c h a p t e r s 2 0 & 2 1 the civil war american pageant

C H A P T E R S 2 0 & 2 1The Civil War

American Pageant

The Menace of Secession

March 4, 1861: Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated in his inaugural address, said that

there would be no conflict unless the South provoked it

Restoration of the union=his top goal split U.S. brought up questions

about the sharing of the national debt & the allocation of federal territories.

Choosing Sides

The Civil War: Southern name: “War between the

States” Northern name: the “War of

Rebellion” December 20, 1860: South Carolina convention voted

unanimously to secede from the Union “fire-eaters” elsewhere in the Deep South quickly followed

Fire-eaters (definition)

Southern politicians who sought secession. They organized secession conventions in several southern states in 1850 but backed away because of a lack of support and the promise of moderate southern backing for secession if Congress tried to outlaw slavery in the future.

Choosing Sides

Secessionists met in Montgomery, Alabama: When? February 1861 What did they do? Proclaimed a

new nation—the Confederate States of America

Named Jefferson Davis as president

Choosing Sides

Upper Southern slave states: Secessionist fever was less

intense Their leaders proposed federal

guarantees for slavery in states where it existed

Upper South = Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri & Arkansas

Choosing Sides

In December 1860 President James Buchanan

declared secession illegalAlso said that the federal gov’t lacked the authority to restore the Union by force

Choosing Sides

South Carolina: Demanded the surrender of Fort

Sumter federal garrison in Charleston Harbor

Viewed Buchanan’s message as recognition of its independence

Buchanan sends unarmed merchant ship to resupply the fort

South Carolinans fired on the ship Buchanan backs down

The Bombardment of Fort Sumter, 1861 (p. 400)

Currier and Ives, a New York publishing house, brought colorful art into thousands of middle-class homes by printing inexpensive lithographs of pastoral scenes and dramatic historical events. This fairly realistic depiction of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor in April 1861 was especially popular in the South.

Choosing Sides

Jefferson Davis forced the surrender of Fort Sumter on April 14, 1861 Lincoln called in state militiamen to put down the insurrection.Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, & North Carolina joined the Confederacy after the fall of Fort Sumter

Brother’s Blood and Border Blood

remaining Border States (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland) = crucial for both sides would have almost 2X the manufacturing

capacity of the South & increased its supply of horses & mules by half.

called “border states” because…they are on the North-South borderthey are slave-states. They have not

seceded, but at any moment, they just might.

Brother’s Blood and Border Blood

Retaining the border states: Lincoln used moral persuasion…and methods of dubious legality: Maryland: declared martial law in

order to retain a state that would isolate Washington D.C. within Confederate territory if it went to the South

sent troops to western Virginia & Missouri to secure those areas.

Map 14.1 The Process of Secession, 1860–1861 (p. 399)

The states with the highest concentration of slaves (see Table 14.1) led the secessionist movement. After the attack on Fort Sumter, the states of the upper South joined the Confederacy. Yeomen farmers in Tennessee and the back country of Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia opposed secession but, except in the futures state of West Virginia, initially rallied to the confederate cause. Consequently, the South entered the Civil War with a white population generally opposed to the policies of Lincoln’s administration.

Setting Objectives & Devising Strategies

Jefferson Davis’s focus: Defense of the Confederacy

rather than conquering western territories; (the Confederacy only needed a military stalemate to guarantee independence)


Lincoln: Portrayed secession as an attack

on popular government Insisted on a policy of

unconditional surrender.

Dethroning King Cotton

South was depending on foreign intervention to win the war--didn’t get it.European countries wanted the Union to be split strengthen their nation people were pro-North & anti-

slavery, effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin—being lowly wage earners, the common people felt Uncle Tom’s pain.


Southern believed that the war would produce a shortage of cotton, which would draw England and others into the war, right? Wrong.

pre-war years, cotton production had been immense, and England and France had huge surpluses of cotton.


As the North won Southern territory, it sent cotton and food over to Europe.India & Egypt upped their cotton production to offset the hike in the price of cotton.King Wheat and King Corn (of the North) beat King Cotton of the South Europe needed the food much more

than it needed the cotton.


On July 21, 1861: General Irwin McDowell’s troops were

routed by P. G. T. Beauregard’s Confederate troops in the Battle of Bull Run

Lincoln: Replaced McDowell with George B.

