A Historical Perspective by A Historical Perspective by Mr. Ferreira and Mr. Ferreira and

Ms. PetryMs. Petry

Once Upon A Time There Once Upon A Time There Was A Country Which Was A Country Which

From Its Origin Thrived In From Its Origin Thrived In The Land Of Plenty…The Land Of Plenty…

Over Time A Rift Over Time A Rift Developed Between Developed Between The Northern Part The Northern Part And the Southern And the Southern Portion Over The Portion Over The

Institution Of Institution Of Slavery…Slavery…

Both Sides Flourished In Both Sides Flourished In Different Ways But The Different Ways But The Rift Would Continue To Rift Would Continue To

Widen Over The Widen Over The Continuing Continuing

Generations….Generations….

A dark cloud loomed over the United States in the pre-dawn

hours of April 12, 1861. President Abraham Lincoln had promised to keep the union of states together even as forces seemed to pull many of those states apart. President of the

Confederacy; Jefferson Davis had other ideas. What events possibly could have transpired to force a showdown of this magnitude?

Events Which Cause the Civil WarConstitution

Cotton Gin

Louisiana Purchase

Missouri Compromise

Indian Removal

Annexation of Texas

Mexican War

California Gold Rush

Compromise of 1850

Fugitive Slave Act

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Bleeding Kansas/Pottawatomie Creek

Dred Scott Decision

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Harpers Ferry

Election of 1860

Starring in order of Appearance…

USA

CSA

CSA

USA

CSA

USA

CSA

USA

USA

USA

George George

MeadeMeade

USA

USA

U.S. Government property has been seized in the south, Lincoln’s

political and moral obligation is to preserve the Union. Only two forts in the south remain in Union hands.

Ft. Pickens in Florida, and Ft. Sumter in South Carolina. To keep these forts, Lincoln knows he must give them additional provisions but doing so could be seen as an act of

war!

Charleston Harbor; April 11th 1861

In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861 P.G.T.

Beauregard; Commander of the Southern Forces

surrounding Ft. Sumter opens fire on the fort and Union forces led by Major Robert

Anderson. The bombardment lasts over 34 hours and results in only the wounding of a horse

Seven states secede; four more join the

Confederacy (VA, AR, TN, and NC) after shots fired on Fort Sumter, SC

Ft. Sumter 1861Ft. Sumter 1861

Fort SumterFort Sumter

• Copperheads Copperheads - - Northern Democrats oppose the war and Lincoln. They are not alone….

Border States during the Civil Border States during the Civil WarWar

After riots break out in Baltimore, Lincoln takes control…martial law is declared and the Writ of Habeas Corpus suspended.

Lincoln seizes control of the border states (MD,MO,KY,and

DE)

•Union call for troops…–Most think the war will be short and only sign three or four month enlistment papers

•Advantages and Disadvantages between the Union and Confederacy.

Lincoln urges his army commander; Irvin McDowell to

advance into Virginia. McDowell does not want to move because his troops are untrained. Lincoln responds, “yes, you are green,

he is green also.”

In the Western theater. Events are heating up as well. Ulysses

S. Grant leads his troops into Tennessee and encounter stiff Confederate resistance on the banks of the Tennessee River.

Returning to the East; new Union Army Commander George McClellan is preparing for a

campaign to capture Richmond, Virginia by landing his troops at the tip of the York and James River peninsula and marching

them to Richmond.

During these 7days of battles, Robert E. Lee becomes

commander of the Army of Northern Virginia (CSA) and begins to push McClellan to

retreat and leave the Peninsula.

During the battles around Richmond a new type of

weapon is being readied on both sides of the conflict. The weapon is an Ironclad (a ship

made or covered with iron plating) whose skin is virtually impenetrable by cannon fire.

Monitor vs.Monitor vs. Merrimack (Virginia)Merrimack (Virginia)

After successive victories at the Seven Days and 2nd Bull Run/Manassas, Lee turns his attention to

forcing the Union Army out of Virginia. He leads them

quietly into Maryland.

At the Battle of Antietam, MD, Union General George McClellan fails to destroy Lee’s army and though not completely achieving victory forces

the Army of Northern Virginia to retreat back across the Potomac;

southern hopes for assistance cling to Great Britain; Trent Affair

While many White Americans are enlisting

and fighting, Former Slaves and free Black are itching for the chance to fight for there freedoms.

