1 / 103

Crucible of Freedom: Civil War 1861-1865

Explore the long and bloody Civil War that transformed the United States, with the Union realizing they had to emancipate slaves to win the war. Discover the advantages of each combatant, the governmental and economic responses to the pressures of war, the impact of emancipation, the factors that determined the military outcome, and the lasting changes that the war brought to the nation.

bblackburn
Download Presentation

Crucible of Freedom: Civil War 1861-1865

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 15 Crucible of Freedom: Civil War 1861-1865

  2. Introduction • Immediately after Fort Sumter’s fall, volunteers flocked to the Union and Confederate armies • Filled with loyalty and patriotism for their respective sides, neither soldiers nor politicians foresaw the long, bloody war ahead • As the Civil War dragged on and on both the Union and Confederate govts. were forced to impose the draft and adopt other policies • One out of every 5 soldiers who fought died

  3. Introduction (cont.) • Most important • the Union, which entered the War with no objective beyond stopping secession, discovered that in order to win the war it also had to emancipate the slaves

  4. Introduction (cont.) • 1.) What advantages did each combatant, Union and Confederate, possess at the start of the Civil War? • 2.) How successfully did the govts. and economies of the North and South respond to the pressures of war?

  5. Introduction (cont.) • 3.) How did the issue of emancipation transform the war? • 4.) What factors determined the military outcome of the war? • 5.) In what lasting ways did the Civil War change the United States as a nation?

  6. Mobilizing for War • Recruitment and Conscription • North and South alike were unprepared for war • In the spring of 1861, the Union had a small army • 16,000 • Mostly in the West • 1/3 of the Union army officers resigned to join the Confederacy

  7. Mobilizing for War (cont.) • April 1862 • Confederacy passed the 1st conscription law • The act exempted from the draft people in several occupations and those who owned or oversaw 20 or more slaves • The 20-Negro law led nonslaveholders to complain that this was “a rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight.”

  8. Mobilizing for War (cont.) • The South managed to procure the arms it needed but was less successful in providing its troops with food and clothing • It imposed the Impressment Act • 1863 • 1.) Allowed govt. agents to take food supplies from farmers at a set price • 2.) seize slaves to work for the army • This law was hated even more than the Conscription Act

  9. Mobilizing for War (cont.) • Enrollment Act • 1863 • Made all able-bodied white males ages 20-45 eligible for the draft • Granted exemptions • 1.)Permitted men to buy substitutes to serve in their place • 2.) Excused those who paid the govt. a $300 commutation fee • By the war’s end 2.8 million men served on either side

  10. Union Soldiers

  11. Financing the War • Both sides sold war bonds and printed unbacked paper money • Greenback • Union paper money • Did not depreciate unduly • The federal govt. made greenbacks legal tender • Imposed stiff new taxes to keep The govt. solvent

  12. Financing the War (cont.) • The South • More reluctant to impose and collect new taxes • Tried to pay its bills by printing more and more paper money • Saw its currency depreciate drastically

  13. Financing the War (cont.) • The North also passed the National Bank Act • Permitted federally chartered banks to issue national bank notes • Backed by the federal govt. • Tax history website

  14. Political Leadership in Wartime • Lincoln faced opposition from northern Democrats • Disliked the National Bank Act • The draft • The emancipation of slaves • He also faced opposition from the Radical Republicans • End slavery • Criticized his lenient reconstruction plans • Salmon Chase, Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens

  15. Political Leadership in Wartime (cont.) • In the face of this opposition, Republicans rallied behind Lincoln • Coalesced into a strong political entity • Rule federal elections for years

  16. Political Leadership in Wartime (cont.) • Jefferson Davis was less successful in containing factionalism • Embroiled in destructive fights with his VP (Alexander Stephens) and other states’ rights leaders

  17. Political Leadership in Wartime (cont.) • The absence of an opposition party in the South further contributed to the factionalism of the southern Democrats • Davis lacked the support to pass any measures he supported • Governance in the South was often at a standstill

  18. Securing the Union’s Borders • Lincoln wanted to protect Washington D.C. • Needed the border states to stay in the Union • Lincoln occupied the border states militarily and suspended the writ of habeas corpus • Arrested prosecession supporters without charge

  19. Securing the Union’s Borders (cont.) • The Supreme Court in Ex parte Merryman ruled Lincoln’s actions as unconstitutional • Ex parte Merryman Supreme Court Case • Lincoln defied the Court • With Lincoln’s emergency measures, MD, DE, KY, and MO stayed in the Union

  20. In Battle, 1861-1862 • Armies, Weapons, and Strategies • North’s advantages: • Larger population • Many more white men of fighting age • Control of 90% of the country’s industry • Control of 2/3’s of the country’s railroad track

  21. Armies, Weapons, and Strategies (cont.) • South’s advantages: • Fighting a defensive war on its home territory • Could use a larger population of its white men for fighting • Slave labor carried out nonmilitary activities

  22. Armies, Weapons, and Strategies (cont.) • The improved bullets and Springfield or Enfield rifles used during the Civil War increased the infantry’s firepower • Reduced the effectiveness of cavalry • Encouraged the digging of trenches • Put a premium on the element of surprise in an attack

