Download THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

1861-1865
Fort Sumter
•Fort Sumter was a federal military base located on an
island in the Harbor of Charleston, SC
•The Federal troops holding it were in desperate need
of supplies and food and the Confederacy was
threatening to take the fort
•What were President Lincoln’s options? What would
be the outcome of each choice?
Fort Sumter
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If Lincoln failed to supply the fort, the fort
would fall to the CSA and a failure to act
may be interpreted as a sign of weakness
If Lincoln supplied the fort, this act would
be looked upon by the CSA as a direct
confrontation and a possible weakness on
their part
Lincoln decided to send provisions but
NOT reinforcements. Why?
Fort Sumter
At 4:30 am on April 12, 1861 the
fort was fired upon by the
Confederacy
The bombardment lasted 34 hours
with 4,000 rounds fired and 1,000
fired in reply
General Anderson surrendered
Damage to the fort was extensive
Now the Union knew where they stood and was relieved
Sumter destroyed for the South the view that their
independence would be won without a fight
The Confederacy had fired upon the Union flag and
Lincoln took this action as an act of rebellion and
insurrection…… The Civil War had begun!
Fort Sumter: Symbolic Value
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The Confederacy felt their case for
recognition as an independent nation
would be compromised as long as an
armed power maintained its presence in
one of its own harbors.
It was a question of saving face
Lincoln Faces the Crisis
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Lincoln exercised extraordinary power and at times
exceeded the executive power in the Constitution
 In April 1861 he requested the Governors of the
Northern states to provide 75,000 militia for 90 days
to put down the rebellion
 In May 1861 he:
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Asked for volunteers to enlist for 3 years
Enlarged the regular army
Ordered a naval blockade of the confederate coast
Ordered a suspension of habeas corpus- the right to be
arbitrary arrested. Lincoln did this to prevent dissenters from
damaging the war effort and if effect, damaging the
preservation of the Union
Aided the western part of Virginia
Arranged for supervised voting
Secured the B & O railroad and put down rioters
War Aims: Goals
CONFEDERACY
Clearly Defined
Self-determination: to
win independence
To govern themselves
To preserve their way
of life; slavery
To defend their homes
and families
UNION
Less Tangible
To preserve the Union
(1861)
To free the slaves
(after 1863)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The North retained control of more than 2/3rds of
the states (19 free states and 4 slave border states)
population - 22 million (800,000 immigrants entered
during the war years)
Manufacturing= 90% of U.S. industrial goods, esp.
munitions (steel and iron factories)
Efficient railroad system= 30,000 miles of railroad
(mobility of troops and supplies)
Possessed more than 75% of the nations finances
Controlled the Navy, which could be used to
blockade s. ports and shut down the s. eco.
Superior leaders: Lincoln advised the generals but
left the fighting up to them: Offensive warfare
Capable military leaders= Ulysses S. Grant
The Union
George McClellan
Irwin McDowell
President Lincoln
Ulysses S Grant
Ambrose Burnside
William T. Sherman
The Union Strategy
Offensive Warfare; Lincoln believed the
Southern states were in rebellion
1. Blockade the Confederate Coast
2. Advance along and seize the Mississippi
River and divide the Confederacy in half
3. Seize the interior railroad lines to cut off
Confederate supply lines
4. Seize Richmond, the Confederate capital
Overview
of the
North’s
Civil War
Strategy
“Anaconda
Plan”
Advantages of the Confederacy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The South was geographically 11 compact states
Defending is always easier than attacking - (familiar
w/climate and territory, possible psychological
advantages)
Farmers made better foot soldiers than factory
workers
Southern boys could shoot better with more accuracy
Confederates had excellent generals -Robert E. Lee and
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
Profitable economy based on cotton exports
The South had many friends in Britain and Southern
leaders expected their support
South seized federal weapons, ran the blockade, and
developed their iron works
The Confederacy
James Longstreet
“Stonewall Jackson”
Jefferson Davis
George Pickett
Robert E Lee
The Confederate Strategy
1.
2.
3.
