe problems with communications during
the Civil War. (Comprehension)
Multidisciplinary Activity
Language Arts/Art Have students
create a newspaper page as it might
have looked during the Civil War,
e.g., on the back of a piece of
wallpaper.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe how southerners had to
create “make do” products.
(Knowledge)
• identify costs of various products.
Guiding Question 7-4
Above: Some former slaves
worked for the Union Army.
These helped dig General
Grant’s canals at Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
Addressing Learning Styles
Visual/Spatial
Have students draw pictures
illustrating changes in
manufacturing in the South.
Guiding Question 7-4
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Ask students what happens if
someone confiscates something.
Have them apply this knowledge to
generate a definition for the
Confiscation Act.
Writing Activity
Have students write journal
entries describing the feelings of a
newly freed slave as he or she tried
to adjust to a new way of life.
T334
Class Discussion
Below: The Louisiana Native
Guard, composed of free
men of color, served first the
Confederacy and later the
Union.
334
Ask students to
• describe various jobs undertaken
by freed slaves. (Comprehension)
• explain how the Emancipation
Proclamation made slavery the main
issue of the Civil War.
(Comprehension)
• explain why the Louisiana Native
Guard changed its allegiance from
the Confederates to the Union.
(Comprehension)
Critical Thinking
Ask students
• to determine the importance of
the Emancipation Proclamation.
• how the outcome of the war
might have been affected by
England’s participation.
• what might have happened if the
South had laid down its arms before
or after the issuance of the
Emancipation Proclamation.
Guiding Question 7-1
Freeing the Slaves
Economic Activity
Ask students how manufacturing
in the South changed during the
Civil War. Have them give specific
examples.
Guiding Question 7-4
were assigned to work with the military. They built forts on the Red River and
dug Grant’s canals at Vicksburg. Some of the slaves were paid low wages to
work on the plantations seized by the Union.
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln acted boldly to increase pressure on
the Confederacy. With his Emancipation Proclamation, he made slavery the
issue of the war. He stated that all slaves “within any state . . . under rebellion
against the United States” were now free. Lincoln’s proclamation kept Great
Britain from entering the war on the side of the Confederates. The British
economy needed southern cotton, but the British people would not support
slavery.
As the war continued, both the former slaves and the free men of color were
allowed to join the Union army. At the beginning of the war, Louisiana’s Native
Guards (the militia composed of free men of color) helped the Confederacy
protect New Orleans. The grandfathers of these men had formed the Native
Guards to defend the city at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. But in 1862,
after New Orleans fell to Union forces, the free people of color aligned themselves with the Union army. They approached General Butler and volunteered
to fight with his army.
Life for the slaves during the war years was filled
with hope, fear, confusion, and disappointment. When
the Union army arrived, slaves came to them seeking freedom. At first they were told to return to the
plantations.
Later, General Butler followed his contraband policy. That is, he gave his
soldiers the right to take any Confederate-owned property, including slaves.
This was his interpretation of the Confiscation Act. This law, passed by the
U.S. Congress in July 1862, said that the property of rebels could be taken by
the government.
Thousands of slaves flocked to the Union camps. As the Union army moved
through the Teche region, a huge group of slaves followed. Union soldiers wrote
about lines of slaves that were longer than the columns of marching troops.
Sometimes they came with a few possessions in a bundle; sometimes they had
nothing. Young and old, sick or strong, the slaves looked for freedom.
Providing for these people became the responsibility of Union authorities.
The first solution was to set up camps for the slaves. Like all refugee camps,
they were crowded and filled with disease. Some former slave owners even
complained about the poor care the slaves received in these camps.
The huge numbers of slaves presented management problems for the Union.
Some of the slaves were put to work as laborers in New Orleans. Then they
Internet Activity
Go to www.nps.gov/ncro/
anti/emancipation.html to read a
copy of the Emancipation
Proclamation. Ask students why a
number of Louisiana parishes were
excluded from freeing their slaves.
(NOTE: This document is also on the
CD-ROM.)
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Section 3
Class Discussion
Lagniappe
Ask students to
• describe the dilemma in which
freed slaves found themselves.
(Comprehension)
• explain how Union authorities
dealt with newly freed slaves.
