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A NEW BIRTH OF
FREEDOM: THE CIVIL WAR
ERA
History 244: Modern American History
THE ELECTION OF 1860
 Abraham Lincoln (Republican) defeats Stephen A. Douglas (Northern
Democrat), John Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional
Union Party) by winning 40% of the popular vote and 180 electoral votes. Lincoln
receives no electoral votes from the Southern states-in some of those states his
name did not even appear on the ballot.
 Lincoln won on a platform that promised not only the non-extension of slavery
into the western territories, but asserted that freedom was normal condition of the
territories, and slavery existed only as a state institution. The question was how
would the South react to losing an election to the candidate of an anti-slavery party?
THE GREAT SECESSION
WINTER
 In reaction to Lincoln’s election, seven states leave the Union
(South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas,
Louisiana). These states make it clear that they are leaving the United
States to protect the institution of slavery. Other states where slavery
is legal (NC, VA, AK, TN, KY, DE, MY, MO) do NOT leave the
Union—for the moment they will wait to see what happens next.
SECESSION WINTER
CONTINUED
 Lincoln is firmly committed to not budging on the issue of slavery’s expansion into
the western territories. He won an election on that platform, and urges his supporters to
“hold firm” like a “chain of steel.”
 For many northerners, the concept of a federal “Union” is sacred: the United States
at this time was the “last best hope” for democratic government in the world. To allow
secession would allow the minority to rule over the majority, and majority rule is the
foundation of democracy.
 As a result, most Northerners view secession by armed force as treason. Lincoln
spoke for many when he asked if a state could leave a country, a county could leave a
state, and a town could leave a county. The result would be anarchy.
AND THE WAR CAME
 Any attempt at compromise would have had to recognize both a property
right in human beings, and severe restrictions on the government’s ability to
interfere with slavery’s expansion. Both were unacceptable repudiations of the
Republican platform.
 War comes when Southern states (now calling themselves “The
Confederacy”) open fire on a small garrison of Federal troops stationed at
Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor on April 12th, 1861. The bombardment will
last 33 hours before the fort surrenders.
 In response, Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion.
This prompts 4 more states, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and
Arkansas, to leave the Union.
PICTURE BOOK WAR
 With the war officially underway, both sides clamored for one great battle that
would end the war.
 At the battle of First Manassas, about 20 miles from Washington D.C.,
Confederate forces under General P.G.T. Beauregard defeated Union forces under
General Irwin McDowell on July 22nd, 1861. Late arriving Confederate troops under
General Joseph E. Johnston, using the railroad to move troops from the
Shenandoah Valley to the battlefield made the difference. Union troops retreated
somewhat chaotically to D.C., shocking members of Congress who had ventured
out with picnic lunches to watch the battle.
EMANCIPATION, PART I
 From almost the very beginning of the war, the Union army is freeing slaves that
escape to Union lines. In May, 1861, Union General Benjamin Butler refused to return
three slaves that had escaped to his line at Fort Monroe (VA); Butler claimed that because
the slaves had been working on Confederate defenses, under the laws of war they could
be confiscated at “contraband” or property of war.
 On August 6th, 1861, Congress passes the 1st Confiscation Act which declares that
Confederate masters would forfeit the labor of slaves used to support the rebellion and
that these slaves would be “discharged” from service. That is, they would be freed.
Importantly, this did not apply in KY, MD, DE, and MO, slave states had not left the
Union.
THE STORMY PRESENT
 As 1862 begins, the Union is in trouble. The Army of the Potomac,
now under the command of George McClellan, has barely moved since
being beaten at Manassas the past July.
 Ulysses S. Grant uses a joint army-navy operation to capture Fort
Henry, on the Tennessee River on February 6th, and Fort Donnelson on
the Cumberland River, on the 16th. Grant calls for the “unconditional
surrender” of all Confederates in these forts. The victories boost
Northern morale, and open the Confederate heartland to Union armies.
T O T H E G AT E S O F R I C H M O N D
 Meanwhile, in the East, General McClellan and the Army of the Potomac finally
start moving towards the Confederate capital of Richmond (VA) in the spring of
1862. By early June, they had moved within site of the steeples of Richmond’s
churches.
 In a swift series of battles (called the Seven Days Battles), the Union army was
steadily driven back from Richmond in late June early July by the Confederate Army
of Northern VA commanded by Robert E. Lee. Lee would follow up this success
by crushing a Union force at Second Bull Run in late August, then cross the
Potomac and invade Maryland on September 3rd, 1862.
EMANCIPATION, PART II
 Recognizing the need to keep the loyal border states in the Union, Lincoln
develops a plan for emancipation in these states that would be compensated,
gradual, and voluntary. The Border States however, continually reject Lincoln’s offer.
 Deciding the time had come for a more vigorous prosecution of the war,
Lincoln presents a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet on July
22nd, 1862. Secretary of State William Seward urges Lincoln to wait until after a
military victory so that it will not look like a desperate gamble of a beaten war
effort.
FOREVER FREE
 Robert E. Lee’s invasion of Maryland stopped on the banks of Antietam Creek
on September 17th, 1862. Five days later on September 22nd, Lincoln makes his
preliminary EP public knowledge.
 Lincoln gave the Confederate states 100 days to return to the Union or else face
emancipation. On January 1st, 1863 the final proclamation will free slaves “within
any state, or designated part of a state, the people whereof, shall then be in rebellion
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free.” The final
proclamation also lifts the ban on the enticing of slaves, and allows for their
enlistment into the Union army.
