chapter 11 ushc 4.3 ushc 4.4 the american civil war: 1861-1865
TRANSCRIPT
CHAPTER 11USHC 4 .3USHC 4 .4
The American Civil War:1861-1865
SECTION I
The Civil War Begins
What is a Civil War?
Definition: war fought internally within a nation between differing factions, religious groups, or powers
Both sides in the dispute have: gained control of territory created their own governments have some sort of organized military
which performs regular operations
Union vs. Confederacy
Five Main Causes of the Civil War
1. Tariffs – States’ Rights2. Slavery – States’ Rights
1. Legal disagreement2. Moral disagreement
3. Southern frustration over representation
4. Election of 18605. Secession
1. As of now, 7 states have seceded from the Union
The Confederacy Takes Control
The 7 states that had already seceded formed the Confederate States of America (February 4, 1861)
Confederate soldiers immediately began taking over government and military buildings (courthouses, forts) By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, only two Southern forts remained in
Union hands The most important was South Carolina’s….
Fort Sumter- Charleston harbor; Union controlled
Fort Sumter Today
President Lincoln’s Dilemma
Confederate forces demanded that Major Anderson (Union) surrender the fort or face an attack Union’s supply of food and ammunition would last six
weeks at mostReinforcing Fort Sumter by force (opening
fire) would lead rest of slave states to secede
Evacuating Fort Sumter would legitimize the Confederacy, weaken his administration and endanger the Union
President Lincoln’s Dilemma
Makes a strong political move
Sends in only food “Food for hungry men”
Now it was Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy) who faced a dilemma…
The First ShotsAt 4:30A.M on April
12, 1861, Confederate
batteries began thundering away.
Charleston’s citizens watched and
cheered as though it were a fireworks
display. The South Carolinians
bombarded the fort with more than
4,000 rounds before Major Anderson
surrendered.
If Davis did nothing, he would damage the image of the Confederacy as an independent nation
If Davis ordered an attack on Fort Sumter, he would turn peaceful secession into war
Jefferson Davis chooses to turn peaceful secession into war On April 12th, 1861, the Confederacy
opens fire on the Union controlled Fort Sumter
Virginia Secedes
News of Fort Sumter’s fall united the North Volunteers rush to enlist
Virginia is unwilling to fight against other Southern states– VA chooses to secede Terrible loss for the Union Virginia was the most heavily populated state in the South
and the most industrialized (many factories, big navy yard)
Anti-slavery western counties in VA secede from Virginia and form West Virginia West Virginia is admitted to the Union in 1863
States & Secession
Three more states secede: Arkansas Tennessee North Carolina
Four remaining slave states (border states) remained in the Union: Maryland Delaware Kentucky Missouri
Union States Confederate States
Pennsylvania Kansas New York Missouri Maine Oregon Vermont California Massachusetts Illinois Rhode Island Ohio Connecticut Indiana New Hampshire West Virginia Wisconsin Iowa Michigan Minnesota Kentucky Maryland Delaware New Jersey
South Carolina Mississippi Florida Alabama Georgia Louisiana Texas Virginia Arkansas Tennessee North Carolina
States: Union or Confederate?
Union and Confederate Strategies
The development and outcome of the Civil War depended on 3 things…
1. The economic resources of the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy)
2. Geographic features that influenced battle strategy
3. Military Leadership
Grant Robert E. Lee
Economic Resources
Union (North)
Industry
Railroads
Manpower
Navy
Confederacy (South)
Cotton
Trade relationship with Great Britain
Union (North)Confederacy
(South)
Has to conquer the South to win
Offensive strategy based on geography Anaconda Plan
Has the advantage Fighting on home turf!