(Comprehension)
The National Park Service lists
the names of 230,000 African
Americans who served in the Civil
War.
Research Activity
Civilian Life
335
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Social Studies Activity
Making a Map
Have students locate on an outline map of the state the Louisiana
parishes that did not have to free
their slaves. Where are these
parishes located?
Have students describe what is
happening in the illustration.
Have them discuss what emotions
might be felt by the blacks, by
the whites.
Have students use a search
engine to research blacks in the
Civil War. Have them find out why
it took so long for African
Americans to be included in the
military.
T335
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students explain the
caricature of General Butler as
displayed in the political cartoon.
Have them explain any exaggerated
features.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• why General Butler allowed blacks
to join the Union army.
(Comprehension)
• to explain Butler’s reaction to
disrespectful Confederates.
(Comprehension)
• to identify the people who were
targeted by Order No. 28.
(Knowledge)
Critical Thinking
Ask students why General Butler
made this statement: “New Orleans
is a conquered city. And, by the law
of nations, lies subject to the will of
the conqueror.”
Ask students if Butler was
justified in the punishments he
ordered for showing disrespect for
the United States. Have them give
reasons for their answers.
Guiding Question 7-10
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Have students create political
cartoons showing some aspect of
Butler’s control over New Orleans.
BLM Assign students General
Butler’s Letter from page 143 in the
BLM book.
The Art of Politics
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
SSSSSSS
Like many other Union officers, Butler feared black
troops. He appreciated the education of the free men
of color but hesitated to arm any former slaves. However, the need for more troops and the need to provide for the many former slaves after the
Emancipation Proclamation led the Union army to
allow black troops. The Louisiana Native Guard organized three regiments for the “Corps d’Afrique,” and
the members of the Native Guard served as the officers. Although they met prejudice from Union officers and soldiers, these Louisiana regiments made
history at Port Hudson, their first combat action.
Life in Occupied New Orleans
During most of the war years, New Orleans was an
occupied city, isolated from the rest of the state. After April 1862, the city was under the control of the
United States Army. General Benjamin Butler and his
troops were responsible for maintaining order and running the city.
General Butler was determined to control the city.
In his words, “New Orleans is a conquered city. And,
by the law of nations, lies subject to the will of the
conqueror.” Butler clearly informed the citizens of New
Orleans that he would tolerate no disrespect for the
United States. He ordered that William Mumford be
This caricature of “Beast Butler” reflects the
hanged for pulling down the American flag. This was
outrage generated by Butler’s Order No. 28.
the first of many acts that enraged the citizens.
Butler was furious at the attitude displayed toward his troops. He retaliated when he heard reports
of the rude comments made to his soldiers by Confederate women, whom he
privately called “she-rebels.” Saying that no lady would make such remarks,
Butler issued Order No. 28. The order said that any woman who insulted any
officer of the United States would be treated like a “woman of the town plyAfter hearing of Butler’s
ing her avocation.”
Order No. 28, Confederate
Butler’s action was criticized around the world. One northern newspaper even
President Jefferson Davis
joined in the name calling, labeling him “Beast Butler.” The British Parliament
branded Butler an “outlaw.”
and the London Times also condemned his order. Generations have repeated
the story of the ladies’ revenge against Butler. They placed his picture at the
bottom of their chamber pots!
In other actions, General Butler re-opened the port to international trade.
He knew that a prosperous New Orleans would help the Union war effort. The
citizens of New Orleans benefited when goods became available and the economy
improved.
Lagniappe
336
He ordered his soldiers to respect private property and not to enter homes
or businesses without authority. However, when the U.S. Congress passed the
Confiscation Act, Butler interpreted it strictly. By September 1862, Butler began seizing the property of anyone who had not signed an oath of allegiance
to the United States. Many accused Butler of using this law for his own benefit. The confiscated property was sold at auction, with General Butler’s brother
in charge. The secretary of the U.S. Treasury even warned Butler to “avoid the
appearance of evil.”
While some felt Butler’s actions were unjust and harsh, others believed he
did what he had to do to control the city. Many of his programs helped the city
and its people. He kept the city clean and its citizens fed. The poor were paid
to clean the city, and this “broom battalion” kept the city so clean that disease was greatly reduced. There were no outbreaks of cholera or yellow fever
during the occupied years.