McClellan Signed bills for the enlistment of men

for the newly created Army of the Potomac


In 1862: McClellan launched a thrust

toward Richmond, Virginia (the Confederate capital) He moved too slowlyAllowed the Confederates to mount a counterattack.

President Davis Versus President Lincoln

South’s problem gave states the ability to secede in

the future getting Southern states to send

troops to help other states was always difficult to do. By definition in a confederacy, national power was weak.

Jefferson Davis was never really popular & he overworked himself

President Davis Versus President Lincoln

Lincoln benefit of leading an established

government grew patient & relaxed as the

war dragged on.

Limitations on Wartime Liberties

Lincoln’s tyranny: illegally proclaiming a blockade, proclaiming acts without Congressional

consent sending in troops to the Border

States justified his actions: said that such acts

weren’t permanent, and that he had to do those things in order to preserve the Union.

Limitations on Wartime Liberties

the advancement of $2 million to threeprivate citizens for war purposesthe suspension of habeas corpus sothat anti-Unionists could be arrested without a formal chargeThe intimidation of voters in the Border States.


In 1862: Washington was threatened

when a Confederate army under “Stonewall” Jackson marched north up the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia Jackson won a series of small engagements, tying down the larger Union forces


General Robert E. Lee: Launched an attack outside

Richmond & suffered heavy casualties

McClellan failed to exploit the advantage, & Richmond remained secure.


Jackson & Lee: Routed a Union army in the

Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862

The battle at Antietam Creek on September 17, 1862: The bloodiest single day in

U.S. military history Jackson’s troops arrived just in

time to save Lee’s troops from defeat.

Fought with mass armies and new weapons the Civil War took a huge toll in human lives, as evidenced by grisly photos like this one of a battlefield at Antietam, Maryland. At Shiloh, Tennessee, Gen. Grant surveyed a field “so covered with dead that it would have been possible to walk…in any direction, stepping on dead bodies, without a foot touching the ground.”

Fields of Death (p. 396)

Lincoln Visits the Army of the Potomac, 1862 (p. 405)

Following the battle of Antietam, President Lincoln journeyed to the headquarters of General McClellan. Supported by his military advisors (standing to his rear), the towering commander in chief vigorously urged his principal general to exploit the opportunity offered by Lee’s heavy casualties and launch an all-out attack against Richmond. When McClellan did not undertake this offensive, Lincoln removed him as commander of the Army of the Potomac.


Lincoln Replaced General McClellan with

Ambrose Burnside, who later resigned & was replaced by Joseph (“Fighting Joe”) Hooker

The Union dominated the Ohio River Valley, & in 1862: General Ulysses S. Grant took Fort Henry on the Tennessee River Fort Donelson on the Cumberland

River

Map 14.2 The Eastern Campaigns of 1862 (p. 404)

Confederate Generals Robert J. “Stonewall” Jackson & Robert E. Lee secured victories that were almost decisive; they also suffered a defeat—at Antietam, in Maryland—that was almost fatal. As was often the case in the Civil War, the victors in these battles were either too bloodied or too timid to exploit their advantage

Many of the great battles of the Civil War took place in the 125 miles between the Union capital of Washington & the Confederate capital of Richmond. During the eastern campaigns of 1862,


In April 1862: Confederate army caught Grant

by surprise near Shiloh Grant forced a Confederate

withdrawal but suffered lots of casualties

Union naval forces captured New Orleans, undermining Confederate strength in the Mississippi Valley

Mobilizing Armies & Civilians

After the defeat at Shiloh in April 1862, the Confederate Congress imposed the first legally binding draft in American history The Confederate draft had two loopholes: It exempted one white man for each

twenty slaves on a plantation It allowed drafted men to hire

substitutes.


Some Southerners refused to serve: Confederate government lacked

the power to compel them Confederate Congress overrode

state judges’ orders to free conscripted men

Dixie

Dan Emmit was working for Dan Bryant's Minstrels in New York when he wrote this "hooray song." When the Civil War began, "Dixie," written by a Northerner, became the unofficial national anthem of the Confederate South. After the surrender of General Lee in 1865, President Lincoln had "Dixie" played by the band in Washington, saying, "We have captured the Confederate Army; we have also captured the Confederate tune, and both belong to us."

