The Civil WarThe Second American Revolution

AKA

War Between the States War for Southern Independence War of Northern Aggression

Civil War?

“The common scholarly definition [of “civil war”]has two main criteria. The first says that the warring groups must be from the same country and fighting for control of the political center, control over a separatist state or to force a major change in policy.” --New York Times

Results?

620,000 men dead. National debt

› 1860: $67 million› 1865: $2.7 billion (1 billion = 1,000 million)

Results?

South lost its capital (no money to invest)

Sharecropping developed Cotton production increased Price of cotton dropped

Results?

Industrialization increased in the north Federal government becomes a “ward”

of banks and big business

Backing up…

War starts when resupply effort of Fort Sumter in S.C. results in a skirmish. 4/12/1861

Executive Power Grab

Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to put down the “insurrection.”

Lincoln authorizes spending for the war. Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas

corpus.

“indispensable to public safety” ---Lincoln

Habeas Corpus- "you have the body"

Writ of habeas corpus -a judicial mandate requiring that a prisoner be brought before the court to determine whether the government has the right to continue detaining them.

Cannot be imprisoned without going before a court to determine the charges and, in a reasonable amount of time, a trial to determine guilt.

Secession

Deep South seceded before Sumter – 7 states: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas,

GeorgiaUpper South seceded after Sumter – 4

states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas

Border States

Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky Union sentiment Shrewd federal policies

› Martial law› Arrest of legislature (Maryland)

Stre

ng

ths &

Weakn

esses

North

South

Offense 23 million population Navy Powerful economy: industry & banking 85% of the factories 70% of the railroads Logistics Established government Ideology

› Save the union

Defensive War Experienced military leaders Population: 5-1/2 million free whites Overseas demand for cotton Establish a new government Ideology:

› Independence› opposed to strong central gov., but needed it to win a

war…

Union Strategy

Anaconda: blockade southern ports Divide Confederacy in two Raise an army of 500,000 to take

Richmond

Major Battles

First Bull Run/Manassas – South wins Peninsula Campaign – Robert E. Lee

stops McClellan’s advance Second Bull Run/Manassas – Lee

defeats Pope Antietam/Sharpsburg – Lee takes the

war to the north. 22,000 men KIA or wounded in 1 day. Lee retreats.

Major Battles

Fredericksburg – Burnside defeated by Lee. Monitor v. Merrimac/Virginia – Battle of the

Ironclads. Ended in a draw. Grant in the West – Grant captures Forts

Henry and Fort Donelson (Tennessee). Shiloh – Albert Sidney Johnston surprises

Grant, but force southern retreat. 23,000 killed and wounded

New Orleans – Navy under Farragut captures New Orleans April 1862.

Major Battles

Chancellorsville, May 2-4 1863, Confederates win, but Stonewall Jackson is killed.

Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863 Vicksburg falls, July 4, 1863, severed

the Confederacy

King Cotton Diplomacy

British – market for southern cotton British – would like to see break up of

American democracy South – needed Britain’s help to win

the war Trent Affair – Union boarded a British

ship, the Trent, and seized two Confederate diplomats

“Successful revolutions, including the American Revolution of 1776, have generally succeeded because of foreign intervention.” – American Pageant

The south did not get foreign help and lost.

Why didn’t Britain help the South?

1857-1860 had been very productive years for cotton.

Britain had surpluses of cotton in warehouses. Workers laid off from British factories Emancipation Proclamation North sent food to feed laid off workers. Yankees captured southern cotton and sent it

to Britain. Other sources: Egypt and India War industry relieved unemployment.

Confederate Raiders

Commerce Raiders Blockade Runners The Alabama – captured over 60 Union

vessels

Britain found other sources of cotton (Egypt & India).

Lee’s setback at Antietam/Sharpsburg did not encourage British recognition of the Confederacy.

The Emancipation Proclamation caused British sympathies to turn toward the north (British working class).

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln had not abolished slavery when war broke out (1861).

He wanted to keep the border states happy.

The constitution protected slavery. Many northerners didn’t want to fight a

war over slavery. He was afraid he’d be voted out in the

next election.

Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation

Freed all slaves in the states still in “rebellion.”

Did not apply to the slave-holding border states.

It only applied to slaves OUTSIDE Union control.

It did not free a single slave.

Freeing Slaves

The Emancipation Proclamation DID make slavery an issue in the war, rather than just secession and rebellion.

As the Union Army advanced into the south, slaves were freed and were often brought into the Union Army camps to serve the soldiers (for free).

Liberation

It took a constitutional amendment to actually free the slaves.

