Transcript THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE CIVIL WAR

THE SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL ASPECTS OF
THE CIVIL WAR
GAINING BRITISH
NEUTRALITY
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Britain initially declared neutrality because it
had other sources of cotton and needed
Northern wheat and corn
Trent Incident: fall 1861, Union ships
stopped the British ship (the Trent) and took
off two Confederate Diplomats that were
going to Britain.
– Britain sent 8000 troops to Canada
– We released the prisoners
GAINING BRITISH
NEUTRALITY CONT’D
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Alabama Claims: The Brits gave the
south ships to fight blockade. One of
them, the Alabama, sunk 64 American
vessels. We sent Britain a bill after
the war was over. Arbitration later
settled the price at 15.5 million.
EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION
Lincoln’s Letter to Horace
Greeley
I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the
Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer
the Union will be the 'Union as it was.' 1 If there be those who would not save
the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree
with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could
at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount
object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to
destroy slavery. 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 save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.
What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps
to save the Union; and what I forebear, I forbear because I do not believe it
would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I
am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing
more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be
errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true
views.
Emancipation
Proclamation
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Lincoln’s goal was to save the union,
first and foremost
However, he used his power to seize
enemy supplies to justify an act
emancipating the slaves in seceded
territory only.
Did not apply to border states
Encouraged British to stay neutral
Debate over Proclamation
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Pro:
– Abolitionists support and there were
demonstrations throughout the north
– Free blacks could now enlist in the regular army
Against:
-Democrats thought it would prolong war
- Some soldiers did not want to fight for freedom
of slaves
- Confederates were furious- compromise was no
longer an option
African Americans in the
War
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1862, African Americans allowed to serve in
military, only after emancipation
proclamation did mass enlistment occur
Nearly 10% of union army was African
American by end of war ( only 1% of pop in
north)
Many were former slaves
Participated in about 500 conflicts
African Americans in the
War
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Suffer discrimination in the military
Separate regiments with white officers
Less pay until 1864
Higher mortality rate
Massacred at Fort Pillow, TN 1864 by
Confederates
South did consider drafting free blacks, and
did arm some at the end of the war
African Americans in the
War
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Many slaves join Union armies as they
pass through the South
Many farms left to Women and boys
who have less control over the slaves
and plantation system weakened
Topics to be Discussed
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Dealing with political dissent
Drafting/conscription
Life as a soldier
Civil War medicine
Life at home
Dealing with political
dissent
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Lincoln suspended the right of Habeas Corpus (right
that you can not be held in jail without cause) to
stop rioters and Confederate sympathizers
Lincoln seized telegraph offices . Taney said Lincoln
had gone too far- he ignored it
Among those Lincoln arrested were Copperheads,
Northern Democrats that were sympathetic with the
south
Jefferson Davis also suspended Habeas Corpus in
1862.
Lincoln set the precedent of expanding presidential
powers during times of war and national crisis.
Conscription Issues
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Confederacy
– Draft law in 1862
– All able-bodied white
men between 18-35
(later changed to 17-50)
– Wealthy people could
hire people to go in
their place and planters
who owned more than
20 slaves were exempt
– Some southern states
refused to follow this
law, however, 80 % of
eligible men served
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North
–
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Draft law in 1863
Men 20-25
Could hire substitutes
Could pay $300 to avoid
being drafted
– Would get a Bounty for
joining. Some men
became bounty hunters
– 92% of 2 million men in
northern army
volunteered
Draft Riots
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July 13-16, NYC a mostly Irish mob
wrecked draft offices and those of the
Republican newspapers, homes of
antislave leaders and beat up black
men and wealthy looking whites
11 lynchings, destroyed hundreds of
homes and burned a black orphanage
More than 100 dead
New York City Draft Riots
July 11-13, 1863
Life as a soldier
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Cleanliness not a priority- few bathe as
required so lice, dysentery and diarrhea
were common- lots of garbage and waste
Food was sparse- beans, bacon, pickled
beef and hardtack were common.
Southerners usually ate “Cush”- cubes of
beef and cornbread mixed with bacon
grease and had coffee from peanuts ,
apples or corn.
Soldier brings goods from
home to make life more
comfortable
Confederate Uniform
"Soldiering is 99% boredom
and 1% sheer terror"
[Cumberland Landing, Va. Federal encampment on Pamunkey
River, Va.].
CREATED/PUBLISHED
1862 May.
Rappahannock Station, Va. Federal encampment near railroad].
O'Sullivan, Timothy H., 1840-1882, photographer.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
1862 August.
Life as a Soldier: POW
Camps
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South- Andersonville,
Georgia
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Crowded, 34 feet per
person
Little shelter or food and
drank sewer water
15% of Union prisoners
died in Southern Camps
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North
– Some Northern Camps
were at Elmira, NY and
Camp Douglas, IL
– More spacious, better
sleeping and decent food
– Cold conditions killed many
southerners
– Many died from dysentery
or malnutrition
– 10% of Southern Soldiers
died in Union camps
– North stopped prisoner
exchange after South
would not return African
Americans to the north
[Chattanooga, Tenn. Confederate prisoners at railroad depot].
CREATED/PUBLISHED
1864.
Washington, D.C. Adjusting the rope for the execution of Wirz].
CREATED/PUBLISHED
[1865 November 10]
Medicine
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The North set up the “Sanitary
Commission”
– Recruit and train nurses
– Improve conditions at army camps
Set up hospitals and taught hygiene
 Dorthea Dix was superintendent of Union
nurses
 Clara Barton set up the American version of
the International Red Cross
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Medicine Cont’d
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Despite strides taken, there was still no
knowledge of germ theory or antiseptic
practices
2/3 of the 620,000 deaths during the war
were from disease
Most surgeries were amputations and 95%
of those were done with anesthesia (usually
chloroform or ether)
75% of amputation patients survived
Amputation Kit
[Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary
Commission].
Gardner, James, b. 1832, photographer.
CREATED/PUBLISHED
1864 May.
Civil War Ambulances
Washington D.C. 1863
New Hospital Design
Patients in D.C.
Harewood Hospital
Life at home
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South
– Food shortages in
part due to Union
blockade
– Prices skyrocket
– Food riots
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North
– Most industries
boomed
– Army needed
manufactured goods
– Wages did not keep
up with prices
Appomattox Court House
THE END