Defensive warfare; Davis believed the
South had seceded and was an
independent nation
To defend the South with an aggressive
defense
To drive North to demoralize and divert
Union forces
To seize Washington, DC
Peninsula
Campaign April
to July 1862
First Bull Run
July1861
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Civilians showed up to “watch”
the battle
Showed the inexperience of the
troops
Many troops had different
uniforms and fired upon their
own men
Stonewall Jackson earned his
nickname
Union troops panicked and
began to flee towards DC
Washington, DC was left open
to attack but the CSA missed an
opportunity to attack
Confederate victory; boosts
morale
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The Union decided to move
against Richmond
McClellan displayed weakness
that would end his career
McClellan delayed the attack
and pushed too slow; he was in
position to strike several times
but surrendered the initiative
Lee launched several surprise
attacks and wins
McClellan is replaced and the
campaign abandoned
Union
Strategies:
1st Bull Run
and the
Peninsula
Campaign
Battle of Antietam
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September 17, 1862
Bloodiest 24 hours of the war
Lee’s plans fell into Union
hands; McClellan was
confident
Although it was a victory for
the North, it could have been
decisive if McClellan had begun
an offensive the second day
but he did not pursue Lee
Lincoln went to the battlefield
and fired McClellan for not
taking action
Strategically it was a victory
for the Union because Lincoln
used the news of the battle to
issue the Emancipation
Proclamation
War in
the
East:
Antietam
Lincoln Visits the Battlefield
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It freed the slaves only in
states that have seceded from
the Union
It did not free slaves in border
states
This ended the Confederate
hopes of being recognized as a
nation by Britain
Lincoln really announced that
slavery would die and the
entire South would be a
military target
It aggravated racial prejudice
in the South as millions of
whites were horrified that the
slaves might be freed
War in the West: The Anaconda Plan
Admiral David Farragut
April 1862 Union fleet takes port of
New Orleans
Within two months most of Louisiana
under Union control
Only city of Vicksburg, Miss remained
as a southern stronghold
Fort Henry and Fort Donnelson
Feb 1862
Forts on strategic points on the
Tennessee and Cumberland river
Captured by Grant’s Union forces
Opened up the invasion of the
Mississippi River and the Western
Front
Battle of Shiloh
Tennessee
April 6th 1862
U.S. Grant failed to send out
cavalry scouts for recon
South ambushes Union
campsite
Union forces dig trenches and
fight off rebels
20,000 causalities
Both sides learn the
importance of scouts and
trenches
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Lee realized that the South was in dire straits and decided that it was
crucial to attack the North on its own territory
July 1-3, 1863 - BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG, Pa.
Confederate bombardment; Union held firm
on July 3, General Pickett led 15,000 Confederate Troops across open
fields - Union mowed them down (= "Pickett’s Charge")
Lee was defeated and retreated to Virginia
Gettysburg is the largest battle in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
Over 100, 000 people died in 3 days It was the last time the South
invaded the North.
Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg
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In the Gettysburg Address,
Lincoln states: “…our fathers
brought forth on this continent
a new nation, conceived in
liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are
created equal. Now we are
engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation or
any nation so conceived and
so dedicated can long
endure…we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have
died in vain, that this nation
under God shall have a new
birth of freedom, and that
government of the people, by
the people, for the people shall
not perish from the earth.”
The Monitor
Vicksburg
July 4, 1863
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Won by U.S. Grant, cut
South in 1/2 and gave
the Union control of
Mississippi River
Grant was then given
control of all Union
armies  began a
"scorched earth" policy
to defeat the South
General Sheridan
decimated Va.'s
Shenandoah Valley
Union Victory in the
West
Sherman: Atlanta & His “March to the Sea”
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May- Dec. 1864
General Sherman given task of
taking Atlanta which he
captured Sept. 2
Lincoln needed this victory to
secure his reelection
Sherman cut himself/army
from the supply base
With 60,000 troops he led his
"March through Georgia"
saw total destruction from
Atlanta to Savannah
The path of destruction was
300 miles long and 60 miles
wide= TOTAL WAR
TOTAL WAR=Attacking Civilians
Civilians were now military targets!
Sherman’s
Neckties
“War is hell”
William Tecumseh Sherman
“If you kill the civilians will to
resist, you kill the army’s will
to resist”
William Tecumseh Sherman
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William Carney
After the Emancipation
Proclamation blacks
began to join the Union
Army
Initially they were only
used for manual labor
Eventually, Blacks saw
live combat
54th regiment out of
Massachusetts- Glory
Election 1864
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Democrats nominate
George McClellan on
a platform of
negotiated peace
Radical Republicans
oppose Lincoln
because they feel he
will be too easy on
the Confederacy
Republicans who
support and
nominate Lincoln call
themselves the
National Union Party
Election
Results
1864
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural
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In his 2nd Inaugural
address, Lincoln
states: “Both parties
deprecated war, but
one of them would
make war rather
than let the nation
survive, and the
other would accept
war rather than let
it perish, and the
war came.”
The surrender at Appomattox
Courthouse
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April 3, 1865 - Grant took Richmond Va. - final
blow to Lee's army
Lee surrenders on April 9, 1865 at
APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE
All Confederate troops forced to take an oath of
loyalty to U.S.
otherwise, terms of surrender were lenient
Lincoln didn't want a humiliated South and
further conflict
issue of states' rights now "solved"- federal
government had asserted its status
Appomattox Courthouse
Over 618,000 military deaths during Civil War.
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EFFECTS OF CIVIL WAR
creation of a single unified country
abolition of slavery
increased power to fed. gov't – killed the
issue of states rights
U.S. now an industrial nation
a stronger sense of nationalism
w. lands increasingly opened to settlement
South was economically and physically
devastated, w/ the plantation system
crippled...thus Reconstruction (rebuilding
the U.S.) - but a deep hatred of the North
remained...
Ford’s Theater
Lincoln’s Assassination
April 14, 1865
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John Wilkes Booth
shot President
Lincoln
Lincoln was
attending a play
Booth jumped on
the stage during
the play and broke
his leg