Transcript The Civil War

The Civil War
Quick Review
• Election of 1860 sees Abraham Lincoln
elected as President
• South Carolina secedes first, followed by
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee,
Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia
• They secede fearing Lincoln will end
slavery, and change their way of life
• The stage is set for war
Fort Sumter
• Fort Sumter is located
in Charleston Harbor,
South Carolina
• the fort needed
supplies
• Problem: Lincoln
sends supplies he
risks war/ if he
surrenders fort he
gives in to South
• Lincoln decided to
send supplies
• South attacked before
the supplies arrived
• After 34 hours, the
fort surrendered
• This was the start of
the war
Start of war
• Lincoln asks the Union states to provide
soldiers
• Confederacy moves capital to Richmond,
VA – Robert E. Lee named commander of
Confederate forces
• Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and
Missouri are slave states but will stay with
the Union
War Strategies
• South’s Plan
-focus on defense
-draw out war so
Northern support
would weaken
-Hope foreign
dependence on
cotton will bring
foreign allies
North’s Plan
• Anaconda Plan
-goal is to strangle the
South’s economy
-Blockade Southern
ports
-Control Mississippi
and split the Confederacy
-capture Richmond, VA
First Battle of Bull Run
• Meet in Manassas, VA
• Everyone thought the North would win
easily and quickly
• July 1861 – Union forces attack and
Confederates begin to retreat
• Thomas Jackson – Confederate officer
stands his ground – earns the nickname
“Stonewall”
• Stonewall Jackson inspires his troops to
stand and fight
• Confederates counterattack letting out the
“rebel yell”
• Union soldiers run in retreat
• North is shocked by the defeat
What the Battle of Bull Run taught
us
• The battle drove home three points
1. The fighting would be bloody
2. No quick end
3. South were going to fight fiercely
Lincoln appoints General George McClellan
as leader for the North
The Soldiers
• Majority of soldiers were 18 to 30 years
old
• African Americans wanted to join but
neither side would take them at the start of
the war
• Union had 2 million men
• South had 1 million men
• North wore blue uniforms and South wore
grey
A new kind of war
• Advances in
technology led to a
high death rate
• New weapons: rifle
and minie ball which
were more accurate
• Ironclads – ships
covered in iron
offered more
protection
Primitive medical techniques
• The new weapons made
wounds never seen
before
• Doctors did not know how
to treat wounds – lots of
amputations
• Doctors spread disease
because they did not
know about sterilizing
their tools
• Many survive their
wounds only to die from
infection
• Lots of casualties – due
to the new weapons and
poor medical techniques
• casualties = dead
The men had poor hygiene
• They rarely bathed
• Bodies and bedding
was infested with lice
and fleas
• The dirty conditions
spread disease
• The Prisoner of War
camps were the worst
Battle of Antietam
• Lee invades the North (Maryland)
-Wants to try to force peace talks
-Virginia farmers can harvest
-Southern troops can plunder supplies
• The battle is one of the bloodiest days in
American history
• Lee’s plans were accidentally left at old
camp
• Union soldier found the plans wrapped around
some cigars
• The battle lasted all day with neither side gaining
ground
• End of the battle 23,000 were dead or wounded
• Lee lost ¼ of his forces and withdrew to Virginia
• McClellan did not pursue losing an opportunity
to finish off the South
Emancipation Proclamation
• Issued by Lincoln on
January 1, 1863
• Declared that all
slaves in Confederate
territory were free
• Did not free many but
it added a moral
purpose to the war
What did it do for African
Americans?
• After the proclamation the Union began to
accept African American troops
• 180,000 will fight by wars end
• Regiments were all black with white
officers
• Determined to destroy slavery and gain
self-respect
• 54th Massachusetts became famous for
their efforts
Problem of scarcity
• Scarce supply of soldiers
led to conscription laws
• Both the North and South
began to draft men in to
the military
• Rich could pay someone
to serve for them
• Draft was very unpopular
• New York had draft riots
• Another shortage was food
• Men were off fighting the war so no help to
work the farm
• Both North and South had a real problem
supplying food to the troops and the
population
• See a rise in inflation in the south
• Goods went up in price and money lost its
value
Role of women
• They filled the spots left by men – worked
in the factories or on the farms
• Clara Barton – served on the front lines as
a nurse – after the war she will start the
Red Cross
• Some were spies – Harriet Tubman, Rose
Greenhow
• Many disquised themselves as men and
enlisted
Lee invades the North
• His troops need supplies
• Go in to the town of Gettysburg, PA looking for
shoes
• Accidentally run in to Union cavalry
• Leads to a 3 day battle
• 90,000 Union troops vs 75,000 Rebels
• The battle was the turning point of the war
• Lee’s army would never recover from the defeat
Siege of Vicksburg
• Vicksburg is the last stronghold of the
South on the Mississippi River
• Ulysses Grant commander in the west
tries direct attacks without success
• Lays siege to the town
• Surrounded the city and prevented food or
supplies from entering
• City surrenders after 1 ½ months
• collapse cuts the Confederacy in two
March to the Sea
• Following the fall of Vicksburg Grant
becomes the commander of the Union
• He takes on an attack on all fronts policy
• Sends General William Tecumseh
Sherman into the deep South
• Sherman uses total war tactics –
destroying everything in his path that could
be used by the Confederates
• He captures Atlanta and burns it
• His forces burns and loots everything that
could be used by the South
• destroy railroad tracks, farms
• kill livestock
• His path was 60 miles wide and 300 miles
long through the heart of the South
Appomattox Courthouse
• Lee is surrounded and must surrender
• Lee meets Grant at Appomattox
Courthouse in April 1865
• Grant allowed the soldiers to lay down
their arms and go home in peace
• They could take their horses and mules
with them
• He also fed the hungry soldiers
Legacy of the war
• Lasted 4 years
• 620,000 soldiers killed: 360,000 Union
and 260,000 Confederate
• 375,000 were wounded
• South was in ruins: 40% of livestock killed,
50% of farm machinery destroyed,
factories demolished, and railroad tracks
destroyed
The final shot
• President Lincoln
attended a play at
Ford’s Theater with
his wife
• John Wilkes Booth
assassinated him
while he watched the
play