Chapter 14 – The Civil War: 1861-1865

Fort Sumter, 1861

Resolved: States’ rights were the primary cause of the Civil War

Chapter 14 – The Civil War: 1861-1865

Battle of Antietam, 1862

Do Now: North-South Economic Advantages & Disadvantages

The Start of the Civil War, 1861When Lincoln was elected in 1860, 7 Southern states seceded from the Union & formed the Confederate States of America

The Civil War began when Fort Sumter was fired upon by

Confederate soldiers

4 more Southern states seceded in 1861 when Lincoln called for military volunteers

to “preserve the Union”

5 Border States: Missouri, Kentucky, W. Virginia

(formed in 1863), Maryland and Delaware remained with

Union.

The Secession Crisis

Strategies & Advantages The Union strategy during the war was

called the Anaconda Plan: Blockade the coast, seize the

Mississippi River to divide the South, & take control of Richmond, Virginia- the capital of the South

Exploit South’s dependency on foreign trade & its inability to manufacture weapons

Relied on Northern advantages in population, industry, & military

Blockade the Southern coast

Take control of the Mississippi River

Divide the West from South

Take the CSA capital at Richmond

Ulysses Grant in the

West

George McClellan

was in charge of

Army of the Potomac

Strategies & Advantages The Confederate strategy during the war

was an Offensive Defense: Protect Southern territory from “Northern

aggression” but attack into Union territory when the opportunity presents itself

Get Britain & France to join their cause because of European dependency on “King Cotton”

Drag out the war as long as possible to make the North quit

Political Leadership During the Civil WarDuring the Civil War, President Lincoln used “emergency powers” to

protect “national security”:•Suspended habeas corpus (Laws requiring evidence before citizens can be jailed)

•Closed down newspapers that did not support the war

During the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis

had a difficult time:•The CSA Constitution protected states’ rights so state governors could refuse to send him money or troops

•CSA currency inflated by 7,000% The national government in the USA & CSA relied on volunteer armies in the beginning,

but soon needed conscription (draft) to supply their armies with troops

New York City Draft Riots

Fighting the Civil War 1861-1865

Fighting the Civil War: 1861-1865 From 1861 to mid-1863, the Confederate army

was winning the Civil War: Defensive strategy carried out by superior

Southern generals like Robert E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson

Disagreements among military & political leaders in the North

Bull Run (Manassas), 1861: The 1st battle of the Civil

War; Stonewall Jackson kept the Union army from taking the

CSA capital at Richmond

Shiloh, 1862 (USA)

Seven Pines, 1862 (CSA)

Seven Days, 1862 (CSA)

2nd Bull Run, 1862 (CSA)

New Orleans, 1862 (USA)

From 1861-1862, the CSA had success in the East, but the USA had success

in the West

Antietam, 1862: General Lee’s 1st attempt to invade

outside the CSA was halted by McClellan

Antietam (Maryland), 1862Bloodiest single day loss of lives:

22,000 dead as McClellan and Lee clashed.

Even though the Battle of Antietam ended without a clear winner, it had important effects on the North: The battle convinced Britain & France

not to support the Confederacy in the war

The battle convinced Lincoln that the time was right to make the emancipation of slaves the new focus of the war for the North

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Emancipation Proclamation After Antietam, Lincoln issued the

Emancipation Proclamation: This executive order freed all slaves in

Confederate territories It did not free slaves in the border states

but it gave the North a new reason fight Inspired Southern slaves to escape

which forced Southern whites to worry about their farms

“…all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom...”

Was the Emancipation too little, too late? How did the

emancipation edict affect the politics and military affairs of the

North?

States Impacted by the Emancipation Proclamation

Escaped slaves in NC coming into Union lines

Lincoln, “The Great Emancipator”

Fredericksburg, 1862 (CSA)

Chancellorsville, 1863 The Confederates won, but

Stonewall Jackson was killed; Lee said of Jackson: “He has lost his left

arm, but I have lost my right arm”

After Antietam, the Confederates continued

to win in the East

Conclusions:

1861-1863

Despite being outnumbered & under-equipped, the CSA dominated the fighting in the East from 1861-1863 due to better generals & a defensive strategy

But, the Union Army was having success in the West under the leadership of Ulysses S Grant

By mid-1863, the weight of the Northern population & industrial capacity will

begin to turn the tide of the war in favor of the Union

Essential Question: What factors helped the Union

win the Civil War by 1865?

Note-Taking Questions: Why was the Confederacy able

to win the majority of Civil War battles from 1861 to mid-1863?

Fighting the Civil War: 1861-1865 When the Civil War began, most expected the

fighting to end quickly, but the war lasted until 1865 due to: The commitment of the Union & Confederacy

to “total war” Excellent Southern generals like Robert E.

Lee & Stonewall Jackson Improved, industrial weaponry

Main Thrusts, 1861–1865: Northern strategists at first believed that the rebellion could be snuffed out quickly by a swift, crushing blow. But the stiffness of Southern resistance to the Union’s early probes, and the North’s inability to strike with sufficient speed and severity, revealed that the conflict would be a war of attrition,long and bloody.

