The Civil War

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Transcript The Civil War

1861-1865
Abraham Lincoln
John C. Breckinridge
Stephen A. Douglas
John Bell
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Issue of State’s Rights-Jefferson Davis
Democrats split their support
◦ Charleston, NC for 10 days
◦ Pop sov (N) v. federal protection of slavery (S)
◦ Douglas v. Breckinridge
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Whigs make last effort
◦ “Constitutional Union Party”-John Bell (moderate)
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Republicans nominate Lincoln (moderate)
◦ Slavery not allowed in the territories
◦ No interference with slavery in states where it
already existed
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40 % pop vote, 60%
of electoral vote
No southern E.V.
Breckinridge and
Bell in the S; Lincoln
and Douglas in
N&W
2 POLITICAL
ENTITIES
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South outraged that Lincoln could win
without a single southern vote
Lincoln=“black Republican”
Charleston, SC: Dec. 20, 1860 convention
called and a formal declaration of secession is
announced-SC leaves Union
6 deep south states follow: GA, FL, AL, MS,
LA, TX (Georgia and Texas try to stop it)
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February 1861: Secessionist leaders meet in
Montgomery, AL and declare themselves the
“Confederate States of America”
Frame a constitution and a new government
and select Jefferson Davis as president
◦ MS senator, does not want to secede, appeals for
peace before secession occurs
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Whig from IL turned
Republican
Took presidency after
7 states had already
seceded
Won reelection after
steering nation
through war
Ended slavery in US
Lincoln, 1809-1865
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Served in US House of
Representatives
Joined army against
Mexico 1846
Became Senator and
Sect. of War
Strong leadership
Imprisoned for treason
but never tried
Davis, 1808-1889
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Inaugural Address
◦ “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution
◦ Warned “in your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen,
and not in mine, in the momentous issues of Civil
War.” South would have to start the war.
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South takes federal forts and arsenals
◦ Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC
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Lincoln asked to send supplies (food only)
◦ SC is suspicious and asks for surrender
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Fort refuses to surrender; Confederates fire
◦ April 1861
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12.20.1860: SC withdraws from Union
5 days later: 68 federal troops arrive at Fort
Sumter; cut off supplies to the fort
◦ Is the fort Federal or State property?
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Davis takes office February 1861, Lincoln takes
office March 4, 1861
Troops running out of supplies…Lincoln says
he is sending provisions (no military action)
◦ Davis asks General Anderson to surrender; he refuses
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Civil War begins 4:30AM April 12, 1861 by
Confederate artillery
Union v. Confederacy
Strategies, Sides, and Bull Run
– Emancipation Proclamation
http://www.nps.gov/ci
vilwar/facts.htm
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Ulysses S. Grant
George McClellan
Robert Anderson
Nathanial Banks
General William T.
Sherman
George Cluster
Winfield Scott Hancock
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Union
Robert E. Lee
Stonewall Jackson
J.E.B. Stuart
Nathan Bedford Forrest
James Longstreet
Braxton Bragg
George Pickett
William T. Anderson
P.G.T. Beauregard
A.P. Hill
Confederate
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19 Free States, 4 slave-holding border states (DE,
MD, KY, and MO) and 1863 WV
◦ Block them from Confederacy
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Gen. Winfield Scott: ANACONDA PLAN
◦ 1. Blockade Southern ports (VA to TX) -starve S of supplies
◦ 2. Capture Richmond (Head of the snake)
◦ 3. Drive southward towards MS River, control it (and TN River
and Cumberland River), and split the Confederacy in 2 to
weaken it
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Critics: antislavery congressmen wanted a quicker
way to free the slaves
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Militarily: preserve small armies and damage
Union troops-take down Union will to fight
◦ Defend territories; prolong engagement
◦ Break blockade
◦ Take MD, Pennsylvania, and DC
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Politically: seek recognition by foreign
countries (Great Britain and France)
◦ No longer trading with North, need help
◦ F/GB need cotton; may trade military supplies
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Two Theaters:
◦ East: Atlantic to App Mtns
◦ West: App Mtns to MS river
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Bull Run (Manassas)
Shiloh
Antietam
Chancellorsville
Gettysburg
Vicksburg
Atlanta
http://www.civilwar.org/ba
ttlefields/
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1861: Union army moving towards Richmond
◦ U defeat at Bull Run-proves that it won’t be short war
◦ 2 armies: Army of Potomac (U) vs Army of N. Virginia (C)
◦ C and U want to fight on Southern soil (why?)
