Download Review: Causes of Civil War

Review: Causes of Civil War
• Main Idea: Slavery v. Non-Slavery
– Economic/Social Differences
– State v. Federal Rights
• Nullification Crisis
– Slave v. Non-Slave State Battles
• MO Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Bleeding Kansas
– Abolition Movement
– Election of Abe Lincoln
• Why does this ultimately spark the war?
The Civil War
Analyzing the Outbreak of
the War
Opener
• Explain the reasons for southern secession?
– Election of Abe Lincoln
– Southern fears of a Republican Administration
– States’ Rights
– Desire to preserve way of life/economic system
– Political imbalance between south and
increasingly anti-slavery north
– Feeling among southerners that they voluntarily
joined the union, they should be able to leave on
their own accord
Conflicting Views: Why did the Civil
War Break Out?
• Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address:
– “One eight of the whole population was coloured slaves, not distributed
generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These
slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this
interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and
extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the
Union even by war, while the Government claimed nor right to do more than
to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.”
• Jefferson Davis Memoirs on why the South fought:
– “for the defense of an inherent, unalienable right…to withdraw from a Union
which they had, as sovereign communities voluntarily entered…The
existence of African servitude was in no way the cause of the conflict, but
only an incident. In the latter controversies that arose, however, its effect in
operating as a lever upon the passions, prejudices, or sympathies of
mankind, was so potent that it has been spread like a thick cloud over the
whole horizon of historic truth.”
Lincoln’s Election and Secession
• Lincoln Elected
– What was Lincoln’s Views on Slavery in the United States?
– Why did the South perceive Lincoln as a threat? Were their fears misguided?
• South Carolina Secedes December 20, 1860
• Followed by MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX (Feb. 1861)
• Followed by VA, AK, NC, TN (April 1861/Ft. Sumter
Leaders of Confederacy
•Pres. Jefferson Davis
VP, Alexander Stephens
Northern View of Jefferson Davis
Launching the Civil War: A Look
at the Battle Lines
Was the war a foregone conclusion?
The North
• Advantages
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Population
Industry (10xcapacity)
Money
Railroad (2x)
Standing Army
Naval Supremacy
Government
Agriculture (Food)
Border states DE, MD,
KY, MO
• Disadvantages
– On the Offensive
– Poor Quality of Soldier
– Cause
The South
• Advantages
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Officer Corps
Military Tradition
Quality of Solders
Cause
Home Turf
Defensive War
Cotton
• Disadvantages
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Population
Railroad
Lack of Industry
Confederate Government
• Why is this an issue?
North v. South Comparison
Railroad Lines: 1860
Resources: North v. South
Men Present for Duty in Civil War
Union v. Confederacy
• Border States: MO, KY, MD, DE
– Remain w/ Union, but allowed to keep slaves
North’s Civil War Strategy
• Anaconda Plan
– Blockade Southern Ports
– Take Control of MS River and Divide Confederacy
– Take over Richmond (Confed. Capitol)
Critical Thinking Response
• Was the war a foregone conclusion? Did the
South have a chance to win the war or was it
only a matter of time before they were
defeated?