The Civil War

1. The Civil War

2. Withdrawal of the South • South Carolina came first. • They voted December 20, 1860 • Lincoln took office” • Six others seceded • Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. • Met in Montgomery, Alabama • Formed the Confederate States of America. President Buchanan: “No state had the right to secede but also that the federal government had no right to stop a state if it did”!

3. Attempts at Compromise • Kentucky Senator: • John Crittenden • Crittenden Compromise • Constitutional Amendments • Permanent existence of slavery in the slave states. • Re-establish the Missouri Compromise • Prohibited the North • Permitted the South. • Southerners accepted • Republicans- No Way!!

4. Lincoln’s Arrival in Washington • Lincoln came in on the night train. • Afraid of assassination in Maryland. • Inaugural Address: • “Union was older than the Constitution, no state could leave it.”

5. Fort Sumter • Confederate Army laid siege to the fort. • Forts commander: Major Robert Anderson • He refused to surrender • Conditions began to fail. • Lincoln- surrender the fort, we would not maintain the Union. • Fort needed resupply. • Knew that the ships would be met with resistance. • Confederate forces- attacked the fort before the ships got there. • April 14, 1861- Surrendered the fort • No people killed • CIVIL WAR HAD BEGUN!!!!!

6. Fort Sumter • Lincoln • Began to mobilize for war. • Battle of Fort Sumter • Four more states seceded: • Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina • Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri- Stayed • North and South- capable of living together.

7. The Opposing Sides North’s Advantages South’s Advantages • Population • Industrial System • Transportation System • Home Field Advantage • Commitment to fight. • The Brains • Cream of the Crop!

8. Mobilization of the North • Economic Measures • Republican Party had unchallenged authority in congress. • The Homestead Act of 1862 • Permitted any citizen claim to public land. • 160 acres • Purchase for a small fee after 5 years. • The Morrill Land Grant Act- 1862 • Sale of such lands would go to finance education. • Creation of Universities, and State Colleges. • Transcontinental Railroad • Union Pacific- Built west from Omaha • Central Pacific- East from California • Meet in the middle- Utah

9. Financing the War • Union financed the war in 3 ways: • Taxes: • Goods and services • Issuing paper money • Printing paper money • Backed by the government • Borrowing • Loans from the American people • Citizens to buy bonds • Most loans came from banks and large financial interests.

10. Raising the Union Armies • Most of the army was stationed in the West. • Lincoln called for 23,000 increase. • Would be done by volunteers in state militias. • By July 1861 • Wanted to enlist 500,000 volunteers • They were very few • Proposed a national draft • All young adult males • Pay the government a fee of 300.00 • Many opposed the law- riots in NYC. • 100 died

11. Wartime Politics • Many were worried about Lincoln. • Policies? Only from the Prairies…. • Lack of national experience • Thought the Republican Party could control him. • Lincoln established his own authority • Assembled a cabinet • Used war powers of the Presidency • Foolish to lose the whole if we disregard the part • Sent troops- Without asking Congress. • Proclaimed a naval blockade • Ordered suspension of Habeas Corpus (right to a speedy trial) • Disloyal states: subject to martial law • 13,000 persons arrested for varying periods. • Disregarded the Supreme Court

12. Politics of Emancipation • Republicans disagreed on the issue of slavery. • Conservatives- slower and gradual end. • Radicals- wanted to use the war to end slavery. • 1861- Confiscation Act • Declared that all slaves used for Confederate military effort would be free. • Spring 1862 • Slavery was abolished in D.C. • July 1862 • Congress authorized the president to employ African Americans as soldiers. • Jan 1863 • Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation • It did not apply to the border states.

13. Politics of Emancipation • Not immediate effect of the proclamation. • The war was being fought: • To end slavery • To preserve the Union • Army occupied more Southern territory, more slaves were freed.

