American Civil War

Fort Sumter

• Fort in Charleston, South Carolina• Sight of the first battle in the Civil War

Richmond, Virginia

• Capital of the Confederacy

Border States

• states between the North and the South that were divided over whether to stay in the Union or join the Confederacy

• Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware

Importance of Border States

• Each held a strategic value to the North• Maryland was most important of all since the

capital of the North was inside its borders• Many citizens in Border States joined the

Confederacy, however the states remained with the Union

West Virginia

• Began as 48 counties in western Virginia who supported the Union

• Became a state in 1863

The North’s Advantages

• Larger population• More industry• More abundant resources• Better banking system– To raise money for the war

• More ships– Most of the members of the regular navy

• More efficient railway network

Abraham Lincoln

• North’s greatest advantage was his leadership, dedication, intelligence and humanity

The North’s Disadvantages

• Had to invade and then hold the southern states

• Support of the southern people was very strong– Similar to American Revolution when larger force

invaded smaller force and had to conquer and then hold the land, as well as go against the support of the locals

The South’s Advantages

• Strong support from the white community• Fighting on their land– Defending their land, homes and way of life

• Superior military leadership• Military tradition within southern families• Many military college graduates giving them a

large pool of officers

The South’s Disadvantages

• Smaller population of free white men • Very few factories to produce weapons and

supplies• Produced half as much food• Half the miles of railroad tracks• Far fewer trains to deliver food, weapons and

supplies• Belief in States’ Rights limited the power of the

Confederate government to be effective

States’ Rights

• the rights of each individual state to govern itself

Main Goals of the War

• North: Bring Southern states back into the Union (later also to end slavery)

• South: Gain recognition as an independent nation

Union’s Plan to Win the War

1) Blockade southern ports so the South could not earn money by exporting cotton, and to prevent supplies from reaching the South

2) Gain control of the Mississippi River to cut supply lines to the South and split up the Confederacy

3) Capture Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia

Jefferson Davis

• President of the Confederate States of America

Confederacies Plan to Win the War

1) Defend their homeland until the North tired of fighting

2) Have Britain and France (who imported large amounts of cotton from the South) pressure the North into end the war

3) Go on the offensive to threaten Northern cities and convince the North they could not win the war

Offensive

• Position of attacking or the attack itself

Civil War Soldiers

• Most were farmers• Average age was 25• Many under 21• 850,000 troops fought for the Confederacy• 2.1 million troops fought for the Union

(including about 200,000 African Americans)

Rebel

• confederate soldier, so called because of opposition to the established government

Yankee

• Union Soldier

William Sherman

• Union General during the Civil War

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

• General who rallied Confederate troops to victory at the First Battle of Bull Run

• Was said to have held strong “like a stone wall”

Rebel Yell

• Name Union troops gave to the crazed scream Confederate troops would give while on the attack

First Battle of Bull Run

• First major battle of the Civil War• Union drove off the Confederates at first• Confederates counterattacked under the

command of General Thomas Jackson• Retreating Union soldiers collided with

civilians on their way back to Washington D.C.

Army of the Potomac

• Name for the Union Army of the East• Commanded by General George B. McClellan

Blockade Runners

• Confederate ships that sail into and out of blockaded areas,

Blockade Effectiveness

• Cut trade to the south by more than two thirds

• Limited supplies such as coffee, shoes, nails, salt, guns and ammunition

Ironclad

• Armored naval vessel

Monitor vs. Merrimack

• First battle between two ironclad warships in naval history

• Neither ship was able to severely damage the other

• Marked the beginning of a new era in naval warfare

Ulysses S. Grant

• Commanded the Unions attempt to gain control of Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers

• His victories drove the Confederates out of Kentucky, and kept it as a border state rather than falling under the Confederacy

Confederate Camp Near Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

• In Corinth, Mississippi over a railroad junction• South won the first day• North won the second day and the battle after

help arrived• Together the two armies suffered 20,000

casualties in the battle• Was soon followed by the Union taking control

of New Orleans

Casualties

• People killed or wounded in battle

Peninsular Campaign

• Slow moving plan to take Richmond of General McClellan

• Allowed the Confederates to prepare their defense of Richmond

• Robert E. Lee led the Confederate army• Fighting for Richmond known as the Seven Days’

Battles• Confederates drove the Union out of Richmond

Second Battle of Bull Run

• Confederate victory that kept Richmond safe from the Union Army

• Left the Confederate Army only 20 miles away from Washington D.C.

