Download chapter 10 - Roadmap to Last Best Hope

AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
CHAPTER 10
A New Birth of Freedom
(1863-1865)
Presidential Terms
Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
“...that we here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in vain.”
-Abraham Lincoln
TEACHER
The chapter opens with the pivotal battle of Gettysburg. Bennett presents
this battle as the “high-water mark” of the Confederacy. There in
Pennsylvania the Union broke General Robert E. Lee’s campaign in the
North, and the tide of the war turned. It was Lee’s last foray outside of
the South. Bennett sets up the battle by noting that the absence of J.E.B.
Stuart’s cavalry left General Lee “blind” at Gettysburg. Teachers may need
to explain the role of the cavalry in determining the location and strength of
enemy armies.
The battle itself turned on several events, including Colonel Chamberlain
and his men from Maine holding Little Round Top and Lee’s critical
blunder in ordering Pickett’s Charge. Reading Bennett’s description can
help students feel the terror and visualize the futility of Pickett’s men
marching across an open field for three quarters of a mile at Union soldiers
fully protected behind rock walls. Here, and throughout the chapter, the
author notes staggering numbers of casualties for each battle. Students often
confuse the term casualties with fatalities. Teachers should make clear that
casualties included dead, wounded, captured, and missing.
Bennett points out that Robert E. Lee despised slavery and initially spoke
against secession. Students can be challenged to consider why Lee and so
many others in this situation chose loyalty to their state over their nation.
Do Americans today have anywhere near such loyalty to their states? If
not, why not? Clearly we became a different country after the Civil War.
Historians have noted that before the Civil War it was common to say, “The
United States are.” Now, we say, “The United States is,” even though this is
grammatically incorrect. What does this say about our view of states and
nation?
In the wake of Gettysburg, Bennett points out Lincoln’s keen ability to
think strategically, understanding that capturing key locations (such as the
Confederate capital) would not crush the rebellion. Instead, he knew the
North must defeat the Confederate army. Generals like Meade did not
seem to understand this, as evidenced by Meade’s failure to crush Lee’s
army as it retreated from Gettysburg. Bennett’s analysis of Lee’s strategy is
also critical for students to understand. He points out that Lee read all the
northern newspapers. He hoped that a major victory over the Union in the
North would break northern morale, increase “war weariness” and force the
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
TEACHER
Union to sue for peace and accept Confederate independence. This strategy
is as much political as military. Other U.S. enemies in other wars have also
utilized this approach (Vietnam and Iraq come to mind). Students can
discuss the challenge democracies face in waging war, where support from
the population is critical and political leaders must stand for election.
Soon after victory at Gettysburg, the Union was shaken by the shocking
draft riots in New York City, which Bennett calls the worst in our history.
These riots reflect deep bitterness about the draft, especially the provision at
that time that enabled wealthy conscripts to pay $300.00 for an exemption.
Cries of “rich man’s war, poor man’s fight” rang in both the North and
South (where owners of more than twenty slaves were exempted from
military service to remain home and oversee their “property”). Students
can discuss the call of some analysts in our own day to bring back the
draft. Teachers may need to help students make the connection between
these draft riots and the accompanying brutal attacks on African-Americans
in New York. Racism ran deep in many parts of the North and rioters
were unjustly blaming blacks for the war that had taken on the cause of
emancipation.
Just four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln traveled there and
gave the most important speech in American history. Bennett includes the
address, which can be read by classes to more fully understand Lincoln’s
vision of the conflict. Bennett states that these few words make plain
the meaning of the war and the idea of America. That Lincoln could be
so conciliatory while experiencing such personal pain is one mark of his
greatness. Students should take the author’s recommendation and view
pictures of Lincoln in 1860 and then in 1865 to visibly see the toll of
that pain. Bennett makes clear that Lincoln saw all victims of the war as
Americans. This is illuminated in the story Bennett relates about Lincoln
seeing members of his own family killed while fighting for the Confederacy.
Mary Lincoln had two half-brothers killed fighting for the South, as well as
the victim mentioned by the author – General Ben Helm, husband of her
half-sister Emile.
The Union victory at Gettysburg was paired with General Ulysses S. Grant’s
victory at Vicksburg. The latter triumph gave the North control of the
Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in half. Bennett describes Grant
as a general who would fight in a way previous Union generals would not.
