Download Unit VI Civil War Notes

Country Divided
Decade of Chaos – 1850’s
Sectional conflict
Expansion
Slavery – popular sovereignty
Mexican War – Manifest Destiny
Stephen Douglass
Debates vs. Lincoln (Slavery v. Union) 1858
Kansas/Nebraska Act (popular sovereignty)
Abolition
Underground Railroad – Harriet Tubman
Led 300 slaves to freedom – including elderly parents
Dred Scott – Judicial
“Black man does not have rights that the white man is obligated to respect”
Justice Taney – prop. Cannot sue govt.
Invalidates Missouri Compromise
John Brown – violence/God?
White man dying for the Black cause
“Bleeding Kansas”
Harpers Ferry
Fredrick Douglass – literature/politics
Freed slave – self-educated
“North Star’
Harriet Beecher Stowe – Literature (spark of the war)
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” – instigated northern feelings against slavery
Preacher family – never experienced slavery
Encouraged to write about the plight of slavery
Married Calvin Stowe
Magazine paid $300 for the book
Sold 10,000 copies – 1st week
Sold 300,000 copies 1st year – millions over the years
Slavery’s role in the war
Theme: A series of major North and South crisis events in the 1850’s culminated in the election of antislavery Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860.
His election caused seven southern states to secede from the union and form the Confederate States of
America
Civil War
The North effectively brought to bear its long-term advantages of industrial might and human resources to
wage a devastating war against the south. The war helped organize and modernize northern society, while
the south, despite heroic efforts, was economically and socially crushed.
Lincoln’s diplomacy
Election 1860
Four-way election
Lincoln – rep.
Douglas – northern dem.
Breckenridge – southern dem.
Bell – Union
Lincoln received no electoral votes in slave states
South knew they lost control of gov’t
Seven states secede
“Save the union”
Lincoln maintained theme until emancipation (1863)
Start of war
South Carolina fried on Fort Sumter arousing the north for war (April 12, 1861)
Lincoln called for federal troops
Drove four more states to confederacy (Virginia/Arkansas/Tenn./N.C.)
Border states became the key (political battle ground)
Maryland/Kentucky/Missouri/Delaware/W.V.
Mostly white
Recourses and production
Stayed with north because south “shot first”
Lincoln – combination of political leadership (persuasion) and force to keep Border
States in union
Theme: Lincoln’s skillful political leadership helped keep the crucial Border States in the union and
maintain Northern morale, while his effective diplomacy kept Britain and France from aiding the
confederacy.
Confed – advantages
1 – upper class European support
2 – military leadership
3 – defensive position on its own soil
Union – advantages
1 – lower class European support
2 – industrial and population resources
3 – political leadership
Discussion – French and British involvement – who would they support?
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Chronology
States rights v. Slavery
Slavery as a cause vs. Slavery as not a cause
Northern Plan
Civil War
North’s attitude – toward the south? toward slavery?
Battleground (geography)
Fronts
Battlefields
1st two years 1861-1862
Manassas
Goal – cut the railroads at Manassas
Then move toward Richmond (confed. Capital)
37,000 union v. 22,000 confed
Bull Run Creek
Union appeared to be winning – confederate held (Gen’s Beauregard/Jackson)
Beauregard ordered counterattack – union retreated
Spectators retreated – “The Great Skedaddle”
Blocked union retreat to Washington
5000 casualties
Thousand-mile front
Surround south – Atlantic/gulf/Miss. River/Ohio River
Cut off Europe and supplies
Gen. George McClellan (replaces Winfield Scott)
Army of the Potomac
Reform/re enforce/trained/morale
“Little Mac”/”young Napoleon”
Made a great army but did not lead it anywhere
U.S. Grant relieved to desk duty
Sherman requested 200,000 more troops
Relieved of duty – thought to be crazy
No one believed the Generals casualty numbers
No one thought this would be a long or bloody war
End of 1861 – 700,000 men in union. ? in confederate
Ironclads
Confed began with no navy
By fall of 1861 began building steel Merrimack
Union employed Eriksson to stop Merrimack
Monitor
Gun turret
100 days
47 patentable inventions
Union Cumberland shot first at Merrimack
Merrimack rammed Cumberland
Monitor vs. Merrimack
5 collisions
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41/2 hours – Merrimack retreat (confed. blew her up)
1862 - Lincoln sees emancipation
McClellan – sat outside of Richmond
No will to fight
Union – looks bleak – Europe to recognize confederacy
Lincoln – we must “change or lose”
McC. – wanted more troops (110,000)
Confed. Jackson – occupying 3 federal armies
Jackson – “Stonewall”
Religious/killer (pray+fight)
Demanding not well liked
Long marches – God and country
Well prepared
South as a nation – successful, developing nation
France/ England needed cotton
South with withheld cotton to pressure Europe
North could not have Europe involved
Slaves view of the war
Slaves understood the issue before the war
Lincoln – tried to encourage slaves to go back to Africa – money issue
- He feared political ramification
- Reaction of north if emancipated
- Emancipation seems the only answer
Battles:
Fair Oaks
Confed. Joe Johnson – wounded
Robert E. Lee – takes over
11,000 casualties (c6000/u5000)
Headed to confront McClellan
Mechanicsburg – divided troops
2 days to push McC. Out of VR.
