The Civil War1861-1865

A Ride for Liberty-The Fugitive Slaves by Eastman Johnson

The Election of 1860

• Charleston Democratic Convention– 2/3rds rule and southern opposition to Stephen A.

Douglas keep Democrats from selecting nominee• Democrats split at Baltimore Convention

– Southern Rights Democratic Party nominates John C. Breckinridge

– Regular Democrats go with Douglas• Constitutional Union Party

– John Bell

1858 Debates: “House Divided” Speech

• A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.

The Republicans Nominate Lincoln

• Republicans needed 2 out of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana

• William H. Seward– “Higher law” speech

(1850)– “Irrepressible Conflict”

(1858)

• Abraham Lincoln

• Republican platform• Exclusion of slavery

from territories• Higher tariffs• Homestead Act• Federal aid for

internal improvements

Southern Fears

• “Black Republicanism”

• Implications for the South if Lincoln wins

• Results– Lincoln received less than 40% of popular

vote– Won electoral college by substantial margin

Election of 1860

The War Begins

– Lincoln inaugurated in March 1861 as the first Republican president

– Assured southerners that he would not interfere in slavery.

– Warned that no state had the right to break up the Union.

Compromise Proposals

• John J. Crittenden– Crittenden Compromise– Lincoln opposed

• “peace convention” – hope for the 8 remaining slave states to reject secession

• None of the secessionist states would consider a compromise

Fort Sumter

– Located in the harbor of Charleston, it was cut off from supplies by the South.

– Lincoln announced he would send supplies.

– South fired upon the fort on April 12, 1861 and it surrendered to the South after 2 days.

Fort Sumter Today

Use of Executive Power

• Extended use of executive powers and powers as commander in chief without approval from Congress.

• Called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the “insurrection” in the South.

• Authorized spending for the war.• Suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas

corpus.

Secession of the Upper South

– Before Fort Sumter, only 7 states had seceded.

– VA, NC, TN, and AR only seceded after it became clear Lincoln would use force.

– Capital: Richmond

The Border States

• Delaware firmly union

• Northern occupation of Maryland

• Missouri– “bushwhackers” vs. “jayhawkers”

• Unionists win elections in Kentucky and Maryland

Secession Map

Keeping the Border States in the Union

– DE, MD, MO, and KY remained in the Union because of Union sentiment and the use of troops in these areas.

– Guerrilla forces were active throughout the war.

– Their loss would have increased the Confederacy’s population by 50 percent and hurt the North’s military position.

The Creation of West Virginia

• Fifth Union border state

• Delegates from western part of Virginia had voted against secession– Wanted to break away from state of Virginia

• West Virginia became a new state and entered the Union, 1863

The Confederate States of America

– modeled after the U.S. Constitution– Non-successive 6 year term for the

presidency– presidential item veto– Jefferson Davis attempted to increase

presidential powers, but failed.– “States’ rights” turned into a problem for

the South.

Mobilizing for War

• “citizen soldiers”

• Four-fifths of soldiers on both sides were volunteers, despite both sides passing conscription acts

• Not professionally trained soldiers– Egalitarian attitudes– Lacking in discipline

The Balance Sheet of War

• Enlistment of Black soldiers– Union allowed it– Confederacy did not, until the end of the war

• Advantages:– North much greater population– Northern economic superiority– Southern military prowess

• Neither side anticipated length or intensity of the Civil War

Strategy and Morale

• Union faced vast geographic territory of the South to invade and conquer

• Confederacy required withstanding and outlasting Northern efforts

• Confederacy had superior morale

Weapons and Tactics

• Rifles

• “minié ball”– Rapid load and fire – Greater accuracy

Weapons used

Logistics

• Civil War considered 1st modern logistical war– Railroads, steam-powered ships, telegraph– Vulnerable communications and supply lines– Inland: dependence on animal-powered transport

• Horses, mules

• Confederacy improvised well, but had too little to work with

• As war progressed, northern economy grew stronger, southern economy grew weaker

Financing the War

• Confederacy– Treasury notes and inflation

• Union– Most funds raised by bonds– Legal Tender Act (1862) and “greenbacks”

• National Banking Act of 1863

First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861)

• 30,000 federal troops marched from D.C. to Manassas Junction, VA

• Confederates under Stonewall Jackson counter attacked and forced the Union to retreat

• The battle ended the illusion of a short war and promoted the myth that the Confederates were invincible.

