1. Do you think the Civil War could have been prevented?2. What makes the Civil War different from foreign wars?

Warm-Up

The Civil War and Reconstruction

THE CIVIL WAR1861-1865

• Lincoln’s Dilemma– Fort Sumter is one of the last remaining Union forts in the

South– Lincoln can’t supply it or leave it without consequences

• First Shots– Lincoln sends food and nothing else, Davis sends troops and

fires on the fort, staring the war

• Virginia Secedes– North is called to arms, thousands of volunteers come forward– Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina join the

Confederacy– West Virginia joins the Union

The War Begins – Confederates Fire on Ft. Sumter

• Union and Confederate Strategies– Union Advantages: resources, fighting power, factories, food

production, railroad and telegraphs– Confederate Advantages: cotton (and its profits), generals,

military tradition, home field advantage– Union’s Plan: use navy to blockade southern ports, riverboats

on the Mississippi, and attempt to take the capital– Confederate’s Plan: protect homeland, invade north at first

opportunity

• Bull Run– Battle of inexperienced troops, Confederacy wins first battle,

Union retreats to the capital

Americans Expect a Short War

• Forts Henry and Donelson– Union army invades Tennessee with General Ulysses S. Grant

leading the charge, in 11 days claimed both forts

• Shiloh– Confederates sneak attack the Union, Grant reorganizes and

forces a retreat

• Farragut on the Lower Mississippi– David G. Farragut assigned to seize New Orleans– Takes fire but still manages to claim the city, and began

capturing other major cities

Union Armies in the West

A Revolution in Warfare

• New Weapons– Riffle’s replace muskets– Minie ball advances bullet

technology– Primitive hand grenades and

landmines

Ironclads◦Wooden ships encased in, or completely made out of, iron◦ Could splinter wooden ships, withstand cannon fire, and resist

burning

• “On to Richmond”– Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was injured in battle

and command is passed to Robert E. Lee– Lee moved against McClelland to defend the capital, Lee lead

fewer troops to victory

• Antietam– Then Lee headed toward Washington D.C.– Orders were intercepted and the Union– Bloodiest single day battle in American history– McClellan could have ended the war if he pursued Lee– Lincoln fires McClellan as a result

The War for the Capitals

1. What do you think were General McClellan’s major tactical errors?

2. Do you agree with Lincoln’s decision to fire McClellan?

Wrap-Up

1. What were the new warfare inventions used during the Civil War?

2. What was the bloodiest one day battle in American history?

Warm-Up

• The Trent Affair– Britain began importing cotton from Egypt and India and not the

Confederacy keeping them neutral in the war– A British ship, the Trent, carried two Confederate diplomats

Britain Remains Neutral

◦ The ship is stopped by a Union vessel and the Confederates are arrested

◦British threaten war◦ Lincoln forced to free them and

publically disagree with the ships Captain

• Lincoln’s View of Slavery– Lincoln didn’t like slavery but didn’t believe he had the power

to end it – Lincoln finds a way to use his war power to claim Confederate

slaves

• Emancipation Proclamation– Frees slaves only behind Confederate lines

• Reactions to the Proclamation– Had a more symbolic importance, free blacks began enlisting in

the Union army– Confederates were outraged– Compromise no longer an option, war was the only way out

Proclaiming Emancipation

• Dealing with Dissent– Suspended habeas corpus, holding citizens without trial– Copperheads, Northern Democrats, were most targeted

• Conscription– Draft of citizens into the army, used by both sides to boost

troop numbers

• Draft Riots– Poor people most affected, begin rioting against the draft and

being forced to serve

Both Sides Face Political Problems

• African-American Soldiers– African-Americans could serve but in segregated units

commanded by white officers– Paid less and were assigned the harder jobs, when captured by

Confederates they were shot or returned to slavery

• Slave Resistance in the Confederacy– Slaves joined the Union army as they advanced, stayed on

plantations and sabotaged the plantation– Whites in the South did everything they could to prevent an

uprising

African Americans Fight for Freedom

• Southern Shortages– The South was suffering food shortages, prices rose to

unpayable levels– People began rioting and smuggling to get food

• Northern Economic Growth– Industries experienced a boom as the government needed

materials– Wages don’t keep up with prices, those who replace men in the

workforce aren’t paid equally– Companies make poor products to increase profit– Government takes advantage of wealth and begins collecting

income taxes

The War Affects Regional Economies

• Lives on the Line– Sanitary conditions are terrible, disease runs rampant through

the soldiers

• Civil War Medicine– U.S. Sanitary Commission founded to improve conditions and

train nurses

• Prisons– Horrible conditions, many died while in prisons

Soldiers Suffer on Both Sides

1. Who did the Emancipation Proclamation free?2. Why did Britain have to remain Neutral?

Wrap-Up

1. Think about the biggest news story in your lifetime. How did it make you feel? What impact did it have on your life? Did it change the country? Did it change the world?