Seven Days – Death
6 of 7 union victories
McC. – retreated (coward or treason)
Lee lost 20,000
Put fear into union leadership
McC continues to ask for more men
Returns to Washington
Richmond still confed
War is spread all over
Maine>Tenn.>N.M.>Georgia
Emancipation? Fredrick Douglass increases the pressure
Lincoln decides and announces to emancipate slaves
Cabinet advises to wait until victory
Victory to make it valid
Lincoln replaces McC w/ John Pope
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Pope charged into Virginia – 2nd Battle of Bull Run
Union Disaster
Pope to Minnesota to deal with Indians
McC back in charge
Antietam
Lee invades north – divides army
To federal rail center – Harrisburg, PA
Positioned at Sharpsburg, MD. – at Antietam Creek
McC arrives – superior troops
Lincoln – pressure from all sides
Defends goal to keep union together
He would do it to free slaves/not to free slaves/whatever it takes
Battle:
Bloodiest union victory
1st left
confed – Stonewall was attacked
union – Hooker – wounded
Cornfield/heavy casualties
confed – withdrew
6am-10am – 8000 men dead and wounded
2nd
Lee leads confed
Confed held until NY found position
McC – held off final charge
3rd right
union – Burnside vs. confed - Tombs
cross creek to sharpsburg
McC refused troops to Burnside
No ground gained at Antietam
Union – 2108 dead/ 10,103 wounded
Confed – 10318 casualties (1/4 of army)
McC – plenty of reserves never used them
Could claim victory/could have won war
Lincoln – came to Antietam – wanted McC to pursue Lee
Relieves McC of command
Reinstates U.S. Grant – “he fights”
Grant fails at Vicksburg
Emancipation Proclamation
Document –
Lincoln issues sept 22, 1862 (Jan 1 1863)
Bring war to a higher objective
Political
Freed slaves in the states controlled by North
South outraged
Resurged to the North
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“The union as it should be”
Liberators
Work to keep Eng. and Fr. from opposing a country that tried to rid slavery
Slavery as a cause – a new spirit of the Black Slave
1863
Lee moves forward (Gettysburg)
Trying to take pressure off Vicksburg
Lee and Jackson leading unbelievable campaigns
Jackson dead by May ’63
Gettysburg (battle)
150,000 men – 3 days
Southern Penn
Lee – 70,000 men – 3 cores
1- James Longstreet
2- Richard Uhle (Stonewall’s old division)
3- A.P. Hill
Union commander – George Meade
Confed march through Maryland
Lee took supplies, cattle, sent free blacks back to slavery
Day 1
Greatest military battle
South fought from north
North from the south
All forces converged on Gettysburg
Confed push union south
End of the 1st day – union army held high ground
Lee overruled generals – wanted head to head
Day 2
Gathered through night
65,000 confed vs. 85,000 union
Lee wanted hills taken
Big and Little Round Tops
Lee attacked 4pm
Vs. Meade
360 Maine 20th – Chamberlain
To hold hill against 10x their size
5 changes of position
1/3 killed in 11/2 hours
Running out of ammo
Chamberlain – charged in order to survive
Confed surprised and retreated
Company B rose and fired
Captured 400 confed by the small force
Alabama vs. Maine
82 % fallen (Minnesota) in 5 minutes
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100 % co F 6th North Carolina
Unsure of who won the day
Lee claimed victory
Day 3
Lee wanted center attack the next day
Lee was unchanged – Longstreet wanted caution
Pickett’s Charge – Lee’s “invincible army”
23 yr old Gen G.O. Custer – crazy charges
Held off Meade from getting to rear
Pickett’s first command in battle
Traded barrages – ammo low – union tried to bring confed army in the open
13,000 men 3 divisions – 200 yards
11-cannon/1700 muskets
Regiments just disappeared – impressive charge/easy target
After Pickett’s Charge Lee took the blame (to men and Govt)
Casualties
Confed 28,000
Union 23,000
51,000men lost 1/3 of all men engaged
Longstreet “saddest day”
17-mile wagon train back to Virginia – south will never invade north again
Lincoln furious for not finishing battle – end the war?