• George B. McClellan: too cautious

Union Strategy: General Winfield Scott

• Use the U.S. navy to blockade all southern ports (Anaconda Plan)

• Divide the Confederacy in two by controlling the Mississippi River.

• Raise and train 500,000 soldiers to take Richmond.

Peninsula Campaign

• McClellan, the new commander of the Union in the East, insisted on a long period of training.

• Invaded VA in March 1862 and was stopped by Lee’s superior tactics.

• McClellan was forced to retreat after five months and was replaced by General John Pope.

Second Battle of Bull Run• Attention focused on

Virginia• Lee attacked Pope before

McClellan could assist with reinforcements

– Union forces retreat

• Lee continued to invade Maryland

– Serious consequences:• Maryland might fall to the

Confederates• Democrats could gain

control of Congress• Britain and France might

recognize the Confederacy

Antietam (September 1862)

• Lee moved into Maryland in the hope that a win in the North would convince Britain to support the South.

• Lincoln had given back the Union command to McClellan.

• Union intercepted the Confederates at Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, MD.

• Bloodiest day of war: 22,000 killed or wounded.• Lee retreated to VA.• Lincoln blamed McClellan for not pursuing Lee and

removed him as commander for a final time.• Although a draw, it did stop the Confederates from

getting support from Britain.• Used this partial win as the basis for the Emancipation

Proclamation.

The Battle of Antietam

Fredericksburg

• Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan.

• Burnside attacked at Fredericksburg, VA and lost 12,000 to the Confederate’s 5,000.

Monitor vs. Merrimac (March 1862)

• The Merrimac was a former Union ship rebuilt as an ironclad, renamed the Virginia, and used to sink Union ships.

• The Union built its own ironclad, the Monitor, and fought a five hour battle with the Merrimac near Hampton Roads, VA.

• The battle was a draw, but allowed the Union to keep its Anaconda Plan in place.

• Revolutionized naval warfare

Battle at Hampton Roads

Grant in the West

• In early 1862, Grant used a combination of gunboats and army maneuvers to capture Forts Henry and Donelson on the Cumberland River.

• 14,000 Confederates were taken prisoner and opened up the Mississippi to Union attack.

• The Confederates under Albert Johnston surprised Grant at Shiloh, TN, but Grant forced the Confederate retreat after over 23,000 were killed and wounded.

• The capture of New Orleans by Union naval commander David Farragut aided Grant’s drive down the Mississippi.

Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy

– Trent Affair• Confederate diplomats James Mason and

John Slidell were on way to Britain aboard the Trent.

• Union warship stopped the Trent and brought Mason and Slidell back as prisoners of war.

• Britain threatened war unless they were released.

Confederate Raiders

• Confederates purchased British ships for raiding.

• U.S. minister to Britain, Charles Francis Adams, convinced the British to stop selling ships to the Confederates.

Failure of Cotton Diplomacy

• Britain was able to get cotton from Egypt and India.

• The Emancipation Proclamation appealed to the British.

The End of Slavery

– Lincoln was hesitant over the issue of slavery.

• wanted support of border states• constitutional protection was needed to end

slavery• prejudices of northerners• fear that it could be overturned in the next

election

Confiscation Acts

• Union Army could confiscate Confederate property.

• Thousands of escaped slaves fled to Union camps.

