chapter 14. lecture preview the first modern war the coming of emancipation the second american...
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Chapter 14
Lecture Preview
• The First Modern War• The Coming of Emancipation• The Second American Revolution• The Confederate Nation• Turning Points• Rehearsals for Reconstruction and the
End of the War
The First Modern War
Focus Question:
Why is the Civil War considered the first modern war?
The First Modern War: Combatants
• The Two Combatants
Lincoln’s Early Presidency
A. Inaugural speech
1. Vowed to preserve the Union; to “hold, occupy, and possess”
federal property in the South.
-- Was ambiguous on how he would do it; was careful not to offend border slave states.
2. GOP & Dem unionists agreed with speech’s firmness and moderation.
3. Lower South regarded it tantamount to a declaration of war!
Attack on Fort Sumter begins the Civil War
A. Ft. Sumter, SC, - one of last federal southern strongholds (remember: SC had seceded)
1. Major Robert Anderson to Lincoln: “Supplies are low; I may have to surrender.”
2. Lincoln faced with choices that were all bad:
a. No supplies would mean surrender, recognition that SC had seceded; said he would “hold, possess & occupy.”
b. To reinforce would mean war!
c. Lincoln’s solution: Notify SC of an expedition only to supply the fort, not to
reinforce with more troops; Lincoln would let the South start a war if they wanted (they would look like the aggressors!).
3. April 9, 1861 - Supply ship left NY for SC
-- Seen by SC as an act of aggression (reinforcements).
B. 4/12/1861 - Ft. Sumter hit by 70+ Confederate cannons.
1. Held 34 hours before forced to surrender.
2. Anderson’s men allowed to return home to the North
3. No loss of life; fort heavily damaged.
C. Lincoln calls for volunteers
1. Before Sumter - many thought South should be allowed to secede if they wanted.
2. North would now fight to preserve the Union; South seen as the aggressor.
3. April 15, Lincoln issued a call to the states for 75,000 militiamen; 90 day service
4. April 19, Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of Southern seaports.
-- Initially ineffective; but eventually would strangle the South.
5. May 3, Lincoln issued call for 3-year army and 12-month navy volunteers; he saw that militias would not meet the Union’s needs.
A cartoonist in Richmond, Virginia in April 1861 depicts Lincoln as a cat attempting to catch
fleeing mice—the seceding states of the South.
The Border Slave States (Mo, Ky, Md, later WV)
A. Remained in the Union since the North did not start the war
1. Crucial to the Union cause; sent 300,000 soldiers to the Union Army.
a. “Mountain white” population in South sent 50,000 soldiers to the North.
b. Lincoln said he hoped to have God on his side but he had to have Kentucky.
2. West Va. left Va. in mid-1861 to join the Union; “mountain white” population.
C. Lincoln used force at times to keep border states in check.
* Declared martial law in Maryland; sent troops to prevent DC from being cut off from North.
D. Politically, Lincoln tried to keep border states in mind when making public statements
1. Declared the primary purpose of the war was to preserve the Union at all costs.
2. Declared North was not fighting to free slaves
a. Antislavery declaration would have driven the border states to side with the South.
b. Lincoln heavily criticized by abolitionists who saw him as a sell-out.
(Ex: Horace Greeley – newspaper editor)“My paramount object is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery...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 to Horace Greeley
August 22, 1862
The First Modern War: Technology/Resources
• The Technology of War• The Public and the War• Mobilizing Resources
Rating the North & the South
Confederate Assets at the Beginning of War
A. Only had to fight a defensive war; could tie or stalemate & still win; needed fewer troops.
B. Many felt South had a superior moral cause, slavery notwithstanding.
-- Were fighting for self-determination, self-government, its social structure, and homeland.
C. Had talented military officers - many of theirupper class men had attended military colleges.
1. Robert E. Lee - one of greatest military leaders in U.S. history
a. Opposed slavery; spokeagainst secession in Jan. 1861.
b. He felt compelled to side with native Virginia after it seceded.
2. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson – Lee’s chief lieutenant & premier
cavalry officer.
(Southern assets continued....)
