Download The Civil War

The Civil
War
Immediate Causes
• The Election of 1860
– The Republicans nominated Abraham
Lincoln
– The Democrats were split based on
platform.
• What is a political platform?
– Northern Democrats – Popular Sovereignty
rules
– Southern Democrats – Defend Slavery
Immediate Causes
• The Election of 1860
–The Democrats fought for weeks.
• They decide to run two candidates.
–North – Stephen Douglas
–South John Breckenridge
• There is also a third party candidate.
–Constitutional Union Party – Preserve
the Union
»John Bell
Bell
Douglas
VS.
Breckenridge
Lincoln
Immediate Causes
• Election of 1860
– Much like in 1856, The election really is
two races.
• Douglas v. Lincoln in the North
• Breckenridge v. Bell in the South
– Douglas and Bell split the middle states
while Lincoln carried all of the North and
Breckenridge all of the South.
Immediate Causes
• The Election of 1860
–Because the North had a greater
population Lincoln won the election.
–Lincoln promised not to abolish
slavery but the South could not trust
him.
• Republican victory was viewed as a
threat to the Southern way of life.
Immediate Causes
• Secession
–Prior to Lincoln’s election many
states had warned about
secession
• Reason – States Rights
–They had voluntarily joined the
Union and therefore could
voluntarily leave
Immediate Causes
• Secession
–December 20, 1860
• South Carolina made good on the
threat of secession
• Over the next six weeks
Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas had
followed suit.
Immediate Causes
• Secession
– Confederate States of America
• All of the seceded states met in February of
1861.
• Jefferson Davis was elected President
• Drafted a constitution
– Based on US Constitution
» Upheld states’ rights
» Upheld slavery
• Viewed in the North as unconstitutional
Immediate Causes
• Firing on Fort Sumter
Immediate Causes
• Firing on Fort Sumter – April 12, 1861
– When the Southern States Seceded they took
over many of the forts within their borders
– Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina
was still a Union controlled fort.
– Lincoln’s Dilemma
• Supply the Fort war is certain
• Abandon the Fort and you give control of it to the
Confederacy.
Immediate Causes
• Fort Sumter
– Lincoln’s Choice – Supply the Fort
– Confederacy’s Reaction – Attack before
supplies arrive
– The confederacy fired on the fort for 34 hours
the U.S. surrendered and the civil war had
begun.
Choosing Sides
• Border States – Slave states that bordered
states in which slavery was illegal
– States on the North-South Border needed to
choose sides
• Union – Delaware, Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky,
and West Virginia is created when some western
counties of Virginia broke away and remained loyal
to the Union.
– Union – 24 States
Confederacy – 11 States
Strengths and Weaknesses
• Union
– Population Advantage – About 16.5 million
more people
– 85% of the Nations factories were within
Northern borders
– 2X the railroad mileage
– Also had almost all of the naval power and
shipyards
– President Lincoln – Incredible Leader
Strengths and Weaknesses
• Confederacy
– Able Generals – Robert E. Lee
– Fighting a defensive war
• Make the Union come to the Confederacy.
• Soldiers defending their homes have more will to
fight then invaders do.
• Union
Strategies
– Anaconda Plan
• Smother the Southern economy like a snake
squeezing its prey.
• Blockade – prevent the transportation of goods or
people into or out of an area
• Gain control of the Mississippi River and split the
Confederacy in two.
• Problem – Take time to work
Changes in Technology
• Rifles and Minie Balls
– Rifles – gun with a grooved barrel that causes
the bullet to spin through the air
• More distance and accuracy
– Minie Balls – a bullet with a hollow base. It
expanded upon firing to fit the grooves in the
barrel.
• Shot further and were more accurate.
Changes in Technology
• Ironclads
–Ships covered in iron.
• Confederate Merrimack (Virginia) and
Union Monitor
–Fought for 4 hours to a draw off the
coast of Virginia in 1862
Major Battles
• First Battle of Bull Run
– July 21, 1861
– Plan
• Needed to capture Manassa, Virginia, a major
railroad center near Washington D.C., in order to
take Richmond
Major Battles
• Bull Run
– Battle
• Bull Run is a creek near Manassas
• Union assaulted a outnumbered confederate army
• The confederates with stood the assault long
enough for reinforcements to arrive.
Major Battles
• Bull Run
– Battle
• The confederates led a counter charge and as they
approached the union lines let out a scream.
– Union troops panicked and broke ranks.
• Confederates got the victory.
Major Battles
• Bull Run
– Results
• The Union was shocked.
– Lincoln recalls the militia.
– Calls for 500,000 real army troops to volunteer for 3
years.
Major Battles
• Bull Run
– Interesting Facts
• Confederate General
Thomas Jackson
receives his famous
nickname.
– Stonewall
» What do you
think this shows
about Jackson’s
character.
Major Battles
• Battle of Antietam
– By 1862 Lee had begun to invade the North
• Maryland
– He drew up a plan for the Northern Invasion
• He left it with another officer
• The officer left it behind in camp
• The Union took over the abandoned camp and
stumbled upon the plans
• General George McClellan now knew Lee’s every
move
• Antietam
Major Battles
– September 17, 1862
• McClellan Attacked but moved slowly
– This was his greatest short coming
• The two sides fought all day and by nightfall no
one had gained any ground.
– 25,000 dead or wounded
– Bloodiest day in American history
• Lee lost most of his army and retreated to Virginia
• McClellan did not follow and lost an opportunity to
finish of the Confederates
Major Battles
• Antietam
– Results
• Lincoln was so fed up with McClellan’s inability that
he fired him by November.