New Weapons but Old TacticsNew weapons:

Long-range artillery & the Gatling gun (1st machine gun)

Cone-shaped bullets & grooved barrel rifles for more accuracy

Ironclad naval ships like the USS Monitor & CSS Virginia

Old tactics such as massed formations & frontal assaults. Led to huge casualty rates

Technology of Battle The Technology of Battle

Repeating Weapons Importance of the

Railroad The Telegraph

War by Railroad (NARA)

The Course of Battle

Soldiers guard a train on a Union Army-built trestle on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad near Manassas, Virginia, c. 1863.

(Royalty-Free/CORBIS)

Killing Fields of Antietam, 1862

Dead Union Soldiers at Antietam, 1862 (Library of Congress)

Why was Antietam such a “turning point” in the Civil War?

The Tide of the War Turns in 1863 By 1863, the Confederacy was having difficulty

sustaining the fight: Attempts to lure Britain & France into the war

had failed The Union blockade, limited Southern

manufacturing, & lack of grain fields left CSA soldiers ill-supplied

To pay for the war, the CSA printed money leading to massive inflation

Gettysburg, 1863:In July, Robert E Lee decided to take advantage of his victory at

Chancellorsville & attack Northern soil to end the war quickly by

crushing Union morale

Gettysburg proved to be the turning point of

the war; Lee was halted, the CSA never again attacked Union soil, & the Union army

began winning the war

Vicksburg, 1863: Grant cut off Southern access to Mississippi River & divided

the South into two halves; Grant was then promoted to lead the entire Union army

Watch Gettysburg 1, 2, 3

The most famous speech in American history is also one of the shortest, President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address of 1863.

Why does Lincoln say the Union is fighting this war? How does this differ from his earlier pronouncements earlier in the conflict? To what elements of the American ideological tradition does Lincolnhearken to in this brilliant polemic and heartfelt eulogy?

The principles that our government were founded

upon in 1776This Civil War is a test to see if these principles will

last, because other republics have failed

We need to make sure that the Union wins the Civil War in order to preserve our form

of gov’t

Fighting the Civil War: 1863-1865

Under Grant’s leadership, the Union army was more aggressive & committed to destroy the South’s will to fight: Grant appointed William T. Sherman to lead

Southern campaign Sherman destroyed everything of value to the

South & emancipated slaves during his “march to the sea”

Sherman considered “total war” necessary

to defeat the South The Battle of Atlanta

was a huge victory for the Union because it

took out a major Southern railroad

terminus

Fighting the Civil War: 1863-1865

The election of 1864:Lincoln faced a tough re-election

campaign against George McClellanThe North’s war failures were the key

election issue When Atlanta fell during Sherman’s

“March to the Sea,” Lincoln was overwhelmingly reelected

In his 2nd inaugural address, Lincoln promised a Reconstruction Plan for the Union with “malice towards none & charity for all”

Appomattox, 1865: Grant defeated Leeat Appomattox ending the Civil War

The Start and end of the War

The McLean House in Appomattox Court House(Royalty-Free/CORBIS)

On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at

Appomattox Courthouse, ending the fighting of Civil

War

From 1863-1865, the lack of Southern resources & unity

as well as the Northern advances into the South led to the end of the Civil War

As the Civil War began, politicians and ordinary citizens in both the North and the South were supremely confident of victory. Why did Southerners believe they would triumph? Why did the North ultimately win the war?

The Death of Lincoln Northern celebration was short lived;

On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth

Effects of the WarEffects of the Civil War:

618,000 troops were dead; More than any other U.S. war

The 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865 ending slavery

The war forever ended the states’ rights argument

The South was destroyed; A plan was needed to admit Southern states back into the Union

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“Prisoners from the Front”, by Winslow Homer, 1866 This celebrated painting reflects the artist’sfirsthand observations of the war. Homer brilliantly captured the enduring depths of sectional animosity. The Union officer somewhat disdainfully asserts his command of the situation; the beaten and disarmed Confederates exhibit an out-at the-elbows pride and defiance.

Grave of William H. Johnson, 1864 Johnson was a free black man who worked as Lincoln’s personal valet in Springfield and accompanied him to Washington, D.C. when he assumed the presidency. When lighter-skinned mulatto White House staffers rejected him for his dark skin, Lincoln helped Johnson find other employment in the Treasury and Navy Departments, writing “The bearer of this card, William Johnson (colored), came with me from Illinois, and is a worthy man, as I believe. A. Lincoln.” In November 1863 Lincoln requested that Johnson accompany him to deliver his famous address at Gettysburg, where they both contracted smallpox. Lincoln recovered in a few days; Johnson, with a more severe case, died in January 1864. Lincoln arranged for him to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery and wrote the one word epitaph for his tombstone: “Citizen,” a succinct and stinging rebuke of the racist reasoning of the Dred Scott decision.

Dead on the Battlefield

Dead on the Battlefield