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CHAPTER 14
Two Societies at War
1861–1865
I. Secession and Military Stalemate, 1861–1862
A. The Secession Crisis
1. The Lower South Secedes – South Carolina (SC) seceded first in December 1860, fearing a
Lincoln presidency would end slavery; fire-eaters in the Deep South called on their states to
hold conventions to consider following SC; MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, and TX followed by February;
declared Confederate States of America (CSA) with Jefferson Davis as president. Buchanan
did not act decisively; claimed federal government lacked authority to restore the Union by
force.
2. The Crittenden Compromise – President asked Congress to act; Senator Crittenden (KY)
proposed: 1) constitutional amendment to protect slavery from government interference where
it already existed (approved), 2) expand the Missouri Compromise line to the CA border,
banning slavery north of line but allowing it to the south (rejected by Republicans who feared it
would unleash new imperialist adventures by proslavery forces to gain land beyond the
borders, such as Cuba); Lincoln’s inaugural address in March 1861 called the Union
“perpetual” and secession illegal.
B. The Upper South Chooses Sides
1. Union responds – Northerners joined the war effort quickly; OH was asked to provide 13
regiments and supplied 20; northern Democrats supported Lincoln (including Stephen
Douglas); Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen to serve for 90 days.
2. Middle and border states – Decision of these states was crucial; the eight border and middle
states accounted for two-thirds of the whites in the slaveholding states; VA sided with
Confederacy as did AK, TN, and NC; in northwestern VA, yeomen broke away and became
part of Union (admitted in 1863 as WV); DE and MO sided with Union; MD was occupied and
secured by Unionists who seized the state’s government; negotiation kept KY in Union.
C. Setting War Objectives and Devising Strategies
1. Union Thrusts Toward Richmond – Lincoln rejected General Winfield Scott’s strategy of peaceful
persuasion through economic sanctions and a naval blockade; instead, he insisted on an aggressive
military campaign to restore the Union; hoped a quick strike against the Confederates at Richmond
would end the rebellion; attack at Manassas (Bull Run) led to panic among Union soldiers who
retreated; Union enlisted a million more men to serve for three years in the new Army of the Potomac;
in 1862, General McClellan launched major assault, but Confederates fought back; war continued and
Richmond was still secure.
2. Lee Moves North: Antietam – CSA General Lee went on the offensive; routed Union troops in
Second Battle of Bull Run (1862); headed north into western MD; delays on the Union side kept Lee
moving towards Antietam Creek (MD); horrible Union casualties and savage warfare; battle at Antietam
on September 17, 1862 remains bloodiest day in U.S. military history: 4800 dead and 18,500 wounded
(3000 of whom later died); because of Lee’s retreat, Lincoln claimed a victory, but problems continued.
3. The War in the Mississippi Valley – Union had success in the Midwest gaining the Tennessee and
Mississippi rivers; Union naval forces commanded by David G. Farragut struck the Confederacy from
the Gulf of Mexico; captured the South’s financial center and largest city, New Orleans (took control of
1500 plantations and 50,000 slaves); workers on some plantations looted their owners’ mansions;
others refused to labor unless they were paid wages. Union victories significantly undermined
Confederate strength in the Mississippi River Valley.
II. Toward Total War
A. Mobilizing Armies and Civilians
1. The Military Draft – Initially, patriotic fervor filled both armies with eager volunteers; however,
death toll discouraged enlistment and both sides soon needed draft. In April 1862, Confederate
States of America imposed first draft in U.S. history: existing soldiers would serve duration of
war, and men ages 18-35 would serve three years (increased to age 45 in September 1862).
South’s draft had two controversial loopholes: for every 20 slaves supplied, one white man
would be exempt; secondly, men could hire substitutes. Union taxed those who refused to
serve or sympathized with the CSA; suspended habeas corpus and imprisoned about 15,000
southern sympathizers without trial; northerners could provide a substitute or pay a fee not to
fight; Enrollment Act of 1863 in the North led to immigrants refusing to serve; New York City
had draft riots (Irish and German workers) in which black workers were lynched and harassed;
1861 U.S. Sanitary Commission established in NY to aid in the care of soldiers on the
battlefield and in Union hospitals; so much death created new industries (ex: embalming) and
cultural rituals.
2. Women in Wartime – Approximately 200,000 women volunteered for the Sanitary
Commission and the Freedman’s Aid Society; nursed family members; worked as paid nurses,
clerks, and factory operatives; Dorothea Dix named superintendent of female nurses. Women
took over farm tasks; filled jobs in schools and offices; worked as spies, scouts, and soldiers
(in disguise).