Butler continued to be criticized. The foreign diplomats in New Orleans complained to
the U.S. government about his actions. For
example, when he took weapons from the Confederates, he also seized the weapons of people
who lived in New Orleans but were citizens of
other countries. At the end of 1862, Butler
was replaced by General Nathaniel Banks.
General Banks was more moderate in his
treatment of the city. One of the first things
he did was reopen the Episcopal churches,
earning the gratitude and approval of the
city. Butler had closed the churches because
the pastors prayed for Jefferson Davis instead
of President Lincoln.
Check for Understanding
1. What happened in an area when the Union army came
through?
2. How did the people also suffer when the Confederate army
was in the area?
3. What happened to the prices of available goods? Why?
4. Why did the people have to find substitutes for many
items?
5. How did the Union army provide for the freed slaves?
6. Why did the people of New Orleans hate General Butler?
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Ask students to
• describe situations in which
Butler seemed to respect the
Confederates. (Knowledge)
• explain how Butler interpreted
the Confiscation Act.
(Comprehension)
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
Top: General Butler imprisoned “she-rebel” Eugenia
Levy Phillips on Ship Island
for several months for
“laughing and mocking at
the remains of a Federal
officer.” Above: A poster
protesting General Butler’s
Order No. 28, next to a
“Butler chamber pot.”
1. Anything that could be used
to make war was destroyed.
2. The Confederates took what
the Yankees left.
3. Prices increased because of
supply and demand.
4. The items were either not
available or they were too
expensive.
5. The Union army placed some
slaves in refugee camps, put
them to work as laborers in
New Orleans, and assigned
them work in the military,
where they built forts and
dug canals.
6. Because he was harsh on the
Confederates who showed
disrespect for the United
States
Alternative Assessment
Section 3
Civilian Life
337
Have students summarize how
the following were affected by the
Civil War: white southerners, slaves,
people in occupied areas.
Lesson Closure
Critical Thinking
Multidisciplinary Activity
Have students make a list of
the actions of General Butler.
Then ask them, based on his
actions, to evaluate his
effectiveness as a leader.
Guiding Question 7-10
Art (1) Have students make a
“Wanted” poster for the capture
and prosecution of General Butler.
(2) Have students draw a picture
of Butler in the center of a piece
of unlined paper. Then, draw a
picture representing one of
Butler’s actions in each of the
four corners of the paper. Have
the students use color.
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students compare and
contrast Butler and Banks.
T336
Class Discussion
Read aloud the poem “Shiloh: A
Requiem” by Herman Melville. Ask
students to write journal entries
detailing its meaning. (Note: The
poem is available online at eir.
library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/
poem2854.html.)
T337
SECTION 4
WARTIME GOVERNMENTS
4
Section
Wartime
Governments
INTRODUCE
Outline
A. Government in UnionOccupied Louisiana
B. Government in Confederate
Louisiana
C. The War Ends
As you read, look for:
• the governments in Louisiana during the war, and
• the end of the war.
During the war, Louisiana actually had two state governments. The Confederate government controlled all of the state outside the Union lines. That government had to relocate several times to avoid capture by the Union army.
Materials
Government in Union-Occupied Louisiana
Textbook, pages 338-339
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
After New Orleans was captured, President Lincoln worked to restore a loyal
government to the state. According to Lincoln’s plan, once 10 percent of the
voters signed a loyalty oath, an election could be held. People loyal to the Union
soon formed political associations and began preparing for elections.
Lincoln directed General Banks to hold an election in occupied Louisiana as
soon as possible. He wanted to show that the state, and the other seceded
states, could easily return to the Union. Only those who had signed loyalty
oaths were allowed to vote in that election.
In February 1864, Michael J. Hahn was elected the governor of Louisiana
for the Union-occupied region. He replaced Colonel George F. Shepley, who had
been the military governor. The elected government worked with the military
commanders in occupied Louisiana. During the war, this was the state government recognized by the United States.
Focus
Ask students what might happen
if a state had more than one state
government. Explain that during the
Civil War Louisiana had two
governments — one that controlled
the state outside Union lines and
one that controlled the state under
Union control. Ask them to predict
any problems that might exist
because of this arrangement.