Major Battles
• Sherman’s March to the Sea
– Grant was named Commander of the Union
forces in 1864
– His Plan
• He would Pursue Lee in Virginia
• General William Sherman would push through the
deep south to Atlanta and the Atlantic coast.
Major Battles
• Sherman’s March
– Sherman swept from Tennessee to Atlanta in
September of 1864
– Now moved on to the Atlantic
– Destroyed an area of Georgia 60 miles wide
and 300 miles long
Major Battles
• Sherman’s March
– Total War
• War against enemy troops and anyone/thing that
supports the enemy.
– Tore up rail lines
– Destroyed crops
– Burned and looted
• December took Savannah, Georgia and everything
in it.
Major Battles
• Sherman’s March
– Results
• Turned Lincoln’s reelection bid around
• People sensed victory
The Emancipation Proclamation
• Issued January 1, 1863
– Intended to free slaves in the South
• Actually freed very few
– Union troops had to enforce the order and some slaves
lived in areas Union troops did not occupy.
– Very important symbolically
» Gave the war a purpose – A War of Liberation
– Why did Lincoln only free southern slaves?
» Constitution did not give him the power to abolish
slavery
» His role as commander in chief did – He was able to
free southern slaves as an act of war.
African Americans and Women in
the War
• African Americans
– Following the Emancipation Proclamation
African Americans flooded into the Army.
• By the end of the war 180,000 had joined the
Union army.
– They were formed in all black regiments.
• Led by white officers
– Given the worst jobs
– Paid Less
• Many regiments banded together and fought for no
pay rather than receive less than the white soldier.
African Americans and Women in
the War
• 54th Massachusetts Regiment
– One of the first African American
Regiments organized in the North.
• Fought for no pay.
• Led an attack on Fort Wagner – South
Carolina
– Fought with such bravery that they became a
household name and African American
enlistment increased.
African Americans and Women in
the War
• Women
– Took on increased roles
• Plowed fields
• Ran farms
• Took over office and factory jobs
• Served as Nurses and volunteer workers
for the Union Army
– Wash clothes, gather supplies, cook
Clara Barton
• Organized a relief
agency to aid in the
war effort.
– Led to the start of the
American Red Cross
Dorothea Dix
• Lead the nursing
effort for the Union
Army
– By the end of the war
she had nearly 3,000
nurses serving in
Union hospitals
Turning Points
• Battle Of Gettysburg – July 1, 1863
– Lee and his army crossed into
Pennsylvania because they had heard
the city had a supply of shoes.
• They Ran into the Union Army under the
leadership of General George Meade
– 90,000 Union troops
– 75,000 Confederate Troops
Turning Points
• Gettysburg
– The Battle
• Lasted three days
• The air seemed full of bullets
– “The bullets were whizzing so thick that it
looked like a man could hold out a hat and
catch it full.”
– For 2 days they fought to a stalemate
•
Turning
Points
Gettysburg
– The Battle
• Lee’s mistake
– The turning point came on July 3rd
– Lee ordered General George Pickett to attack the middle
of the Union Line
» 13,000 troops attacked under heavy gun fire and
were torn to pieces
» Came to be Known as Pickett’s Charge
– Lee retreated to Virginia and again the Union failed to
finish his army off.
– Casualties
» Union – 23,000
» Confederates – 28,000 (Over 1/3 of Lee’s Army)
Turning Points
• Battle of Vicksburg
–July 4, 1863 in Mississippi
–Last major confederate stronghold
along the Mississippi River.
–Began in May
• Direct attempts to take the city had
failed.
Turning Points
• Vicksburg
– The Plan
• Surround the city and cut it off.
– Eventually the confederates ran out of food
» Out of desperation they ate mules, dogs,
and rats.
– After nearly a month and a half they finally
surrendered.
• The Union win gave them control of the
Mississippi.
Surrender
• Grant continued to pursue Lee
and hand him after defeat.
–Lee realized that the situation was
hopeless and sent word to Grant
that he was ready to surrender
Surrender
• Appomattox Court House
– On April 9, 1865 Grant and Lee met to
discuss surrender.
– Grant was very generous in the terms.
• Fed hungry soldiers
• Allowed them to return home peacefully
• Took their private possessions and horses
with them.
Life During The War
• Disagreements on Both Sides
– People in both the North and the South grew
tired of the war.
• South
– Riots
– Soldiers left the army
– Confederate states could not agree
• North
– Copperheads
» Northern democrats who favored peace.
– Protesters were arrested
– Habeas Corpus was suspended
» Allowed citizen’s to be held without trial.
Life During the War
• Conscription
– Draft Laws
• Both Sides passed them
• South
– 1862 – All able-bodied white males between the ages of
18 and 45.
– Exceptions
» Planters who owned 20 or more slaves.
» Wealthy men could hire substitutes ( going rate
$6,000)
» “Rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight”
Life During the War
• Conscription
– North
• 1863 – All able bodied-men ages 18-35
• Exceptions
– Those who hired substitutes
– Those who volunteered
» $300 bounty – Cash payment for men who
volunteered
Life During the War
• Economics
–South
• Food Shortages
• Inflation
–An increase in price and decrease in the
value of money
Life During the War
• North
– Some inflation
– Positives
• War production boosted the economy.
• Enacted an income tax
– Tax on wages
• Printed a new paper currency
– Greenbacks
– Ensured that people had money to spend
Outcomes
• There were bad feelings between the
North and the South
– Lincoln aimed to heal these wounds
• The terms of surrender were a start.
• Nearly 620,000 soldiers died and another
535,000 were wounded.
• 3,000,000 men served – about 10% of the
population
Outcomes
• There was also a strain on the economy.
– Together the north and south spent more then
5x the amount that the government had spent
in the previous 8 decades
– Years after the fighting was over the
government was still paying interest on loans
taken during the war.