DixieI wish I was in the land of cotton,Old times there are not forgotten;Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.In Dixie Land where I was born in, Early on one frosty morning,Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!In Dixie Land, I'll take my stand, To live and die in Dixie,Away, Away, Away down south in Dixie,Away, Away,Away down south in Dixie.

Old missus marry "Will de weaber," Willium was a gay deceaber; Look away! Look away!

Look away way! Dixie Land But when he put his arm around'er, He smiled as fierce as a forty-pound'er. Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land

Den I wish I was in Dixie,Hooray! Hooray! In Dixie Land, I'll take my stand, To lib and die in Dixie, Away, AwayAway down south in Dixie, Away, Away,Away down south in Dixie. His face was sharp as a butchers

cleaber, But dat did not seem to greab'er; Look away! Look away! Look away way! Dixie Land Ole missus acted de foolish part, And died for a man dat broke her heart, Look away! Look away! Look away way! Dixie Land


To prevent sabotage & concerted resistance to the war effort in the Union Lincoln suspended habeas corpus

(the constitutional right that protects citizens against arbitrary arrest and detention)

Imprisoned about 15,000 Confederate sympathizers without trial

He also extended martial law to civilians who discouraged enlistment or resisted the draft


The Union government’s Militia Act of 1862 Set a quota of volunteers for

each state Enrollment Act of 1863:

Increased the quotas Northerners, too, could hire

replacements or pay a $300 commutation (exemption fee)


Hostility to the draft & to African Americans spilled into the streets of New York City in the form of a series of riots Irish & German workers sacked

the homes of Republicans Rioters lynched and mutilated a

dozen African Americans Forced hundreds of black families

from their homes

Draft Riots and Anti-Black Violence in New York City (p. 408)

The Enrollment Act of 1863 enraged many workers and recent Irish and German immigrants who did not want to go to war. In July in NYC they took out their anger on free blacks in a week-long series of riots. This engraving depicts the burning by a mob of the Colored Orphan Asylum on 5th Avenue, home to 200 African American children. All of the children escaped before the mob set fire to the building; the fire spread to adjoining structures, forcing residents to flee with whatever possessions they could carry.


Lincoln rushed in Union troops fresh from the battle of Gettysburg, who killed more than hundred rioters and suppressed the insurrection.


The Union Army Medical Bureau & the United States Sanitary Commission: Provided medical services to the

soldiers Tried to prevent deaths from disease,

which killed more men than did the fighting.

The Confederate health system was poorly organized, & soldiers died from camp diseases at a higher rate than Union soldiers


Women took a leading role in the Sanitary Commission & other wartime agencies Dorothea Dix = 1st woman to receive a major

federal appointment (superintendent of female nurses)

Women staffed growing bureaucracies, volunteered to serve as nurses, & filled positions traditionally held by men.

A number of women took on military duties as spies, scouts, & (disguised as men) soldiers

Hospital Nursing (p.408)Working as nurses in battlefront hospitals 1000s of Union & Confederate women gained firsthand experience of the horrors of war. A sense of calm prevails in this behind-the-lines Union hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, as nurse Anne Belle tends to the needs of soldiers recovering from their wounds. Most Civil War nurses served as unpaid volunteers and spent time cooking and cleaning for their patients as well as tending their injuries.

Mobilizing Resources

The Union entered the war with a distinct advantage Its economy was far superior to

the South’s Its arms factories were equipped

for mass production


The Confederates had substantial industrial capacity By 1863 able to provide every

infantryman w/ a modern riflemusket

Confederate leaders counted on “King Cotton” to provide revenue to purchase clothes, boots, blankets, & weapons from abroad


To sustain the allegiance of Northerners to their party while bolstering the Union’s ability to fight the war, the Republicans: Raised tariffs Created a national banking system Devised a system of internal

improvements, especially railroads; & developed the Homestead Act of 1862


Homestead Act of 1862 Gave heads of families or

individuals 21 or older the title to 160 acres of public land after 5 years of residence & improvement


The Confederate government’s economic policy was less coherent. The Davis administration Built & operated shipyards,

armories, foundries, & textile mills

Commandeered food & raw materials

Requisitioned slaves to work on forts


The Union government created a modern nation-state that raised revenue for the war by Imposing broad-based taxes (paid for

about 20 % of the cost of the war) Increased tariffs on consumer goods Imposed direct taxes on business

corporations, large inheritances and incomes

Borrowing from the middle classes Creating a national monetary system

National Banking Acts of 1863 & 1864


National Banking Acts of 1863 & 1864 Forced state banks to accept

national charters This required them to purchase

treasury bonds That helped finance the war


Legal Tender Act of 1862 Authorized the issue of $150 million in

treasury notes (greenbacks)Definition: first issued by the Union

during the Civil War to finance the war effort, greenbacks became a general term to describe any paper currency issued by the federal government as legal tender. The value of greenbacks is supported by the good faith of the government rather than specie.


