Civil WarPart 1

Election of 1860 and secession winter

Abraham Lincoln’s name did not appear on the ballot in ten states

Lincoln won all free states except New Jersey

John C. Breckinridge, with a southern-rights platform, won the entire Lower South

Lincoln won in the Electoral College by 28 votes

Secession of the Lower South Dec 1860-Feb 1861

Confederate States of America Also known as the

Confederacy, was a government set up in 1861 by seven southern slave states that had declared their secession from the U.S..

Jefferson Davis

Upper South chooses sides› Would it fight against the Lower South or

the Union? Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

joined the Confederacy Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri

› In the end 11 of the 15 slave states joined the Confederate States of America; four of the seceding Upper South states contained significant numbers of people who felt little affection for the Confederacy

Attack on Fort Sumter› Spring 1861 occupied

by 80 US soldiers› It is at the entrance

to Charleston Harbor› For the south it

represented the nation they had abandoned

› For the North it was a symbol of federal sovereignty in the seceded states

Davis sent Confederate troops to bombard the fort

Lincoln had to provision it, but did not send troops

For Jefferson Davis the territorial integrity of the Confederacy demanded the end of the US presence;

He sent troops against advice of his colleagues

Confederacy successful Anderson surrendered Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen to

serve for 90 days to put down the rebellion

The Combatants

NorthSouth

Expecting to win› Lincoln strategy applied pressure at

many points, and blocked the export and sale of the South’s cotton crop

› Neither side predicted the magnitude and duration of the war

› South believed it would triumph despite enormous advantages of the Union

› South believed North was dependent on its cotton crop,

› South believed cotton would make Europe its ally› Confederacy military strategy of the South to

stay at home, blunt invasions, avoid battles that risk its army, and outlast the North’s will to fight

Bloody Missouri› Southern sympathizers roamed Missouri

for the duration of the conflict› In the border states, it became a

‘brothers’ war” dividing families over the issue of slavery

1861-1862

Mobilizing At first it appeared the South had

the advantage Lincoln had little military experience

but he made up for it with wise cabinet choices; his rhetorical skills roused the North

Davis turned out to be quarrelsome and proud and made some enemies

Adversaries

› Confederacy made prodigious efforts to build new factories, but the Confederate army faced continual shortages

› North repurposed already established resources and troops

› Both sides sold war bonds and collected taxes to pay the huge costs associated with establishing a large army

› Both sides had large numbers of volunteers, but the North had the advantage of established factories

1863-1865

Navy

Union Colored Infantry

Ordnance

Union Victories in West Rivers key to military situation

Mississippi Tennessee Cumberland

Missouri Battle of Pea Ridge left the state free of Confederates army

Rebel failures in the far West meant there would be no Confederate empire beyond Texas

‘except by complete conquest’

Principal western battles took place in Tennessee where General Ulysses S. Grant emerged as the key northern commander

Feb 1862 Grant captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, forcing Confederates to withdraw from all of Kentucky and most of Tennessee

April, Union forces prevailed at the costly battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, and Grant realized the Union would not be victorious ‘except by complete conquest.’

Atlantic Theater Union Navy—three dozen ships on 3,500

miles of coastline Eventually grew to 150 blockade ships Confederates could not compete with a

conventional Navy, so improvised, ironclad warship, and underwater vessels

Ulysses S. Grant

International Diplomacy Confederates sought foreign help,

hoping cotton-starved Europeans would help

No other country challenged the Union blockade or recognized the Confederate States of America as a nation

Lincoln announced that an alliance with the Confederacy was an alliance with slavery