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Chapter 15
Secession and Civil War, 1860-1862
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The Election of 1860
 Democrats endorse popular sovereignty rather than an overtly
pro-slavery platform

Nominated Stephen Douglas
 Southern Rights Democratic Party bolted convention

Nominated John C. Breckinridge
 Constitutional Union Party coalition of former Whigs

Nominated John Bell
 Republican platform pledged exclusion of slavery from territories
and other issues to appeal to different groups in North

Nominated Abraham Lincoln
 Southerners saw Lincoln’s nomination as threat to slavery
 Lincoln won with 40% of popular vote
The Secession of the Lower
South
 Lincoln’s election sparked fears of a total assault on slavery
 Brought to fore southern thinking on the nature of the Union

Saw as a voluntary compact
 Any state could leave whenever it wished
 Seven southern states had seceded by Lincoln’s inauguration
 Most northerners saw secession as unconstitutional and
treasonable
 Failed attempts at compromise through late 1860 and earl 1861

Crittendon Compromise most notable
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning ™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Election of 1860
and Southern
Secession
Establishment of the Confederacy
 Constitution protected slavery in both the states and
the territories
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Strengthened state sovereignty and limited governmental
power
Limited president to a single six-year term
 Sought to encourage upper South to secede
Fort Sumter and First Shots of
Civil War
 Confederates demanded federal withdrawal from fort
in Charleston Harbor

Federal forces hung on, but ran short on supplies
 Reaching crisis point when Lincoln was inaugurated
in March 1861

Decided to send unarmed supply ships to fort
 Confederacy attacked fort before supplies could
arrive

Started what became the Civil War in April 1861
Immediate Reaction to War,
North and South
 In North, Lincoln issued immediate call for volunteers
 Response was overwhelmingly
 In South, public responded enthusiastically
 Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded
 Border states torn by divided sentiments
 Only Delaware remained firmly in the Union
 Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri contested ground
 West Virginia created in 1863
 Anti-slave in orientation, loyal to Union
Comparing Northern and
Southern Readiness for War
 North superior in almost every category of measurement

Higher population
 Larger military manpower
 Almost all of nation’s industrial capacity and registered shipping
 South did have some advantage
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Greater military experience among its commanders
Rural nature of southern life provided civilians with valuable skills
Had begun preparing for war earlier than the North
Had home-front advantage in defending own territory
Higher morale and deeper commitment to cause of war
Mobilizing for War, North and
South
 Military forces largely volunteers on both sides
 New Military technology utilized
 Infantry rifle was most lethal weapon of war
 Infantry tactics gradually adjusted to new weapon
 General technology shaped course/outcome of war
 Railroad and steamship transported supplies and soldiers
 Telegraph provided for better communication
 War generally financed through a number of methods
Mobilizing for War, North and
South (cont.)

Confederacy experienced problems funding the war

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Slow to raise taxes
Little public capital available for purchase of war bonds
Largely relied on limited issue of treasury notes
Instituted comprehensive tax program in 1863
– Generated significant public opposition
– Too little, too late to really solve war funding problem

Union more successful in funding war


Two-thirds of funding came from war bonds
Other funding sources were taxes and treasury note issues
International The Side of the Civil
War
 South employed “King Cotton diplomacy”

Hoped to win British support through lure of cotton exports
 Exports complicated by northern blockade of southern ports


South legitimized by keeping 1861 cotton crop home
Blockade seriously crippled southern economy
 Confederacy sought international recognition

Largely unsuccessful
 Trent Affair illustrated frustration of Confederate diplomacy
 Confederate naval strategy focused on breaking Union blockade

Commissioned two commerce raiders from British shipbuilders
 Naval technology advanced both sides’ capabilities

Monitor v. Virginia, 1862
Initial Military Encounters
 Union employed Anaconda Plan to squeeze Confederacy into
submission
 Virginia would be key battleground, especially after Richmond
became capital of Confederacy

Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) 1861
 String of Union naval victories in 1861 and 1852
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Captured New Orleans in April 1862
 Combined Union naval/ground operations important victories
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Forts Henry and Donelson
 Pitched battles throughout 1862
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Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Vicksburg
Seven Day’s battles
Second Battle of Bull Run
Principal Military Campaigns of the Civil War
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©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.