3. Top Union generals were inept during the first three years of war; finally replaced.
D. Southern men were “of fighting stock” & self-confident; accustomed to using guns and riding horses.
Confederate Disadvantages
A. Lack of significant industry - a crucial disadvantage; South primarily agrarian.
B. Shortages of supplies - shoes, uniforms, etc.
C. Breakdown of transportation, esp. RRs
D. CSA might have been victorious IF:
1. Border states had seceded.2. Upper Miss. Valley states turned on Union.3. Northern defeatism had led to an armistice.4. Eng & France had broken the naval blockade
E. South did not get foreign intervention.
Northern Advantages
A. Population of 22 million (incl. border states)
1. South had only 9 million, including slaves
2. Manpower advantage of Union over CSA were 3 to 2 (later 3 to 1)
3. Earlier immigrants enlisted; 20% of Union forces were foreign-born.
B. Had 3/4 of nation’s wealth.
C. Overwhelming superiorityin manufacturing, shipping,& banking.
(Northern advantages continued...)
D. 3/4 of nation’s railroads.
E. Controlled sea with blockade of South's ports.
F. Ideal of “Union”
1. Idea of union aroused North: “Union Forever”
2. Significant in keeping border & upper Mississippi River states in Union.
3. Strong moral issue
G. Better army logistical planning
The First Modern War: beginning
• Military Strategies• The War Begins
Confederate Strategy
Defend and delay until Union gives up.Quick victories to demoralize Union
Alliance with Great BritainCapture Washington, D.C.
Defend RichmondSought decisive battle that would
convince the Union it wasn’t worth it Use better military leadership to your
advantage and outsmart Union generals.
Union War Strategy
A. Initial attempts against South in Virginia failed! (Bull Run, Peninsula Campaign, Vicksburg,
Chancellorsville)
B. Developed strategy of attrition (outlast South)
1. Blockade South’s coasts – Anaconda Plan 2. Control the Mississippi River to cut the
Confederacy in half. 3. Devastate South by cutting swath through
Georgia; send troops north through the Carolinas. 4. Capture Richmond by annihilating remaining
Confederate armies.
The First Modern War: East and West
• The War in the East, 1862• The War in the West
War in the East: 1861
A. Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) -- July 21, 1861 (30 miles southwest of Washington, DC)
1. By summer, 1861, public pressure & the press urged quick decisive battle to defeat the South.
2. Battle initially went well for Union forces but
reinforcements from the Shenandoah Valley led by "Stonewall" Jackson
surprised fatigued Union forces.
3. By mid-afternoon, Union forces in full retreat back toward Washington DC.
4. Casualties: Union 2,896; Confederates 1,982
5. Psychological impact:
a. North awoke to reality of a long conflict; began making preparations for a long & bloody war.
b. Southerners grew
complacent; many deserters since
they felt war was over.
-- Southern enlistments fell
off sharply.
Battle of Bull Run (1st Manassas), July, 1861
• Northern troops were pushed back to D.C.• South won this battle but “lost the war”.• WHY? Failed to capture Washington, D.C. • Would never be so close to Washington, D.C.
B. General George B. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac
1. Lincoln gave McClellan command of the Army of the Potomac in late 1861.
-- McClellan a brilliant military strategist and leader; 34-year-old from West Point
2. Fatal flaw: Overcautious; frequently believed he was outnumbered when in fact he had numerical
advantages; Lincoln accused him of having "the slows."
The Union blockade -- "Anaconda Plan"
A. Initially ineffective; 3,500 miles of coastline too much for weak Union navy.
B. Concentrated on principal ports and
inlets where bulk
materials were loaded
C. Respected by Britain did not
want a future war
with the North
D. Battle of the Ironclads
1. Merrimack (C.S.S. Virginia) -- former U.S. warship plated on sides with old railroad
rails; (not really seaworthy)
a. Destroyed two Union wooden ships in Chesapeake Bay, VA
b. Threatened entire Yankee fleet blockading Southern ports.
2. Monitor -- Union counterpart to Merrimack
built in 100 days
a. Monitor engaged Virginia at Hampton Roads, VA on March 8-9, 1862.
b. 4-hour battle with neither side winning; Monitor withdrew; both sides
claimed victory. c. Virginia
(Merrimack) later blown up by Confederates when it was in danger of falling into
Union hands.
The War in the West -- Battle for Control of the Mississippi
A. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant became Lincoln’s most able general
B. Shiloh (April 6 & 7, 1862)
1. Union troops moved through western Tennessee to take Confederacy’s
only east-west RR linking lower South to cities on South's east coast
2. Grant victorious but casualties were shocking: 23,746 killed, wounded, or missing
3. Brought shocking realization to both sides that war would not end soon.
C. New Orleans taken by Union in spring of 1862; led by David G. Farragut.
The War in the East: 1862
A. The Peninsula Campaign (April 5-June 16, 1862)
1. McClellan persuaded Lincoln to abandon direct frontal assault & to try flanking approach.
-- Took a month for Union forces to take Yorktown.
