secession and civil war, 1860-1862 (c) 2003 wadsworth group all rights reserved chapter 15

Secession and Civil War, 1860-1862

(c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved

Chapter 15Chapter 15

The Election of 1860

• Charleston Democratic Convention– 2/3rds rule and southern opposition to Stephen A. Douglas

keep Democrats from selecting nominee

• Secessionist leaders: William L. Yancey and Edmund Ruffin

• Democrats split at Baltimore Convention– Southern Rights Democratic Party nominates John C.

Breckinridge – Regular Democrats go with Douglas

• Constitutional Union Party– John Bell


The Republicans Nominate Lincoln

• Republicans needed 2 out of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana

• William H. Seward– “Higher law” speech

(1850)

– “Irrepressible Conflict” (1858)

• Abraham Lincoln

• Republican platform• Exclusion of slavery

from territories• Higher tariffs• Homestead Act• Federal aid for internal

improvements

Southern Fears

• “Black Republicanism”

• Implications for the South if Lincoln wins

• Results– Lincoln received less than 40% of popular vote– Won electoral college by substantial margin


The Lower South Secedes

• Lincoln’s win broke open tensions that had built up over years

• Secession theory: states retained sovereignty, federal government was their agent

• 7 Southern States seceded 1860-1861– South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida,

Alabama, Louisiana, Texas

– Montgomery, Alabama: creation of Confederate States of America


Northerners Affirm the Union

• Northerners considered secession unconstitutional and treasonable

• Lincoln: “no State can lawfully get out of the Union” and could “only do so against law, and by revolution.”

• Southerners would invoke the right of revolution to justify secession


Compromise Proposals

• John J. Crittenden– Crittenden Compromise– Lincoln opposed

• “peace convention” – hope for the 8 remaining slave states to reject secession

• None of the secessionist states would consider a compromise


Establishment of the Confederacy

• Confederate States of America– Constitution guaranteed slavery and prohibited

tariffs and central government funding of internal improvements

– Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens

• Upper South had strong heritage of Unionism, but also sought to preserve slavery


The Fort Sumter Issue

• Fort Sumter crisis– Charleston, South Carolina– Robert Anderson– James Buchanan – P. G. T. Beauregard

• Lincoln’s dilemma– Forceful defense or reinforcement might cause more

secession– Withdrawal will be moral victory for Confederates– Garrison needs to be resupplied soon

• Lincoln chooses resupply, Beauregard ordered to attack


Choosing Sides

• Ft. Sumter attack triggered war fever in the North• Free states filled their militia quotas

immediately• 8 remaining slave states in the Union rejected

Lincoln’s call to arms and seceded:• Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina

Robert E. Lee of Virginia South enthusiastic about war


The Border States

• Delaware firmly union

• Northern occupation of Maryland

• Missouri– Nathaniel Lyon and Wilson’s Creek (1861)– “bushwhackers” vs. “jayhawkers”

• Unionist win elections in Kentucky and Maryland


The Creation of West Virginia

• Fifth Union border state

• Delegates from western part of Virginia had voted against secession– Wanted to break away from state of Virginia

• West Virginia became a new state and entered the Union, 1863


Indian Territory and the Southwest

• Five “civilized” tribes mostly sided with Confederates– Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Chickasaws, and

Choctaws

• Confederate attempts to take the Southwest– Battle of Valverde (1862)

– Battle of Glorieta Pass (1862)


The Balance Sheet of War

• Enlistment of Black soldiers– Union allowed it– Confederacy did not, until the end of the war

• Advantages:– North much greater population– Northern economic superiority– Southern military prowess

• Neither side anticipated length or intensity of the Civil War


Strategy and Morale

• Union faced vast geographic territory of the South to invade and conquer

• Confederacy required withstanding and outlasting Northern efforts

• Confederacy had superior morale


Mobilizing for War

• “citizen soldiers”• Four-fifths of soldiers on both sides were

volunteers, despite both sides passing conscription acts

• Not professionally trained soldiers– Egalitarian attitudes– Lacking in discipline


Weapons and Tactics

• Rifles

• “minié ball”– Rapid load and fire – Greater accuracy


Logistics

• Civil War considered 1st modern logistical war– Railroads, steam-powered ships, telegraph

– Vulnerable communications and supply lines

– Inland: dependence on animal-powered transport• Horses, mules

• Confederacy improvised well, but had too little to work with

• As war progressed, northern economy grew stronger, southern economy grew weaker


Financing the War

• Confederacy– Treasury notes and inflation

• Union– Most funds raised by bonds– Legal Tender Act (1862) and “greenbacks”

• National Banking Act of 1863


Navies, the Blockade, and Foreign Relations

• Confederacy needed imports of foreign materials (from Britain, especially)

• Lincoln attempted to cut off imports to South and their cotton exports with naval blockades


King Cotton Diplomacy

• South was convinced of cotton’s necessity to Britain– Voluntary embargo of cotton on South’s behalf

– Policy contradicted claim that union blockade was illegal

• “blockade runners”• Confederate Foreign Policy

– France

– Britain


The Trent Affair

• Confederate emissaries– James Mason and John Slidell

• Captain Charles Wilkes

• Britain protests, and wins


The Confederate Navy

• Confederate ships destroyed or captured 257 Union vessels– Florida– Alabama

• Union navy captured or destroyed 1,500 Southern blockade runners


The Monitor and the Virginia

• C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimac) – Hampton Roads

• U.S.S. Monitor


Campaigns and Battles,1861-1862

• Winfield Scott– “the Anaconda Plan”


The Battle of Bull Run

• Bull Run (Manassas)• Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson• Effects

– Exhilarates Confederates– Shocks northerners

• George B. McClellan: too cautious


Naval Operations

• Carolina coast

• David G. Farragut– New Orleans (1862)


Fort Henry and Fort Donelson

• Union combined efforts of army and river gunboat fleets– Tennessee and Cumberland rivers– Highways of invasion into Southern heartland

• Ulysses S. Grant– Union victories at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson– Union gunboats can attack length of Tennessee and

Cumberland rivers

• Confederates prepare to attack– Commander Albert Sidney Johnston


The Battle of Shiloh

• Albert Sidney Johnston killed, Beauregard takes over southern forces

• Buell reinforces Grant

• Union wins, moves into Mississippi toward Vicksburg

• Pea Ridge, Arkansas (1862)


The Virginia Theater

• Shenandoah Valley Campaign (1862)– “Jackson’s foot cavalry”

• Seven Pines– Joseph E. Johnston


The Seven Days’ Battles

• “The Army of Northern Virginia”– Robert E. Lee

• Confederate Counteroffensives

• Reconnaissance conducted by the Confederates

• Drove McClellan up the James River

• Reversed the momentum of the war


Confederate Counteroffensives

• Nathan Bedford Forrest

• John Hunt Morgan

• Battle of Perryville (1862)


The Second Battle of Bull Run

• Attention focused on Virginia• Lee attacked Pope before McClellan could assist

with reinforcements– Union forces retreat

• Lee continued to invade Maryland– Serious consequences:

• Maryland might fall to the Confederates

• Democrats could gain control of Congress

• Britain and France might recognize the Confederacy


Conclusion

• 1860 election: powerful shift from Southern political control

• Lincoln’s “House Divided”

• South: preemptive counterrevolution of secession to preserve their social systems


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