Strategy mostly defensive Defend territory until
Union tires and gives up
Invade North if opportunity arises
Geography
The “Anaconda” Plan
Anaconda Plan- Union strategy to conquer the South
Three Parts of the Plan: Union navy would blockade
Southern ports (no exporting of cotton or importing of much-needed goods)
Take control of Mississippi River and divide Confederacy in two
Union armies would capture Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia
Advantages of the Confederacy
“King Cotton”- made profits from cotton in the world market
Good military leaders early in the warSoldiers who were highly motivated because
they were defending their homeland South had no need to conquer anything to
win the war
Disadvantages of the Confederacy
No army at all at firstNo navyWeak new government
Resistance to the centralization of government necessary to run a war
Their economy was based on cottonThey did not have many factories or banksSmaller population with many slavesSouth had very few railroads and no capacity
to fix them
Advantages of the Union
Huge advantages in resources More fighting power More factories Greater food production More extensive railroad system Had a navy
Political leadership Abraham Lincoln– said purpose of war was to
preserve the Union and democracy
Disadvantages of the Union
Did not have many good military leaders at first
They must conquer the Confederacy (a new nation) to win the war
Union (North) Confederacy (South)
Abraham Lincoln (President) Argues for
preservation of Union & democracy
General Ulysses S. Grant
William Tecumseh Sherman
Jefferson Davis (President) Has difficulty getting
southern states to work together (states’ rights)
Robert E. Lee
Military Leadership
Abraham Lincoln
William Sherman
Ulysses S. Grant
Jefferson Davis
Robert E. Lee
Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Bull Run- first battle of the war; nearly Washington, D.C.
Lincoln orders Irvin McDowell (Union General) to attackThe Confederacy held firm, inspired by Thomas J.
Jackson “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!” Stonewall Jackson
Confederate reinforcements arrive and the South gains the victory
Significance: Confederate morale soared; many thought the war was over
Ulysses S. Grant
-West Point graduate who had failed at everything he had tried in civilian life- whether as farmer, bill collector, real estate agent, or store clerk
-In just 11 days, Grant’s forces had captured two Confederate forts that held strategic positions on important rivers
After Bull Run, Lincoln called for 1 million additional soldiers Men would serve for 3 years
instead of 3 monthsAppointed General George
McClellan to lead the new Union army in the east Soon to be known as the Army of
the Potomac General Ulysses S. Grant
heads Union army west to fight for the Mississippi River
Abraham Lincoln Responds
The Battle of Shiloh (TN)
In April 1862, Confederate troops surprised Union soldiers at Shiloh (small Tennessee church) Many Union soldiers were shot while making coffee Some died while they were still laying in their
blankets
On the edge of disaster, Ulysses S. Grant (Union) reorganized his troops, ordered up reinforcements and counterattacked
Confederate forces retreated Union victory!
The Battle of Shiloh (TN)
Importance of the Battle of Shiloh: Battle of Shiloh taught both
sides the strategic lesson of preparation Send scouts, dig trenches, build
forts Demonstrated how bloody
the war might become Nearly ¼ of the battle’s 100,000
troops were killed, wounded or captured
Proved that the Confederacy was weak in the West Union’s military strategy might
succeed
A Revolution in Warfare
Advances in technology changed military strategy and contributed to the war’s high casualty rate
Ironclads- ships; could withstand cannon fire and resist burning Instrumental in victories of Ulysses
S. Grant
March 1862- North’s Monitor vs. South’s Merrimack fight to a draw
New Weapons
Rifles were more accurate, faster loading, fire more rounds than muskets
Minie ball was a soft lead bullet that was more destructive than earlier bullets
Grenades, land mines are used
Fighting from trenches and barricades offer a new advantage in infantry attacks
War for the Capitals
Union army began tightening its blockade of Southern ports Trying to carry out the 3rd step of
the Anaconda Plan Capture Confederate capital of
Richmond, VA
General McClellan (Union General) was extremely cautious and waited to attack Richmond Drilled his troops for 5 months Convinced that he needed more soldiers
Has 120,000 but wants 270,000 before attacking
“On to Richmond”
In the Spring of 1862, Robert E. Lee took command of the Southern army
Army of Potomac vs. Army of Northern VA
Lee and McClellan fight a series of battles known as the Seven Days’ Battles (June 25 to July 1, 1862)
Union leaves the Richmond area Lee’s determination and unorthodox tactics forced McClellan to
back away from Richmond and head down the peninsula to the sea
General LeeGeneral McClellan
The Calm before the Storm…
General Lee now moved against the enemy’s capital at Washington, D.C.
