American Civil War

American Civil War

Fort Sumter • Fort in Charleston, South Carolina • Sight of the first battle in the Civil War

Richmond, Virginia • Capital of the Confederacy

Border States • states between the North and the South that were divided over whether to stay in the Union or join the Confederacy • Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware

Importance of Border States • Each held a strategic value to the North • Maryland was most important of all since the capital of the North was inside its borders • Many citizens in Border States joined the Confederacy, however the states remained with the Union

West Virginia • Began as 48 counties in western Virginia who supported the Union • Became a state in 1863

The North’s Advantages • Larger population • More industry • More abundant resources • Better banking system • To raise money for the war • More ships • Most of the members of the regular navy • More efficient railway network

Abraham Lincoln • North’s greatest advantage was his leadership, dedication, intelligence and humanity

The North’s Disadvantages • Had to invade and then hold the southern states • Support of the southern people was very strong • Similar to American Revolution when larger force invaded smaller force and had to conquer and then hold the land, as well as go against the support of the locals

The South’s Advantages • Strong support from the white community • Fighting on their land • Defending their land, homes and way of life • Superior military leadership • Military tradition within southern families • Many military college graduates giving them a large pool of officers

The South’s Disadvantages • Smaller population of free white men • Very few factories to produce weapons and supplies • Produced half as much food • Half the miles of railroad tracks • Far fewer trains to deliver food, weapons and supplies • Belief in States’ Rights limited the power of the Confederate government to be effective

States’ Rights • the rights of each individual state to govern itself

Main Goals of the War • North: Bring Southern states back into the Union (later also to end slavery) • South: Gain recognition as an independent nation

Union’s Plan to Win the War • Blockade southern ports so the South could not earn money by exporting cotton, and to prevent supplies from reaching the South • Gain control of the Mississippi River to cut supply lines to the South and split up the Confederacy • Capture Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia

Jefferson Davis • President of the Confederate States of America

Confederacies Plan to Win the War • Defend their homeland until the North tired of fighting • Have Britain and France (who imported large amounts of cotton from the South) pressure the North into end the war • Go on the offensive to threaten Northern cities and convince the North they could not win the war

Offensive • Position of attacking or the attack itself

Civil War Soldiers • Most were farmers • Average age was 25 • Many under 21 • 850,000 troops fought for the Confederacy • 2.1 million troops fought for the Union (including about 200,000 African Americans)

Rebel • confederate soldier, so called because of opposition to the established government

Yankee • Union Soldier

William Sherman • Union General during the Civil War

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson • General who rallied Confederate troops to victory at the First Battle of Bull Run • Was said to have held strong “like a stone wall”

Rebel Yell • Name Union troops gave to the crazed scream Confederate troops would give while on the attack

First Battle of Bull Run • First major battle of the Civil War • Union drove off the Confederates at first • Confederates counterattacked under the command of General Thomas Jackson • Retreating Union soldiers collided with civilians on their way back to Washington D.C.

Army of the Potomac • Name for the Union Army of the East • Commanded by General George B. McClellan

Blockade Runners • Confederate ships that sail into and out of blockaded areas,

Blockade Effectiveness • Cut trade to the south by more than two thirds • Limited supplies such as coffee, shoes, nails, salt, guns and ammunition

Ironclad • Armored naval vessel

Monitor vs. Merrimack • First battle between two ironclad warships in naval history • Neither ship was able to severely damage the other • Marked the beginning of a new era in naval warfare

Ulysses S. Grant • Commanded the Unions attempt to gain control of Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers • His victories drove the Confederates out of Kentucky, and kept it as a border state rather than falling under the Confederacy

Confederate Camp Near Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh • In Corinth, Mississippi over a railroad junction • South won the first day • North won the second day and the battle after help arrived • Together the two armies suffered 20,000 casualties in the battle • Was soon followed by the Union taking control of New Orleans

American Civil War