The Civil War: Divided Nation, Determined Leaders

1. Unit 11-B The Civil War, 1861–1865

2. Political Positions Prior to the War • Republicans -Supported Lincoln in 1860 election -Popular sovereignty should decide the slavery issue -Legislation needed to protect the rights of slaves • Democrats • Split over slavery; had two candidates in 1860 • Individual states should decide slavery • Need to maintain current way of life

3. The Conflict Takes Shape The first shots of the Civil War (War Between the States) were at Fort Sumter, S.C.

4. The Conflict Takes Shape • What issues divided the nation when the war began? • What were the primary strengths and weaknesses of the North and the South at the beginning of the war? • Who were the leaders of each side in the war?

5. Issues That Divided the Nation Southerners Southerners believed that they had the right to leave the Union. They called the conflict the War for Southern Independence. Southerners wanted to keep their traditional way of life—including slavery.

6. Northerners • Northerners believed that they had to fight to save the Union. • Some northerners wanted to abolish slavery. • Others approved of slavery.

7. In both Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address of 1861 and the Gettysburg address of 1863, he argued that succession from the national government was illegal

8. Slave states that were still in the Union in 1861 had to decide what to do. • Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas joined the Confederacy. • Four slave states remained with the Union. Border States

9. Southern President Jefferson Davis considered states to have the right to freedom from oppressive government, while Lincoln believed individuals should be free from government oppression

10. These border stateswere Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware. • Some people who lived in the border states supported the South. • Pro-Confederate mobs attacked Union troops in Maryland. • President Lincoln declared martial law,or rule by the army instead of the elected government. Border States

11. Strengths and Weaknesses of the North and the South Northern Strengths • The North had a large population to call on for food production and military service. • The North had most of the nation’sfactories. Before the war, they produced more than 90 percent of the nation’s manufactured goods. • The North had a strong navy and a large fleet of merchant ships.

12. Strengths and Weaknesses of the North and the South Southern Strengths • Defending their homeland and way of life gave white southerners a strong reason to fight. • Confederate soldiers knew the southern countryside. • Southern civilians helped the Confederate forces

13. Northern Weaknesses • Northern soldiers had to conquer a hugearea. Instead of defending their homes, they were invading unfamiliar land. • Union supply lines had to stretch out much farther than Confederate ones.

14. Southern Weaknesses • The South had few factories to produce weapons and other supplies. • The South had few railroads to move troops and supplies. • Many rail lines did not connect to a railroad network.

15. Southern Weaknesses • The Confederate constitution favored states’ rights and limited the central government. Sometimes, this made it difficult to get things done. • The South had a small population compared to the North. As a result, the South did not have enough people to support the war effort. • The South had few ships.

16. Strengths and Weaknesses of the North and the South

17. The War’s Leaders North - President, Abraham Lincoln - Chief General, Ulysses S. Grant South - President, Jefferson Davis - Chief General, Robert E. Lee

18. Confederate President Jefferson Davis: • attended the United States Military Academy at West Point • was an officer in the Mexican War • was Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce • was respected for his honesty and courage

19. Union President Abraham Lincoln: • did not have much experience in national politics • did not have military experience • turned out to be a strong leader and fine war planner • had a sense of humor • could accept criticism • In his poem “To Abraham Lincoln”, John J. Loud stated that Lincoln fought against injustice and acted to protect those who were mistreated . • He also said he was a strong, but compassionate leader who many trusted

20. Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee: • Lincoln had asked him to command the Union army • was loyal to his state of Virginia

21. No Easy Victory • What strategies did each side adopt to win the war? • How did early encounters dispel hopes for a quick end to the war? • What victories did the Confederates achieve? • What victories did the Union achieve?

22. Strategies for Winning the War Union plans • Use the navy to blockade southern ports. • In the East, seize the Confederate capital —Richmond, Virginia. • In the West, seize control of the MississippiRiver. This would keep the Confederates from using the river to supply troops, and it would also separate Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana from the rest of the Confederacy.

23. Strategies for Winning the War Confederate plans • Fight a defensive war until northerners tired of fighting and gave up. • Use European money and supplies to helpfight the war. Southerners expected Europeans to recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation.

24. Early Encounters End Hopes for A Quick End to War • Date: July 21, 1861 • Battle: Battle of Bull Run • What Happened: Union and Confederate troops clashed between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia. • Results: Lincoln appointed a new commander of the Union army

25. Early Encounters End Hopes for A Quick End to War • Date: March 1862 • Battle: McClellan’s troops moved toward Richmond • What Happened: Robert E. Lee attacked McClellan’s troops. At the same time Stonewall Jackson’s troops went North to Washington • Results: McClellan retreated

26. Early Encounters End Hopes for A Quick End to War • Date: March 1862 • Battle: Monitor and the Merrimack (Virginia) • What happened: Confederates covered a Union warship, Merrimack, with iron plates. Union also built an ironclad, Monitor. The two vessels fought near Virginia • Results: It was the first battle of Ironclads

27. Early Encounters End Hopes for A Quick End to War • Date: September 1862 • Battle: Battle of Antietam • What Happened: Hoping for a southern victory on northern soil, Lee marched into Maryland • Results: Both sides suffered great losses.