General Lee wins Second Battle of Bull Run; a few days later he marches into the Union state of Maryland
McClellan and the Union has a tremendous stroke of luck A Union corporal found a copy of Lee’s army orders wrapped around
a bunch of cigars The plan revealed that Lee’s and Stonewall Jackson’s armies were
separated for the moment
The Battle of Antietam
McClellan ordered his men forward after Lee
The two armies fought September 17 beside the Antietam Creek
The Battle of Antietam proved to be the bloodiest single-day battle in American history 26,000 soldiers were killed, wounded
or missing after 12 hours of savage combat
General Lee had lost a quarter of his army
Confederacy retreats to Virginia
What do you think Lincoln might have said to McClellan?
Click icon to add pictureMcClellan could have pursued the battered Confederate army and possibly ended the war
- Instead, he acted cautiously and did nothing!
On November 7, 1862 Lincoln fired McClellan
SECTION I I
The Politics of War
Britain Remains Neutral
Britain remains neutral in Civil War No longer dependent on Southern cotton Accumulated a huge cotton inventory just before
outbreak of war Found new sources of cotton in Egypt and India
Proclaiming Emancipation
Many Northerners believed that just winning the war would not be enough if the issue of slavery was not permanently settled
Lincoln’s Views of Slavery: He did not like slavery, however he did not believe that the
federal government had the power to abolish it where it already existed
“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery.”
As the war progressed, Lincoln found a way to use his constitutional war powers to end slavery
Proclaiming Emancipation
Emancipation Proclamation: issued January 1st, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln; freed slaves in all regions behind Confederate lines Did not have much practical
effect Had immense (massive)
symbolic importance Gave the war a high moral
purpose by turning the struggle into a fight to free the slaves
Both Sides Face Political Problems
Neither side in the Civil War was completely unified Confederate sympathizers in the North Union sympathizers in the South
Abraham Lincoln suspends the ‘writ of habeas corpus’ to deal with dissidents/rebels Court order that requires authorities to bring a person held in
jail before the court to determine why he/she is being jailed More than 13,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers in the
Union were arrested and held without trial Lincoln also seized telegraph offices to make sure no one used
the wires for subversion
Copperheads & Conscription
Copperheads: Northern democrats who advocated peace with the South Many arrested by Lincoln usually freed shortly after
Both armies originally relied on volunteers However, it didn’t take long before heavy casualties
and widespread desertions led to conscription Conscription: a draft that would force certain
members of the population to serve in the army
SECTION I I I
Life During Wartime
African Americans Fight for Freedom
African Americans played an important role in the struggle to end slavery. Some served as soldiers, while others took action away from the battlefield
When the Civil War started, it was a white man’s war Neither the Union nor the Confederacy officially
accepted African Americans as soldiers
African American Soldiers
Union army allows African Americans to serve as soldiers in 1862 Large scale enlistment after Emancipation
Proclamation African Americans made up only 1% of North’s
population, but by the war’s end nearly 10% of the Union army was African American
Slave resistance in the South compounded the stresses of war Slaves remaining on
plantations engaged in sabotage- breaking plows, destroying fences, neglecting livestock
African Americans waited to welcome the Yankees who had the power to liberate them
The Massachusetts 54th Regiment
First all African-American troop in the Union
Led an assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston harbor Attack failed Nearly 40% of the soldiers were
killed Confederates found the
regiment’s flag under a pile of dead soldiers
Among the dead was white commander, Colonel Robert Shaw
Southern Shortages
Confederacy soon faced a food shortage due to 3 factors:1. Drain of manpower into the army2. Union occupation of food-growing areas3. Loss of slaves to work in the fields
Meat became a once-a-week luxury at best Food prices sky-rocketed
In 1861 average family spent $6.65 a month on food Mid-1863 average family spent $68 a month on food
Northern Economic Growth
Most industries boomed during the war The army’s need for uniforms, shoes, guns, and other
supplies supported woolen mills, steel foundries, coal mines and many other industries
Wages did not keep up with prices and many people’s standard of living declined When white male workers went out on strike, employers
hired free blacks, immigrants, women and boys to replace them for lower pay
1863: Congress passes first income tax Congress decided to pay for the war by tapping its citizens’
wealth Income tax tax that takes a specified percentage of an
individual’s income
Soldiers Suffer on
Both SidesGarbage disposal and latrines in army camps were almost unknown.