  23. Armies, Weapons, and Strategies (cont.) • Anaconda plan • Union plan at the start of the War • Sealing off the South with a blockade of its coastline and cutting it in 2 by gaining control of the Mississippi River • In 1861, the Union did not yet have enough ships and troops to carry out the plan • Anaconda Plan

  24. Anaconda plan

  25. Armies, Weapons, and Strategies (cont.) • Instead of the Anaconda plan, west of the Appalachians, Union soldiers occupied KY and moved southward into TN • While in the eastern theater, the North made repeated, futile attempts to capture Richmond

  26. Stalemate in the East • Confederates routed the Union at the first Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) • July 21, 1861 • Union were led by General McDowell • Confederates were led by General Beauregard and General Johnston • First Manassas

  27. Johnston and Beauregard

  28. First Battle of Manassas

  29. Stalemate in the East (cont.) • McClellan then tried to take Richmond from the South • Moved his army up the York Peninsula • Robert E. Lee’s smaller Confederate army stopped McClellan • Lincoln called off the Peninsula campaign

  30. Stalemate in the East (cont.) • Then Lee and Stonewall Jackson headed north • Defeated the Union at the Second Battle of Bull Run • Aug. 29-30, 1862 • Second Battle of Bull Run • Continued into western MD

  31. Stalemate in the East (cont.) • Battle of Antietam • Sharpsburg, MD • Sept. 1862 • Lee hoped with this invasion to: • Seize needed food • Threaten Washington D.C. • Increase peace sentiment in the North • Convince GB and France to recognize the Confederacy

  32. Stalemate in the East (cont.) • Battle of Antietam (cont.) • Union forces under McClellan halted Lee’s advance and forced him to retreat southward • Turning point in the Civil War (stopped Confederacy from advancing North) • Allowed Lincoln to prepare the Emancipation Proclamation • 23,000 were killed • National Park Service link • National Park Service eyewittness quotes

  33. Stalemate in the East (cont.) • Battle of Fredericksburg • Dec. 11-15, 1862 • Union had about 100,000 forces • Led by General Burnside • Confederacy had about 72,000 forces • 18,000 causalities (13,000 Union) • Confederacy won

  34. The War in the West • The western theater saw important Union victories • 1861-1862, Ulysses S. Grant secured control of MO and KY • Then moved into TN, capturing 2 key forts

  35. The War in the West (cont.) • Battle of Shiloh • Southern TN • April 6-7, 1862 • 23,800 total casualties • 110,000 total troops • Union victory

  36. The War in the West (cont.) • Battle of New Orleans • Naval battle • Union was led by Admiral David G. Farragut • April 28-May 1, 1862 • Union won • Union pushed north up the Mississippi River

  37. The War in the West (cont.) • A second naval flotilla moving southward captured Memphis • By 1863, the North controlled the entire river except for a 200-mile stretch between Port Hudson, LA and Vicksburg, MS

  38. The War in the West (cont.) • Fighting also broke out in the trans-Mississippi West • Northern and Southern forces were joined by Mexican-Americans and Indians • The Union defeated the Confederates • much of the Union army in the Southwest and on the Great Plains turned to the final conquest of Native Americans

  39. The Soldiers’ War • The typical Civil war soldier (Union or Confederate) was a volunteer • Came from a farm or small town • Ended up serving in the infantry • Usually enlisted with visions of military glory and proving his “manhood”

  40. The Soldiers’ War (cont.) • His real war experiences soon stripped away romantic illusions • Life in army camps was tedious • The food was bad in the Union army and scarce in the Confederate • Confederate soldiers often lacked blankets, clothes, and shoes • Poor sanitation in the camps of both armies • High rates of disease, lice, flies, ticks, and rats

  41. The Soldiers’ War (cont.) • The casualty rates in battles were horrendous • Shiloh and Antietam were the worst • In their letters home, Confederate soldiers often claimed to be fighting for southern rights and to protect slavery • Union soldiers at first said little about abolishing slavery • but mentioned the need for emancipation more often as the war continued • either for humanitarian reasons or as the best way to defeat the South

  42. Ironclads and Cruisers: The Naval War • The Union gradually tightened its blockade • It further disrupted foreign trade vital to the Confederacy • Captured ports and coastal areas

  43. Ironclads and Cruisers: The Naval War (cont.) • Confederate attempts to break the stranglehold with an ironclad ship led to the Battle of the Merrimac and the Monitor • Merrimac=Confederacy • Monitor=Union • March 8-9, 1862 • draw

  44. Ironclads and Cruisers: The Naval War (cont.)

  45. Monitor

  46. Merrimac

  47. The Diplomatic War • The Confederacy tried to convince France and Britain that it was in their interests to extend diplomatic recognition • Hoping to establish a colonial empire in Mexico, Napoleon III of France had grounds to welcome a permanent division in the United States • The South expected active help from the British, who desperate for the South’s cotton, might be counted on to break the Union blockade

  48. The Diplomatic War (cont.) • There was tension between the Union and the British over the Trent affair • Confederate diplomats were captured by the British • USA was concerned if the British had a right to capture the diplomats • British let them go after about 2 weeks • Tension also over the commerce raiders and rams built for the Confederacy in England

More Related