28. Confederate Victories in the East • Date: December 1862 • Battle: Battle of Fredericksburg • What Happened: Lee’s forces met Burnside’s army. • Results: This was one of the Union’s worst defeats.

29. Confederate Victories in the East • Date: May 1863 • Battle: Battle of Chancellorsville • What Happened: Lee and Jackson defeated the Union troops in a three-day battle. • Results: A southern sentry shot Stonewall Jackson by mistake. Jackson died soon after.

30. Union Victories in the West • Date: February 1862 • Battle: Fort Henry and Fort Donelson • What Happened: Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant captured the two Tennessee forts. • Results: The Union gained control of two tributaries of the Mississippi.

31. Union Victories in the West • Date- April 6–7, 1862 • Battle: Battle of Shiloh • What Happened: Confederate forces surprised Grant’s Union forces and drove them back toward the river. With the aid of fresh troops, Grant beat back the Confederates. • Results: It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

32. Union Victories in the West • Date: April 1862 • Battle: New Orleans • What Happened: Union gunboats captured New Orleans. Other ships captured Memphis, Tennessee. • Results: The Union now controlled both ends of the Mississippi.

33. The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg is considered the turning point of the war because it turned back the Confederate invasion of the North.

34. A Promise of Freedom • What was Lincoln’s primary goal in the war? • What were the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation? • How did African Americans contribute to the war effort both in the Union army and behind Confederate lines?

35. Lincoln’s Goal in the War “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 do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.” —Abraham Lincoln, August 22, 1862, quoted in Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln

36. The Emancipation Proclamation What was the Emancipation Proclamation? • Abraham Lincoln decided to emancipate, or free, enslaved African Americans living in theConfederacy. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation,the formal declaration that freed slaves in theConfederacy, but not in slave states that remained with the Union or in Confederate lands that had been captured by the Union.

37. The Emancipation Proclamation Why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation? • Emancipation would weaken the Confederacy’s ability to carry on the war. • He hoped to introduce the idea of emancipation slowly, by limiting it to territory controlled by the Confederacy. He expected to introduce the idea of emancipation in other areas later.

38. The Emancipation Proclamation What impact did the Emancipation Proclamation have? • The declaration changed the purpose of the war. Now, Union troops were fighting to end slavery as well as to save the Union. • Southerners were angered. They saw the declaration as a “fiend’s act” to destroy their property. • Europeans were sympathetic to the proclamation. Now they were less likely to side with the South.

39. The Emancipation Proclamation has been discussed for years including Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery: An Autobiography”, 1901

40. African American Contributions in the War • Free African Americans and escaped slaves enlisted in the Union army. • At first black troops served only as laborers, building roads and guarding supplies. • By 1863, African American troops were fighting in major battles. One of the most famous African American units was the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. In 1863, this regiment led an attack onFort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina. Under heavy fire, they fought their way into the fort before they were forced to retreat. The bravery of these soldiers helped win respect for African American soldiers.

41. African American Contributions in the War • Behind Confederate lines, many enslaved African Americans slowed down work or refused to work at all. • Wherever a Union army appeared, slaves from all over the area would cross theUnion lines to freedom. By the end of the war, about one fourth of the South’s enslaved population had escaped.

42. First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery at Fort Wagner, S.C. for actions on July 18,1863. Sgt. William H. Carney- Company C, 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry

43. Hardships of War • What was life like for Confederate and Union soldiers? • What problems did each side face at home? • How did the war affect the economy of the North and the South? • What role did women play in the war?

44. The Hard Life of Soldiers • Most soldiers were under the age of 21. As the death toll rose, the South drafted boys as young as 17 and men as old as 50. • New technology added to the horror of war. In most battles, one fourth or more of the soldiers were killed or wounded.

45. The Hard Life of Soldiers • Medical care on the battlefield was crude. Surgeons routinely amputated injured arms and legs. Sanitary conditions were poor, and nothing was known about germs or how wounds became infected. • Diseases like pneumonia and malaria killed more men than guns or cannons.

46. Problems at Home in the North • Some northerners opposed using force to keep the South in the Union. Supporters of the war called these people Copperheads, after the poisonous snake. • There was a shortage of volunteers to serve in the army. Some men took money to enlist in the army, then deserted.

47. Problems at Home in the North • In 1863, Congress passed a draft law, a lawrequiring all able-bodied males between ages 20 and 45 to serve in the military if they were called. Opposition to the draft law led to riots. • President Lincoln moved to stop the riots and other “disloyal practices.” Several times, he suspended habeas corpus,the right to be charged or have a hearing before being jailed. The President also said that those arrested could be tried under the stricter rules of a military court.

48. Problems at Home in the South • Many southerners firmly believed in states’ rights. They resisted paying taxes to a central government, so the government could not collect enough money to pay for the war.

49. Problems at Home in the South • Like the North, the South was forced to pass a draft law to fill its army. • Near the end of the war, the South no longer had enough white men to fill the ranks.

50. Problems at Home in the South • The Confederate congress reluctantly agrees to let enslaved African Americansserve. The war ends before this can take place.