The American Civil War1860 – 1865

Growing Regional Differences (1820 – 1860)

• Sectionalism = N/ S• Factory vs. Farms• Immigration in the

North• Railroads vs.

Waterways• Free vs. Slave• $1.5 B North vs. $155

M South GNP

The Compromise of 1850

• The Mexican War of 1846-48 increased the size of the U.S. (Balance of Power) Henry Clay (KY) proposed:

1. CA be admitted as a free state

2. NM and UT would vote on slavery

3. Slave trade abolished in capital

4. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Bleeding Kansas! (1854 – 1856)

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) opened NW territories to slavery

• Free-soilers and Border Ruffians vied for control

• Abolitionist John Brown kills 5 pro slavers in KS

• Violence spreads to the Senate floor as Senator Charles Sumner is caned

The Road to Disunion • Uncle Tom’s Cabin

(1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Republican Party (1854)

• Dred Scott Decision (1854)

• John Brown hanged for attack on Harpers Ferry (1859)

The Election of 1860• Democratic Party Split

N and S over territories & slavery

• Douglas (popular sovereignty), Bell (TN), & Breckenridge (KY)

• A. Lincoln (R) wins with 40% of popular vote (carries no S state!)

Secession! South Carolina leaves on Dec. 20, 1860

and 6 others follow to CSA by 1861.

Southern War Strategy• After Fort Sumter (April

12, 1861) 4 more states joined the CSA.

• The CSA Generals and President Davis planned a defensive war.

• CSA hoped Europe would aid and had better leadership.

• Lincoln hoped to preserve the Union.

Northern War Strategy

The Union developed a strategy called the Anaconda Plan. They hoped to:

1. Blockade all Southern Ports2. Control the Mississippi River and

divide the CSA in half3. Capture and occupy the Confederate

capital of Richmond, VA

General R. E. Lee forces Stalemate in the East

• 1st Bull Run,VA (7/1861)

• Antietam (9/ 1862)• Fredericksburg, VA

(12/1862)• Chancelorsville, VA

(5/1863) – CSA Gen.“Stonewall” Jackson dead

The Emancipation Proclamation

• Issued Fall 1862 and effective Jan. 1, 1863

• Freed all slaves in areas of the U.S. still under CSA control

• Battle of Antietam (Sept. 1862)

• Only good if Union won war

1863: The Turning Point• July 1-3, 1863 – Lee

leads Army of N.VA North to PA

• 23,000 Union and 28,000 CSA casualties at Gettysburg, PA

• July 4, 1863 – Gen. U.S. Grant takes Vicksburg on Mississippi River

• The Tide Turned to Union

Sherman’s March to the Sea and Total Warfare

• Sept. 2, 1864 – Gen. Sherman captures Atlanta, GA

• Marches to Savannah, GA – 300 mile-long and 50 mile-wide swath of destruction

• Turns north in Dec. 1864 to meet Grant

• Civilians and slaves suffer immensely

Lee Surrenders! April 9, 1865• Richmond, the CSA

capital, was in ruins• President Davis and

officials fled from Grant

• Appomattox, VA• 640,047 Union and

483,026 CSA casualties of war

Lincoln is Assassinated!• John Wilkes Booth, an

actor, plotted to kidnap Lincoln and others

• April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre he shoots Lincoln

• Booth is later killed near Port Royal, VA

• 4/10 co-conspirators were hanged