Transcript 4.3 The North Takes Charge

4.3 The North Takes Charge
How did the Civil War change the
nation?
The Tide Turns
• The South won several battles in 1863, but
lost Stonewall Jackson when he was shot
accidentally by his own troops
• Robert E. Lee decided to invade the north
that year, and was defeated at the battle of
Gettysburg, which turned the tide of the
war
• After three days of intense fighting, Lee
retreated to VA
Continued
• In Nov. 1863, a cemetery was dedicated at
Gettysburg; more than 50,000 soldiers were lost
on both sides
• President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address,
which honored the dead and asked Americans
to rededicate themselves to preserving the
Union
• The next day, General Grant captured Vicksburg
for the Union, and effectively split the
Confederacy in two
The Confederacy Wears Down
• The losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg caused
Southern morale to drop; the South was losing
resources and people quickly
• Grant gave William Sherman command of the
Mississippi; both generals believed in waging
total war, where they wanted to destroy the
South’s will to fight
• Grant fought Lee in VA, while Sherman invaded
GA and marched towards the sea, destroying
everything in his path
Continued
• On April 3, 1865, Union troops conquered
Richmond; on April 9, Lee and Grant met
in Appomattox Court House, and arranged
the Confederate surrender
• Lincoln insisted the terms be generous
and allowed soldiers to go home
The War Changes the Nation
• The Union lost 360,000 men, and the South lost
260,000
• The federal government also increased its
power through conscription and an income tax
• The economic gap widened between the two
sides; the Southern economy collapsed due to
losing slavery and the industry and railroads
being destroyed
• The war changed with tech. advances as well;
the rifle and ironclad ship changed war forever
Final Changes
• In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery everywhere in the U.S.
• Five days after the surrender, Lincoln was
shot by a Southern sympathizer John
Wilkes Booth
• The country had lost its key figure for
strength