Chapter 11 Section 1

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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)

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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

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How was having a larger population than the
South an advantage for the North?
In your opinion, what was the North’s greatest advantage?

 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

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

 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

 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

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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?

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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

 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

 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

 Why did the Confederacy want Britain and
France to recognize them?
 Why did the Union want to avoid war with
Britain?

 1 st 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

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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.

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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.