fundamental causes of the war sectionalism and states’ rights slavery economic issues
TRANSCRIPT
The Dividing Union• Missouri Compromise (1820)
• Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law
• Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)
• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Secession• South Carolina
was first to secede
• Several other states followed soon after
• Virginia seceded after the Battle of Fort Sumter Seceding states appear in green
The Creation of the Confederacy
• Delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama
• Formed the Confederate States of America
• Jefferson Davis elected president, with Alexander Stephens as vice president
CSA President Jefferson Davis
Buchanan’s Inaction
• Believed secession was illegal, but that acting to prevent it was also illegal
• Decided to let the incoming administration handle the problem
President James Buchanan
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
• March 4, 1861
• Promised not to interfere with slavery where it already existed
• Attempted to reconcile with the South
A crowd listens to Lincoln’s speech at the Capitol building
Lincoln and Fort Sumter• Confederates demanded that the fort be surrendered
• Lincoln received urgent message from Ft. Sumter’s commander
• Lincoln faced with dilemma of resupplying Sumter
• Decided to send only “food for hungry men”
Fort Sumter
The War Begins• Bombardment began on April 12, 1861
• Anderson surrendered to Gen. Beauregard, a close friend and colleague
Painting depicting the bombardment of Fort Sumter
The “Anaconda Plan”The Union’s strategy:
• Naval blockade from Louisiana to Virginia
• Control of the Mississippi River
Confederate strategy primarily defensive
Cartoon about the “Anaconda Plan”
Advantages & Disadvantages: The Union
Advantages:• Industry and railroads• Larger population• Legitimate government• Strong political
leadershipDisadvantages:
• Funding difficulties• Offensive war• Lack of skilled
military leaders
A Massachusetts factory
Advantages & Disadvantages: The Confederacy
Advantages:• Defensive war on home turf• Common cause• Strong military tradition and
outstanding leaders
Disadvantages:• Weak economy• Smaller population• Ineffective central
government and leadership
Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
War Aims: North and South• The North: to preserve the Union
• The South: safeguarding states’ rights, as well as protecting the South from “Northern aggression”
Horace Greeley
Abraham Lincoln
Recruiting Soldiers• Lincoln called
for 75,000 volunteers for three months’ enlistment
• Response was overwhelming
• Union also encouraged enlistment with bounties
New Yorkers line up to enlist
Ethnic Recruitment• Both sides appealed to
ethnic pride in order to recruit
• Many nationalities joined both sides
• Irish Americans among the most common
An enlistment poster aimed at Irish Americans
Bull Run
• First major battle of Civil War
• About 25 miles from Washington, D.C.
• “Stonewall” Jackson became famous
• Confederate victory
Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
The Trent Affair• Union forces seized two Confederate
diplomats from aboard a British ship, the Trent
• British contended the seizure was an act of war
• Union eventually released the diplomats
• Confidence built between the U.S. and British governments
• Britain refused to support Confederacy
The San Jacinto accosting the
Trent
Shiloh• Union forces led
by Ulysses S. Grant
• Confederate attack nearly wiped out Union forces on first day
• Grant counterattacked the next day
• Union victoryA view of Shiloh after the battle
Ironclads• Confederates built
the Merrimack from a sunken Union ship
• Union quickly built the Monitor
• Monitor and Merrimack fought to a draw in first battle between ironclads A painting of the battle
New Technologies in Warfare• Minie ball
• Submarine
• Heavy artillery
• Aerial reconnaissance
• Gatling gun
• Trench warfare
A Gatling gun
A New Union Commander
• McClellan selected as commander after Bull Run
• McClellan popular with troops
• A thorough administrator
• Overly cautious
Gen. George B. McClellan
Lee Takes Command
• General Joseph E. Johnston wounded
• Robert E. Lee takes command of Confederate army
• Lee proves an able commander
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Antietam • Attempt by Lee to invade the North
• Near Sharpsburg, Maryland
• McClellan tipped off to Lee’s plans when a soldier found secret orders wrapped around cigars
• Single bloodiest day in American history
Artillery Hell, a painting of early morning hostilities at Antietam
Antietam: Aftermath• Lincoln met with
McClellan after the battle
• Lincoln fired him, complaining that he “had the slows”
• McClellan replaced by series of commanders
Lincoln meets with McClellan at Antietam
Alabama Claims
• Confederates purchased commerce raiders from Britain
• Alabama highly successful in disrupting Union shipping
• U.S. government demands compensation from Britain
• In 1872, an arbitration commission ordered Britain to pay $15.5 million
Painting of the CSS Alabama fighting the USS Kearsage
Prelude to Emancipation
• At first, Lincoln did not believe he had the authority to end slavery
• However, every slave working on a plantation allowed a white Southerner to fight
• Lincoln saw emancipation as a strategic issue as well as a moral one
Slaves on a South Carolina plantation, 1862
Advantages to Emancipation
• Cause “union” in the North by linking the war to abolishing slavery
• Cause disorder in the South as slaves were freed
• Kept Britain out of the war
