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Chapter 20
Girding for War: The
North and the South
Fort Sumter
• Fort Sumter, in Charleston SC, was one of the last forts still controlled
by the United States in the Confederacy.
• The US soldiers in the fort were running out of food and supplies. If
Lincoln sent in reinforcements it would certainly cause South Carolina to
attack but if he did nothing the US troops would have to surrender and
appear weak.
• Lincoln decided to adopt a middle-of-the-road solution. He would send
supplies to the fort but no military reinforcements.
• South Carolina still saw this move as a threat and on April 12, 1861
they began shelling the fort until it surrendered 34 hours later.
• This attack mobilized the North for war. Lincoln called up the militia,
began accepting volunteers, and proclaimed a blockage of Southern
ports.
• This attack also rallied the South to war. They viewed it as a war of
northern aggression.
• The reluctant states of Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, and North
Carolina seceded shortly after Fort Sumter fell.
Fort Sumter, South Carolina, April 1861
The interior of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, shortly after the Union’s beleaguered
force surrendered and fled. Confederate soldiers pose in front of the fort’s bombarded
walls while their flag flies victoriously above them.
Border States
• The Border States were slave states that never seceding. They
included Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and later West
Virginia.
• The border states would have probably seceded if the North had fired
the first shots.
• They would have been very valuable to the South because of their
large populations, manufacturing capacity, and strategic rivers such as
the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers.
• Lincoln did not single out the issue of slavery at first to keep the border
states happy and on the side of the Union. If he had made the war about
slavery from the beginning, they would have certainly left for the
Confederacy.
• Many families in these states were split over slavery, including
Lincoln’s own. He had four brothers-in-law fight for the South.
• Many “mountain whites” volunteered for the Union army.
• Southern sympathizers in the North also fought for the Confederacy.
Seceding States (with dates and order of secession)
Note the long interval—nearly six months— between the secession of South Carolina,
the first state to go, and that of Tennessee, the last state to leave the Union. These six
months were a time of terrible trial for moderate Southerners. When a Georgia
statesman pleaded for restraint and negotiations with Washington, he was rebuffed with
the cry, “Throw the bloody spear into this den of incendiaries!”
Friendly Enemies
The man on the right is George
Armstrong Custer. The youngest
general in the Union army, this brilliant
young officer survived the Civil War
only to lose his life and that of every
soldier under his command to Sioux
warriors at the Battle of the Little
Bighorn in 1876—“Custer’s Last Stand.”
The man on the left is a Southern
soldier and prisoner of war. He and
Custer had been classmates at West
Point.
South Advantages and Disadvantages
•Advantages
• High morale, experienced leaders, and a defensive position
• Short distances to move supplies and troops
•Disadvantages
• Population was only 5.5 million
• Controlled only 15% factories, 30% railroads, and 35% farmland
• Needed a strong central government to survive
• Needed help from foreign countries
North Advantages and Disadvantages
•Advantages
• Population of 22 million
• US navy
• Controlled 85% of factories, 76% of railroads, and 65% of
farmland
• Had well-established central government and leaders
•Disadvantages
• Had to conquer a large area as an invading force
• Large distances to move supplies and troops
• Lower morale at the beginning of the war
The Technology of War
One of the new machines of destruction that made the Civil War the first mechanized war, this eightand-a-half ton federal mortar sat on a railroad flatcar in Petersburg, Virginia, ready to hurl twohundred-pound missiles as far as two and a half miles. This powerful artillery piece rode on the
tracks of a captured Southern railroad—itself another artifact of modern technology that figured
heavily in the war…
A Union Private
A Confederate Soldier
Leg Amputation on the
Battlefields of Virginia
A surgeon wearing a hat and a sword
amputates the leg of a wounded soldier,
while an anesthetist (facing the camera)
holds a sponge dipped in chloroform
over the patient’s nose. A surgical
assistant ties a tourniquet to stem the
flow of blood. Other soldiers, dressed in
Zouave uniforms modeled on North
African designs, which were popular
among some Northern and Southern
regiments, watch closely, likely aware
of the dangers accompanying such
crude surgery. An estimated 30 percent
of amputees died from postoperative
complications, most often infections.
Recruiting Immigrants for the
Union Army
This poster in several languages
appeals to immigrants to enlist.
Immigrant manpower provided the
Union with both industrial and military
muscle.
Diplomacy
• Both the North and South needed help from foreign countries during
the war.
• Trent Affair: a Union warship stopped a British mail ship, the Trent,
north of Cuba and discovered two Confederate diplomats bound for
Europe.
• When England heard of the arrests, many pushed for war. Lincoln
backed down and released the prisoners.
• Britain was also building Confederate raiding ships, like the Alabama,
and became the chief naval base of the Confederacy.
• The Laird rams were two Confederate warships being constructed in
Great Britain in 1863. The were designed to take down the wooden
warships of the Union.
• The North threatened to invade Canada if the warships were delivered
to the South. England bought the ships for the own navy, leaving the
Confederates disappointed.
