James A. Henretta
Eric Hinderaker
Rebecca Edwards
Robert O. Self
America’s History
Eighth Edition
America: A Concise History
Sixth Edition
CHAPTER 14
Two Societies at War
1861–1865
Modified by Teddi Baker
Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
I. Secession and Military Stalemate,
1861–1862
A. The Secession Crisis
1. The Lower South Secedes– South Carolina (SC)
seceded first in December 1860, fearing a Lincoln
presidency would end slavery; fire-eaters in the Deep
South called on their states to hold conventions to
consider following SC; MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, and TX
followed by February; declared Confederate States of
America (CSA) with Jefferson Davis as president.
Buchanan did not act decisively; claimed federal
government lacked authority to restore the Union by
force.
• 2. The Crittenden Compromise – President asked Congress to
act; Senator Crittenden (KY) proposed: 1) constitutional
amendment to protect slavery from government interference
where it already existed (approved), 2) expand the Missouri
Compromise line to the CA border, banning slavery north of
line but allowing it to the south (rejected by Republicans who
feared it would unleash new imperialist adventures by
proslavery forces to gain land beyond the borders, such as
Cuba); Lincoln’s inaugural address in March 1861 called the
Union “perpetual” and secession illegal.
I. Secession and Military Stalemate,
1861–1862
B. The Upper South Chooses Sides
1. Union responds– Northerners joined the war
effort quickly; OH was asked to provide 13
regiments and supplied 20; northern Democrats
supported Lincoln (including Stephen Douglas);
Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen to serve for 90
days.
• 2. Middle and border states – Decision of these
states was crucial; the eight border and middle states
accounted for two-thirds of the whites in the
slaveholding states; VA sided with Confederacy as did
AK, TN, and NC; in northwestern VA, yeomen broke
away and became part of Union (admitted in 1863 as
WV); DE and MO sided with Union; MD was occupied
and secured by Unionists who seized the state’s
government; negotiation kept KY in Union.
I. Secession and Military Stalemate,
1861–1862
C. Setting War Objectives and Devising Strategies
1. Union Thrusts Toward Richmond– Lincoln rejected
General Winfield Scott’s strategy of peaceful
persuasion through economic sanctions and a naval
blockade; instead, he insisted on an aggressive military
campaign to restore the Union; hoped a quick strike
against the Confederates at Richmond would end the
rebellion; attack at Manassas (Bull Run) led to panic
among Union soldiers who retreated; Union enlisted a
million more men to serve for three years in the new
Army of the Potomac; in 1862, General McClellan
launched major assault, but Confederates fought back;
war continued and Richmond was still secure.
• 2. Lee Moves North: Antietam – CSA General Lee went on the
offensive; routed Union troops in Second Battle of Bull Run
(1862); headed north into western MD; delays on the Union
side kept Lee moving towards Antietam Creek (MD); horrible
Union casualties and savage warfare; battle at Antietam on
September 17, 1862 remains bloodiest day in U.S. military
history: 4800 dead and 18,500 wounded (3000 of whom later
died); because of Lee’s retreat, Lincoln claimed a victory, but
problems continued.
• 3. The War in the Mississippi Valley – Union had success in the
Midwest gaining the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers; Union
naval forces commanded by David G. Farragut struck the
Confederacy from the Gulf of Mexico; captured the South’s
financial center and largest city, New Orleans (took control of
1500 plantations and 50,000 slaves); workers on some
plantations looted their owners’ mansions; others refused to
labor unless they were paid wages. Union victories
significantly undermined Confederate strength in the
Mississippi River Valley.
II. Toward Total War
A. Mobilizing Armies and Civilians
1. The Military Draft– Initially, patriotic fervor filled
both armies with eager volunteers; however, death
toll discouraged enlistment and both sides soon
needed draft. In April 1862, Confederate States of
America imposed first draft in U.S. history: existing
soldiers would serve duration of war, and men
ages 18-35 would serve three years (increased to
age 45 in September 1862). South’s draft had two
controversial loopholes: for every 20 slaves
supplied, one white man would be exempt;
secondly, men could hire substitutes. Union taxed
those who refused to serve or sympathized with
• 2. Women in Wartime – Approximately
200,000 women volunteered for the Sanitary
Commission and the Freedman’s Aid Society;
nursed family members; worked as paid
nurses, clerks, and factory operatives;
Dorothea Dix named superintendent of
female nurses. Women took over farm tasks;
filled jobs in schools and offices; worked as
spies, scouts, and soldiers (in disguise).