Emancipation Proclamation

• Lincoln portrayed emancipation as a means to saving the Union

• Did not go into effect until 1-1-1863

• Only freed slaves in areas under rebellion

– Excluded states that did not secede– Excluded states that were occupied already

Freedmen in the War

• ¼ of slaves walked away from slavery to seek protection of the Union Army

• 200,000 African –Americans served in the Union Army

Clement L. Vallandigham

The Rise of the Copperheads

• Lincoln’s support waned significantly in winter, 1863

• Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio– Powerful Peace Democratic spokesman– Arrested and convicted for treason and aiding

and abetting the enemy– Banished to the Confederacy for his sentence– Runs for governor of Ohio from exile in

Canada, but loses

Economic Problems in the South

• South suffered from food shortages and hyperinflation

• Richmond Bread Riot (1863)

The Wartime Draft and Class Tensions

• Confederate draft– paid substitutes and used slaves– “rich man’s war, poor man’s fight”

• Union draft– Bounty jumpers– Substitutes– Democrats inflame tensions over draft– New York City Draft Riot (1863)

• Class tensions

Blueprint for Modern America

• 37th Congress– Homestead Act – Morrill Land-Grant College Act – Pacific Railroad Act

Women and the War

• Female casualties• Clerical jobs open to women in the north• Clara Barton• Women’s Central Association for Relief

– Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell– United States Sanitary Commission

• National Woman Suffrage Association– Elizabeth Cady Stanton– Susan B. Anthony

Female Spies

Frances Clayton

Source: The National Archives

Sarah Rosetta Wakeman

The Gettysburg Campaign

• Lee invades north June 1863• Lee’s forces meet Union army under

George Gordon Meade 7-1-1863• James Longstreet• Lee orders attacks on union flanks, they

fail • “Pickett’s Charge”: attack in the center, it

fails• Lee retreats 7-4-1863

The Battle of Gettysburg

The Vicksburg Campaign

• Grant’s campaign and control of the Mississippi River

• Joseph Johnston– Confederate leader– Surrendered Vicksburg 7-4-1863

Chickamauga and Chattanooga

• Confederates abandon Knoxville and Chattanooga, losing only East-West rail link

• Chickamauga: Confederate ambush

• Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge

• Grant appoint general-in-chief of union army

Black Men in Blue

• Frederick Douglass– Blacks fighting for union would guarantee citizenship

• Field commanders start forming Black regiments from slaves they freed– Non-combat roles– Paid less than whites– Officers were white

• 54th Massachusetts Infantry– Robert Gould Shaw

Frederick Douglass and Robert Gould Shaw

The Atlanta Campaign

• Sherman’s army in Georgia– Accomplished more at less cost than Grant

• Kennesaw Mountain

• John Bell Hood– Replaced Johnston– Three counterattacks left Confederates

defeated

Peace Overtures

• Horace Greeley– U.S. sentiments yearned for peace

• Lincoln refused to drop the Emancipation Proclamation as a condition of peace

• Democrats nominated McClellan for President– Peace campaign

The Prisoner-Exchange Controversy

• Prisoner exchanges for 1st part of war, no large prison camps needed

• Exchange ends after Confederates threat to kill Black soldiers and their white officers– Fort Pillow Massacre– Generally not enforced, Blacks returned to their masters

• Prison camps– Overcrowded, poorly constructed– 12% of Confederate prisoners died, 16% of Union– Andersonville

• Lincoln refuses to renew exchanges unless Black and White prisoners treated the same

The Issue of Black Soldiers in the Confederate Army

• Winter of 1864-65: Confederates desperate

• Confederate government agrees to recruit slaves

The Capture of Atlanta

• Month-long stalemate at Atlanta front

• Sherman’s army attacked and captured railroad into Atlanta

• Atlanta falls to Sherman September 1864

From Atlanta to the Sea

• Union armies destroy Confederate property, railroads, factories, farms that supported the Southern Army

• Sherman’s forces burned one-third of Atlanta and marched to Savannah, wrecking most everything along the way

William Tecumseh Sherman

Fort Fisher and Sherman’s March through the Carolinas

• Fall of Fort Fisher ends blockade running

• Sherman’s march of destruction from Savannah into South Carolina

• War could not end until Confederate forces surrendered

The Road to Appomattox

• Sheridan’s cavalry and Five Forks

• Lee Abandons Richmond and Petersburg

• Lee surrenders to Grant

The Assassination of Lincoln

• Ford’s Theatre, April 1865

• John Wilkes Booth

• Confederate armies continued to surrender April – June

• Jefferson Davis: captured in Georgia

Conclusion

• Civil War cost 625,000 lives

• Since 1865, no state has seriously threatened secession

• 1865: Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and ensured liberty of all Americans

• Regional transfer of power from South to North