• British strengthened Canada to keep the Americans at bay.
• France tried to take over France but was unsuccessful.
The Pending Conflict, 1863
Great Britain and France look on while
the Americans struggle. Despite
repeated pleas from Confederate
diplomats for recognition and aid, both
France and Britain refrained from
intervening in the American conflict—
not least because of the Union’s
demonstrated strength on the battlefield
and its economic importance to
European importers.
Battle of the USS Kearsarge and
the CSS Alabama off the
Normandy Coast, 1864, by
Edouard Manet
The Alabama sank sixty-four Union
ships before it was destroyed off the
coast of Cherbourg, France, in 1864.
The Kearsarge rescued most of the
Alabama’s crew from their sinking
vessel, but Confederate captain
Raphael Semmes managed to escape
aboard an English yacht that had been
observing the sea battle.
Wartime Liberties
• Lincoln overstepped the boundaries set by the Constitution frequently.
• He declared a blockade, increased the size of the federal army, he
directed the secretary of treasury to advance $2 dollars to private
citizens for military purposes, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
All of these went against the rules set by the Constitution.
• Writ of Habeas Corpus: requires law enforcement to present detained
individuals before court to ensure the legality of their arrest. Protects
individuals from arbitrary arrests.
• He did this so that anti-Unionists could be arrested and held
indefinitely.
• Lincoln took extreme measures to make sure the Union was
successful. He intended for all of these questionable actions to end
when the war was over.
• Jefferson Davis was unable to exert the same control on the South due
to the strong support states’ rights.
Lincoln at Antietam (also known
as Sharpsburg), October 1862
Deeply committed to his responsibilities
as commander in chief, President
Lincoln visited Union forces on the
battlefield several times during the war.
With him here at Antietam are the
detective Allan Pinkerton (on the left),
who provided intelligence to the Union
army, and General John McClernand,
who often accompanied the president
on his travels (see pp. 487–488).
The New York City Anti-Draft
Rioters, 1863
Mostly Irish American mobs convulsed
the city for days and were in the end put
down only by a merciless application of
Federal firepower.
Economy of War
• North sought to increase revenue by placing excise taxes on
tobacco and alcohol, introducing the income tax, passing the
Morrill Tariff Act that increased the tariff, and printing greenbacked
money.
• The North also sold war bonds and passed the National Banking
System. This system was designed to establish a standard banknote currency and unify the banking system in the Union.
• The South also tried to raise money by directly taxing its citizens,
but the ardent states’ righter's did not support this method.
• The South also sold war bonds that raised nearly $400 million.
• The South’s economy suffered due to the blockade and the
excessive printing of currency. The South suffered a 9,000%
inflation rate compared with the 80% Union rate.
North’s Economic Boom
• Northern manufacturing were prosperous and grew significantly
during the war.
• New technology, such as the sewing machine, made Northern
factories efficient and profitable.
• The mechanical reaper produced surpluses of grain and
provided profits the North used to buy weapons and supplies.
• Many women joined the workforce and took industrial jobs.
• Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell formed the U.S. Sanitary Commission to
assist the Union armies in the field. She and other women made
nursing a respected profession.
• Women also organized fundraisers that provided millions of
dollars of assistance to widows, orphans, and disable soldiers.
Booth at the Sanitary Fair in
Chicago, 1863
The Chicago Sanitary Fair was the first
of many such fairs throughout the
nation to raise funds for soldier relief
efforts. Mainly organized by women, the
fair sold captured Confederate flags,
battle relics, handicrafts like these
potholders (right), and donated items,
including President Lincoln’s original
draft of the Emancipation Proclamation
(which garnered $3,000 in auction).
When the fair closed, the Chicago
headquarters of the U.S. Sanitary
Commission had raised $100,000, and
its female managers had gained
organizational experience that many
would put to work in the postwar
movement for women’s rights.
Booth at the Sanitary Fair in
Chicago, 1863
The Chicago Sanitary Fair was the first
of many such fairs throughout the
nation to raise funds for soldier relief
efforts. Mainly organized by women, the
fair sold captured Confederate flags,
battle relics, handicrafts like these
potholders (right), and donated items,
including President Lincoln’s original
draft of the Emancipation Proclamation
(which garnered $3,000 in auction).
When the fair closed, the Chicago
headquarters of the U.S. Sanitary
Commission had raised $100,000, and
its female managers had gained
organizational experience that many
would put to work in the postwar
movement for women’s rights.
Booth at the Sanitary Fair in
Chicago, 1863
The Chicago Sanitary Fair was the first
of many such fairs throughout the
nation to raise funds for soldier relief
efforts. Mainly organized by women, the
fair sold captured Confederate flags,
battle relics, handicrafts like these
potholders (right), and donated items,
including President Lincoln’s original
draft of the Emancipation Proclamation
(which garnered $3,000 in auction).
When the fair closed, the Chicago
headquarters of the U.S. Sanitary
Commission had raised $100,000, and
its female managers had gained
organizational experience that many
would put to work in the postwar
movement for women’s rights.