THE AMERICAN CIVIL
WAR
APUSH Unit 5
Chapter 14
I. SECESSION
SECESSION
 South Carolina seceded within 4 days of Lincoln’s
election.
 Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
and Texas joined within 6 weeks.
 4 more states would join after Sumter.
 The first 7 would meet in Montgomery, Alabama in
February 1861 to establish the Confederate States of
America
 Jefferson Davis became the president of the
Confederacy
SECESSION
WHAT WERE SOUTHERN REASONS FOR
SECESSION?
 Tired of being attacked
 Underground Railroad, John Brown
 Abolitionists and Free Soilers
 Felt unrepresented politically when Lincoln got
elected
 Thought North wouldn’t attack
 Especially because the South thought that the North was too
dependent on cotton to attack
 Felt that they were the second American Revolution
THE LEADERS OF THE CONFEDERACY
• Had strong differences:
• Davis wanted to liberate the South from the North
• Stevens wanted a guarantee for protection of states’
rights
L: President
Jefferson Davis
R: VP Alexander
Stevens
II. LAST MINUTE IDEAS
TO PREVENT A WAR
BUCHANAN’S PLAN…OR NOT
 President Buchanan (out of office on March 4, 1861)
maintained a “wait and see” policy.
 Neither Constitution nor precedent helped him
decide what to do and he thought the small army
was more needed in the West.
 Also, he thought that not going to blows meant the
possibility of reconciliation.
 It worked out better for the North when the South
attacked first, because prior to that many
Northerners didn’t want a war
THE CRITTENDEN AMENDMENTS
(ANOTHER OF THOSE THINGS THAT DIDN’T PASS BUT
IS STILL IMPORTANT)
 James Henry Crittenden (KY) came up with a plan:
The Crittenden Amendments.
 Under these, slavery in the territories would be prohibited north
of 36°30’ and allowed south of it. When they became states
they could choose.
 Would ignore Dred Scott and reset the Missouri Compromise
with Popular Sovereignty when they became states
 Lincoln turned this down since he had been elected
to keep slavery out of the territories and he thought
it would force America’s expansionism to take over
southern regions to make more territories.
HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE CIVIL WAR
(THE HISTORY OF HISTORY)
 Nationalist School: late 19 th C James Rhodes: all about slavery and
preserving the union
 Progressives: early 20 th C Charles and Mary Beard: inherent
economic dif ferences – 2 nd American Revolution moved power to
the businesses and away from planters
 Post WWI: James Randall and Avery Craven unnecessary war (like
WWI)
 Neo-nationalist: Post WWII Allan Nevins and David Potter:
irreconcilable dif ferences in morality, politics, culture, social
values, and economy eroded the ties between the sections and set
them on the path to war
 Paranoia: Foner and Genovese: each side saw their way of life being
threatened
 Party Politics: Destruction of Whigs and breakdown of Jacksonian
party system tore apart the last thing that was holding the country
together
 Ethnocultural School: Michael Holt, Late 20 th century: Breakdown of
parties because before parties had agreed NOT to talk about slavery
and had ended up agreeing on most other things. After that slavery
was the only issues left
III. THE WAR: 18611862
FT. SUMTER
April 12, 1861
4:30am
South fired on Union
troops at Ft. Sumter
in the Charleston, SC
Union surrendered
after 34 hours
Casualty:
confederate horse
Kick off battle of the
war
FOUR MORE STATES SECEDE AFTER
FT. SUMTER
BATTLE OF BULL RUN
(1ST MANASSAS)
JULY, 1861
 Union had to get rid of
CSA troops at
Manassas before
moving on to
Richmond
 Politicians from
Washington DC went to
watch the battle and
picnic…
 CSA reinforcements
arrived by train and
routed the Union army
 Confederate Victory
WAR IN THE EAST: 1861-1862
• Lincoln replaced
McDowell with General
George B. McClellan
who put in place The
Peninsula Campaign
• 1862 - McClellan’s
hesitation prevented
him from attacking
Richmond early and by
the time he attacked
he was not able to
reach the city though
he did defeat the
Confederates.