2. Seven Day’s Battle (June 25-July 1, 1862)
a. Robert E. Lee took command of Confederate army. b. After an unsuccessful battle, McClellan retreated c. Robert E. Lee’s first victory over the Union.
3. Peninsula campaign abandoned by Lincoln -- McClellan removed as commander.
4. Losses: Confederates 20,141; Union 15,849
B. Second Battle of Bull Run (14 July to 30 August)
1. General Pope put in charge of Union army near Washington.
2. Combined forces of Lee, Jackson, & Longstreet forced Union to escape again to DC.
-- Some blamed McClellan for not coming fast enough to support Pope.
3. Casualties: Union 16,054; Confederates 9,197
4. Lincoln once again gave McClellan command of the Army of the Potomac.
C. Antietam (September 17, 1862)
1. Lee hoped taking Maryland would encourage foreign intervention to help South.
2. Sept. 17 -- Battle of Antietam
a. Sharpsburg, Maryland; ended in a stalemate b. McClellan did not pursue withdrawing Conf.
troops before they crossed the Potomac.
-- Removed from command for 2nd time and replaced by Gen. Ambrose Burnside.
c. Casualties: Union 12,401 of 80,000 in army; Conf. 10,700 of 40,000
(over 25%)
-- Bloodiest single day of the war.
3. Antietim was one of most decisive battles in world history.
a. South never again so near victory
b. Foreign powers decided not to intervene for the South whose military capacity was now in doubt.
c. Lincoln received the "victory" he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Coming of Emancipation
Focus Question:
How did a war to preserve the Union become a war to end slavery?
The Coming of Emancipation: Slavery
• Slavery and the War• The Unraveling of Slavery• Steps Toward Emancipation• Lincoln’s Decision
The Coming of Emancipation: emancipation proclamation
• The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation
A. Became effective Jan. 1, 1863
1. Civil War became a Union moral crusade: a "higher purpose;" moral cause of the South
weakened.
2. Lincoln’s goal not so much to free slaves as to strengthen moral cause of the Union.
3. Constitutionality of proclamation questionable at the time
a. Yet, it foreshadowed the death of slavery b. Became "legal" with the 13th Amendment in
1865
B. All slaves in areas in rebellion declared now and forever free.
• Freed all slaves in states in rebellion
against the US
• Did not apply to slaves in border
states fighting for US
• No affect on southern areas
already under US control.
• Kept Great Britain from siding with
the Southand becoming an
ally.
The Emancipation Proclamation
War was now a war to • abolish slavery
• destroy the South • preserve the Union
• US soldiers were “Freedom Fighters”
The Coming of Emancipation: Black
troops• Enlisting Black Troops
– Lincoln feared black troops would alienate white soldiers and border slave states
– After Emancipation, black enlistments began
• The Black Soldier– Became community and political leaders– Discriminated against during war– Led by white officers
BLACK TROOPS
AfricanAmericans in Civil War
The 54th Massachusetts storms Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863.
The Famous 54th Massachusetts
August Saint-Gaudens Memorial to Col. Robert
Gould Shaw
The Second American Revolution
Focus Question:
How did the Civil War transform the national economy and create a stronger nation-state?
The Second American Revolution: Liberty
• Liberty and Union– North’s understanding of freedom as self-ownership and
owning one’s own labor, as opposed to the South’s vision of freedom as mastership over others.
• Lincoln’s Vision– Lincoln reaffirmed that “all men are created equal” and
stated the war heralded a “new birth of freedom.” Union soldiers’ sacrifices would ensure that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The Second American Revolution: union
• From Union to Nation– “a unified political entity”
• The War and American Religion– Marking war as God’s means of eradicating slavery and
truly making America a land of liberty
• Liberty in Wartime– Suspending habeas corpus for “disloyal activities”
War-time President Lincoln Bends the Constitution and Suspends Certain Civil Liberties
A. Motive: Saving the Union required him to side-step some parts of the Constitution.
1. Congress generally accepted or approved Lincoln’s acts.
2. Suspension of liberties were not sweeping but more than any other time of US history.
3. Lincoln believed liberties would be restored once the Union was preserved.
B. Blockade proclaimed when Congress was not in session, shortly after Fort Sumter.
C. Increased size of federal army and navy.
1. Constitution states only Congress had the power to do this.
2. Later approved by Congress who actually increased appropriations & size of army more.
D. Extended volunteer enlistment to three years.
E. Suspended writ of habeas corpus so thatanti-Unionists could be arrested and held.
1. Ex Parte Merriman, 1861 - Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that Lincoln’s
suspension of habeas corpus was illegal.
a. During war's first nine months., 864 people were
held without trial.
b. Lincoln ignored Taney’s ruling.
c. Significance: During wartime, President could bend law for the welfare of the nation, including suspension of Court’s authority.