Lee offers resignation – J. Davis rejected
Gettysburg Address
Woman of the war
Looked to help
Sanitary commission – cut disease
Care for wounded/supplies
Clara Barton
Food/care/lobby Washington
South – every house a hospital
Ex. 13,000+ only 370 dead
Vicksburg
U.S. Grant from land
Adm. Porter from sea
Trying to force city to surrender – by making conditions bad
48 days of siege – July 4, 1863 confed surrender
confed cut in two – Mississippi controlled by union
July – 1st federal draft role
20-45
$ 300 buys exemption (subs)
Shakers – exempt
Resistance to draft
Irish immigrates – did not fight for blacks (competition)
Lincoln – 1st Black regiment
U.S. Grant – “arming the Negro will make good soldiers”
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650 men – 3 days after draft riots
54th Mass. All black – Col. Robert Gould Shaw
Attack Ft. Wagner – S.C. 40 % killed including Shaw
Confederate victory but Black accomplishment
Blacks 1% of population – by the end of war 1/10 of union army
85% of Black pop. signed into army
Dedication of Gettysburg National cemetery (union) Nov. 19, 1863
Ed Everett – spoke for two hours – then Lincoln 269 words
Lincoln – goal of the union
“New birth of freedom”
Honor death
Reestablish cause and focus
1864
North losing control
Death (casualties) toll growing
Lincoln on the verge of reelection
Difficult at the time to campaign and run a country at war
No country ever held an election during civil
Democrats wanted war over (win or lose)
George McClellan – still popular with the people – everything Lincoln was not
Most thought Lincoln would not win – he refused to drop proclamation to end war
Current battles of importance
Petersburg (Grant) – huge casualties
Atlanta (Sherman)
Reenlistment – 140,000
30 day leave for 3 years service
Summer ’64 – congress passes equal pay for black and white soldiers
Union victory in Mobile Bay
Adm. David Farragut – “damn the torpedoes full speed ahead”
Good sign for the union
Lee sends Jubal Early to attack at Washington and Shenandoah
Nathan Bedford Forest (confed) to defend Atlanta
Lt. General – highest rank
Wounded 4x – 31 kills – lost 30 horses
Atlanta – key to northern victory – southern railroad hub
Lincoln needs victory for reelection
Sherman arrives
Jefferson Davis relieves Gen. Joseph Johnson
Held off Sherman for 4 months
John Bell Hood – 33 – replaces J.J.
Sherman puts Atlanta under siege – cut off supplies
(First use of the repeating rifle)
Two attacks (hood with draws into Atlanta after 2nd attack)
After one week Hood abandons Atlanta (Sept 1, 1864) Sherman enters the city
In Tenn. – N.B. Forest
Attacked fort Pillow
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Killed 300 Black troops – after they surrendered
Grant ends prisoner exchange
Confed refused to treat black and white soldiers the same
Andersonville (Georgia)
Confed – prison could hold 10,000 (had 34,000)
Worst conditions – lack of food/disease/treatment
13,000 died in one year – mass graves
People’s resolution
Union- Gen. Phil Sheridan triumphs over Jubal early in Shenandoah
Lincoln is re-elected (55% of pop)
Helped by Sherman’s victories at Atlanta
McC won three states KT/Del/NJ
Confed in serious trouble
Lincoln calls for more troops to finish war
(Thanksgiving – National Holiday 3rd Thursday in November)
South out of men
Union dead fill all military cemeteries
Montgomery Meigs – Quartermaster General (Georgian)
Selects grounds of Lee’s home for new cemetery
Becomes Arlington National Cemetery
“Unions most hollowed ground”
Union 2000 dead a week
Late 1864
Confederate on a decline – Lee assumes command of all the southern forces
Union closing in
Sherman’s marches army – 62,000 men – 425 miles (25 mile supply train)
Atlanta to Savanna
Live off land
Destroy everything – $100 million in damage
25,00 slaves flee to Sherman’s Army during march
Liberation
Dec. 25 Sherman emerges near Savannah
Heads toward South Carolina (beginning of secession)
South becomes desperate
Soldiers desert
Confeds try to use slaves – promise freedom after war
Congress earlier passed 13th amendment (119-36)
Washington March 4, 1865
Lincoln inaugurated 2nd term
Grant conquers Petersburg
Moves toward Richmond – destroyed
Lee’s last charge
AP Hill killed
Jeff. Davis – evacuates confed govt
Retreating confed burns city
Mobs loot
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Union enters city
Lincoln arrives in Richmond
Takes over confed white house
Freed slaves mob Lincoln
Lee heads west w/ what’s left of the Rebel army
Grant in pursuit (125,000 vs. 25, 000)
Battle of Franklin – Tenn.