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Union and Confederacy stand off:
◦ 1862 Shiloh: Grant (U) steers off C counter attack in TN
and advances West
◦ 1862 Maryland: Antietam invasion by General Lee; held
off by McClellan (U)
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Lee (C) vs McClellan (U)
Plan of attack discovered by Union troopsmove to attack behind Antietam Creek
Forced standoff- C outnumbered 2:1
Single bloodiest day of the Civil War
◦ 22,000 soldiers in 1 day (more than Am. Rev)
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September 22, 1862: Emancipation
Proclamation
◦ Freed all enslaved peoples still in rebel states
◦ Did NOT include border states or states under Union
control-Redefined war in the N: “slavery”
◦ 54th MA Regiment: 180,000 AA volunteers for U
Home Front, Frontlines, and the Country
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Originally filled by
volunteers
Used bonds to
convince others-led to
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bond jumping
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1863 institute a draft
Substitutes for $300
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Approx. 2 million total
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Union
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Consisted of mostly
volunteers
1862 institute a draft
“Rich man’s war but a
poor man’s fight”
Approx. 1 million total
Confederacy
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~ 2 million will serve in Union Army
Upped manufacturing
◦ 97% of firearms (total), 96% of its railroad
locomotives, 94 % cloth, 93% pig iron, and over 90%
of its boots and shoes
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Public opinion down after first 2 years; 1863
Enrollment Act: 1st draft in U.S. history
◦ 20-45 years of age
◦ Substitution (could pay for someone to fight for you)
◦ Commutation (pay $300 to the federal government
to not fight)
◦ 8% of Union soldiers were draftees
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~800,000 will serve (impossible w/o slavery)
1862: Confederate Conscription
◦ 18-35 years for 3 years (expands to 17-50)
◦ 1 out of 5 soldiers were draftees
◦ 20-Negro Law: anyone owning 20 or more slaves or
was a political leader were exempt from fighting
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Munitions: arms factories developed across
the South (bought from Europe)
Shortages: clothing, supplies, food
No navy to organize
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Morrill Tariff Act 1861:
placed duties on all
imported items (20% on
manufactured goods, 10%
raw materials)
1862 Legal Tender Act
authorized Fed. Gov’t to
make paper money called
Greenbacks
21% of wartime revenue
from taxation
Economy boomed during
the war
Established a National Bank
1863; critical for money
organization
Union
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Victim of staggering
inflation (printed $1
billion in currency)
◦ 80% v. 9,000%
◦ $1 1861= $46 1864
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Did not make legal
tender (bank)
Difficult economic
stagnation: blockade,
little transportation,
lack of industry
5% of wartime rev.
from taxation
Confederacy
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Early on: criticism for bank, draft, slavery
Advantage: stable government
Expands executive power:
◦ Suspends habeas corpus in MD (pro-slavery factions
raising hell; Copperheads)
◦ Martial law in border states
◦ Seized telegraph stations for security
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Border States strong-armed into Union
Chief Justice Taney: Lincoln overstepped power
with habeas corpus
◦ Lincoln ignores: “exec powers in cases of rebellion
(Art. 1 Sec. 9)
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Jefferson Davis: Ultimate Dilemma “Died of a
Theory”
◦ Confederate Constitution: too many states rights
(couldn’t impose tariffs or internal improvements)
◦ Southern independence v. state sovereignty
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Davis: knack for making enemies
◦ Heated battles with VP A. Stephens from GA
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No tax structure, new constitution and
government, no navy, little industry,
unconnected railroad lines
Gettysburg – End of War
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Lee felt a victory in the North could end war
George Meade (U) vs Robert E. Lee (C)
Day 1:
◦ C troops ran into U while looking for shoes
◦ Push U troops out of town…to higher ground
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Day 2:
◦ Lee orders assaults to right and left of U army
◦ Fought hard but matched 2:1 Union army
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Day 3:
◦ Final attack at Cemetery Ridge-Pickett’s Charge
◦ Forced retreat; 1/3 of C troops killed
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Lincoln declared that the US had been
“conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal”
Dedicated the cemetery to fallen soldiers
Recognized today as statement of values
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2aS3rjDBw
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Led by General Ulysses S. Grant
◦ Nicknamed “Unconditional Surrender” (total war)
◦ Victorious at Shiloh, TN 1862
◦ Victorious at Vicksburg, MS 1863
 Marched troops through LA, south of Vicksburg
 Ordered Calvary attack on rail lines-got control
 Places Vicksburg under siege; lack of supplies to C
troops eventually lead to their defeat
 Confederacy split in two; Lincoln’s Key
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Winning leads to Lincoln’s
Re-election: much to
celebrate; still faces issues
◦ Victories on battlefields
◦ Lost some support-too much
authority v. not enough
support for antislavery
◦ Reelection=Confederacy
realizes that the North will
never give up or negotiate
peace
“With malice toward
none; with charity for
all; with firmness in
the right, as God
gives us to see the
right, let us strive on
to finish the work we
are in; to bind up the
nation’s wounds.”