Lincoln discussing emancipation with his cabinet
The Emancipation Proclamation
• Lincoln announced proclamation after Antietam
• Took effect on January 1, 1863• Freed slaves only in “territories
in rebellion”
A cartoon celebrating emancipation
Dealing With Dissent
• Copperheads
• Led by Rep. Clement Vallandigham of Ohio
• Lincoln suspends habeas corpus
Rep. Clement Vallandigham
African American Enlistment
• Congress allowed black enlistment in 1862
• 54th Massachusetts commanded by Colonel Shaw
• Half of 54th killed in assault on Ft. Wagner
• Helped spur further enlistment
Col. Robert Gould Shaw
Memorial to the 54th Massachusetts
Manpower for the War
• Mostly volunteers
• Conscription needed to sustain troop levels
• In the North, draftees could hire substitutes or pay $300 to opt out
An illustrated sheet music cover protesting the inequities of the draft
New York Draft Riots• July 1863• Rioters mainly poor
whites and Irish immigrants
• Attacked the rich and blacks over 100 killed
• Felt that if they went to war blacks would take their jobs
• Opposed to freeing slaves
Rioters loot a New York store
The Sanitary Commission
• Poor health conditions in army camps
• U.S. Sanitary Commission created
• Purposes included improving hygiene and recruiting nurses
• Developed better methods of transporting wounded to hospitals
A Civil War field hospital
Civil War Medicine
• Infection often deadlier than the wounds
• Amputations more common
• Anesthesia widely used
A surgeon at the Camp Letterman field hospital at Gettysburg prepares for an
amputation
Andersonville
• Confederate POW camp in Georgia
• 32,000 prisoners jammed into 26 acres
• One-third of all prisoners died
• Superintendent was executed as a war criminal Severely emaciated POWs rescued
from Andersonville
Chancellorsville
• Jackson’s forces surprised Union troops
• Confederates won unlikely victory
• Jackson hit by “friendly fire” and died a week later
• Lee pressed on to Pennsylvania A painting of the battle
Gettysburg: Prelude
• Lee crossed into Pennsylvania
• Sent troops for supplies
• Confederates encounter Union force outside Gettysburg Gettysburg battlefield: view from Culp’s Hill
Gettysburg: Day One
• Small Union force led by Buford delayed a larger Confederate force
• Buford held high ground at Seminary Ridge
• Buford’s stand allowed time for reinforcements to arrive
Gettysburg: Day Two
• Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
• Defense of Little Round Top
• 20th Maine repelled Confederates and saved Union position
Colonel (later Major General) Joshua L. Chamberlain
Gettysburg: Day Three
• Lee believed Union lines were still vulnerable
• Ordered Pickett’s forces to attack center of Union lines
• “Pickett’s Charge” resulted in over 6500 Confederate casualties
Artist’s rendition of the battlefield during Pickett’s charge
Impact of Gettysburg
• Confederates lost 28,000men (one-third of army)
• Union lost 23,000 men(one-quarter of army)
• Town overwhelmed by dead and wounded soldiers
• Lee unable to rebuild army
• Turning point of the warA Confederate soldier lies dead at
“Devil’s Den”
Siege of Vicksburg
• Key to total Union control of the Mississippi River
• Several attempts by Grant to take the city failed
• Grant barraged the city for two months
• Vicksburg fell on July 4, 1863
Union troops surround Vicksburg during the siege
The Gettysburg Address
• Lincoln invited to attend cemetery dedication
• Everett the principal speaker
• At the time, Lincoln’s two-minute speech was considered great by some, a failure by others
The only known picture of Lincoln (lower center) at the Gettysburg
Cemetery dedication
The “Wilderness Campaign”• Grant came to support
“total war”• Sought to crush Lee’s
army in Virginia• Fought in dense forest
near Fredericksburg• Grant criticized for
taking high losses• In one battle he lost
7,000 men in one hour
Grant at Cold Harbor during the Wilderness Campaign
Sherman’s “March to the Sea”
• Sherman sought to break the South’s ability to make war
• Captured Atlanta in September 1864
• Led the March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah
• Took Savannah by Christmas 1864
Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Election of 1864• Lincoln sought
reelection
• Democrats nominated McClellan
• Union victories helped Republican campaign
• Lincoln won by large margin
A political cartoon shows Lincoln and Davis tearing a U.S. map while McClellan tries to intercede
The 13th Amendment
• Proposed and co-authored by Senator Henderson of Missouri
• Approved by Congress in January 1865
• Ratified by 27 states by December 1865
• Abolished “involuntary servitude”
Illustration depicting the Senate debate over the 13th Amendment
Surrender at Appomattox• Lee realized his position was hopeless
• Asked to meet with Grant
• Met in Appomattox on April 9, 1865
• Lenient surrender terms
An artist’s rendition of the meeting
Lincoln’s Assassination• On Good Friday, April 14,
1865, at Ford’s Theater
• Shot by actor John Wilkes Booth
• Booth killed 12 days later
• Vice President Andrew Johnson became president
• Lincoln was universally mourned
An illustration of Lincoln’s assassination
Impact of the War: the Union• 111,000 killed in action
• 250,000 killed by non-military causes (mostly disease)
• Over 275,000 wounded
• Estimated cost in today’s dollars: $6.19 billion
Union dead at Gettysburg
Impact of the War: the Confederacy
• 93,000 killed in battle
• 165,000 killed by non-military causes
• Over 137,000 wounded
• Estimated cost in today’s dollars: $2.10 billion Destruction in Atlanta after Sherman’s
troops took the city