SECESSION AND THE CIVIL WAR
Chapter 15
Adjusting to Total War• War defined as effort to preserve Union• North must win by destroying will to resist• Total War: a test of societies, economies, political systems
as well as armies
The Deep South Secedes
• Confederate constitution resembles U.S.– Aim to restore pre-Republican Party Union – Southerners hope to attract Northern states into
Confederacy• Federal response to secession debated– Crittenden Plan: Extend the Missouri Compromise
line to the Pacific– Lincoln rejects compromise
Resources of the Union and the Confederacy, 1861
Strategies and Advantages
North
• More industry• Larger population• Navy/organized military • Organized government• Railroads• Stronger economy • Strategy was to capture
capital and split South in two (Mississippi River campaign)
South
• Fighting for way of life• Leadership• Knew territory• Strategy was to fight a
defensive war (war of attrition) and get recognized by foreign nations for support of their cause
Overview of Civil War Strategy
Mobilizing the Home Fronts
North • Abraham Lincoln
– Expands wartime powers – Declares martial law
(Imprisons 10,000) – Briefly suspends freedom of
speech– Suspends Habeas Corpus – Conscription Act 1862 (draft)– Finance war through taxes,
bonds, paper money, and private business
South
• Jefferson Davis– Concerned mainly with
military duties – Neglects civilian morale,
economy– Efforts to finance lead to
runaway inflation– Conscription Act 1862 (draft)– Lacks influence with state
governments
Overall War Effort
North• For the first two years war
becomes disastrous • By 1863, riots break out over
Conscription Act• Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 is
turning point of the war• Lincoln Emancipates slaves to
help war effort (54th Mass)• North continues to press on
until South eventually cracks
South• For first two years the South
performs beautifully • Push to get support overseas
does not work out• Economic failure and key
defeats in 1863 lead to Southern demise
• South eventually cannot keep up with war effort and surrenders
Effects of the War
• The use of total war was devastating • 618,000 troops dead• Bereft women seek non-domestic roles• Four million African Americans free, not equal• Industrial workers face wartime inflation
Effects of the War• Federal government predominant over states• Federal government takes activist role in the
economy– Higher tariffs, free land, national banking system
• Catalyst for transformation of American society in the late nineteenth century