B. Mobilizing Resources
1. Republican Economic and Fiscal Policies – The North’s economy was far superior to that of
the South: more output, two-thirds of railroads, and two-thirds of population. Southerners
hoped to trade cotton for much needed supplies. Congress enacted a neomercantilist program
of government-assisted economic development; imposed high tariffs, offered “free land” to
farmers through the Homestead Act (1862), closed local banks, and forced the states/people to
accept federal charters and regulations; made plans for a transcontinental railroad. Industries
grew to feed/clothe the soldiers. Union spending increased dramatically; Legal Tender Act of
1862 introduced “greenbacks” (paper currency).
2. The South Resorts to Coercion and Inflation – CSA left economic matters to state
governments in the beginning; eventually had to build and operate shipyards, armories, and
textile mills; commandeered food, coal, iron, copper, and lead; reluctant to tax slaves and
cotton; paid 60 percent of its war costs by printing paper money, which led to massive price
inflation and food rioting.
III. The Turning Point: 1863
A. Emancipation
1. “Contrabands” – Abolitionists began to demand emancipation as part of war effort; slaves
who escaped to Union armies called “contrabands of war”; Confiscation Act of 1861:
authorized seizure of property used to support the rebellion; Radical Republicans worked for
legislation that would end slavery in the rebellious states and outlaw slavery in the federal
territories.
2. The Emancipation Proclamation – Lincoln initially rejected emancipation as a war aim, but in
August 1862, he publicly linked black freedom with the preservation of the Union; slavery could
continue in those states that had not rebelled (MD, MO) and areas occupied by Union armies
(parts of TN, western VA, southern LA); Lincoln called emancipation an “act of justice.”
B. Vicksburg and Gettysburg
1. The Battle for the Mississippi – General Grant sought to split the Confederacy in two;
achieved the surrender at Vicksburg, MS; took regions of Louisiana; slaves began deserting
region Gulf of Mexico.
2. Lee’s Advance and Defeat – Gettysburg, PA, July 1863; Union victory was hard won; after
three days, there were 28,000 CSA deaths and 23,000 Union deaths; last effort by the CSA to
invade the North; increased the power of Republican Party and its supporters.
IV. The Union Victorious, 1864–1865
A. Soldiers and Strategy
1. The Impact of Black Troops – Many northern whites were initially offended by blacks fighting
for the Union. Emancipation Proclamation changed public thinking on this issue; northern
whites now accepted that blacks would fight and die for the cause. In 1863, the 54th
Massachusetts Infantry’s heroic and costly attack on Fort Wagner (SC) was critical in changing
perspective on black soldiers; discrimination was widespread, but changes to pay were
achieved.
2. Capable Generals Take Command – General Ulysses S. Grant (March 1864) implemented
President Lincoln’s new strategy; Grant focused not just on battles but on mobilization against
southern society (disruption); ordered two major offensives: Grant personally took charge of
the Army of the Potomac and set out to destroy Lee’s forces in Virginia, and he ordered
General William Sherman to invade Georgia and take Atlanta.
3. Stalemate – Psychological toll of fighting was enormous on both sides; as morale declined,
soldiers deserted; trench warfare and scorched-earth campaign revealed desperation to end
the war.
IV. The Union Victorious, 1864–1865
B. The Election of 1864 and Sherman’s March
1. The National Union Party Versus the Peace Democrats – Republican Party supported
Lincoln for reelection, demanded the surrender of the CSA and called for end to slavery;
Republicans called themselves the National Union Party; Democrats did not want
emancipation, but they were split into two camps over war policy.
2. The Fall of Atlanta and Lincoln’s Victory – After taking control of Atlanta, Lincoln promised
the war would continue; National Union Party labeled Peace Democrats “copperheads”
(poisonous snakes); Lincoln won; 1864 Maryland and Missouri changed their state
constitutions and called for emancipation.
3. William Tecumseh Sherman: “Hard War” Warrior – Commanded the Union Army of the
Tennessee; moved South with his army, demolishing whatever was in their path; many CSA
soldiers were demoralized and abandoned; treated as a savior by Georgia’s black population;
issued Special Field Order No. 15, which set aside 400,000 acres for the use of freedmen;
invaded South Carolina and met up with General Grant in North Carolina to fight General Lee.
4. The Confederate Collapse – Class resentment among the CSA weakened the Confederacy;
desertions increased; Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.