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Grant receives all Union forces in 1864
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Virginia: relentless attack against Lee’s army
April 9, 1865: capture of Richmond after 11 months
Lee surrenders at Appomattox
“The rebels are our countrymen again”
Salute their enemies-Chamberlain
General William T. Sherman
◦ Total War idea-burned cities, tore down railroads
and wraps them around trees
◦ Famous “March to the Sea” to Savannah, GA
◦ Captures Atlanta, GA
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April 14-15, 1865
Lincoln attends
“Our American
Cousin”
John Wilkes Booth
shoots Lincoln in
the back of the
head
“Thus ever to
Tyrants, the South
is avenged!”
http://www.history.com/topics/abr
aham-lincoln-assassination
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Plotters: wanted to cause chaos
◦ Give south time to reunite and continue war
◦ Planned to kill VP and Sect. of States as well
◦ Booth: shot while house on fire; 4 co-conspirators
hanged
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United his northern supporters and critics
◦ National symbol of freedom and hero
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Courage, dignity, and humility
Beginning: little known to Americans
◦ EVERYONE knows who Lincoln is now!
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3 Philosophies of Lincoln:
◦ A) Democracy: life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness
is supposed to be guaranteed to any person
◦ B) The Union: “A house divided cannot stand”;
always for the preservation of the Union
◦ C) Reuniting the Nation: did not focus on punishing
the South, but making the Union whole again
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4.
What can we infer about the letter writer at the
time the Civil War started, his or her home,
family members, work, level of education? How
do you know?
Can we tell which side the author of this letter
supported, the Union or Confederacy? If so,
how do we know? Give specifics.
What is happening during the Civil War at the
time the letters were written? (Check your
notes)
If the author is a man, why do you think he has
enlisted? Does he say anything about the views
or attitudes he holds that have led him to make
the commitment to fight, or can we infer them
in any way?
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With E.P., African Americans can fight
180,000 volunteer fighters
Dealt with racism in North (low expectations)
and did menial tasks
◦ Cooks, cleaning weapons, dig latrines
◦ 3 year battle for equal pay
◦ Exposed battle positions, longest guard duty
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Passively and actively helped in the South
◦ Helped feed union troops
◦ Worked as spies and scouts
◦ Organized own military units
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New opportunities for public life
Many took over family businesses/farms
◦ Fun Fact: several asked for their husbands to come
home…reason for Southern desertion
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New teaching jobs open for women
Development of Nursing profession
◦ Clara Barton
◦ Formation of the US Sanitary Commission
How the war changed America forever
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620,000+ dead, thousands more wounded
Originally not as nationalistic as South BUT
that changes as the war continues
Greater technological prowess
Larger population (2:1)
More abundant resources
Developed new advantages like military leaders
Grant and Sherman
◦ Steady leadership of President Lincoln
◦ Emancipation Proclamation
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Industrial boom from
the war continued
Gilded Age: “glitter
covering decay”
1862 Homestead Act:
gave land out west
Land Grant College
Act: protective tarrif
that gave money to
establish colleges that
taught agr/tech
North
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South slow to rebuild
Relied on northern
investment; tensions
still high
North blamed south for
their shortcomings
(forgot that Sherman
destroyed everything)
South
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Distressed over the
loss of Lincoln
Cemented federal
authority after
accepting the South;
state’s right problems
do not end with war
Citizens of a United
Nation, not just states
North
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Landscape in shambles
Dislocated southerners
left to roam
Defeat v. noble cause
(The South Will Rise
Again!!!)
Aimless African
Americans; sense of
hope
South