Top: Colonel George F.
Shepley served as military
governor of occupied
Louisiana. Above: Michael J.
Hahn of New Orleans was
the first elected governor of
occupied Louisiana.
TEACH
Critical Thinking
Ask students why President
Lincoln was anxious to restore a
loyal government to Louisiana.
Ask students to describe Lincoln’s
attitude toward the defeated
Confederates.
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Ask students to show the
movement of the Confederate capital
of Louisiana on an outline map of
the state. Ask students why the
capital was moved so often.
(Conduct research to find the dates
when the capital was moved.)
Guiding Question 7-1
T338
338
Government in Confederate Louisiana
The state government for Confederate Louisiana faced challenging obstacles.
The capital was moved several times—from Baton Rouge to Opelousas to Shreveport—to avoid federal troops.
The most urgent problem for Confederate Louisiana was funding for the war.
This need for money made life in Louisiana even more difficult. First, the Confederacy sold bonds to raise money. When this voluntary approach to raising money
no longer worked, an income tax was established. Still later, a tax-in-kind required that 10 percent of every crop be given to the Confederate government.
These economic problems made it almost impossible to provide for the needs
of the people and support the war effort. The governor who was elected to head
Confederate Louisiana in 1863 won the gratitude of the people at that time and
the respect of historians today. Henry Watkins Allen was an injured
Confederate officer who took charge of the state when the fall of the
Confederacy already seemed likely. His creative and practical programs
kept Louisiana from starving and lessened the suffering.
Governor Allen called for relief (financial aid) for soldiers’ dependents and pensions for wounded soldiers. He wanted to control
the manufacture and importation of liquor, because he believed the
corn was better used to feed people and livestock than to make
whiskey. He set up a factory to make medicine at the old Mount
Lebanon College in Webster Parish. He kept the trade routes to Mexico
open and imported the medicine that could not be made.
Cotton “cards” were made and distributed so that cotton could
be carded (cleaned and combed), spun, and woven. This helped with
the shortage of cloth that could no longer be imported.
By this time, Louisiana was almost entirely cut off from the rest
of the Confederacy. Allen told the Confederate government that he
needed to take care of the people of Louisiana and could no longer
refuse to sell the cotton to Europe. He financed his state aid by
buying cotton and sending it through Texas to the blockade runners at Galveston. State stores provided what the people needed.
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
The War Ends
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court
House, Virginia. The Confederate forces west of the Mississippi surrendered in
Shreveport in June. More than six hundred Civil War battle, engagement, and
skirmish sites mark the map of Louisiana.
Governor Allen led the troubled state through the last days of the war. He
told the former Confederates to “submit to the inevitable” and “begin life anew.”
These words foreshadow the years to come.
Check for Understanding
Lagniappe
After the war, Governor
Allen left the United States
for exile in Mexico,
as did other high-ranking
Confederate officials.
1. What were the two state governments in Louisiana during
the war?
2. What part of the state was under the control of the
Confederate state government?
3. Why did President Lincoln want General Banks to hold an
election in occupied Louisiana as soon as possible?
4. Name two ways Governor Allen helped the Confederate
civilians.
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Above: This plaster cast was
used to make the statue
of Governor Henry Watkins
Allen that stands in the
State Capitol.
Section 4
Wartime Governments
339
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
Research Activity
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course
of Louisiana’s history.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who
were influential in Louisiana’s
development.
GLE 76: Trace and describe
various governments in
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 79: Explain how Louisiana’s
natural resources have shaped its
history (e.g., petroleum).
Have students use the Internet
or other reference materials to
research the surrender at
Appomattox. One site that contains a description of the event is
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ap
pomatx.htm.
1. The Union-occupied
government and the
Confederate government
2. All of the state outside the
Union lines
3. He wanted to show that the
state, and other seceded
states, could easily return to
the Union.
4. He provided financial aid to
the people, fed them,
manufactured medicine, kept
the trade routes so medicine
that could not be made could
be purchased, and provided a
method to make cloth more
readily available.
Alternative Assessment
Have students make a Venn
diagram to compare and contrast
the government of Occupied
Louisiana with that of Confederate
Louisiana.
Lesson Closure
Have students read the following
description (or read it to them) of
the surrender at Appomattox Court
House.
