Download Chapter 14 Two Societies at War

Chapter 14
Two Societies at War
1861-1865
Part 3 of 4
Toward Total War
•
To sustain the allegiance of Northerners to their party while bolstering the Union’s
ability to fight the war, the Republicans…
• 1) raised tariffs;
• 2) created a national banking system;
• 3) devised a system of internal improvements, especially railroads; and
• 4) developed the Homestead Act of 1862.
•
The Confederate government’s economic policy was less coherent. The Davis
administration…
•
1) built and operated shipyards, armories, foundries, and textile mills;
•
2) commandeered food and raw materials; and
•
3) requisitioned slaves to work on forts.
Union versus Confederate resources at the
beginning of the Civil War, 1860
Toward Total War
•
•
The Union government created a modern nation-state that raised revenue for the
war by imposing…
•
1) broad-based taxes,
•
2) borrowing from the middle classes, and
•
3) creating a national monetary system based on the Legal Tender Act of
1862, which authored the issue of $150 million in treasury notes, soon to be
known as greenbacks.
The Confederacy lacked a central government. It financed about 60% of its
expenses with unbacked paper money, which created inflation. Also, citizens’
property rights were violated in order to sustain the war.
1862 United States Greenback (front and back)
The Turning Point: 1863
Emancipation
•As
war casualties mounted in 1862, Lincoln and some Republican leaders
accepted Frederick Douglass’ argument and began to redefine the war as a
struggle against slavery (fighting for freedom).
•.Exploiting
the disorder of wartime, tens of thousands of slaves escaped and sought
refuge behind Union lines, where they were known as “contrabands.”
•Congress
passed the First Confiscation Act in 1861, which authorized the seizure
of all property—including slaves—used to support the rebellion. In April 1862
Congress enacted legislation ending slavery in the District of Columbia, and in June
it enacted the Wilmot Proviso.
July 1862 the Second Confiscation Act declared “forever free” all fugitive
slaves and all slaves captured by the Union army.
•In
•Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, changed the nature of
the conflict: Union troops became agents of liberation. To reassure Northerners
who sympathized with the South or feared race warfare, Lincoln urged slaves to
abstain from all violence.
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
Regiment
“Ferris Bueller” (Matthew Broderick) as
Robert Gould Shaw (left), and the real
life Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (right).
The 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner on July 18,
1863 saw the “glorious defeat” and decimation
of almost the entire 54th, including Colonel
Shaw. In defeat against impossible odds, the
54th secured their glory and eternal respect.
The Turning Point: 1863
Vicksburg and Gettysburg
•Vicksburg,
Mississippi, surrendered to the Union army on July 4, 1863, followed by
Port Hudson, Louisiana, five days later, establishing Union control of the Mississippi.
Grant had cut off Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas from the rest of the Confederacy;
hundreds of slaves deserted their plantations.
•The
battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a great Union victory and the most
lethal battle of the Civil War. The North repelled the Confederacy’s attempt to invade
the Union. The South hoped to demonstrate its strength and cause the North to let go.
The Confederacy’s loss was a major turning point in the War Between the States.
•It
did not escape the attention of most Americans that both victories concluded on the
4th of July… American Independence Day.
An artist’s view of the fighting in the Civil War.
The Turning Point: 1863
•
After Union victories at Gettysburg and
Vicksburg, Republicans reaped political
gains in their elections, while Confederate
elections went sharply against politicians
who supported Davis.
•
The Confederates’ defeats at Vicksburg and
Gettysburg ended their prospect of winning
foreign recognition and acquiring advanced
weapons from the British.
•
British manufacturers were no longer
dependent on the South for cotton;
however, they were dependent on the North
for cheap wheat. Also, the British
championed the abolitionist cause and
wanted to avoid provoking a well-armed
United States.
Battle of Gettysburg,
Matthew Brady photographer
The Union Victorious, 1864-1865
Soldiers and Strategy
•Lincoln
initially refused to consider blacks for
military service.
•The
Emancipation Proclamation changed
popular thinking and military policy; some northern
whites argued that if blacks were to benefit from a
Union victory, they should share in the fighting and
dying.
•As
white resistance to conscription increased,
the Lincoln administration was recruiting as many
African Americans as it could.
Robert Gould Shaw and
Massachusetts 54th Regiment
Memorial, Boston
Augustus Saint-Gaudens artist
•Military
service did not end racial discrimination,
yet African Americans volunteered for Union
military service in disproportionate numbers.
•Ultimately,
about 10% of the Union Army was
made up of African-Americans.
End of Lecture Chapter 14,
Part 3 of 4