1. 1863, Congress approved Lincoln’s action.
2. After 1862, arrests increased: spies, smugglers, blockade-runners & foreigners.
F. Arranged for “supervised” voting in Border States
-- Voters held colored ballot indicating party preference & had to walk between two lines of armed troops…..Intimidation????
G. Federal officials suspended some newspapers & arrested editors for "obstructing the Union cause."
H. But...generally, civil liberties & constitutional rights were respected during the war.
I. Jefferson Davis, unlike Lincoln, was unableto exercise arbitrary power.
1. States’ righters wanted local government, not a strong central government.
2. South seemed more willing to lose war than to surrender local rights.
The Second American Revolution: The north
• A New Financial System• The North’s Transformation• Government and the Economy• Building the Transcontinental Railroad
Financial Aspects to the Civil War
A. Raising money in the North
1. First income tax in nation’s history levied; relatively small but paid for 2/3 of war’s cost.
2. Higher excise taxes on tobacco & alcohol
3. Morrill Tariff Act of 1861 - Raised low tariff of 1857 about 10%
a. Tariff rates later raised due to demands of
revenue & protectionism during war.
b. Protective tariff was associated with GOP for next 70 years.
4. Greenbacks - based on gold; held value after Union victory.
5. Sale of US Treasury bonds. (Government borrows from citizens)
B. Southern finances
1. Tariff revenue fell due to Union blockade.
2. Bonds sold at home & abroad = $400 million.
3. Rise in taxes; 10% tax on farm produce
a. Opposition by states’ righters!
b. Direct tax = only about 1% of revenues.
Inflation in the South
4. Biggest source of revenue: printed large amts. of paper money.
* Runaway inflation (more than $1 billion)
C. War-time prosperity in the North
1. First millionaire class in US history.
a. New factories protected by new tariff
b. Beginning of the “Gilded Age” dominated by “Robber Barons”
c. Much dishonesty in supplying goods forgovernment (ex: poor quality uniforms)
2. New labor-saving machinery spurred business expansion. Examples:
-- Sewing machines & mechanical reapers
3. Petroleum industry born in PA in 1859
4. Westward movement
a. Homestead Act of 1862
* Free land for pioneers
* Many headed west to escape the draft.
* By 1865 - 20,000 settlers had headed west.
b. Gold seekers (NV & CA) would laterconstitute a mining frontier with thecompletion of the transcontinental RR.
c. Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
* Profits from sale of lands financed agricultural & mechanical colleges.
d. Pacific RR Act 1863 – Transcontinental RR connecting northern states & territories to California.
D. Demise of the Cotton Kingdom
1. Blockade & destruction by Union armies ruined southern economy.
a. Transportation collapsed.
b. Severe shortage of metals & other materials for military purposes.
2. Cotton Kingdom was eclipsed by new 2nd Industrial Revolution in the North.
The Second American Revolution: native
Americans and women• The War and Native Americans
– Loss of Indian land and massacres
• Women and the War– Economic opportunity: manufacturing jobs and jobs in
male professions, like nursing. Clerks in govt jobs– Women maintained a presence after the war in white-collar
government jobs, retail sales, and nursing– Call for the right to vote
The Second American Revolution: Division
• The Divided North
The Copperheads
A. Northern Democrat faction that preached "peace at any price."
1. Many were arrested without warrants and held for prolonged periods w/o trial.
2. Named after poisonous snake which strikes without warning.
3. Appealed to midwestern
farmers whose trade routes were
disrupted; wanted war to end!
B. Criticized Lincoln for
perpetuating an unjust war
Raising Armies: North and South
* Northern troops
1. Initially volunteers
2. 1863, Congress passed federal conscription law (draft) for first time in US history.
a. Made up for fewer volunteers.
b. Unfair; wealthier youth could hire substitutes.
3. Draft caused biggest stir in Democrat strongholds of the North, including NY City.
-- New York Draft Riot (1863) was sparked by Irish-Americans; 500 killed, many buildings burned.