Battle of Antietam

• Union soldiers found General Lee’s plans wrapped in 3 cigars before the battle

• Was the bloodiest single day of battle of the war

• Gave the Army of the Potomac confidence• Convinced Lincoln he could take action against

slavery

Ambrose Burnside

• Replaced General McClellan after the Battle of Antietam

“If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving

others alone, I would also do that.”

Lincoln’s Reasons to End Slavery

• Morally wrong• Every slave allowed a white Southerner to

fight• Ending slavery would make it less likely that

France and Britain would give aid to the South• Felt the President should make the decision to

end slavery, not Congress

Emancipate

• To free from slavery

Emancipation Proclamation

• “Freed” all slaves in the Confederate states

Ratify

• To give official approval

Thirteenth Amendment

• Officially freed the slaves after it was ratified by Congress in 1865

African American Soldiers

• Over 200,000 served in the Union military• Were in separate units from white units• Commanding officers were white• Received lower pay than white soldiers• Most famous was the 54th Massachusetts

54th Massachusetts

• Led by a white abolitionist• Led an attack on a Confederate fort near

Charleston, South Carolina• Nearly half were injured, captured or killed• Bravery won respect for African American

troops as a whole

Harriet Tubman

• Escaped slave who helped hundreds escape slavery through the Underground Railroad

• Spied for the Union behind Confederate lines

Women in the War

• Bandaged wounded soldiers• Collected food, clothing and medicine to pass

out to the troops • Raised money for war supplies• Spied on the opposition

Clara Barton

• Worked as a nurse for the Union during the Civil War

• Founded the American Red Cross at the conclusion of the war

Southern Life During Civil War

• The blockade led to the south running out of almost everything – Salt for curing meats– Feed for animals– Clothing– Medicine– Shelter

• Crops were destroyed by marching troops

Habeas Corpus

• an individuals right to a hearing before being jailed

Draft

• The selection of persons for military service• Used by the Confederacy during the war

Bounty

• Money given as a reward, such as to encourage enlistment in the army

• Used by the Union during the war

Greenbacks

• US paper money first issued by the North during the Civil War

• Given the name because of its color

Inflation

• A continuous rise in the price of goods and services

Fredricksburg

• Easy Confederate victory led by General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia

• Confederates were entrenched on hills surrounding the town

Entrenched

• Occupying a strong defensive position

Chancellorsville

• Costly Confederate victory led by General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia

• Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by a Confederate soldier– His arm was amputated, and he died a week later

General George Meade

• Led the Union to victory at the Battle of Gettysburg

Pickett’s Charge

• Order for 14,000 Confederate soldiers to charge, led by General George Pickett

• Charge crossed over a half mile of open ground

• Confederates were easy targets• General Lee knew he had made a mistake and

blamed himself for the loss

Gettysburg

• 3 day battle won by the Union• Turning point in the war• Over 46,000 casualties combined

Vicksburg

• Battle in Mississippi won by the Union• Led by Ulysses S. Grant• Locked up the Union’s control of the

Mississippi River• Completely separated the Confederate’s

Western and Eastern halves from each other

Gettysburg Address

• Two minute speech given by President Lincoln at a ceremony dedicating a cemetery at Gettysburg

• Helped Americans change their focus from the horrors of the battlefield to the shared ideals of all citizens

March to the Sea

• March led by General Sherman from the ruins of Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia

• Army did not use a supply line, instead they lived off the land

• Destroyed railroad lines and anything useful to the Southern Army and citizens along the way

Total War

• War on all aspects of the enemy’s life

End of the War

• General Lee and his men surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House

• Confederate forces in North Carolina surrendered to Sherman

• Jefferson Davis was captured in Georgia