Download The War Begins: 1860 - 1865

The War Begins: 1860 - 1865
Causes of the Civil War
• Difference in the North & South ideals of society
(industrial v. plantation)
• Sectionalism (divided the country)
• States’ rights v. Nationalism
• Slavery (debate on whether slavery would be
allowed in the Western territories)
• Other issues (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Dred Scott
Case, John Brown’s Raid, Election of 1860)
The South Secedes
•After the election of 1860, South Carolina follows
through on its promise and secedes from the Union on
December 20, 1860 (followed by Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas)
•Formed the Confederate States of America and
elected Jefferson Davis as their president
•Emphasized states’ rights w/limited government
•Wanted to restore the Union to what it had been
prior to the rise of the Republican party
•Congress suggests a compromise which would extend
the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, Lincoln
ultimately rejects this plan
Fort Sumter and the Start of the
War
•
•
•
President Lincoln faced the
difficult decision of attempting to
send much-needed supplies to Fort
Sumter (located in South Carolina)
or surrender it to the Confederacy
Supplies were dispatched to the
Fort; prior to their arrival South
Carolina opens fire on the fort.
Lincoln responds by calling out the
militia
Several more states secede from the
Union including Virginia,
Arkansas, North Carolina and
Tennessee (Delaware, Maryland,
Kentucky, and Missouri will
remain in the Union)
Union (Blue)
Confederacy (Gray)
•President Abraham Lincoln
•Capital: Washington, D.C.
•Had many economic advantages
•Large population who supported
the war effort
•President Jefferson Davis
•Capital: Richmond, VA
•Had many experienced
military leaders (many who had
resigned from the U.S. army)
•Great military tradition
Resources of the North & South
Resources continued
100
90
80
70
60
North
South
50
40
30
20
10
0
Population
Factories
Wealth
Cotton
The North’s War Strategy
• Anaconda Plan - offered
by General Winfield Scott
which was to establish a
blockade of southern ports
as well as the central river
systems (Ohio &
Mississippi)
• Isolate the south so they
would run out of supplies
(War of Attrition)
• Capture Richmond
• Eventually free the slaves
• Ulysses S. Grant chosen
as leader of Union forces
The South’s War Strategy
• Planned for a War of Attrition
hoping to force the North to
expend its resources
• Had to go on the offensive as
the war was fought primarily in
the South which led to great
battle losses
• Use of highly trained military
leaders
• Planned to capture Washington
DC & defend Richmond
• Robert E. Lee was chosen as
the leader of the Confederate
Army
Key Battles of the War
Battle of Bull Run
(July 1861)
Battle of New Orleans
(April 1862)
South defeats the North & forces
them to retreat to DC
Battle of Shiloh
(April 1862)
Union defeats the South as Grant
captures control of the Tennessee
river and several forts
Considered the bloodiest of
battles (lasted 1 day); a draw;
17,000 wounded
North defeats the South, stops
Lee from moving into DC, the
turn in the tide of the war
Battle of Antietam
(September 1862)
Battle of Gettysburg
(July 1863)
Union defeats the South and
captures New Orleans
African Americans in the War
• 200,000 apprx. Blacks
served in the Union in
the war
• Blacks also served for
the South with the
hope of becoming free
in the process
Lincoln & the War
•As the war dragged on, Lincoln’s
response to spur the North on & to
inflict damage to the South was to
issue the Emancipation Proclamation
on Sept. 22, 1862
-Offered the South 100 days to
surrender
-On Jan 1, 1863, the
proclamation went into effect &
freed slave in the Confederate
states
-As a result large numbers of
slaves fled North which in turn
hurt the Confederate war effort
with a loss of labor
•Lincoln also issued the Gettysburg
Address on Nov. 19, 1863
The War Ends
• Lee surrenders to Grant on
April 9, 1865
• President Lincoln is reelected in
the election of 1864 beating the
Democratic nominee General
George McClellan
• Lincoln is assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865
• About 618,000 men died in the
war, about 4,000,000 slaves
were freed , & the South lay in
ruins and economic despair
Lee surrenders to Grant