II. Toward Total War
B. Mobilizing Resources
1. Republican Economic and Fiscal Policies– The North’s
economy was far superior to that of the South: more output, twothirds of railroads, and two-thirds of population. Southerners hoped
to trade cotton for much needed supplies. Congress enacted a
neomercantilist program of government-assisted economic
development; imposed high tariffs, offered “free land” to farmers
through the Homestead Act (1862), closed local banks, and forced
the states/people to accept federal charters and regulations; made
plans for a transcontinental railroad. Industries grew to feed/clothe
the soldiers. Union spending increased dramatically; Legal Tender
Act of 1862 introduced “greenbacks” (paper currency).
• 2. The South Resorts to Coercion and Inflation
– CSA left economic matters to state
governments in the beginning; eventually had
to build and operate shipyards, armories, and
textile mills; commandeered food, coal, iron,
copper, and lead; reluctant to tax slaves and
cotton; paid 60 percent of its war costs by
printing paper money, which led to massive
price inflation and food rioting.
•
•
•
1. Describe the central action of this image.
(Answer: Two women prepare a horse-drawn
cart for a journey; two children are seated at the
back of the cart full of furniture; men and
children stand nearby.)
2. What does this image teach us about the lives
of American women during the Civil War?
(Answer: The military service of men left women
with all familial and economic responsibilities;
here women are packing up and moving the
family on their own, a level of independence
that would have been unacceptable in
peacetime; southern women were vulnerable to
the hardship as the war forced families off of
their plantations.)
III. The Turning Point: 1863
A. Emancipation
1. “Contrabands” – Abolitionists began to demand
emancipation as part of war effort; slaves who
escaped to Union armies called “contrabands of
war”; Confiscation Act of 1861: authorized seizure
of property used to support the rebellion; Radical
Republicans worked for legislation that would end
slavery in the rebellious states and outlaw slavery
in the federal territories.
• 2. The Emancipation Proclamation – Lincoln
initially rejected emancipation as a war aim,
but in August 1862, he publicly linked black
freedom with the preservation of the Union;
slavery could continue in those states that had
not rebelled (MD, MO) and areas occupied by
Union armies (parts of TN, western VA,
southern LA); Lincoln called emancipation an
“act of justice.”
III. The Turning Point: 1863
B. Vicksburg and Gettysburg
1. The Battle for the MississippiMississippi –
General Grant sought to split the Confederacy in
two; achieved the surrender at Vicksburg, MS; took
regions of Louisiana; slaves began deserting
region Gulf of Mexico.
.
• 2. Lee’s Advance and Defeat – Gettysburg, PA,
July 1863; Union victory was hard won; after
three days, there were 28,000 CSA deaths and
23,000 Union deaths; last effort by the CSA to
invade the North; increased the power of
Republican Party and its supporters
IV. The Union Victorious, 1864–1865
A. Soldiers and Strategy
1. The Impact of Black Troops– Many northern
whites were initially offended by blacks fighting for
the Union. Emancipation Proclamation changed
public thinking on this issue; northern whites now
accepted that blacks would fight and die for the
cause. In 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s
heroic and costly attack on Fort Wagner (SC) was
critical in changing perspective on black soldiers;
discrimination was widespread, but changes to pay
were achieved.
• 2. Capable Generals Take Command – General
Ulysses S. Grant (March 1864) implemented
President Lincoln’s new strategy; Grant
focused not just on battles but on mobilization
against southern society (disruption); ordered
two major offensives: Grant personally took
charge of the Army of the Potomac and set
out to destroy Lee’s forces in Virginia, and he
ordered General William Sherman to invade
Georgia and take Atlanta.
• 3. Stalemate – Psychological toll of fighting
was enormous on both sides; as morale
declined, soldiers deserted; trench warfare
and scorched-earth campaign revealed
desperation to end the war.
IV. The Union Victorious, 1864–1865
B. The Election of 1864 and Sherman’s March
1. The National Union Party Versus the Peace
Democrats– Republican Party supported Lincoln
for reelection, demanded the surrender of the CSA
and called for end to slavery; Republicans called
themselves the National Union Party; Democrats
did not want emancipation, but they were split into
two camps over war policy.
• 2. The Fall of Atlanta and Lincoln’s Victory –
After taking control of Atlanta, Lincoln
promised the war would continue; National
Union Party labeled Peace Democrats
“copperheads” (poisonous snakes); Lincoln
won; 1864 Maryland and Missouri changed
their state constitutions and called for
emancipation.
• 3. William Tecumseh Sherman: “Hard War” Warrior –
Commanded the Union Army of the Tennessee;
moved South with his army, demolishing whatever
was in their path; many CSA soldiers were
demoralized and abandoned; treated as a savior by
Georgia’s black population; issued Special Field Order
No. 15, which set aside 400,000 acres for the use of
freedmen; invaded South Carolina and met up with
General Grant in North Carolina to fight General Lee.
• 4. The Confederate Collapse – Class
resentment among the CSA weakened the
Confederacy; desertions increased; Lee
surrendered at Appomattox Court House,
Virginia.