Blacks are enlisted on both sides (USA in 1863 and

CSA in 1864)

Lincoln uses the “Victory” at Antietam to justify issuing

the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves

held in areas no longer in the united states. This is to

become effective on January 1, 1863

While Lee retreats, a new commander of the Army of the Potomac(USA) is hired (Burnside) and pushes Lee

further south to Frederickburg. After

defeating this Federal force both sides rest for the

winter.

Many who are wealthy enough to do so hire

substitutes to take their place in the war, those

substitutes promptly desert and continue playing the

con game and get paid for it… large bonuses are paid

to recruits…Draft Riots erupt in New York City

Radical Republicans - believed that slavery was the main reason for the

war…their power increases in the

congressional elections of 1862, 1864, & 1866

After the spring thaws of 1863 both armies begin to move, Lee to the west and the new

Union commander Joseph Hooker toward

Fredericksburg and the west, he makes his headquarters in

a tavern and hotel called Chancellorsville.

During the Civil War more people died from disease and infection than from actual battle wounds. Lack of sanitary conditions and

horrific wounds led to amputation and usually death, common injuries

which we now consider flesh wounds would kill a large majority

of men.

Throughout the war there many issues, many centered around the

treatment of captured troops. Women also came to the forefront

as nurses, factory workers, and some even managed to follow their loved ones into battle. People such as Clara Barton,

Dorthea Dix, terms such as Red Cross, Sanitary Commission and

P.O.W.’s. On the lips of many Unionists was the infamous name

Andersonville…

After the victories of Fredericksburg and

Chancellorsville, Lee was fully manned and primed for another

invasion of the North, he needed to bring much needed relief to the citizens of Virginia

Gettysburg

The Confederate Cause Hits a brick wall with the losses at

Gettysburg on July 3rd and the culmination of the Vicksburg Siege on July 4th. These two events turned the tide of the

war forever in the favor of the Union Army. Before the battle the Union had known nothing but defeat, after, nothing but

victory

In November of 1863 Lincoln’s gives his

“appropriate remarks” at the dedication of a

cemetery to the dead at Gettysburg. Edward

Everett remarks of the speech “you said in two minutes what I tried to

say in 2 hours.”

The year 1864 was rang in with much more fanfare than

the previous year. There was to be a Presidential election. In March, U.S. (unconditional surrender)

Grant becomes Union commander, and the Union

army is winning

In the Western Theater General William Tecumseh Sherman

(Grant’s replacement) Captures Atlanta in September of 1864 and shortly thereafter begins his “March to the Sea” brings total war on the South. This

march culminates in the capture and Christmas present

of Savannah Georgia to Abraham Lincoln who had just won re-election in November.

In Early April, Lee’s Petersburg line fails,

forcing him to evacuate his lines and head west. By so doing, he leaves Richmond undefended.

The Confederate capitol falls on April 2nd, 1865…Davis

escapes south

Surrounded and out numbered, Lee surrenders

the Army of Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9th…the war in

the East is over

The End in the East; The End in the East; April 9April 9thth, 1865, 1865

To celebrate the long awaited victory the Lincoln’s on Good Friday make their way to the

theater to watch a British comedy; “Our American Cousin.” As he sat enjoying the play a popular young

southern actor: John Wilkes Booth, shoots the President in the

head and jumps onto the stage breaking his leg

Booth is able to limp off the stage yelling “Sic Semper tyrannis” He was later burned alive in a barn in Virginia. This assassination was

part of a larger plot which ended in the wounding or mauling of several top political figures.

Booth’s accomplices were later caught and executed.

After the execution of the Lincoln Conspirators. A war crimes trial was

held for the commandant of the infamous Andersonville Prison in

Georgia; Henry Wirz. By presiding over conditions leading to the death of 12,000 POW’s Wirz was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was the only person found guilty of war crimes

during the Civil War.

Thus ends the most tumultuous Thus ends the most tumultuous period in American History. period in American History. Over four years and 600,000 Over four years and 600,000

deaths later. America now had deaths later. America now had an answer to its peculiar an answer to its peculiar

institution and whether any institution and whether any state was allowed to withdraw state was allowed to withdraw

from the Unionfrom the Union