He was willing to, using Lincoln’s phrase, “face the arithmetic.” Students
can reflect on the sober meaning of this phrase. What would it be like, as
a general, to send thousands of men to certain death in an attempt to win
a war of attrition? Grant could do this because of the northern manpower
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
TEACHER
advantage. Lee could not use such tactics. Does this make Grant a hero
or a “butcher,” as some in the North called him? Regardless, the casualties
faced in the Wilderness Campaign were horrific.
Photo 1: The Mclean House in
Appomattox, Virginia where the
surrender of the Army of Northern
Virginia took place.
(National Archives)
Karl von Clausewitz famously called war an extension of politics, but by
other means. Bennett makes clear that Lincoln faced political, as well as
military pressures. In the North, he was attacked on two fronts. Radical
Republicans wanted a harder, more punitive war that would destroy the
South and fully free the slaves. The “Copperheads” among the Democrats
denounced the Emancipation Proclamation and raised racist alarms about
the possibility of racial equality. In the midst of this heated political
environment, Lincoln defended the Emancipation Proclamation (as seen in
the Lincoln letter included in the text) and moved forward in bringing free
African-Americans into the army. These tens of thousands of fresh troops
would help turn the tide in the war and their heroism (as seen dramatically
in the story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment) would, as Frederick
Douglass predicted, give African-Americans a claim to full citizenship in the
republic.
The year 1864 initially looked like the year Lincoln would lose the
presidency. But as Bennett explains, key military victories changed northern
opinion and sparked optimism that the war could be won. Bennett’s note
that some have argued that Lincoln could have cancelled elections in the
midst of this national crisis should be of interest to students. On what basis
did Lincoln not take this action? Are there any circumstances where this
might be justified? The author argues that no president had ever exercised
the amount of power Lincoln wielded. Other wartime presidents have
followed suit. Are there parallels to be drawn to our modern “War on
Terrorism?” Is an extension of presidential power necessary in times of
national emergency?
Another topic that will be worthy of class discussion is General William T.
Sherman’s “March to the Sea,” that took place during Lincoln’s campaign
for reelection. Students should explore the concept of “total war,” and
can discuss the morality of taking the war to civilians as a way of breaking
the spirit of the Confederacy. Is this a legitimate exercise of the military?
Was this same principle at work during the allied bombings of German
and Japanese cities in World War II? Teachers might also point out that
Sherman is credited with the statement, “War is hell.” How does that
sentiment relate to the question of total war?
As the South’s prospects for victory disappeared, Bennett notes that southern
military and political leaders considered arming slaves and granting them
AMERICA
: THE LAST BEST HOPE
TEACHER
freedom in return for defending the Confederacy. This did not occur, but
students can discuss how even the discussion of this possibility shows the
desperation of the South, and how the very idea makes no sense in light of
the South’s years of defending of slavery on the basis of black inferiority.
Lincoln did win reelection in 1864 and in 1865 delivered what Bennett
calls “the greatest inaugural address in American history.” Classes should
closely analyze the words from that address included in the text. Clearly,
the president, who at the outset of the war said its only purpose was to save
the Union, now fully embraced the goal of ending slavery forever. Also clear
from Lincoln’s words are his vision for a reconstruction of the nation that
would avoid vengeance and bring reconciliation as quickly as possible.
This lack of vengeance is also seen dramatically in Bennett’s description of
Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox. Grant’s compassion toward his
fallen enemy is remarkable. He told his troops that these men in gray were
once again “our countrymen.” Students can discuss how rare this attitude
is at the conclusion of a war – especially a war like the Civil War that had
killed over 600,000 Americans (that would be equivalent to a death toll of
between five and six million Americans today). How can students explain
such generosity by the victorious side?
Also of note is Lee’s unwillingness to continue the fight by taking his army
“to the hills” to regroup and launch a guerrilla campaign. Had he done
so, the war might have dragged on for years. Bennett briefly mentions the
horror of such guerrilla warfare in Missouri. This little known aspect of the
war might merit further research for interested students.
The chapter ends with the assassination of Lincoln, one of the most
traumatic events in our history. The murder came just days after the joy the
North felt hearing news of Lee’s surrender. Bennett notes that members of
the plot also targeted Vice President Johnson, but that the attack did not
occur. Teachers should add that an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth did
attack and stab Secretary of State William Seward, but he survived and
continued to serve. The nation was now in the hands of a new president, a
man seemingly ill equipped to lead the country through the difficult process
of reconstruction. We can only speculate on how things might have been
different had Lincoln lived.