ON THE BATTLEFIELD
 Key battles: Fredericksburg (VA), December 1862, Chancellorsville (VA): May
1863 are both Confederate victories. After Chancellorsville, General Lee will once
again in vade the North. This time, the state is PA, and he will clash with the Army
of the Potomac at a small town called Gettysburg.
 After three days of fighting (July 1st-3rd), the Union army is ultimately victorious.
The next day, July 4th, 1863, Union General Ulysses Grant captures Vicksburg
Mississippi, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. The
Confederacy is now split in half, and the twin victories mark one key turning point
in the war.
THE WAR AT HOME
 As the war drags on, many civilians in the North and South begin
to register their anger about the staggering number of deaths and
about the specific government policies.
 Union losses at places like Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
lead to waves of opposition to emancipation. Many Democrats
believe restoration of the Union is the only legitimate war aim, and do
not want to fight to free slaves.
THE WAR AT HOME
CONTINUED
 Resentment at emancipation leads Peace Democrats (Copperheads) to
win control of state legislatures in places like Illinois and Indiana during
the fall of 1862. Some troops even desert in the wake of emancipation.
 In March 1863, Northern resentment is further enflamed by the start
of military conscription (a draft). Because northern draftees could escape
conscription by paying $300, many working class men resented what they
saw as a policy that favored the wealthy.
DRAFT RIOTS
 Drafting white men to fight for emancipation provoked widespread
resentment and rioting in some Northern cities in 1862-1863. The most
famous were the NYC Draft Riots in July 1863.
 Many working class Irish immigrants were the most susceptable to
competition from African Americans for jobs. Beginning on July 13th,
rioters assaulted blacks, lynching a dozen African Americans, setting fire
to the Colored Orphans Asylum, and attacked the homes of leading
Republican supporters.
BLACK SOLDIERS IN BLUE
 A particularly contentious issue for many Northerners was the enlistment of black
troops. Blacks were seen as not having the inherent intelligence necessary for military
service.
 Starting after the Emancipation Proclamation, recruitment of black troops proceeded
quickly in the North (free blacks) and in places like the Mississippi Valley (slaves). In the
late spring and summer of 1863, black soldiers perform well at the battles of Port
Hudson, Olustee, and Battery Wagner. The willingness to serve and die for the Union
cause helps turn Northern public opinion in favor of emancipation and the use of black
troops. By war’s end 180,000 African Americans, including about 135,000 former slaves,
serve in the Union armies.
A SOUTH DIVIDED?
 The South was divided over secession from the beginning:
MD/DE/KY/MO never joined the Confederacy; the entire section of
Western VA seceded from the state and joined the Union as West Virginia.
Most whites in the seceded states remain loyal to the Confederacy but are
hostile to president Jefferson Davis.
 The Confederate commitment to states’ rights was at odds with the
huge centralized bureaucracy that imposed huge taxes, impressed slaves,
and burned private stores of cotton—enraging slave owners.
SOUTH DIVIDED
 Policies such as the “planter’s exemption” allowed wealthy sons of slave-owners to
purchase replacements, and as in the North, the draft generated widespread resentment.
Resistance to the Davis government was strongest in Georgia, where Governor Joseph
Brown launched a vitriolic assault on the Davis government.
 Southerners suffered more deprivations compared to their Union counterparts.
Destruction of property and mal-nourishment were common Confederate experiences.
Bread-riots erupted in several Southern cities in 1863; by 1864 Confederate money was
worthless, and many southern women encouraged husbands and sons to desert the
Confederate armies to come home and rescue their families from ruin.
GRANT TAKES COMMAND
 In his ever-present search for a general who would fight, Lincoln appoints General
Ulysses Grant general in chief of the Union armies in March, 1864.
 Previous generals (McClellan, Burnside, Hooker) had all withered under the assaults
of Robert E. Lee. Grant did not wither. In the late spring of 1864, Grant and Lee clashed
in a vicious series of engagements called the Overland Campaign.
 The first of these battles, The Wilderness (May 5th-6th) cost the Union 17,000
casualties and the Confederacy 11,000. Grant did not retreat. Determined to break Lee’s
lines, Grant continued to move South. Subsequent battles at Spotsylvania Court House
and Cold Harbor cost both armies dearly, and would ultimately lead to the siege of
Petersburg, Lasting from June 1864-April 1865.
“IF IT TAKES ALL SUMMER”
 Casualties from Grant’s campaign take its toll on Northern morale, and
weaken support for Lincoln, who faced re-election in 1864.
 Democrats called the war a failure, and promised peace with the
Confederacy—with slavery still intact.
 Salvation comes from the western theater: On September 1st, General
William Sherman captures Atlanta. Proving the war effort had not been a
failure and enhancing prospects for Union victory and Lincoln’s reelection.
THE UNION FOREVER
 In November 1864, Lincoln wins re-election. The war will now
continue until the Confederacy’s unconditional surrender. Lincoln and the
Republicans also view his re-election as a mandate to secure emancipation
by proposing a 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. Without a
constitutional amendment, there was no reason to believe a defeated
Confederacy would abandon their commitment to slavery.
 Congress passes the 13th Amendment and sends it to the states in
January 1865, it is finally ratified 11 months later.
VICTORY AND DEFEAT
 As Lincoln is pushing the 13th Amendment through Congress, Grant
and Sherman are pushing for the final defeat of the Confederacy.
 In late December, Sherman completed his destruction of Georgia by
capturing the coastal city of Savannah. From their he marched into SC,
capturing Charleston and Columbia.
 On April 2nd, 1865, Grant broke through Lee’s line at Petersburg,
forcing the evacuation and fall of Richmond the following day. One week
later, on April 9th, 1865, Grant cornered Lee’s army at Appomattox Court
House, and forced the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. For
all practical purposes, the war was over.