Hood confed – 13 charges
Gen. George Thomas – union
Hood loses 7000 men (12 confed Gen)
J. Johnson back in command
Appomattox - April 7, 1865
Grant writes to Lee April
Lee sends word that he will surrender
Lee and Grant meet – term of surrender
Formal surrender three days later (April 10, 1865)
Lincoln rejoices in Washington
South left in despair
J.W. Booth plots
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Reconstruction
Assassination (1st presidential assassination) April 14, 1865
Fort Sumter ceremony to end the war – 4 year anniversary
Same night – Fords Theater
Grant – canceled
Andrew Johnson – VP
William Seward – Sec. of State (stabbed)
John Wilkes Booth – actor/planned attack a long time
Shot Lincoln / stabbed Seward
Lincoln taken across street to boarding house – dead by AM
Country was horrified
Funeral – Washington to Springfield Ill.
16,062 miles – 12 days
Oakridge Cemetery
Union cavalry capture/kill J.W. Booth
Georgia May 10
Jeff. Davis arrested
Never tried – lived off widow
Hyrum Revels (black man) replaces senate seat
Alexander Stephens – confed VP – returned to congressional seat
War squirmishes continue – LA/AL/MS
Final casualty – John J. Williams (May13, 1865)
Final conflict confed victory
May 23 – Union troops parade down Penn. Ave. (Pres. Johnson/U.S. Grant)
Grand Army review – 2 days
1st day – G.O. Custer
2nd day Sherman
3.5 million went to war – 620,000 dead
Sherman – Indian fighter
Mary Todd Lincoln – Mental inst./never recovered
Clara Barton – “angel of the battlefield”
Burial at Andersonville
Founded American Red Cross
McClellan – abroad
Gov. NJ
Longstreet – confed – rep./Grant’s minister to Turkey
Fredrick Douglass – Most powerful Black politician
Lee – swore allegiance to U.S.
President of Washington College (Washington and Lee) died 1870
Grant – President
Corruption
Civil War – center of U.S. world
Popular Govt can work
4 million Americans freed
Amendment 14/15
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Johnson Presidency
Will carry out Lincoln Reconstruction (moderate)
Will pardon all rebel leaders / congress apposed
Theme: Johnson’s political blunders and southern white recalcitrance led to the imposition of
congressional military reconstruction on the south.
Reconstruction accomplished some good, such as the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, but it left
behind a legacy of racial and sectional bitterness.
Reconstruction – Political/social/economic
Life in the south (discussion)
Transportation
Economy
People-continued defiance
Cotton crops
Effect of the loss of slaves (2 billion investment)
Emancipation is a long process
Discuss:
Loyalty to old masters?
Freedom with what future?
What is left for slaves? Slavery is over – years of oppression
- To reunite – families
- Money?
- Land?
- What is next?
- No education
- Skills?
Freedman’s Bureau – 1865 – Gen. Oliver Howard
Food/clothing/education
Limited ability to distribute land
Education most successful
Compare to welfare system
Slavery is over – years of oppression
President Johnson vs. Congress
Johnson - Southern (NC) senator (only one not to leave during secession
Levels of reconstruction
- Economic
- Presidential
- Congressional
- Military
Impeachment - 1868
Conflict with congress over reconstruction
“Accidental pres”
Rumors of “drunk/womanizer”
Charged with violation of the Tenure Office Act (Firing of Stanton)
Congress unhappy with moderate reconstruction
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11 article of impeachment – 10 days to prepare
Vote 35-19 – one vote short of 2/3rds
Two other articles same vote/others never came to a vote
7 republican senators risk careers to bolt party and go with dems.
Missouri – John B. Henderson
KKK – 1866 – Tenn.
Ghosts of the Civil War –“fear and tricks” (terror)
Beatings and murder – to keep blacks in place
Nathan Bedford Forest – Imperial wizard
Congress used Force Acts to stop KKK 1870/71
Came to late to help poor blacks in “deep” south
Intimidation well on its way
KKK – regrouped into different (smaller) organizations
Clubs/societies
Attacks are physical/mental/economic
Expansion – Alaska
Pres. Johnson
Successful in foreign affairs
1867 – Russia wanted to sell
U.S. as a buffer between Britain and Russia
Alaska – cold/vast
Over furred
Feared conflict with G.B.
Economic strain
Sec. of State – Seward (expansionist)
$7.2 million – mixed reaction from the people
Why buy?
Keep already good relations with the czar
Possible economic benefits
Fur/fish/gold
Effects of Reconstruction
Political
Social
Economics
Republicans
Reconstruct – narrow – concerned about protection of party
Freed Blacks
Willing participants – ignored – center of racial problems
Southern Whites
Racial dominance – desire for continued way of life
Thaddeus Stevens
Radical programs
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14th amendment
Move blacks into society
Industrial America takes the attention away from war
Hayes – Tilden election 1776 ends reconstruction
Congress gives presidency to Hayes for the removal of Federal troops from the south.
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