• Lincoln ordered
McClellan back to DC
after the Seven Days
Battle
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
SEPTEMBER 17, 1862
• Single bloodiest day of
the war
• 23,000 Casualties
• Lee was able to withdraw (so N
technically won), but McClellan
has more men and should have
pressed for victory
CIVIL WAR
STRATEGY
 Victors were the
ones who kept the
field, not always
the ones with the
fewer casualties
 Was difficult to
pursue defeated
troops because of
supply line
problems and vast
quantities of
injured
THE ANACONDA CAMPAIGN
The blockade
happened
quickly, but the
Mississippi
Campaign took
time
THE BATTLE OF SHILOH
APRIL 6-7, 1862
Surprise Union
victory at Shiloh led
to control of the
upper Mississippi
By abandoning the
southern Mississippi
to engage at Shiloh,
the Confederacy left
New Orleans open to
attack by Farragut
and Butler
IV. THE HOMEFRONT
CONSCRIPTION IN THE SOUTH –
APRIL 1862
 The first draft in American history
 All able bodied white men from 17-50 were required
to serve for 3 years (originally from 18 -35)
 Exemptions for certain occupations and the 20 -Negro
Law
 You could also hire a substitute, but that ended in
1863
 Only 1 in 5 in the Confederate army was actually a
draftee
THE DRAFT IN THE NORTH –
MARCH 1863
 Made every able bodied, white male from 20 -45
eligible for war
 Had a loophole to either pay the government $300 or
to hire a substitute
 Other exemptions were for high government officials,
ministers, and men who were the sole support of
widows, orphans, or indigent parents
 Bounties were offered for volunteers
 This led to many “bounty jumpers”
 8% of the Union army were draftees or substitutes
NEW YORK CIT Y
DRAFT RIOTS
 Primarily
Irish
immigrants
in protest
of the draft.
 Lots of
violence
against
African
Americans
in NYC
NEW YORK CIT Y DRAFT RIOTS
JULY 13-16, 1863
FINANCING THE WAR
War Bonds
 Both sides issued
bonds, but
required them to
be paid in specie
 The South’s first
bond took almost
all of the specie
 Northerners
preferred to keep
their specie
Printing Paper Money
 Union: The Legal Tender Act
(1862) authorized the printing
of $150 million greenbacks
 Confederacy: never made their
paper money legal tender
 Caused the value of the paper
money to plunge because of
lack of consumer confidence
 South responded by printing
more (= more inflation)
INFLATION IN THE SOUTH
South quickly
became a
barter
economy
LIFE CONTINUES DURING WAR
Economic Deals
 The North and South
continued to trade as
early as July 1861
 Factories in the North
were allowed to trade
goods (bacon, salt,
blankets) with “loyal”
cotton farmers in the
South.
Legislation Passed by
Congress
 1861 – Morrill Tariff Act
 1862 – Homestead Act
 1862 – Legal Tender Act
 1862 – Morrill Land Grant
Act
 1862 – Emancipation
Proclamation - Jan 1 1863
 1863 – Pacific Railway
Act
 1863 – National Bank Act
DEALING WITH DISSENT
 Lincoln was much more willing to crush dissent during the war than
Davis was
 Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in MD so federal
troops could arrest and hold pro -secession Marylanders – kept MD
in the Union
 Led to the case Ex parte Merryman (1861) in which Chief Justice
Taney ruled that Lincoln had exceeded his authority by suspending
the writ of habeas corpus
 Lincoln argued that the writ could be suspended in “cases of
rebellion” and it was his job to determine if rebellion was
happening. He ignored Taney’s ruling
 Ex par te Milligan (1866): civilians can not be tried by military
courts when civil courts are open
 A man was sentenced to death by a military court for conspiring to
free Confederate prisoners
V. THE WAR: 1863
EXCERPT OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
IN EFFECT JANUARY 1 , 1863
 "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty -three, all persons
held as slaves within any State or designated part of a
State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward,
and forever free; and the Executive Government of the
United States, including the military and naval authority
thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of
such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such
persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make
for their actual freedom.”
 What does it say?
 Why was it issued?
EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION
JANUARY 1 ,
1863
• Freed slaves in areas under rebellion where
Union had no authority (didn’t apply to slave
states in the Union or areas the Union had
already conquered).
• Only freed slaves when the army arrived.
• Kept England from helping the South
THE BATTLE OF GETT YSBURG
THE BATTLE OF GETT YSBURG
JULY 1-3, 1863
 Confederate scouts were trying to steal shoes
 Turning Point battle – too many losses for the South
 Meade did not pursue the retreating CSA
VICKSBURG
M AY 1 8 – J U LY 4 , 1 8 6 3
 Grant’s army tried to
capture Vicksburg on May
19 and 22, when this
didn’t work he besieged
the city until they
surrendered on July 4 th
 This coincided with the
Southern loss at
Gettysburg the day before
and the combination is
considered a turning
point. After Vicksburg,
the Union controlled the
Mississippi
THE GETT YSBURG ADDRESS
NOVEMBER 19, 1863
1. What was the immediate purpose of this speech? Long
term?
2. What was the context for this speech? What events had
happened prior to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address that might
have had an impact on both Lincoln and the writing of this
speech?
3. Analyze the focus of the address for the following
audiences and how each audience would have perceived
the purpose of this speech:



Jefferson Davis and the South
Irish Immigrants
Enslaved African Americans
4. What was Lincoln’s Point of View? What factors affected
this?
