THE OPPOSING SIDESChapter 11 Section 1

Choosing Sides

Once the Civil War began, hundreds of military officers had to choose to support the Union or Confederacy Robert E. Lee-> one the best officers in the U.S.

Army, chose the Confederacy over commanding the Union Army About 1/3 of all officers joined the Confederacy

South contained 7 of 8 military schools = well trained military leaders->military advantage

North had ¾ of U.S. Navy’s officers, also contained most of U.S. warships and shipyards (South had 1)

Robert E. Lee

Advantages

South Had strong military leadership Fighting for just cause

North Larger population Industrial: produced all war materials=more than 90%

of clothing, 93% of unrefined iron=weapons and equipment, produced majority of firearms and gunpowder

Better transportation: more railroad availability Financial: controlled the Nat’l Treasury, revenue from

tariffs, N. Banks held large reserves of money, could pass legislation to raise fund ex. Legal Tender Act

Fighting for just cause

Greenbacks

Greenbacks

Review Question

How was having a larger population than the South an advantage for the North?

In your opinion, what was the North’s greatest advantage?

Disadvantages

South Industrial: limited resources (only one factory

able to manufacture cannons=Tredegar Iron Works),

Transportation: limited railroads ,only had one rail line connecting East to West in Confederacy (Memphis to Chattanooga)

Financial: couldn’t raise sufficient funds for the war effort (small banks=few cash reserves, Union blockades=reduced trade revenue, printing of paper money caused inflation) Eventually taxed southerners=very upset

Review Question

In your opinion, which disadvantage was the most crippling for the South?

Party Politics in the North As the Civil War began, Pres.

Lincoln’s main goal was to preserve the Union Democrats and Republicans were going

to challenge his policies in the process Two Factions of N. Democrats:

1. War Democrats->supported the war & opposed ending slavery

2. Peace Democrats (Copperheads)-> opposed war and called for reuniting through negotiation

Abraham Lincoln

War Democrats

Copperheads

Party Politics in the North One major disagreement between

Dems. and Reps. concerned civil liberties In 1862, Congress passed a militia law

requiring states to use conscription Many Dems. opposed the law->violently

w/ riots Pres. Lincoln suspended writs of habeas

corpus for anyone who openly supported or encouraged others to resist military draft

Review Question

How were Northern Democrats divided over the Civil War?

What was put into place by Congress and eventually caused tensions to rise within the Democratic Party?

Weak Southern Government

Even though he had no opposition in the South, Jefferson Davis still faced political problems Confederate Constitution

Emphasized state’s rights and limited central government’s power Often interfered w/ his ability to conduct war

Jefferson Davis also ran into problems when he supported conscription->enforced by martial law His own Vice-President Alexander Stephens

disagreed, objected to forcing people to join the army Davis eventually also suspended writs of habeas corpus

Jefferson Davis

The Diplomatic Challenges

U.S. Civil War put major gov’ts in Europe in a difficult situation U.S. didn’t want European interference Confederate leaders wanted the exact

opposite-> especially the British Wanted British to declare Union blockade

illegal and assist the Confederates Britain and France->depended on the

South’s cotton Some Southern planters refused to sell cotton

to them unless they recognized the Confederacy

The Diplomatic Challenges

British and French met with the Conf. in May 1861 Neither nation was going to recognize the Conf.

until they witnessed decisive victories in the conflict

Trent Affair -> James Mason (Britain) and John Slidell (France), Conf. ministers to Britain and France, were to leave for Europe Slipped past the blockade and boarded the British

ship Trent Charles Wilkes Union captain of the San Jacinto

intercepted the ship and arrested Mason and Slidell Were eventually released due the threat of war with

Britain

Trent Affair

Trent Affair

Review Question

Why did the Confederacy want Britain and France to recognize them?

Why did the Union want to avoid war with Britain?

The First “Modern” War

1st Modern War Economic and political situation was

very important to outcome Involved huge armies->made up mostly

of civilian volunteers Required vast amount of supplies and

equipment

The First “Modern” War

By 1850’s French and American inventors had improved the new bullet->conoidal->cone shaped More accurate fire

Troops defended positions using trenches and barricades to protect themselves Caused deadly situation for attackers Led to high casualties->attrition

Advantage North-> larger pop.

The South’s Strategy and the Anaconda Plan

Read pg. 555 and 556 Briefly describe the South’s Strategy

to win the U.S. Civil War Briefly describe the Union’s

Anaconda Plan.