14. African Americans and the Union Cause • 186,000 emancipated blacks served as soldiers, sailors and laborers for the Union forces. • EP released- Recruitment went up . • The most famous group was the 54th Massachusetts infantry. • Commander: Robert Shaw • Shaw had more than half of his regiment die in the battle in Charleston S.C. • Most black soldiers did menial tasks. • They were also paid less. • Captured- sent back to their masters. • Confederate soldiers killed over 260 African Americans.

15. Women and the War • Women took over positions that were worked by men. • Many were left destitute. • Women began entering the nursing programs. • Dorothea Dix- Mobilized large numbers of female volunteers to serve in the hospitals. • End of the war- Women were dominant force • Resistance- thought women were too weak. • Nursing became a liberating experience. • Clara Barton- Founded the American Red Cross after the war. • Built a sanitary position to spread ideas about cleanliness in hospitals and clinics. • Twice as many men died due to disease as those who died in combat.

16. Mobilization of the South • Confederate Government • Confederate constitution was the same as the U.S. • Exceptions: • Acknowledge sovereignty. • States could sanction slavery and made its abolition impossible. • Davis • Able administrator and dominant figure • Served as his own Secretary of War. • No political parties. • Many poorer backcountry people refused the government or serve in the army. • Some even fought for the Union.

17. Financing the War • 1863 • Confederate Congress enacted an income tax • There is still not much money. • They issued bonds- people stopped buying them. • Confederacy by 1869- issued 1.5 billion in paper money. • Everyone issued their own notes. • This produced chaos and inflation. • Prices rose 9000%! (Only 80% in the North).

18. The South • Confederacy- tries to build an army with volunteers • Enlistments declined- South turned to other means. • The Conscription Act of 1862 • It stated that all while males between 18-35 be drafted into the military. • Repealed in 1863- protests from poor southerners. • 1864- government tried to draft as young as 17 and old as 50. • 1864-1865- 100,000 desertions from the Confederate army.

19. States Rights vs. Centralization • States: resisted all efforts to exert national authority. • Restricted Davis’s ability to impose martial law and suspend habeas corpus. • Obstructed conscription • Hoarded surplus supplies • National government: • Food Draft: permitted soldiers to feed themselves by seizing crops from farms in their path. • Impressed slaves to work as laborers on military projects.

20. Economic and Social Effects of the War • Devastating the Economy of the South • Made sale of cotton overseas difficult. • Farms and industries did not have the slave populations. • Fighting itself wreaked the most havoc. • Most of the battles occurred in the South. • Union army ruined valuable farmland • Naval blockade- South had major shortages. • Southern Women • Kept families together • Maintained agricultural production on the farm. • Managed the slave work force • Teachers, governmental agencies. • They were not unfit to hold these positions • After the war- Thousands more women than men. • No choice but to find employment • Expanded acceptable roles for women in the South.

21. Slaves • Confederate leaders- more terrified of slave revolts. • Enforced a slave code with severity. • Many slaves found ways to escape their masters and cross the union lines in search for freedom.

22. Strategy and Diplomacy • The Commanders • Union Commander: Lincoln • Served in the state militia during the Black Hawk War. • Realized the numbers and resources he needed. • Goal: Destruction of Confederate Armies • Problem: Finding good commanders • Winfield Scott- Scott was unprepared and retired 1861. • Replaced with McClellan, then Grant • “ I like this man, he fights.” • Southern Command • Davis had been trained • Robert E Lee- did not share control of strategy with anyone. • Both side well trained at West Point • Many were friendly and closely acquainted.

23. Sea Power • Union • Overwhelming advantage • Enforced the naval blockade • Small ships- blockade runners- could slip past the blockade. • Ironclad • Confederates- Refitted Union ships- named Merrimac • New ship- Virginia- attacked blockading wooden ships. • Union sent the Monitor and two others that day. • This put an end to the Virginia’s attack- preserved the blockade.