4. Large bounties for enlistment were offered by federal, state, & local authorities.
5. There were about 200,000 deserters of all classes in the North; similar number in the South.
The Confederate Nation
Focus Question:
How did the war effort and leadership problems affect the society and economy of the Confederacy?
The Confederate Nation: Leadership
• Leadership and Government• The Inner Civil War
The Confederacy (Leadership Problems)
A. Constitution largely copied from the Union
-- Fatal flaw: Created by secession, it could not deny future secession to its states.
B. Davis’s idea of strong central government was bitterly opposed by states’ righters.
-- Some states didn’t want their troops to fight outside their borders.
C. Davis was often at odds with his Congress; wasin danger of being impeached at one point.
D. Davis lacked Lincoln’s political talent.
The Confederacy (Inner Civil War)
Initially, white southerners widely supported the Confederate cause and war effort, claiming the war was being fought to protect liberty against northern tyranny. Yet, public disaffection grew, especially over the draft, which allowed substitutes and exempted one white male for every twenty slaves on a plantation, thus releasing from service many overseers and planters’ sons and greatly increasing opposition to the war among poor whites.
The Confederate Nation: economy
• Economic Problems– Lack of resources—printed paper money
• Southern Unionists– Small secret group—fought for Union
The Confederate Nation: women and black
soldiers• Women and the Confederacy
– Women took over men’s responsibilities• Conducted business and disciplined slaves
– Decreased morale and fostered desertion
• Black Soldiers for the Confederacy– Laborers in war effort– Decision to recruit blacks undermined slavery ideology
Turning Points
Focus Question:
What were the military and political turning points of the war?
Turning Points: battles
• Gettysburg and Vicksburg
Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)
1. Lee invaded North again, this time through PA in hopes of strengthening peace movement in the North and getting direct foreign support; surprised by Union troops
while looking for supplies.
2. Bloodiest battle of the Civil War: 53,000 casualties.
a. Day 3 - Lee ordered Gen. George Pickett’s division to attack Union center at Cemetery Ridge
("Picket's Charge;") Pickett’s troops annihilated!
b. Lee retreated while taking full responsibility for the Confederate defeat.
Gettysburg Casualties
• The defeat of Lee at Gettysburg would be the last time Lee would invade the North and try to take Washington, D.C.
• Lee’s retreat at Gettysburg on July 3rd and Grant’s defeat of the South at Vicksburg on July 4th would lead to the eventual surrender
of the South by 1865.
6. Meade did not pursue Lee & finish off his army; will Lincoln ever find
the right General?
7. Significance: South will never again invade the North; will remain
on defense until war’s end.
8. Gettysburg Address (November, 1863) - Lincoln dedicates a cemetery at Gettysburg.
a. Established idea of nation over union
-- The United States is a free country; instead of United States are a free country.
b. Most Americans today accept Lincoln’s concept of America
c. Attracted little attention at the time but became one of most important speeches in history.
The End of the War in the West
A. Vicksburg campaign lasted seven months
1. Vicksburg last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.
2. Significance: Split the Confederacy in two and gave Union total control
of Mississippi River
Lincoln finally found his General --- Grant!
Turning Points: 1864
• 1864
B. Sherman marches through Georgia
1. William Tecumseh Sherman
2. "Sherman's March to the Sea": Took/burned Atlanta, cut 60-mile-wide swath through heart of Georgia before taking Savannah in December, 1864.
a. Aim: Destroy supplies meant for Confed army; weaken morale by waging war on their homes.
b. Pioneer of "total war;" despite brutality, it probably shortened the war, thus saving lives.
c. Determined to inflict the horrors of war on the South to break its will.
Politics and Election of 1864
A. Congressional Committee on conduct of the War
1. Anti-Lincoln Republicans 2. Distrusted Lincoln; wanted to limit his power.
B. Abolitionists demanded immediate freedom for all slaves.
C. Northern Democrats deeply divided; no leader.
1. War Democrats supported Lincoln 2. Peace Democrats did not support Lincoln -- Many favored a negotiated peace, not war. 3. Copperheads most radical.
-- Some hated Lincoln so much, they actually wanted South to win!
D. Presidential Candidates
1. Union Party-- Coalition of Republican party & War Democrats (GOP temp. out of service)
a. Lincoln nominated w/o serious dissent. b. Andrew Johnson for VP running-mate; loyal War
Democrat from TN; small slaveowner when war
began; put on ticket to attract War Democrats
and Border States. c. Slogan: "Don’t swap horses in the middle of the
river."