Warm-Up

• Battle of Chancellorsville– South forces the North to

retreat – After the fighting is over

General Stonewall Jackson is accidentally shot by his own men

– Lee decides to invade the North one more time hoping to tip the balance of power

Prelude to Gettysburg

• Day 1– Confederate soldiers are attempting

to meet up near Gettysburg– Have run-ins with Union cavalry who

begin setting up defensive positions– The Confederates take control of the

town as Union armies converge on the city

– Reach a stalemate with the Confederates occupying the town and the Union occupying the high ground of cemetery ridge

Gettysburg

• Day 2– Union: 90,000 soldiers, Confederate: 75,000 soldiers– Lee orders Confederates attack multiple locations– Union counters and runs low on ammunition– Union able to hold their position despite heavy attacks

• Day 3– Lee believed he could break the Union, ordered an artillery barrage– Union forces renew artillery and infantry – Union holds off Confederate attack and destroys Confederate

forces– Union: 23,000 dead or wounded, Confederate: 28,000 dead or

wounded– Confederacy left unable to recover losses or invade the North again

Gettysburg (cont.)

• Vicksburg Under Siege – Grant destroys rail lines in

Mississippi to distract Confederates while Union army claims the capital

– Grant turns to Vicksburg, and begins a constant barrage

– Confederacy ran short on food, the city fell on July 4th cutting the Confederacy in half

Grant Wins at Vicksburg

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Gettysburg Address – November 19, 1863

• Confederate Morale– Government asks planters to plant fewer cash crops and more

food– Soldiers began deserting due to lack of food, or advocating

peace

• Grant Appoints Sherman– Grant made Commander of Union forces; appoints Sherman

Commander in Mississippi– Begin a total war campaign

• Grant and Lee in Virginia– Grant repeatedly attacks Lee’s forces in Virginia knowing they

are short on men hoping to force surrender

The Confederacy Wears Down

• Sherman’s March– Marched through Georgia toward the Atlantic destroying

everything in his path– Turns north to meet with Grant and causes even more

destruction in South Carolina

• The Election of 1864– Republican: Abraham Lincoln; VP Andrew Johnson– Democrat: George McClellan– Radical Republicans: John C. Fremont

• The Surrender at Appomattox– April 9, 1865 Lee surrendered to Grant– Lincoln wanted generous terms of surrender

The Confederacy Wears Down (cont.)

1. Do you think that a general’s win-loss record on the battlefield is the best gauge of measuring greatness as a military leader? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think Lincoln urged generous terms for a Confederate surrender?

Wrap-Up

1. What led to the South’s morale deteriorating?2. What was Grant and Sherman’s rational for using total

war?

Warm-Up

RECONSTRUCTION

• Political Changes– The war puts an end to thoughts that secession is legal– Increased the scope and reach of the federal government

• Economic Changes – Return of National Banking and subsidies– North fully industrialized, South eliminates slavery and

experience economic devastation

• Costs of the War– 620,000 Americans dead, 575,000 wounded– $3.3 Billion spent

The War Changes the Nation

• New Birth of Freedom– Constitutional Amendment was needed to officially end slavery– Thirteenth Amendment officially ends slavery and must be

ratified before states can be readmitted to the Union

• Civilians Follow New Paths– Veterans either continue military service, return home, or many

moved west– Clara Barton helped to found the American Red Cross in 1861

The War Changes Lives

• April 14, 1864 Lincoln, his wife, and another couple attend a play at Ford’s Theatre

• As the play is preparing to close John Wilkes Booth enters the presidential box and shots Lincoln in the back of the head

• Booth managed to escape with a broken leg• A 12 day man hunt ensues ending in Booth’s death • Lincoln is taken to Peterson House where he dies on April

15

The Assassination of Lincoln

• Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan– Lincoln did not believe in session and wanted to readmit the

Southern states as soon as possible– Confederates to be pardoned (not govt. officials) after 10%

were citizens again they could form a new government– Plan was disliked by Radical Republicans

• Radical Reaction– Wanted a majority to be citizens again not just 10%– Lincoln pocket veto’s the Radical Republican Bill– This move upsets the Radicals and a struggle for control over

Reconstruction begins

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction

• Johnson Continues Lincoln’s Policies– Said states could be readmitted if they withdrew their secession,

swear allegiance to the Union, and to the 13th Amendment– Pardoned more than 13,000 Confederates

• Presidential Reconstruction Comes to a Standstill– Radical Republicans refuse to let Southern legislators into

Congress

• Civil Rights Act of 1866– Gave African Americans citizenship and forbade discriminatory

laws– Black Codes were used to interfere with the rights of African-

Americans – Freedmen’s Bureau sought to end that– Johnson veto’s both

Johnson’s Plan

• Moderates and Radicals Join Forces– Republicans work together to overrule the veto of both Acts– 14th Amendment made all people born in the United States

citizens of the country– Johnson doesn’t want the Southern states to ratify it since they

didn’t write it; prolongs ratification until 1868

• 1866 Congressional Elections– Johnson tried to gain support for Democrats with a train tour– Backfires and allows Republicans to gain a two-thirds majority

in Congress

Congressional Reconstruction

• Reconstruction Act of 1867– Divides the South and occupies them with military forces– Johnson vetoed and Congress overrode the veto

• Johnson Impeached– Congress believed Johnson was not upholding his presidential

duty– Pass Tenure of Office Act which Johnson violated– Congress moves to impeach him, unsuccessfully

• Ulysses S. Grant Elected– Grant wins election by wide margin – 15th Amendment gave African-American men the right to vote;

Enforcement Act makes states enforce the Amendment

Congressional Reconstruction (cont.)