Before us in proud humiliation
stood the embodiment of manhood;
men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death could bend
from their resolve; standing before us
now, thin, worn and famished, but
erect, and with eyes looking level
into ours, waking memories that
bound us together as no other bond;
was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested
and assured? On our part not a
sound of trumpet more, not roll of
drum; not a cheer, nor word, nor
whisper, or vain-glorying, nor motion
of man, but an awe stillness rather,
and breath-holding, as if it were the
passing of the dead.
Ask students to complete journal
responses detailing their feelings of
the scene at Appomattox.
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Reading Strategy
Reviewing
Ask students under what
circumstances Alexandria was
burned. (Refer them back to page
331.)
Written Activity
Have students write an account
of the burning of Alexandria.
Answers to Questions
1. A primary source, because it is a
personal diary
2. He seems to be honest about the
behavior of the soldiers even
though he is a Union officer, so
he is probably unbiased.
3. He considered the soldiers who
took things from the civilians to
be thieves.
4. Students’ examples will vary.
Students might mention such
phrases as “sounds of distress,”
“sights and sounds were
harrowing,” and “wringing their
hands.”
5. He was very moved by the
experience. He may have wanted
to record the details so that he
could tell others later.
6. It will be harder to know the
thoughts and feelings of the
people who experienced the
events being studied.
Meeting Expectations
The Burning of Alexandria
A view of Alexandria during the Civil War.
A Union officer left the following account of the
burning of Alexandria as the Union army left the
region following the Red River Campaign. Read his
words and then answer the questions that follow.
Cows went bellowing through the street. Chickens flew out from
yards and fell in the streets with their feathers scorching on
them. A dog with his busy tail on fire ran howling through,
turning to snap at the fire as he ran. There is no use trying to
tell about the sights I saw and the sounds of distress I heard.
It cannot be told and could hardly be believed if it were told.
Crowds of people, men, women, children and soldiers, were
running with all they could carry, when the heat would become unbearable, and dropping all, they would flee for their
lives, leaving everything but their bodies to burn. Over the
levee the sights and sounds were harrowing. Thousands of
people, mostly women, children and old men, were wringing
their hands as they stood by the little piles of what was left of
all their worldly possessions. Thieves were everywhere, and
some of them were soldiers.
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Reading Strategy
Predicting
After the surrender at
Appomattox, Governor Allen told
the former Confederates to “submit
to the inevitable” and “begin life
anew.” Have students predict what
new life awaits the former
Confederates.
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1. Is this a primary source or a secondary source?
Explain your answer.
2. A biased account is a one-sided account. Do you
think this soldier’s account is biased or
unbiased? Why?
3. What did the soldier mean when he said,
“Thieves were everywhere, and some of them
were soldiers”? What does this tell you about
this soldier’s opinion of stealing from civilians?
4. What specific phrases from the officer’s writing
show that he was sympathetic to the people of
Alexandria?
5. Why do you think he wrote such detail in his
diary?
6. We rely on diaries and other written sources to
help us learn more about people during the Civil
War. Written information gives us a picture of
the details of history. Today, fewer people write
letters and keep diaries. How do you think this
will affect the study of history in the future?
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
Writing Activity
Chapter Summary
The Road to War
Civilian Life
• When Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected
president in 1860, Louisiana seceded from the
Union. Propaganda influenced this decision, as
newspapers and ministers pushed for secession.
• Both armies took food and supplies from civilians. Some Union soldiers vandalized homes and
other property. Jayhawkers also looted.
• Louisiana joined the Confederate States of
America.
• The Civil War began in April 1861. Eager Louisiana volunteers at first thought the war would be
over in months not years. Later the Confederacy
needed a draft—conscription—to get enough
soldiers.
The War in Louisiana
• The Union blockaded the port of New Orleans.
Then Admiral Farragut’s gunboats seized the city.
New Orleans was occupied by the Union army for
the rest of the war years.
• The Union army took Baton Rouge, and careless
troops burned the Capitol.
• The people faced shortages, and speculators
drove up the prices of available goods.
• Congress passed the Confiscation Act in 1862.
General Butler confiscated slaves to work for the
Union. Large groups of slaves followed the Union
troops.