Although army regulations called for washing one’s hands and face every day and taking a complete bath once a week, many soldiers failed to do so.
As a result, body lice and diarrhea were common.
Both Union and Confederate soldiers had marched off to war thinking it would prove to be a glorious affair They were soon disillusioned, not
just by heavy causalities but also by poor living conditions, diet, and medical care
Civil War Medicine
Soon after Ft. Sumter fell, the federal government set up the United States Sanitary Commission Purpose was to improve the hygienic
conditions of army camps and to recruit and train nurses
The death rate among Union wounded showed considerable improvement over that of previous wars
Clara Barton: Union nurse; often cared for the sick and wounded on the front lines After her courage under fire at Antietam, a surgeon
described her as the “angel of the battlefield”
Prisons
Conditions in prisons were even worse than in army camps
Andersonville (GA): Worst Confederate prison; jammed 33,000 men into 26 acres Prisoners had no shelter from broiling sun or chilling rain Drank from same stream that served as their sewer Roughly 1/3 of Andersonville’s prisoners died
Northern prisons were only slightly better While there was barracks for sleeping
and adequate food, thousands of Confederates were housed in quarters with little or no heat many died of pneumonia
SECTION IV
The North Takes Charge
Prelude to Gettysburg
Chancellorsville, VA 1863 South defeats North at
Chancellorsville, VA General Lee outmaneuvered
Union General Joseph Hooker and forced the Union into retreat
General Stonewall Jackson dies General Lee decides to press
his military advantage and invade the North Lee crossed the Potomac into
MD and pushed on into PA
The Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg, PA 1863 General Lee crosses into Northern territory
Confederates were looking for shoes 3 day battle considered the ‘turning point in
the war’ The battle of Gettysburg crippled the South so badly that
General Lee would never again possess sufficient forces to invade a Northern state
General Lee and General Longstreet vs. General Meade
Union victory Confederacy defeated General Meade does not pursue General Lee; General
Lee slips back into Virginia Losses are staggering- 51,000 soldiers are killed or
wounded
War in the West
While the Army of the Potomac was fighting off the Confederates in Pennsylvania, Union General Ulysses S. Grant continued his campaign in the west.
Vicksburg , MI was one of the only two Confederate holdouts preventing the Union from taking complete control of the Mississippi River Mississippi River was an important waterway for
transporting goods
Vicksburg
Spring 1863- General Grant sent a cavalry brigade to destroy rail lines in central Mississippi and draw attention away from the port city While Confederates were distracted, Grant was able to land
infantry south of Vicksburg and take the capital, JacksonWith their confidence growing, General Grant
ordered a siege (blockade) of the city Set up a steady bombardment of artillery, shelling the city
from both the river and the land for several hours a day Residents forced to take shelter in caves they dug; starving Confederate soldiers cried, “If you can’t feed us, you’d
better surrender”
Vicksburg
July 4, 1863- Vicksburg falls to the Union Confederates ask for terms of surrender July 3 The Union takes Mississippi and the Confederacy
is cut in two
The Gettysburg Address
November 1863, ceremony held to dedicate a cemetery in Gettysburg
Abraham Lincoln gives the “Gettysburg Address” “Four score and seven years ago…” 2-minute speech said to ‘remake America’ Why:
Lincoln wanted to re-state the goal for the Union in the war
Wanted to preserve the Union and make sure that Union men did not die for no reason
Confederate Morale
As the war progressed, morale on the Confederacy’s home front deteriorated Confederate morale was low Confederate Congress urged planters to grow fewer
cash crops and increase food production In every state except for South Carolina, there were
soldiers who decided to turn and fight for the North Disunity made it impossible for Jefferson Davis to
govern effectively Members of Confederate Congress squabbled among
themselves
Grant & Sherman
In March of 1864, Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant, the hero at the battle of Vicksburg, commander of ‘all Union armies’
General Grant then appointed William Tecumseh Sherman as commander of the military division of the Mississippi
Both men believed in total war Total War: Believed it was important to
fight not only the South’s armies and government, but its civilian population as well
The strength of the people’s will kept the war going THEY WANTED TO DESTROY ALL IN PATH
Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’
General Grant’s overall strategy was to immobilize Lee’s army in VA while General Sherman raided Georgia
General Sherman and his troops had been occupying the transportation center of Atlanta When Confederates tried to circle his troops, he abandoned his supply
lines and marched southwest through Georgia
As Sherman marched, he created a wide path of destruction He would make Southerners “so sick of war that generations would
pass away before they would again appeal to it” Burned most of Atlanta and set out toward the coast Then troops turned north to help Grant ‘wipe Lee out’
25,000 former slaves now joined his troops Marched through South Carolina and totally destroyed it TOTAL
WAR
Election of 1864
As the election of 1864 approached, Lincoln faced heavy opposition Many Democrats, dismayed at the war’s length, its
high casualty rates, and recent Union losses, joined pro-Southern party members to nominate George McClellan who would enforce an immediate armistice if elected
Lincoln was pessimistic about his chances– he knows something has to change in order for him to stand a chance in the election
Lincoln is Re-Elected
General Sherman takes Atlanta on September 2 This is followed by General Sheridan chasing the
Confederates out of the Shenandoah Valley in northern VA
The victories solidified the North and with the help of absentee ballots cast by Union soldiers, Lincoln won a second term
General McClellan ran against Lincoln -- Lincoln had fired McClellan!
The Surrender at Appomattox
By March 1865, it was clear the end of the Confederacy was near
Northern armies closed in on Richmond President Davis and his government abandoned their capital Set it afire to keep the Northerners from taking it Northerners
tried to put out the fire, but flames destroyed some 900 buildings and damaged hundreds more
General Lee and General Grant met on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House to discuss surrender
Terms of the
Surrender
May 1865, the Army of the Potomac marched through Washington, D.C. to mark the end of the Civil War
At Lincoln’s request, the terms of surrender were generous Grant paroled Lee’s soldiers and sent
them home with their personal possessions, horses, and three day’s rations
Officers were permitted to keep their side arms
Within two months, all remaining Confederate resistance collapsed
After four long years, at tremendous human and economic costs, the Civil War was over
SECTION V
The Legacy of the War
The War Changes the Nation
Legacy of the war: The Civil War caused tremendous 1.) political, 2.) economic, 3.) technological, and 4.) social change in the U.S.
Political Changes
Before the war, Southern states had threatened secession when federal policies angered them
After the war, the federal government assumed supreme national authority and no state has ever seceded again The states’ rights issue did not go away; just led in different direction States’ rights vs. federal control usually focuses on issues of money
War greatly increased the federal government’s power Federal government has more impact on people’s daily lives
Economic Changes
Civil War had a profound impact on the nation’s economy
National Bank Act of 1863: Set up a system of federally charted
banks Set requirements for loans Provided for banks to be inspected
The North’s economy boomed while the South’s economy was devastated War took away course of cheap labor Economic disparity between regions
would not diminish until 20th century
Human Cost
The human costs of the Civil War were staggering They affected almost every
American familyApproximately 650,000
deadVeterans with missing limbs
became a common sight nation wide
Historians estimate that the Union & Confederate governments spent a combined total of $3.3 billion
Thirteenth Amendment
The Emancipation Proclamation had freed only slaves who lived in the states that were behind Confederate lines and not yet under Union control
Government had to decide what to do about border states where slavery was still legal
Lincoln believed the only solution would be a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery
• Thirteenth Amendment: abolished slavery
-- “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States”
Red Cross
Some civilians tried to turn their wartime experience to good
Clara Barton, inspired by the horror she witnessed during the war, helped to found the American Red Cross in 1861
The Assassination of Lincoln
Whatever plans Lincoln had to reunify the nation after the war, he never got to implement them
On April 14, 1865, five days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln and his wife went to Ford’s Theatre
Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth “The South is avenged!”