2. Democratic Party nominated George McClellan.
Lincoln’s re-election was a crushing defeat for the South!
* Lincoln’s election assured a continued policy of "total war"
* Last real hope for a Confederate victory.
* Confederate desertions increased sharply
Second Inaugural speech
-- "With malice toward none, with charity for all"
End of the War in the East: Grant’s Virginia Campaign
A. Grant promoted to head of all Union armies
1. Grant’s strategy: attack the enemy’s armies simultaneously (couldn’t help each other);
2. 50,000 Union casualties
B. Wilderness Campaign (May/June, 1864) Grant &
100,000+ men headed for Richmond.
C. Siege of Richmond (July-Oct. 1865)
D. Confederates attempted to negotiate peace between the "two countries." -- Lincoln not willing to accept anything short of
unconditional surrender.
E. Lee’s surrender 1. Confederate army
surrounded near Appomattox Court House, VA.
2. April 9, 1865 -- Lee surrendered.
-- Remaining Confederate armies surrendered within the next few weeks.
3. Terms of surrender were generous a. 30,000 captured Confederates were paroled &
allowed to go home if they vowed never to
take up arms against the Union again. b. Confederates allowed to keep their horses for
spring plowing; officers could keep side arms
Letter Grant to Lee
5 PM, April 7, 1865…..To: General R. E. Lee, Commanding CSAThe results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion (spilling) of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia……Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U.S. Grant
Letter Grant to Lee
April 7, 1865To: General U.S. Grant:General: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender.Commanding General of CSA, R. E. Lee
Letter Grant to Lee
April 8, 1865….To: General R. E. Lee, Commanding CSAYour note of last evening just received. In reply would say that there is but one condition I would insist upon---namely, that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms against the Government of the United States……..I will meet you at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received.General U.S. Grant, Commanding Officer, USA
Rehearsals for Reconstruction and the
End of the War
Focus Question:
What were the most important wartime "rehearsals for Reconstruction"?
Rehearsals for Reconstruction: the west
• The Sea Islands Experiment– Northern investors bought land; black families worked for
wages, gained education
• Wartime Reconstruction in the West– Forced labor contracts in Vicksburg– Jefferson Davis lands divided between black families
Rehearsals for Reconstruction: politics
• The Politics of Wartime Reconstruction– “Ten-Percent” Plan of Reconstruction
• Amnesty and full restoration of rights to almost all white southerners who swore loyalty support for emancipation.
• After 10% of the voters of 1860 took the oath, they could elect a new state government, which would have to abolish slavery.
• No role for freed blacks.
– Radical Republicans: Wade-Davis Bill• Majority of South voters, announce black equality; no suffrage
Rehearsals for Reconstruction and the
End of the War
END OF THE WAR
Results and costs of the Civil War
A. 620,000 soldiers dead (2% of population!); over 1 million total casualties; unknown civilian casualties.
-- South lost the best of its youth and
potential leadership
B. Slavery abolished
C. Total cost of war: $15 billion (about $1.5 trillion in today’s dollars)
-- Does not include pensions and interest on the national debt.
D. States-righters were henceforth crushed, as the Civil War served as the greatest constitutional decision in U.S. history.
-- Ideal of nullification and secession died
with the Confederacy
E. Ideal of Union and nation triumphant
F. Monroe Doctrine now had more teeth to it; had to be taken more seriously by
Europeans.
-- U.S. would now look to the hemisphere and beyond to expand its influence.
Chart: Total Deaths
Iraq 4486
Afghanistan 2345
Telegraph– Davis uses to gather forces for Shiloh.– Fredericksburg sees first extensive use
on the battlefield.Railways
– Greatly changes logistics and strategic maneuver.
– North had good system; South had acceptable quantity, but no standardized track width.
INNOVATIONS
Outdated muskets replaced with rifle – greatly changes tactics. – more accurate, faster loading, fire more rounds than muskets– Minié ball (more destructive bullet)– Cold Harbor: 2k dead in 20 minutes, another 5k wounded.
Calvary used for reconnaissance– Scouting and skirmishes
Artillery– invention of shells, devices that exploded in the air.– fired canisters, special shells filled with bullets.– Grenades– land mines are used
Ironclads– replaces wooden ships
Trench warfare replaces Napoleonic tactics
WEAPONS
Prisoner of War Camps
A. North treated prisoners better than the South; more
resources available.
B. Southern prisons could not provide for POWs since Confederate soldiers often lacked basic necessities.
-- Andersonville the most notorious of the POW camps; more than 13,000 died there