Unlike the “continentals” issued during the Revolution, the greenbacks did not depreciate disastrously in value.The greenbacks funded 15% of the war


The Confederacy lacked a central government It financed about 60 percent of

its expenses with unbacked paper money, which created inflation

Citizens’ property rights were violated in order to sustain the war

Aura Lea

This popular sentimental ballad is from the Civil War era. It was interpolated in the motion pictures: Come and Get It (Goldwyn, 1936), The Last Musketeer ( Republic, 1952), and The Long Grey Line (Columbia, 1955). The tune is a fairly recent example of melody snatching -- it was set with new lyrics by Elvis Presley and Vera Matson in the popular love ballad "Love Me Tender," 1956.

Aura Lea

When the Blackbird in the Spring,On the willow-treeSat and rock'd, I heard him sing,Singing Aura Lea.

Aura Lea, Aura Lea,Maid of golden hair;Sunshine came along with thee,And swallows in the air.

Emancipation

War casualties mounted in 1862 Lincoln & some Republican leaders

accepted Frederick Douglass’s argument & began to redefine the war as a struggle against slavery

Exploiting the disorder of wartime, tens of thousands of slaves escaped & sought refuge behind Union lines, where they were known as “contrabands.”

Emancipation

Congress passed the First Confiscation Act in 1861: Authorized the seizure of all

property— including slaves—used to support the rebellion

April 1862: Congress enacted legislation ending slavery in the District of Columbia (with compensation for owners)

Emancipation

June 1862: Congress enacted the Wilmot Proviso (banning slavery in the territories)July 1862, the Second Confiscation Act declared “forever free” all fugitive slaves & all slaves captured by the Union army Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, changed the nature of the conflict: Union troops became agents of liberation

John Brown’s Body

The melody was a popular Southern camp-meeting tune called "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us?" It seems to be uncertain whether the composer is Charles Hall or William Steffe. In the 21st Massachusetts Regiment was a Scottish sergeant named John Brown. Because he had the same name as the abolitionist who was captured and hanged for his insurrection at Harper's Ferry, members of Brown's battalion made up lyrics to tease him. "John Brown's Body" became a favorite marching song. As the song became popular among the soldiers, the lyrics gradually changed to reflect the story of John Brown at Harper's Ferry. The same tune was later used for Julia Ward Howe's poem "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

John Brown’s Body

John Brown's bodyLies a mould'ring in the grave,John Brown's bodyLies a mould'ring in the grave,John Brown's bodyLies a mould'ring in the grave,But his soul's marching on.

Glory, glory Hallelujah,Glory, glory Hallelujah,Glory, glory Hallelujah,His soul's marching on.

He captured Harpers FerryWith his nineteen men so true,And he frightened old Virginia

John Brown died 'That the slave ' might be

free,John Brown died 'That the slave ' might be


free,But his soul's marching on.


Now has ' comeThe ' glorious jubilee,Now has ' comeThe ' glorious jubilee,Now has ' comeThe ' glorious jubilee,When all mankind are free.


Till she trembled through and through.

They hung him for a traitor,Themselves the traitor crew,But his soul's marching on.


John Brown died 'That the slave ' might be



free,But his soul's marching on.

Emancipation

Emancipation Proclamation: Frees only those slaves in rebel

states Why?