• President Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation to free the Confederate slaves.
• The Louisiana Native Guards, free men of color,
fought with the Union at Port Hudson. Former
slaves were finally accepted as soldiers in the
Union army.
• Life in occupied New Orleans was difficult under
General Butler. He said women would be punished for being disrespectful to the Union and
confiscated the property of Confederates.
• Many battles were fought along Bayou Lafourche
and Bayou Teche, causing great suffering for the
people there. The Union army seized sugar and
other goods.
• General Banks, who replaced General Butler, was
not as strict.
• The Union wanted to control the Mississippi
River, and General Grant took Vicksburg after a
siege. Port Hudson fell to the Union after
another siege.
• President Lincoln wanted a state government that
supported the Union. After 10 percent of the
people in occupied Louisiana signed a loyalty
oath, a governor was elected.
• The Union planned the Red River Campaign to
confiscate cotton and take Shreveport.
• The Confederate state government kept
moving as the Union controlled more of the
state.
• The Union and Confederate armies fought in the
battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. The Union
army then headed south, away from Shreveport.
• Alexandria was burned by the Union troops as
the army left the area.
Wartime Governments
Have students write fact and
opinion statements from the
information in the Chapter
Summary.
Addressing Learning Styles
Body/Kinesthetic
Have students develop brief
scripts to depict people during the
Civil War. Possible scenarios include
the following: (1) a Union soldier
and a Confederate soldier who have
a friendly conversation on the
sentry lines, (2) a Union officer and
a Louisiana woman who does not
want her house burned, (3) a former
slave and a Confederate officer who
meet near the end of the war, (4) a
Union sympathizer and a
Confederate sympathizer in occupied New Orleans, and (5) the widow
of a Confederate soldier and the
wife of a man who refused to go to
war.
• Henry Watkins Allen, the Confederate governor,
led the people through the crisis.
• The Civil War ended when General Lee
surrendered to General Grant on April 9, 1865.
Chapter Summary
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T341
REVIEW
1. Answers will vary.
2. a. Substitution clause
b. Confiscation Act
c. Fort Jackson and Fort St.
Phillip
d. Port Hudson
e. General Banks
f. Henry Watkins Allen
g. Abraham Lincoln
h. Camp Walker
i. Camp Moore
j. Jayhawkers
3. a. Abraham Lincoln won, and the
people of Louisiana were
angry.
b. Sermons and editorials urging
secession influenced the
public.
c. People cheered and celebrated.
d. Volunteers formed an army,
they were outfitted and
supplied, and training camps
were built. More attention
might have been paid to the
defense of Louisiana.
e. They believed they were the
better army with better
generals.
f. General Butler required the
people to take an oath of
allegiance or lose their
property. He punished
people if he considered them
acting against the United
States. General Banks was
not as strict.
g. They proved their bravery and
their ability.
h. Lincoln freed the slaves in the
states that had seceded in
order to end the war faster.
i. They wanted to capture
Shreveport; they did not
make it that far.
j. Shortages of many of the
basic necessities, including
food and the loss of their
food and livestock to the
armies on both sides.
4. Answers will vary.
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Activities
for
Learning
A
w Review
1. Identify each key person and place and
explain each term in your own words.
2. Connect these statements with a key
person, place, or term.
a. A man could pay someone else to take
his place.
b. General Butler used this law to take over
the property of the Confederates.
c. These forts below New Orleans could not
keep the Union out of the city.
d. This location was the last place the
Confederates held along the Mississippi.
e. Admiral Porter said this general’s
political ambitions influenced the way
he conducted the Red River Campaign.
f. This Confederate governor sold cotton to
Europe to help meet the needs of the
people.
g. He was the first Republican president.
h. This Confederate training ground was a
former race track.
c. What was the impact of the decision to
secede?
d. Name three ways Louisiana prepared for
war. Can you think of anything the state
did not do that might have helped later?
e. Why did so many Louisiana soldiers think
the war would be over in months?
f. How did General Butler treat the Confederates who lived in occupied New Orleans?
How is this different from the way
General Banks later controlled the city?
g. Why was Port Hudson an important battle
for the African American Union troops?
h. What was the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation?
i. What was the Union goal for the Red
River Campaign? Did they succeed?
j. What were two hardships faced by the
civilians in Louisiana?
