The American Civil War1861-1865

Underlying Issues:

•Sectionalism•States Rights•Slavery

Background Events

• Compromise of 1850• “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”• Kansas Nebraska Act• “Bleeding Kansas”• Dred Scott Decision• John Brown’s Raid• Election of 1860

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Novel1852

Kansas-Nebraska Act Stephen Douglas

Bleeding Kansas

Dred Scott Decision 1857

Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney

Slaves are not citizens, therefore they have no legal rightsThe 36-30 Line is unconstitutional. Slaves as property can taken anywhere

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. 1859

The Election of 1860

The Republican Ticket

Lincoln vs. Douglas

SecessionSouth Carolina leads the way

Fort SumterApril 12, 1861

Charleston Harbor, S.C.

Union Major Robert Anderson and Confederate PGT Beauregard

The Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America

President Jefferson Davis and V.P. Alexander Stephens

Northern Advantages

• Established Industry• Existing Wealth/treasury• Large population• Established transportation/Railroads• Existing Navy• Political leadership of Lincoln

Southern Advantages

• Strong military leadership• Familiar with the territory• Strong incentive to fight for “home &

hearth”• Many soldiers familiar with weapons

and the out of doors• Did not have to defeat their

enemy/make the war too costly to fight

Northern Disadvantages

• Unfamiliar with the territory/war fought on Southern soil

• Questionable military leadership• Had to defeat a highly motivated

enemy• Questionable motivation of its troops

(especially by mid-point of the war. Many conscripts did not want to fight to free the slaves)

Southern Disadvantages

• Few resources• Poor transportation network• Little industry• Small population• Reluctance to coordinate war effort

between states• Limited effectiveness of Jefferson

Davis

Northern Strategy

• Take Richmond/Defeat Lee• Control the Mississippi River/divide

the Confederacy• Naval Blockade of the Southern

coastline

Union Generals

Confederate Generals

Robert E. Lee

Thomas “StonewallJackson

James Longstreet

Ulysses S. Grant

William T. Sherman

George McClellan

The IroncladsThe Monitor and the Merrimac

Early Confederate Victories

• First Manassas (Bull Run) 1861• Second Manassas (Bull Run) 1862• Fredericksburg 1862• Chancellorsville 1863

Antietam 1862

The Union “victory” here gives Lincoln occasion to issue the Emancipation

Proclamation to take effect Jan 1 of 1863

The Emancipation Proclamation

The “turning points” of Gettysburg and Vicksburg

July, 1863

Colored troops join the fightNearly 200,000 would serve by

war’s end

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

Pickett’s Charge

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Lincoln vs. McClellan

Lincoln (Rep) and Andrew Johnson (Dem.)

Copperheads

Lincoln’s second inaugural address“with malice toward none and charity for all”

War of attrition

Gen. William T. Sherman’s “march to the sea”

Confederate run prison at Andersonville, Ga.

The execution of Confederate Captain Henry

Wirtz

The fall of Richmond

Surrender at Appomattox Court House

April 9, 1865

Lee’s surrender to Grant

The assassination of Pres. Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre

Washington D.C. April 14, 1865

Gen. Grant would go on to become President Grant

CSA Pres. Jefferson DavisDies 1889

Gen. Robert E. LeeDies 1870

The Reconstruction Period 1865-1877

Andrew JohnsonU.S. Grant

Rutherford B. Hayes