To keep the border slave states that were loyal to the union on his side

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, by Francis Bicknell Carpenter (p. 414)

Emancipation

To reassure Northerners who sympathized with the South or feared race warfare Lincoln urged slaves to abstain

from all violence

Vicksburg & Gettysburg

Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrendered to the Union army on July 4, 1863, followed by Port Hudson, Louisiana, five days later Importance of this battle? Grant had cut off Louisiana, Arkansas,

& Texas from the rest of the Confederacy (he split the Confederacy in 2)

hundreds of slaves deserted their plantations


The battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a great Union victory & the most lethal battle of the Civil War After Union victories at Gettysburg & Vicksburg, Republicans reaped political gains in their elections, while Confederate elections went sharply against politicians who supported Davis


The Confederates’ defeats at Vicksburg & Gettysburg ended their prospect of winning foreign recognition & acquiring advanced weapons from the British. British manufacturers were no longer dependent on the South for cotton However, they were dependent on the

North for cheap wheat. The British championed the abolitionist

cause Wanted to avoid provoking a well-armed

United States

Soldiers & Strategy

Lincoln initially refused to consider blacks for military service By 1862, some African Americans had

formed their own regiments in South Carolina, Louisiana, & Kansas

The Emancipation Proclamation changed popular thinking & military policy Some northern whites argued that if

blacks were to benefit from a Union victory, they should share in the fighting & dying

Soldiers & Strategy

White resistance to conscription increased Lincoln administration recruits as many

African Americans as it could Military service did not end racial discrimination, yet African Americans volunteered for Union military service in disproportionate numbers Lincoln put Ulysses S. Grant in charge of all Union armies Directed him to advance against all major

Confederate forces simultaneously Wanted a decisive victory before the election

of 1864

Soldiers & Strategy

Grant knew how to fight a modern war: Relying on technology & directed at an

entire society. He was willing to terrorize the civilian

population in order to crush the South’s will to resist

Soldiers & Strategy

Grant was narrowly victorious in the battles of the Wilderness & Spotsylvania Court House At Cold Harbor, Grant eroded

Lee’s forces, yet the Union losses were even greater

Soldiers & Strategy

Union & Confederate soldiers suffered through protracted trench warfare around Richmond & Petersburg Enormous casualties & military stalemate

threatened Lincoln with defeat in the November 1864 election

To punish farmers who provided a base for Jubal Early & food for Lee’s army: Grant ordered General Philip H. Sheridan to turn

the region into a “barren waste.” Grant’s decision to carry the war to Confederate

civilians changed the definition of conventional warfare.

The Election of 1864 & Sherman’s March to the Sea

In June 1864 the Republican convention: Endorsed Lincoln’s war measures Demanded the surrender of the

Confederacy Called for a constitutional amendment

to abolish slavery The Republican Party temporarily renamed itself the National Union Party & nominated Democrat Andrew Johnson for vice president


The Democratic convention nominated General George McClellan Promised to recommend an immediate

armistice & peace convention if elected.On September 2, 1864,William T. Sherman forced the surrender of Atlanta, Georgia; Sherman’s success gave Lincoln a victory in November The pace of emancipation accelerated Maryland & Missouri freed their slaves,

followed by Tennessee, Arkansas, & Louisiana


On January 31, 1865 The Republican-dominated Congress

approved the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibited slavery throughout the United States

Sherman declined to follow the Confederate army into Tennessee after the capture of Atlanta Instead he wanted to “cut a swath

through sea” that would devastate Georgia & score a psychological victory


After burning Atlanta, Sherman destroyed railroads, property, & supplies during his march to the sea Many Confederate soldiers deserted & fled home to protect their farms & families In February 1865: Sherman invaded South Carolina with

a desire to wreak vengeance upon the state where secession had begun


Due to class resentment from poor whites, the Confederacy had such a manpower shortage that they were going to arm the slaves in exchange for their freedom; the war ended before this had a chance to transpire The symbolic end to the war occurred on April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia; by May the Confederate army & government had dissolved The Union armies had destroyed slavery as well as the Confederacy & much of the South’s economy. Almost 260,000 Confederate soldiers paid for secession with their lives

The Martyrdom of Lincoln

April 14, 1865: Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth

and died shortly after.Before his death, few people had suspected his greatnessdeath erased his shortcomings and made people remember him for his good things.

The Martyrdom of Lincoln

South cheered Lincoln’s his death proved to be worse than if he had lived would have almost certainly

treated the South much better than they were actually treated during Reconstruction.

The Aftermath of the Nightmare.

Civil War cost: 600,000 men $15 billionGave America a supreme test of its existence U.S. survived, proving its strength &

further increasing its growing power & reputation

slavery was also eradicated.

The Aftermath of the Nightmare.

war paved the way for US’s fulfillment of its destiny as the dominant republic of the Western Hemisphere—and later, the world.

c h a p t e r s 2 0 & 2 1 the civil war american pageant

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