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The American Civil
War Begins
Fill in the blanks on the handout as we
go through the notes.
Presidential election of
1860
In 1860, Stephan Douglas and Abraham
Lincoln ran against each other again,
this time for president.
Lincoln had become well known from
their debates about slavery.
This time, Lincoln won, becoming the
16th president.
Southern States secede
 Lincoln received no support in the South because they
believed he wanted to end slavery. Since there were
so many more people in the North, he won the election
anyway.
 As soon as Lincoln won the election, the South started
to secede. This means the South split from the Union.
They no longer wanted to be part of the United States.
 Supporters of secession based their arguments on the
idea of states’ rights. They said they had voluntarily
joined the union, so they could leave when they
wanted.
Confederate States of America
 On December 20, 1860, South
Carolina became the first state to
secede.
 They were followed by Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas.
 The eleven states that had seceded
formed the Confederate States of
America.
 They named Jefferson Davis as
president.
 They wrote a new Constitution
which made slavery legal.
Civil War
A civil war is a war between people of
the same country.
There have been many civil wars, but
one of the worst happened in America.
The American Civil War was fought to
keep the South from leaving the Union.
Slavery was the major issue that
separated the North from the South.
The Civil War began at Fort Sumter.
Fort Sumter was in the South, and the
Union had a hard time defending the
fort.
There were 23 states in the Union
(North) at the beginning of the war.
There were 11 states in the
Confederacy (South) at the beginning
of the war.
North’s Advantages
The North some many advantages.
They had many more people and
also had more factories, which could
be used to make weapons
The Union also had many more miles
of railroad tracks.
South’s Advantages
 The South’s main advantage was that they were fighting
at home.
 This would mean that they would be closer to their
supplies.
 They also would fight harder because they were
protecting their homes.
 The Confederacy also had superior generals and better
trained soldiers.
 The South was also being supplied by England at the
beginning of the war. England wanted to keep trading
for the South’s cotton.
Battle of Bull Run
One of the first battles of the war was the
Battle of Bull Run.
The North realized after this battle that the
war would not be easy and would not be
over soon.
New Weapons
Many new weapons were used during the
Civil War.
One of these weapons was an ironclad
ship. An ironclad ship was a ship with iron
plates on it to protect it from cannon fire.
Other new weapons
Deadlier cannons
and bullets
More accurate rifles
Battle of Antietam
First time the Confederacy invaded Northern
territory was the Battle of Antietam.
It was bloodiest battle day in United States
history. 23,000 men lost their lives that day.
The Union army stopped the Confederate
army. This “victory” by the Union gave
President Lincoln the chance to announce
the abolition of slavery in the South.
Emancipation
Proclamation
Declared that all slaves
should be set free in the
Confederacy.
It also allowed blacks to
serve in the Union army
and navy.
South ignored the
Emancipation
Proclamation, but it did
change to focus of the war
to the issue of slavery.
Women in the Civil War
 Women on both sides
worked during the
war. Many became
nurses. The most
famous nurse from the
Union was Clara
Barton.
 She also helped
organize the American
Red Cross.
Battle of Gettysburg
 The Battle of Gettysburg was
one of the bloodiest battles of
the war.
 90,000 Union soldiers fought
75,000 Confederate soldiers.
 More than 50,000 men were
killed or wounded in the
battle.
 The Union won the battle.
The Battle of Gettysburg was the
turning point of the war. The
Confederacy would never invade
Union territory again.
Gettysburg Address
After the Battle of Gettysburg, President
Lincoln went to the battlefield to
dedicate a cemetery in honor of all
those who had died.
Lincoln spoke for two minutes, but his
speech became very famous.
It is called the Gettysburg Address.