4. Choose three important events that
occurred in Louisiana during the Civil War
and make a chart showing the cause and
effect of each event.
i. Disease such as measles killed many
young soldiers at this camp.
j. These people sometimes used the war as
an excuse for violence at home.
3. Answer these questions.
a. What was the outcome of the election of
1860, and what was the impact on
Louisiana?
b. What role did propaganda play in the
decision to secede from the Union?
342
Connect
With Your World
1. The civilians in Louisiana suffered many
hardships. How do you think you would
have coped in this situation?
2. Newspapers and influential people pushed
for secession. This led more people to vote
Chapter 10 Louisiana’s Civil War Era: Crisis and Conflict
o
for secession. How can this reaction be
compared to peer pressure today?
With Geography
13. How was the Emancipation Proclamation
expected to impact the economy of the
Confederacy? How would this economic
impact help end the war?
3. Why was the geographic location of New
Orleans so important to the Union?
4. Why were so many of the battles fought
along the bayous and rivers?
5. How did Louisiana’s geography and climate
affect the siege of Port Hudson?
6. Why did the Confederates at Port Hudson
surrender after the Union captured
Vicksburg?
With Civics
7. Why did President Lincoln want to establish
a government in occupied Louisiana?
8. Why did Louisiana have two governors
during the Civil War? What was one effect
of this situation?
9. Why did Louisiana’s Confederate government keep moving its capital? How do you
think this affected its ability to govern?
With U.S. History
Extend
1. Write two short letters describing civilian
life for a person your age. In one letter
write from the point of view of a Union
supporter and in the other write from the
point of view of a Confederate supporter.
How does this activity help you understand
historical perspective?
2. List the key points of a speech that a
member of the secession convention might
have given to explain the economic reasons
why Louisiana should not leave the Union.
3. Some soldiers included sketches in their
letters home. Sketch a scene that a Union
soldier might have drawn during his time in
Louisiana.
4. General Grant tried to modify Louisiana’s
natural environment so that his ships could
reach Vicksburg more easily. Research to
learn more about Grant’s canals.
10. How did the capture of New Orleans and
later the Mississippi River help the Union
win the war? How was this part of the
Anaconda plan?
5. Visit the National Park Service web site
about Port Hudson. Study the photographs.
Write three questions you have after
examining the photographs.
11. The Civil War was the biggest conflict in
United States history. Historians say it was
a clash between change and continuity. How
was this war a conflict between people who
wanted change and those who wanted life
to continue as it was?
6. The web site of Louisiana’s Culture,
Recreation and Tourism Department has
information on the Civil War in Louisiana.
Use this site to learn about a battle that
happened in your area. List three facts
about the battle.
With Economics
12. How did scarcity affect the prices of goods
in occupied Louisiana? Explain your answer
in terms of supply and demand.
7. Research to learn about the secret mission
of Duncan Kenner. What was he trying to
do? Did he succeed?
Activities for Learning
CONNECT
EXTEND
With Your World
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
5. Answers will vary.
6. Answers will vary.
7. Answers will vary.
343
With Geography
3. If the Union held New Orleans,
they could control the
Mississippi River.
4. This was the easiest way to
move the troops; also the
plantations were located along
the bayous and rivers.
5. The natural bluff at Port Hudson
made it harder for the Union
Army to move into the location.
The heat of the Louisiana
summer made the conditions
almost unbearable.
6. They realized that it was hopeless
to try to hold out any longer.
With Civics
7. His goal was to bring states back
into the Union as fast as possible.
8. Occupied Louisiana had a Union
governor, and Confederate
Louisiana had a Confederate
governor. This led to confusion
and the lack of support for the
Union governor.
9. To keep ahead of the advancing
Union Army; being on the move
would have made it difficult to
operate a government.
With U.S. History
10. The Confederacy west of the
Mississippi was isolated.
11. Northerners wanted to end
slavery, and southerners wanted
to keep their way of life,
including slavery.
With Economics
12. Scarcity drove the prices of
formerly cheap items up.
13. Freeing the slaves would deprive
the plantations of their labor,
the plantations could not
produce the crops. The economy
of the South would collapse.
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