24. Europe • South • Hoped England and France would get involved • English and France- they began to import from Egypt and India. • Result: neither got involved.

25. Campaigns and Battles • Opening Clashes, 1861 • First major battle- occurred in Northern Virginia • Union Army • 30,000 men- under McDowell moved on a small force • Beauregard- general of the South. • July 21- first battle of bull run • Confederate forces stopped the Union assault • Union troops panicked, broke ranks, and retreated. • McDowell forced to retreat to D.C. • Confederates did not pursue the Union army. • Some had come to watch from the nearby hills. • Serious blow to morale- dispelled that this would be a quick war.

26. West Virginia • 1861 • McClellan- moved east from Ohio into Western Virginia. • End of 1861 • Liberated the anti-secession mountain people of the region. • Created their own state government loyal to the Union and were admitted to the union. • West Virginia- 1863

27. The Western Theater • 1862 • Union tried to seize the Mississippi River. • Accomplished: Confederacy would be divided and the North would have easy transportation into the south. • April 1862 • Union- Farragut proceeded to the Gulf of Mexico. • Smashed past the Confederate forces • Union forces took control of New Orleans • City was defenseless- thought they were coming from the North.

28. Shiloh • 40,000 troops- Grant advanced along the Tennessee River to control the railroad lines. • Marched to Shiloh- April 6th. • He met a force commanded by Albert Sidney Johnston and Beauregard. • Reinforcements arrived for the Union Army • Forced Beauregard to withdraw. • Union victory at Shiloh- occupied the railroads • Established control over the Mississippi River –Memphis.

29. Virginia Front 1862 • 1862- Union Army commanded by McClellan • McClellan- appeared to be reluctant to commit his troops to battle. • Never took advantage of opportunities. • McClellan- moved against the Confederate capital of Richmond. • He took a round about way of going. • Navy would take his troops down the Potomac, east of Richmond. • Known as the Peninsular Campaign. • Stonewall Jackson- moved through the Shenandoah valley • Planning to attack Washington • Jackson defeated two Union forces before McDowell could reach him. • Just outside- Confederate troops were attacking McClellan’s army • Johnston was injured- replaced by Robert E. Lee. • Lee- 85,000 troops- launched a battle known as the battle of seven days.

30. June 25-July 1 • Lee wanted to cut off McClellan off his base on the York River. • McClellan- set up a new base on the James River. • McClellan- In great position to renew campaign. • Reasons for delay. • Lee soon went on the offensive. • Went through western Maryland • McClellan moved out to meet him and had the good luck to get a copy of Lee’s orders (cigars)

31. Antietam • Lee’s and McClellan’s armies met near Sharpsburg VA. • Antietam Creek • McClellan • 87,000 troops repeatedly attacked Lee’s 50,000 troops. • 6000 died that day with 17,000 injuries. • McClellan might have broken through with one more assault. He hesitated. • Lee retreated into Virginia • November- Lincoln removed McClellan from the commander position.

42. 1863: Year of Decision • 1863: General Hooker: Commander of the Union army. • Nickname: Fighting Joe • Grant: was in command • Spring 1863: Grant was moving towards Vicksburg, Mississippi. • City was well protected, and well armed. • Grant moved south of the city- land was better. • Grant laid siege to the city for six weeks. • City residents were forced to eat horses and dogs in order to survive. • July 4th- the city surrendered.

43. 1863: Year of Decisions • June 1863- Lee moved up Shenandoah Valley and entered into Maryland. • Union Army: Commander General Meade met the Confederate army at Gettysburg. • Lee attacked- outnumbered 75,000 to 90,000 • First assault: Cemetery Ridge • Second day: ordered an effort to take the hill. • 15,000 soldiers advanced for almost a mile across was Union fire. • 5,000 made it up the ridge, even they had to retreat and surrender. • Lee- lost a third of his army. • After Gettysburg, the Confederate forces were never seriously threatened northern territory.