1. How might Reconstruction have been different had Lincoln lived?

2. Do you think that Radical Republicans were justified in attempting to impeach Andrew Johnson?

Wrap-Up

1. What was the Bloodiest One Day Battle of the Civil War?

2. What battle was the Turning Point of the Civil War?

Warm-Up

• Physical and Economic Conditions– Confederate governments had to rebuild all aspects of their

region– South continued to be economically disadvantaged

• Public Works Programs– Built roads, bridges, and railroads, established orphanages and

institutions for the care of mentally ill and disabled– Needed larger governments to sustain these programs

Conditions in Postwar South

• Scalawags and Carpetbaggers– Scalawags: Southerners who joined the Republican party– Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved South to exploit the

South’s postwar turmoil

• African Americans as Voters– African Americans were eligible to vote for the first time, 90%

joined the Republican Party

• Political Differences– Republican Party splinters, African Americans eventually return

to Democratic Party– Many Southerners emigrate to other nations

Politics in the Postwar South

• New Won Freedoms– Freedmen tested the waters of their freedom, travelled freely,

and moved to new areas

• Reunification of Families– Slavery had split up families and afterward they went looking

for one another, rarely reunited– Marriages and families sprang up because of those new

freedoms

• Education– Nearly 80% of freed African Americans were illiterate, when

granted freedom they began seeking education– Founded colleges and institutions for learning

Former Slaves Face Many Challenges

• Churches and Volunteer Groups– Freed slaves founded churches, schools, social groups, political

groups and volunteer organizations

• Politics and African Americans– African Americans held office in local, state, and federal

government– South Carolina had a black majority in state legislature

• Laws Against Segregation– Southern states passed laws to prevent segregation– Focus on strengthening their community and not integration

Former Slaves Face Many Challenges (cont.)

• 40 Acres and a Mule– A promise made by General Sherman– Many freed slaves believed they should have part of planters’ land,

instead worked other land with a lack of tools and resources

• Restoration of Plantations– Plantations focused on a single crop– Southerners wanted complete control over labor, and faced

shortages

• Sharecropping and Tenant Farming– African American land owners shared money to buy supplies

• Cotton No Longer King– Cotton prices fall, planters plant more to make up for it forcing

prices lower

Changes in the Southern Economy

• Ku Klux Klan– Founded as a social club for Confederate veterans– Started in Tennessee in 1866, became a violent terrorist

organization

• Anti-Black Violence– The KKK attacked and killed blacks and white sympathizers– Burned schools, churches, and property– Violence kept African Americans away from voting polls

• Economic Pressure– African Americans unable to make a living due to Klan actions– Many businesses refused to do business with them decreasing

their chances of making a living

Opposition to Reconstruction

• Legislative Response– Congress passed Enforcement Acts to stem Klan activity– Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional– Klan reclaims south and violence slows

• Shifts in Political Power– Amnesty Act revokes former Confederates the right to vote– Congress also allowed the Freedmen’s Bureau to expire

Opposition to Reconstruction (cont.)

• Fraud and Bribery– Grant’s political inexperience cost him when making

appointments– His staff began skimming profits off government contracts

• Republican Unity Shattered – Grant wins re-election but both parties suffer breaks

• Continued Scandal– Scandal continued in Grant’s administration – An investigation revealed widespread corruption and Grant left

office feeling betrayed

Scandals and Money Crises Hurt Republicans

• The Panic of 1873– Investing increased during the Civil War, many businesses fell

after its end – Railroad investing ballooning caused financial failures and the

Panic of 1873

• Currency Dispute– During the war the government issued greenbacks, paper

money that was not backed by gold, could not pull it all back without financial collapse

– Specie Resumption Act promised to put the country back on the gold standard

Economic Turmoil

• Supreme Court Decisions– Slaughterhouse case of 1873: 14th amendment only protected

citizenship rights– U.S. v. Cruikshank in 1876: Whites could not be prosecuted for

suppressing blacks under the 14th Amendment– U.S. v. Reese in 1876: Ruled in favor of whites who prevented

blacks from voting

• Northern Support Fades– North sick of fighting a losing battle and focus on national

concerns– Radical Republicans lost their leaders, and moral and social

issues fell away

Judicial and Popular Support Fades

• Election of 1876– Republican: Rutherford B. Hayes– Democrat: Samuel J. Tilden– Tilden won the popular vote but lost the electoral college vote;

Hayes elected on 3 conditions• 1. Withdrawal of federal troops from Louisiana and S. Carolina• 2. Federal money to build railroad from Texas to W. Coast, improve

Southern rivers, harbors, and bridges• 3. Hayes to appoint a conservative Southern cabinet

• Home Rule in the South– Republicans lost control of Southern states

• Legacy of Reconstruction– Reconstruction ends with little progress being made

Democrats “Redeem” the South