VI. OTHER ITEMS OF
INTEREST
AFRICAN AMERICAN TROOPS IN THE
UNION ARMY – FIRST ALLOWED IN 1862
 By the end of the war,
186,000 African Americans
had served in the Union
army
 This was 1/10 of the Union
soldiers
 Were only led by white
commanders and were paid
less than white soldiers
 Less likely than whites to be
killed in action, but more
likely to die of disease
 Were not treated as POW’s
by the South when captured
– instead were enslaved or
killed
THE MASSACRE AT FT. PILLOW TN APRIL 12, 1864
 Nathan Bedford Forrest
(Southern General who
captured Ft. Pillow)
ordered black soldiers
killed after they
surrendered (many
white soldiers were
killed as well)
 229 out of 262 African
American soldiers
were killed
 He became the first
Grand Wizard of the Ku
Klux Klan after the
war…
IMPORTANT CONFEDERATE GENERALS
“Stonewall” Jackson
Nathan Bedford
Forrest
George Pickett
Jeb Stuart
James Longstreet
Robert E. Lee
MILITARY LEADERS IN THE NORTH
Leaders of the Army of the
Potomac
 McDowell May -July 1861
 McClellan July 1861 –
Nov 1862
 Burnside Nov 1862- Jan
1863
 Hooker Jan-June 1863
 Meade June 1863 – May
1864
 Grant May 1864 – April
1865
Issues with Union Military
Leadership
 Lincoln wanted Lee…
 Most of these guys
were not very good or
understood the modern
nature of war
 Grant proved himself in
the West and he and
Sherman were able to
finish the war after
Gettysburg
MILITARY TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENTS
 Many weapon attempts were made in the Civil War
that, upon later improvement, would be extremely
important in the 20 th century:
 The Repeating Rifle or Gattling Gun often got stuck during the
Civil War but would be improved upon to change warfare in the
future
 The submarine was still not very successful in this war, but
final improvements would make it viable in WWI
USS Alligator
(1862)
developed
with the help
of the
French
THE RIFLE AND MINIE BALL
 The rifling musket or rifle was used
extensively by both sides in the Civil
War
 Fired further, faster, and more
accurately than a regular musket
 Used a slightly pointed lead slug
called the Minie ball
 Huge advancement in weapon
technology + almost no advancement
in military tactics = much death
THE BATTLE OF THE IRONCLADS –
MARCH 1862
 USS Monitor vs. the CSA Virginia
(formerly Merrimack)
 The CSA ironclads were literally
iron sheets bolted to wooden ships
 The Union Monitor was made
entirely of metal
MEDICINE IN THE WAR
United States Sanitary Commission and other
groups helped to clean up Union hospitals
Dorothea Dix was placed in charge of the
Union Nursing Corps (one of her nurses
nicknamed her Dragon Dix)
Most hospitals in the South were private and
in homes
Still hadn’t figured out germ theory yet…
 Much disease and infection, though some basic
sanitary measures made this war slightly better
WOMEN IN THE WAR
 North and South – women were nurses, worked the
fields, and were spies
 Women in the North tried to extend the fight for
abolition to suffrage – and failed
 Clara Barton is famous for being a battlefield nurse
in the North and then going on to start the American
Red Cross
PRISONERS OF WAR
Union POW’s Record
Union Survivors of
Andersonville
ANDERSONVILLE PRISON
FOR UNION POW’S,
ANDERSONVILLE GA
• Planned to hold
over 10,000
men, had
32,000 at one
time
• Provided no
shelter for the
men, they built
tent-like
structures out
of blankets
• Exposure, lack
of food, and
disease led to
double the
mortality rate of
other
Confederate
camps
VII. THE WAR ENDS:
1864-1865
Sherman’s
March to
the Sea –
Georgia
1864
62,000 troops would make the march from Atlanta to
the sea, destroying over $100 million in property
“We will make war so terrible…that generations would pass before they could
appeal again to it”
THE FALL OF RICHMOND
 On April 3, 1865, Union
troops conquered
Richmond, VA, the
confederate capital.
Southerners had
abandoned the city the
day before and set it on
fire as they left to
prevent the Union from
seizing it.
THE FINAL VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN 18641865
Surrender at
Appomattox
April 9, 1865
VIII. EFFECTS OF THE
WAR
CASUALTIES NORTH AND SOUTH
Confederacy:
260,000 dead
Union:
360,000 dead
CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES COMPARED TO
OTHER AMERICAN WARS
FORD’S THEATER APRIL 14, 1865
THE ASSASSINATION PLAN
Booth shot Lincoln
while another
accomplice stabbed
Secretary of State
Seward, and a third
accomplice failed to
attack VP Johnson.
THE EXECUTION OF CONSPIRATORS
LINCOLN’S FUNERAL PROCESSION