My Civil war abc book

1. My Civil war abc book

2. A is for Abraham Lincoln • Lincoln, the President of the US during the Civil War.  • His main aim was to preserve the Union, not necessarily end slavery.  • He was assassinated on April 14, 1865.

3. B is for Battle of Bull Run • Battle of Bull Run ended Lincoln’s hope of a quick war.  • There were actually two battles of Bull Run.  • One was on July 21, 1861, where the Union fled in  confusion from “Stonewall” Jackson’s unyielding “wall” of men.  • The second battle was between Lee and John Pope, where the north was crushed because of Pope.

4. C is for Confederates • Confederates, which was formed out of the Southern States that seceded.  • They fought against the Union in the Civil War, even though they were not that well equipped.  • They lost on April 9, 1865 where Lee surrendered to Grant.

5. D is for Draft Riot • Draft Riot, which broke out in New York City in 1863 where underprivileged  and anti-black Irish-Americans shouted: “Down with Lincoln!” and “Down with the draft!”  • They caused scores of lives as the city was full of burning, and drunken angry mobs.

6. E is for Emancipation Proclamation • Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which was issued by Abraham Lincoln and freed all slaves in the Confederate States.  • It was more a proclamation than emancipation since it freed the slaves where he had no control over, instead of the ones in the Border States where he had control.  • He wanted this to strengthen the moral cause of the Union and yet prevent the disunion of the Border States.

7. F is for Fredericksburg Battle • Fredericksburg battle, where more than 10,000 Northern soldiers were killed or wounded due to Burnside’s rash frontal attack against Lee’s army in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  • He had replaced McClellan and protested that he was unfit for such a position and he proved it. 

8. G is for • Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the turning point of the war took place.  • It was marked as the “high tide of the Confederacy” since it was the highest point reached by any significant Southern force.  • For them, it was also the last real chance for victory.    After that battle, the southern cause was doomed.

9. H is for Honest Abe • Honest Abe, was a nickname of Lincoln.  Here was a rhyme that makes fun of this.                       “Honest old Abe, when the war first began, Denied abolition was part of his plan; Honest old Abe had since made a decree, The war must go on till the slaves are all free. As both can’t be honest, will some one tell how, If honest Abe then, he is honest Abe now?”

10. I is for Iron Works • Iron Works, were crucial to both the Union and the South during the War.  • One of the most important iron works was the TredgarIron Works in Richmond, Virginia. 

11. J is for Jefferson Davis • Jefferson Davis, was the President of the Confederate States.  • His family had moved south from Kentucky and he was a recent member of the US senate from Mississippi.  • He was also a former cabinet member with very wide military and administrative experience. 

12. K is for King Cotton • King Cotton No More as cotton failed the southern economy.  Due to its mass production of cotton in the years before the war, England received a lot of surpluses.  Therefore, the product was not in such a great demand anymore.  Also, transportation in the Confederacy slacked off as metals were made into bullets etc.  Overall, cotton reduced in value and only contributed 12 percent to the national wealth instead of the former 30 percent.

13. L is for General Lee • Lee’s Last Lunge at Gettysburg is where all the hope of the south was placed.  • It was the northernmost point reached by any significant number of the South.  • It was also the last chance for the Confederates to win. 

14. M is for Monitor and Merrimack • Monitor and Merrimack, were two ironclad ships that fought each other in 1862.  • That year, on March 9, the Union ironclad, the Monitor, fought for four hours with the Confederate made ironclad, the Virginia, which was was originally the wooden Merrimack.   

15. N is for the North • North, was also known as the Union.  • Their conflict and difference of views caused the Civil War.  

16. O is for “On to Richmond!” • “On to Richmond!”, was the cry of the Northern newspapers in 1861 that urged for a quick war.  • It called for an immediate capture of the Confederate capital of Richmond.  This lead partly to the Battle of Bull Run.

17. P is for Port Hudson • Port Hudson of Louisiana, fell into Union hands on July 9, 1863 after Vicksburg surrendered.  • This gave the North control of the Mississippi, which split the Confederacy in two.

18. Q is for Quincy Adams’ Son (Charles Francis Adams) • Quincy Adams’s son, Charles Francis Adams, was the American Minister who made Britain realize that it was not wise for them to allow the building of British Confederate raiders.  • London tried to remain neutral afterwards, but the Confederate commerce-destroyers already cripple more than 250 Yankee ships.

19. R is for Richmond • Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy.

20. S is for Fort Sumter • Fort Sumter is where the Civil War actually began.  • It was one of the two southern forts that was loyal to the Union, and was attacked by the rest of South Carolina when Lincoln wanted to send provision to the fort.  • Finally, it gave in.  http://www.nps.gov

21. T is for Thirteenth Ammendment • Thirteenth Amendment, which was created in 1865 and abolished all slavery within the United States of America.

22. U is for Union • Union, which was what the northern part of the United States was called.  • It remained under the government of the U.S., and had Abraham Lincoln as president.

23. V is for Victory (for the Union) • Victory for the Unions after the surrender of Lee’s army to Grant’s troops at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. http://www.nps.gov

24. W is for Washington D.C. • Washington D.C., was the capital of the United States even then.  • During the war, Lincoln declared martial law and sent troops to Maryland because it threatened to cut the capital off from the North. 

25. X is for eX-slaves • Ex-Slaves, which was the result of the war, as all of the slaves were freed by the Thirteenth Amendment. http://www.sonofthesouth.net

26. Y is for Yankees • Yankee, which was the name applied to the northerners. 

27. Z is for CraZy • John Wilkes Booth who slipped into Lincoln’s box and assassinated the president.  http://lisawallerrogers.wordpress.com