Thirteenth Amendment, December 1865› Neither slavery nor involuntary

servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Some blacks joined the Union Army. Some just wandered. Some eventually returned to their

masters because they had nowhere else to go.

Turning Points

Vicksburg Siege lasted 7 weeks. When it fell, the Union controlled the entire Mississippi River and had cut the Confederacy in two.

Gettysburg – Lee led an offensive through Maryland into southern Pennsylvania. 50,000 casualties in 3 days. Lee retreats to Virginia.

The South never goes on the offensive again.

Grant

Grant given command of the Union Army.

Ruthless Goal: to outlast Lee, war

of attrition Engage in total warfare

to defeat the entire South, not just the army.

Grant suffered heavy, heavy casualties, but his only concern was on defeating Lee.

“The Butcher”

Sherman’s March to the Sea

From Chattanooga, TN through Georgia to South Carolina, Sherman’s army burned and destroyed everything in their path: cotton fields, farms, barns, homes, animals

Southerners got sick of it.

Purpose of Sherman's March

1. Destroy Confederate supplies 2. Weaken southern morale. “Make

Georgia howl.”

Engaged in total warfare “Orgy of pillaging” Carried the march from Georgia into

South Carolina and North Carolina

Election of 1864

Democrat Gen. George McClellanRepublican Abraham Lincoln

Election of 1864

Lincoln 212 Electoral Votes McClellan 21 Electoral Votes Democrats – 45% of popular vote

The End of the War

The End of the War

South tried to negotiate. Lincoln wanted unconditional surrender

and restoration of the Union. Davis wanted southern independence.

The End of the War

Surrender at Appomattox Court House – April 9, 1865

McLean House

Fun Fact!

In June 1861, Wilmer McLean and his family lived on their farm in Manassas, VA. They decided to move after the Battle of First Manassas happened on their farm.

The family moved south and built a house at Appomattox Court House. The surrender was signed in Wilmer McLean’s house.

The End of the War

Assassination of Lincoln – April 14, 1865

The End of the War

Lincoln’s assassination infuriated the north and made them even less sympathetic to the south.

Effects of the War on Civilian Life

Effects of War on Politics

Republicans in firm control. Republicans divided:

› Radical – immediate abolition› Moderate – free soilers, economic opportunities

Democrats – peace Democrats & Copperheads – wanted a negotiated peace. Opposed the war.› Congressman Clement Vallandighan, OH, was

banished from the U.S. because he made pro-Confederacy speeches against the war.

Effects of War on Politics – Civil Liberties

Civil rights suffer in wartime› Suspension of Habeas Corpus, 13,000 people

arrested› Supreme Court ruled in 1866 (Ex Parte Milligan)

that it was okay to suspend Habeas Corpus ONLY IF a civilian court was not available.

The Draft› Men ages 20-45 could be called to service.› Could pay $300 to be excused› Protests› Riots – July 1863 New York City

Effects of War on Politics – Northern Dominance

The Federal Union was redefined.› States’ rights as an issue is largely diminished.› Nullification and secession are no longer

mentioned.› Supremacy of federal gov. over the states is

accepted as fact.› Abolition of slavery expands democracy.Some people call the Civil War the Second

American Revolution because it fundamentally changed the nature of the nation.

Effects of the War on Economics

Financing the War – borrow money => DEBT

Sale of government bonds Raised tariffs (Morrill Tariff of 1861) New excise taxes First income tax Printed paper money – Greenbacks 80% inflation! National Banking System 1863

Effects of the War on Economics

Workers’ wages didn’t keep up with inflation.

Speeded up the development of mass production and consolidation of businesses.

Shoddy goods were sold for a lot of $$$. Some got rich quick. Capital was concentrated in the hands of a

new class of millionaires. This capital financed industrialization in the

north for decades to come.

Effects of the War on Economics

Republican Economic Program Morrill Tariff Act – raised tariffs to protect

northern manufacturers. Homestead Act – 160 acres of public land to

whoever would farm it for five years. (Great Plains)

Morrill Land Grant – states could sell federal land grants to raise money for ag and technical colleges.

Pacific Railway Act – build a transcontinental railroad over a northern route

Social Changes Produced by the War

Social Changes Produced by the War – Women

Men fighting Women to work in the factories and

and on the farms Military nurses and volunteers Most women went back home after the

war. Some struggled financially because

their men never returned.

Social Changes Produced by the War – Women

Two Main Permanent Changes on Women:› 1. Nursing was now open to women.

› 2. Women’s roles during the war gave support to their movement to obtain equal voting rights.

Social Changes Produced by the War – Blacks

Slavery ended. Economic hardship and political

oppression continued. But they are free citizens with

their rights protected by the Constitution.