American Civil War(1861 – 1865)

Themes

• Compare and contrast North and South • Highlight some of the important battles of the

Civil War and life for soldiers

President Lincoln

• Seven states had seceded; many thought he could not handle the situation that was presented to him

• Lincoln: Morally opposed to slavery and did not support its spread but would not interfere where it was legal

• Affirmed authority over all U.S. territory in states that had seceded from the Union

• Result: Conflict

Fort Sumter (April 1861)

• Fort Sumter, South Carolina, was low on supplies • Lincoln informed South Carolina’s Governor he was

sending food and supplies in an unarmed ship • Confederate soldiers attacked the fort • Lincoln request 75,000 volunteers to suppress the

rebellion• No casualties; however war had begun • After battle four more states seceded:

- Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas

Secession (1861)

Responses to Secession

• Some in Virginia were opposed towards the idea of secession

• People from western counties in Virginia chose a new governor and applied for statehood in the Union

• Debate also was strong in Tennessee• Both states would eventually join the

Confederacy

Confederate States of America (1861-1865)

• States: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas

• Constitution: States’ rights and protection of slavery in new territories

• President: Jefferson Davis (Sen. of Mississippi & former Secretary of War 53-57)

• Capital: Richmond, VA

Border States

• Border States – Slave states that remained loyal to the Union

• Included: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia

Secession (1861)

Lincoln and Border States

• Following confrontation in Baltimore, the area became occupied by soldiers

• Lincoln suspended writ of habeas corpus - Confederates could be jailed without charges indefinitely

Northern Advantages• Population:- North: 23 states and 22 million - South: 11 states 9 million (5.5 million whites)• Industrial Production and Transportation:- North: 90% of industrial capacity and 71% of railroad mileage- South: 10% of industrial capacity and 29% of railroad mileageEx. 97% nation’s potential capacity for firearms • Farm Acreage:- North: 75% of nation’s farms - South: 25% of nation’s farms

Union Strategies

• Initial Strategy: Anaconda Plan - Blockade of Southern ports - Major campaign to control Mississippi River in

order to cut Confederacy in half *Plan seemed great but Lincoln did not have the

man power to see it through*

Southern Advantages

• “Home Court Advantage”- Most fighting took place in the South • Concrete War Aims - South fought to preserve their way of life Southern life a little over 3 centuries old - North fought to preserve the Union• Officers- Many of the best officers fought with the Confederacy • King Cotton

King Cotton • Years before the Civil War, Southern cotton was traded to

majority of European nations - 75% of all raw cotton in Great Britain’s factories came from

South • Since 1800, cotton in the South will double almost every 10

years • Southerners gambled the British would intervene • Why did “King Cotton” fail?- British factories had surpluses of raw cotton - Cotton was imported from Egypt and India - Emancipation Proclamation: war to free slaves

Early War 1861-62

• Many leaders thought the war could be short • Battle of Bull Run (June 1861)- Union forces led by Gen. McDowell against

Confederated led by Gen. Beauregard • Many people looked upon the battle at a distance • Union forces were initially successful • However, Confederate reinforcements (Stonewall

Jackson) arrived and routed Union troops

1st Battle of Bull Run (Impact)

• Union troops were determined never again to be humiliated in battle

• Boosted confidence of Confederate forces• South now believed the war would be over

very shortly

Early War 1861-62

• Lincoln replaced McDowell with McClellan who created Army of the Potomac

• Transformed unorganized troops into disciplined army

• Remained cautious during fighting in the East

Shiloh (April 1862)

• War in the west• Union forces were led by Ulysses S. Grant• planned an attack on a railroad near the

border of Tennessee • However, Confederates staged a surprise

attack on Grant

Shiloh

Shiloh

• Initially Confederate forces were successful and began to push the Union back

• Once reinforcements arrived, the Union will then take over the battle field

• Casualties: over 23,000 soldiers

Antietam/Sharpsburg

Antietam/Sharpsburg

• Confederates led by Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland

- Supplies were needed - Hoped to have their “Saratoga”• If Confederates win the battle, they might

receive recognition and foreign aid from European nations

Antietam/Sharpsburg

• Tactically a draw’; strategically a Union victory as the invasion was halted

• Bloodiest single-day of fighting in the war • (24,000 casualties)

Antietam/Sharpsburg(Impact)

• Antietam- diplomatic victory • Lincoln reconsidered his views of the war and

slavery- Was against slavery but did not support

abolition• Drafted a proclamation to free slaves, but

waited for a Union victory

Emancipation Proclamation

• Five days after the Battle of Antietam• Freed slaves residing in states in rebellion against

the Union • Did not free slaves in states loyal to the Union • January 1, 1863• Lincoln maintained support of border states, yet it

pushed them closer to emancipation • Transform war aims:- Union soldiers now fought to free slaves

