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THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE CIVIL WAR. GAINING BRITISH NEUTRALITY. Britain initially declared neutrality because it had other sources of cotton and needed Northern wheat and corn
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GAINING BRITISH NEUTRALITY • Britain initially declared neutrality because it had other sources of cotton and needed Northern wheat and corn • Trent Incident: fall 1861, Union ships stopped the British ship (the Trent) and took off two Confederate Diplomats that were going to Britain. • Britain sent 8000 troops to Canada • We released the prisoners
GAINING BRITISH NEUTRALITY CONT’D • Alabama Claims: The Brits gave the south ships to fight blockade. One of them, the Alabama, sunk 64 American vessels. We sent Britain a bill after the war was over. Arbitration later settled the price at 15.5 million.
Lincoln’s Letter to Horace Greeley I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be the 'Union as it was.' 1 If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to 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. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forebear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
Emancipation Proclamation • Lincoln’s goal was to save the union, first and foremost • However, he used his power to seize enemy supplies to justify an act emancipating the slaves in seceded territory only. • Did not apply to border states • Encouraged British to stay neutral
Debate over Proclamation • Pro: • Abolitionists support and there were demonstrations throughout the north • Free blacks could now enlist in the regular army Against: -Democrats thought it would prolong war • Some soldiers did not want to fight for freedom of slaves • Confederates were furious- compromise was no longer an option
African Americans in the War • 1862, African Americans allowed to serve in military, only after emancipation proclamation did mass enlistment occur • Nearly 10% of union army was African American by end of war ( only 1% of pop in north) • Many were former slaves • Participated in about 500 conflicts
African Americans in the War • Suffer discrimination in the military • Separate regiments with white officers • Less pay until 1864 • Higher mortality rate • Massacred at Fort Pillow, TN 1864 by Confederates • South did consider drafting free blacks, and did arm some at the end of the war
African Americans in the War • Many slaves join Union armies as they pass through the South • Many farms left to Women and boys who have less control over the slaves and plantation system weakened
Topics to be Discussed • Dealing with political dissent • Drafting/conscription • Life as a soldier • Civil War medicine • Life at home
Dealing with political dissent • Lincoln suspended the right of Habeas Corpus (right that you can not be held in jail without cause) to stop rioters and Confederate sympathizers • Lincoln seized telegraph offices . Taney said Lincoln had gone too far- he ignored it • Among those Lincoln arrested were Copperheads, Northern Democrats that were sympathetic with the south • Jefferson Davis also suspended Habeas Corpus in 1862. • Lincoln set the precedent of expanding presidential powers during times of war and national crisis.
Confederacy Draft law in 1862 All able-bodied white men between 18-35 (later changed to 17-50) Wealthy people could hire people to go in their place and planters who owned more than 20 slaves were exempt Some southern states refused to follow this law, however, 80 % of eligible men served North Draft law in 1863 Men 20-25 Could hire substitutes Could pay $300 to avoid being drafted Would get a Bounty for joining. Some men became bounty hunters 92% of 2 million men in northern army volunteered Conscription Issues
Draft Riots • July 13-16, NYC a mostly Irish mob wrecked draft offices and those of the Republican newspapers, homes of antislave leaders and beat up black men and wealthy looking whites • 11 lynchings, destroyed hundreds of homes and burned a black orphanage • More than 100 dead
Life as a soldier • Cleanliness not a priority- few bathe as required so lice, dysentery and diarrhea were common- lots of garbage and waste • Food was sparse- beans, bacon, pickled beef and hardtack were common. • Southerners usually ate “Cush”- cubes of beef and cornbread mixed with bacon grease and had coffee from peanuts , apples or corn.
Soldier brings goods from home to make life more comfortable
[Cumberland Landing, Va. Federal encampment on Pamunkey River, Va.]. CREATED/PUBLISHED1862 May.
Rappahannock Station, Va. Federal encampment near railroad]. O'Sullivan, Timothy H., 1840-1882, photographer.CREATED/PUBLISHED1862 August.
South- Andersonville, Georgia Crowded, 34 feet per person Little shelter or food and drank sewer water 15% of Union prisoners died in Southern Camps North Some Northern Camps were at Elmira, NY and Camp Douglas, IL More spacious, better sleeping and decent food Cold conditions killed many southerners Many died from dysentery or malnutrition 10% of Southern Soldiers died in Union camps North stopped prisoner exchange after South would not return African Americans to the north Life as a Soldier: POW Camps
[Chattanooga, Tenn. Confederate prisoners at railroad depot]. CREATED/PUBLISHED1864.
Washington, D.C. Adjusting the rope for the execution of Wirz]. CREATED/PUBLISHED[1865 November 10]
Medicine • The North set up the “Sanitary Commission” • Recruit and train nurses • Improve conditions at army camps • Set up hospitals and taught hygiene • Dorthea Dix was superintendent of Union nurses • Clara Barton set up the American version of the International Red Cross
Medicine Cont’d • Despite strides taken, there was still no knowledge of germ theory or antiseptic practices • 2/3 of the 620,000 deaths during the war were from disease • Most surgeries were amputations and 95% of those were done with anesthesia (usually chloroform or ether) • 75% of amputation patients survived
[Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission]. Gardner, James, b. 1832, photographer.CREATED/PUBLISHED1864 May.
South Food shortages in part due to Union blockade Prices skyrocket Food riots North Most industries boomed Army needed manufactured goods Wages did not keep up with prices Life at home
