The Civil War - Springtown ISD · 2015-12-02 · Had to fight an offensive war with longer supply lines ... one big farm Hearts and minds devoted to the cause As it seceded, seized

1861-1865

Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861

Two Combatants

Sometimes called the first modern war

Mass armies fighting with weapons forged out of the Industrial Revolution

Large numbers of casualties

Less distinction between military and civilian targets

Initially, war stimulated powerful feelings of patriotism, and recruits hastened to enlist, thinking the war would be short and glorious

Both sides later resorted to a draft

The Union

President: Abraham Lincoln

Advantages Larger population-22 million

Most of the country’s industry

Efficient rail system

Controlled the navy

Support of border states

Capable leadership; ex. Ulysses S Grant

Disadvantages Had to fight an offensive war with longer supply lines

Had to defeat the Confederates defending home and family

President: Jefferson Davis

Advantages:

Excellent generals; ex. Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson

Fighting on the defensive

Cotton a profitable resource; one big farm

Hearts and minds devoted to the cause

As it seceded, seized arsenals and other public property

Disadvantages

Population of only 9 million (3.5 million slaves)

Limited industry, fewer rail lines

The Confederacy

Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition

Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Figure 14.1 Resources For War: Union Versus Confederacy


Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant

Railroads moved troops and supplies

Ironclads Monitor and Merrimac transformed naval warfare

Telegraph, observation balloons, and even hand grenades and submarines were used for the first time.

Long range rifles replaced the musket leading to large numbers of casualties

Technology of War



Battle of the Iron-clads Monitor and Merrimac

Both sides used propaganda to sway public opinion

Using newspapers, telegraph, and photographs

Both struggled with no central banking and no tax system to raise revenue

Problems of purchasing and distributing food, weapons, and other supplies for the armies were huge

Eventually the Union would become the best-fed and best-supplied

Mobilizing Resources

The Northern military plan had 6 components:

1) Slowly suffocate the South by blockading its coasts.

2) Liberate the slaves and undermine the economic foundation of the South.

3) Cut the Confederacy in half by seizing control of the Mississippi River.

4) Dismember the Confederacy by sending troops through Georgia and the Carolinas.

5) Capture its capital at Richmond.

6) Try everywhere to engage the enemy and grind it into submission.

Northern Plans

First Years (1861-1862)

Initially the North experienced a series of crushing defeats in the Eastern campaign.

Lincoln appointed and replaced a number of generals. Union will successfully deflect the Confederates at

Antietam; however at a high cost. Bloodiest single day of the war-22,000 casualties

Confederate ironclad Merrimac (CSS Virginia) failed to break the Union blockade in its battle against the USS Monitor

Grant will have greater success in a series of battles in the West and Admiral David Farragut will capture New Orleans



Map 14.2 The Civil War in the East, 1861 - 1862



Map 14.3 The Civil War in the East, 1861 - 1862

Slavery and the War

Ending slavery was not a goal in the beginning in an effort to retain the border states and preserve the Union

Confederates used slave labor for military purposes

As blacks began to escape, Union commanders began treating escaped slaves as “contraband” of war—property of military value subject to confiscation. Confiscation Acts-series of laws with the intention to free

Confederate slaves

Thousands escaped to the safety of Union lines, crippling many plantations. In areas occupied by northern soldiers, slaves refused to work unless paid.

Radical Republicans and abolitionists including Frederick

Douglass pressed to make the ending of slavery a priority

Antietam provided Lincoln with the military backing to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 23, 1862.

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued a final proclamation. Strengthening the North’s moral cause.

It called for the freeing of all slaves in Confederate territory.

British will not recognize the Confederacy as a result of the Proclamation and the discovery of new cotton resources in Egypt and India.

Emancipation Proclamation


Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company Map 14.4 The Emancipation Proclamation

The Tide Turns

In the spring of 1863, the Union defeated the Southern army at Vicksburg, MS gaining control of the Mississippi River.

In July 1863, the Northern armies defeated Lee’s forces at Gettysburg, PA forcing a Southern retreat.

A cemetery will be dedicated at Gettysburg

Grant will be made commander of all Union forces in early 1864.

General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march through the South will help to break the Confederate spirit



Map 14.6 The Civil War, Late 1864-1865

Election of 1864

Fearing defeat, the Republicans joined with the War Democrats to form the Union Party in the election of 1864. Lincoln's running-mate was Andrew Johnson, a local War Democrat.

The Democrats, including the Copperheads (opposed the war), nominated General McClellan was their presidential candidate.

The Northern Democrats lost the election of 1864; a big defeat for the South for the removal of Lincoln was the last hope for a Confederate victory.

The War Ends

Southern resources will dwindle with the Union blockade, Sherman's March, and Grants successful campaigns in Virginia.

On April 9, 1865, Lee was forced to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

Only five days later, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a celebrated actor, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

25

Political Change

Secession brought Republican majorities to Congress

Arguments of nullification and secession ended

Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus allowing the detention of suspects without giving just cause; designed to eliminate dissent

The Conscription Act allowed for a draft of men ages 20 to 45; July 1863 draft riots erupted in New York City

The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery

Increased tariffs and taxes and sold bonds Morrill Tariff (1861)

Amassed a huge national debt Printed paper money called “greenbacks” Northern manufacturers, railroad businessmen, and

financiers benefited from government policies Republican policy helped growth in the West Homestead Act (1863) offered free 160 acre parcels in the

Great Plains for families that farmed the land for at least 5 years

Pacific Railway Act (1862) authorized the building of a transcontinental RR

Economic Change

Social Change

Women

Stepped in to men’s jobs on farms, in offices, and in factory; served as military nurses, spies, and in aid societies

Contributions gave impetus to women’s suffrage



Filling Cartridges at the U. S. Arsenal of Watertown

Native Americans Soldiers were removed from Indian Territory to fight;

could not stop white settlers

Conflict between whites and federal troops and the Indians increased.

African Americans More than 200,000 served in the Union army and navy

and distinguished themselves; ex. 54th Massachusetts in its assault on Fort Wagner, SC

4 million slaves freed with passage of the 13th Amendment; now had Constitutional protections that previously did not exist.

Social Change (cont.)



This widely reprinted recruiting poster urged

African-American men

Documents

The Civil War - Springtown ISD · 2015-12-02 · Had to fight an offensive war with longer supply lines ... one big farm Hearts and minds devoted to the cause As it seceded, seized