Enrollment Act (1863)

• Men 20-45 were eligible for draft • Draftee could hire a Substitute to serve in his

place • Draftee could also pay $300 to avoid service *Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight

Draft Riots: New York City (July 1863)

• Working-class white men rioted and targeted:- Well-dressed white men, African Americans,

and supporters of war • Several were injured; at least six blacks were

lynched

Confederate Draft (1862)

• Similar to North’s “Enrollment Act”• Twenty Negro Law:- Provided exemption for owners of 20 or more

slaves - Created resentment among Southerners

Draft results

• Draftees:- Union 48,000 - Confederate 120,000• Total size- Union 2,100,000- Confederate 800,000

African Soldiers

• African Americans enlisted in Union Army after 1862

• Over 180,000 served • Fought in segregated units and lower pay

Civil War Soldiers • Camp life was boring, but diseases could be deadly • Food for Union troops:- Beans, salted pork, pickled beef, hard-tack • Clothes were often supplied by the U.S. Sanitary Commission- Huge civilian organization that coordinated the efforts of thousands of women’s groups to buy and distribute clothing, food and medicine • Food for Confederate troops:- Bacon and cornmeal • Food and clothing were often short in supply• Brutality of combat transformed Union and Confederate soldiers

Civil War Soldiers

• Medical care often involved amputations • Possibly 30% of amputees died following

surgery due to infection

Civil War Soldiers

• Prisoner of War Camps often had poor conditions

• Andersonville held over 30,000 - Designed for 10,000 - About 14,000 Union POWs died

War Continues (1863-65)

• Victory began to seem dim for the North• Confederates defeated Union troops at

Chancellorsville May 1863 - Lee however will lose “Stonewall” Jackson • Union forces were unable to capture

Vicksburg • Lee proposed an invasion of the North in 1863

Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863)

• Confederate forces (now in the North territory) engaged with Union troops (led by Gen. Meade) at a small town in Pennsylvania

• Battle took place over 3 days• Union troops defended Cemetery Ridge• Pickett attacked Union center July 3rd • “Pickett’s charge” a huge defeat for the

Confederates

Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863)

• Gettysburg was bloodiest engagement of the war

- Over 50,000 Union and Confederate casualties • Robert E. Lee lost half his army

Vicksburg (May – July 1863)

• Vicksburg fell to Union troops following a 2 month siege

• Soon after Union forces controlled the Mississippi

• The “tide turned” in favor of the Union

War Continues (1863-65)

• Robert E. Lee vs. Ulysses S. Grant • Both veterans of Mexican War• Lee was given position of Gen of Union Army

but he succeeded • Battles at: The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court

House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Five Forks • ALL loses for Lee

Atlanta (September 1864)

• Atlanta fell to Union troops led by Sherman • Atlanta was the industrial capital of the South • Helped Lincoln win re-election • Prior to election Lincoln was criticized by

Democratic candidate McClellan and radicals in his own Republican Party during the election

Sherman’s March

• Once Sherman took Atlanta his troops marched towards Savannah then to Raleigh

• Everywhere Sherman went he burnt down crops, towns, and homes

• “Scorched Earth”- Break the South’s will to fight

Appomattox (April 1865)

• Lee vs. Grant • Lee retreated from Petersburg; low on men and

supplies • Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse April

9, 1865• Terms of surrender- Confederates could return home - Within weeks other Confederate forces had

surrendered

Battle of Palmito Ranch (May 13, 1865)

• Location: Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, Texas

• Union: most forces had already pulled out of south Texas

• Confederates: stationed in Brownsville to protect their supply lines

• Mexicans: sided with the Confederates • Battle is recorded as a Confederate victory

Death of a President (April 1865)

• April 14, 1865 while attending a play, Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth

• Lincoln died the next day

Results of the Civil War (1861-1865)

1. Slavery ended – how is the government going to address the status of over 4 million blacks

2. More than 600,000 Americans died - more than WWII, WWI, Vietnam, Korean,

Mexican, Revolutionary, 1812 combined 3. Much of the South was destroyed- how would

it be rebuilt

Andrew Johnson

• Johnson will now take over presidential duties after the death of Abraham Lincoln

• Being a southern Democrat, Johnson is going to have a difficult time with Radical Republicans throughout the Reconstruction Era

• Advantaged of North and South on eve of war • Outlined key battles of the war