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Civil War. Causes of the Civil War. Sectional tension (paranoia?) The “Slave Power” The “Money Power” Constitutional Ambiguity Economic Differences Social Differences States Rights v. Federal Control Slavery. Buildup to the Civil War. Wilmot Proviso and Election of 1848
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Causes of the Civil War • Sectional tension (paranoia?) • The “Slave Power” • The “Money Power” • Constitutional Ambiguity • Economic Differences • Social Differences • States Rights v. Federal Control • Slavery
Buildup to the Civil War • Wilmot Proviso and Election of 1848 • Compromise of 1850 • Fugitive Slave Law • Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Kansas-Nebraska Act • Birth of the Republican Party
John C. Calhoun • North should honor the Constitution and enforce the Fugitive Slave Law • South wanted California • threatened to secede from U.S. • U.S. should have two Presidents---one from the North and one for the South • Daniel Webster • Secession is impractical & impossible • How would we split the land? • The military? • Compromise at all cost • Preserve the Union • Henry Clay • The Great Compromiser, with John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster and Stephen Douglas, propose this compromise.
SOUTHERNERS RESPOND • Southerners threatened secession and war • Believed it should be enforced because the Constitution protects property and Federal law is over State law. • 5th Amendment • Supremacy Clause
Free Soil Party against the expansion of slavery Formed to stop the expansion of slavery Republican Party Democrats opposed the expansion of slavery Abolitionists National Republican which become the Whigs. Know Nothing Party against immigration
Buildup to the Civil War • Dred Scott decision • African Americans not citizens • Going to a free state does not confer freedom • Lincoln-Douglass Debates • John Brown’s Raid and Hanging • Election of 1860
Can a slave sue for his freedom? • Is a slave property? • Is slavery legal?
Chart/Effect of Scott • Supreme Court hands down the Dred Scott decision • Slaves cannot sue the U.S. for their freedom because they are property. • They are not citizens and have no legal right under the Constitution. • Congress could not stop a slaveowner from moving his slaves to a new territory • Missouri Compromise and all other compromises were unconstitutional • North refused to enforce Fugitive Slave Law • Free states pass personal liberty laws. • Republicans claim the decision is not binding • Southerners call on the North to accept the decision if the South is to remain in the Union.
His last words were to this effect:“I believe that the issue of slavery will never be solved unless through the shedding of blood.” • Northerners thought of John Brown as a martyr to the abolitionist cause. • Southerners were terrified that if John Brown almost got away with this, there must be others like him in the North who are willing to die to end slavery. • South’s outcome: To leave the U.S. and start their own country.
Election of 1860 • 303 total electoral votes and 152 to win.
President Lincoln Took Office On March 4, 1861… “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors… We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” (From Lincoln’s Inaugural Address)
The Union’s Plan for Winning the War • Initially thought one crushing blow would finish off the war by destroying Confederate resolve • Real plan: • Anaconda Plan – blockade the ports • Includes control of the Mississippi River • Strike at the capital, Richmond • Dismember the South • Prevent foreign intervention
The Confederate Plan for Winning the War • Initially planned to hold on until Union resolve weakened – which they thought would be quick • Real plan: • Secure British or French intervention • Protect the outside boundaries in the South • Strike at the North (especially Washington, D.C.)
Battles To Know • Fort Sumter • First Battle of Bull Run • The Peninsula Campaign • Monitor v. Virginia • Antietam • Gettysburg • Vicksburg • Sherman’s March to the Sea • The Wilderness
Problems Along The Way… • Organized Marching? • Hunger / Thirst • The Thrill Wears Off • The South Is Ready • Being Shot At is no fun
3 Important “Firsts” At 1st Bull Run… 1. First use of Railroad to transport troops during battle
3 Important “Firsts” At 1st Bull Run… 2. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson earned his nickname
3 Important “Firsts” At 1st Bull Run… 3. First recorded instance of the ‘Rebel Yell’
Results of First Bull Run: • The North realized this was going to be much harder than they’d at first realized.
Results of First Bull Run: 2. The South was validated in their over-confidence.
Results of First Bull Run: 3. McDowell was replaced by George B. McClellan.
Lincoln’s Generals Winfield Scott Joseph Hooker Ulysses S. Grant Irwin McDowell George McClellan George Meade Ambrose Burnside George McClellan,Again!
The Battle of the Ironclads,March, 1862 The Monitor vs.the Virginia
Emancipation Proclamation • As a war measure • Slave uprisings? • Encourage some states to re-enter the Union? • A drain on the South’s labor force? • As a measure to prevent foreign intervention on behalf of the South? • As an act motivated by ideology • Lincoln’s views on slavery? • An added moral justification for war? • The Emancipation Proclamation did/did not help the Union win the Civil War….
African Americans in the Civil War Union • Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation: • Slaves were initially treated as contraband and forced into service • African American volunteers were turned away • After the Emancipation Proclamation & the Militia Act: • Most were former slaves from Southern states • Fort Pillow Massacre • The famous 54th Massachusetts • Unequal Pay • Why they fought • To end slavery • To repay a debt – their freedom • To prove they deserved the rights of citizens