Civil War
1861-1865
Background
• 1860-slavery dominated American life
like no other issue in American history
• North and South see each others as
enemies
• Churches split into northern and
southern factions
• Southern well-to-do families no longer
head up north for vacation
• Southern, wealthy families, pull their
sons out of Harvard and Princeton an
place them in the University of the
South located in Sewanee, Tennessee
Southern
schools drove
out northern
faculty!
Slave States
Territories
Slave States
Free States
Lincoln v. Douglas
Election of 1860
• Four candidates:
Lincoln: Republican
Douglas: Northern
Democrat
Bell: Constitutional
Union Party
Breckenridge:
Southern Democrat
Election of 1860
Candidate
Electoral Votes
Popular Vote
Lincoln
180
1,870,000
Douglas
12
1,380,000
Breckenridge
72
840,000
Bell
39
590,000
• What Southerners feared was now a
reality – a man based on the idea of
antislavery had won the presidency
• December 20, 1860 - South Carolina
met in convention and unanimously
adopted an ordinance of secession
Southern Secession
• February 1861delegates from seven
states met in Alabama
to adopt a new
constitution and elected
Jefferson Davis
president
• South Carolina,
Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas
Upper South
• The upper South was
undecided on
secession, but the
Confederacy needed
them for economic and
military reasons
• Republican party
refused to do anything
to bring these Southern
states back in- they had
won the election fair
and square!
Northern Reaction
• South did not have the constitutional right to
secede
• Secession was a fancy name for a rebellion
• Since act was unconstitutional , Northerners
believed it was their duty to put down the
rebellion
• Federal authority in the South silently
collapsed as these officials took the same
position under the Confederacy
Forts in Confederate Territory
• Two forts were built to
protect the U.S. against
foreign enemies; Ft.
Pickens in Pensacola,
Florida and Ft. Sumter
in Charleston, South
Carolina
• Both garrison
commanders retained
allegiance to the Union
and would not lower
their flag!
Ft. Sumter
• Reinforcements were
sent to Sumter but
never made it because
of gunfire from South
Carolina
• Lincoln still wanted to
wait until there was a
covert act by the South
• But Sumter is short on
supplies – Lincoln
warns S.C. that he is
only sending food, not
weapons or men
• S.C. and the
Confederacy felt
pressure to prove
that they were an
independent
nation–
independent
nations do not
allow foreign
troops on their
soil!
S.C. decides to act
before the ship
arrives
April 12, 1861 –
Confederates fire
on Ft. Sumter
In 24 hours the fort was
rubble – Major Anderson
surrendered – but there were
no deaths
The first shots of the civil
war were fired
WAR!!!!
An Insurrection Exists!
• April 15, 1861 –
Lincoln issued a
proclamation that an
insurrection existed
in the boundaries of
the U.S
• (by calling it an insurrection,
rather than a war, the U.S. is
not recognizing the legitimacy
of the Confederacy –
Rebellion, not a war)
• Lincoln called for
75,000 troops for 3
months
More States Secede
• Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee,
and Virginia all joined the Confederacy
= 11 states total
• Yet, the Confederate flag has 13
stars….???
• The Confederacy hoped Missouri and
Kentucky would join, but they do not!
1st Flag of Confederate
States of America (CSA)
Border States
Kentucky
Missouri
Maryland
Delaware
• These states were
key to both the Union
and the Confederacy
• All stayed!
• Maryland(surrounds
Washington, D.C.) and
Kentucky(industry/resourc
es) were the most
important
North: Advantages
1. Had double the Confederacy’s population
2. North out produced the South in corn and
wheat
3. Twice as many horses as the South
4. 9/10s of nation’s industrial capacity
5. Twice as many railway lines
South: Advantages
1. Union was on the offensive
2. South was fighting for their
families and way of life
3. Fought on their own terrain near
supply lines
4. Just had to resist long enough to
win
Battles Begin
•
Battles generally
have two names:
1. North – referred to
them by the names
of creeks and rivers
2. South- referred to
them by names of
towns
First Battle:Bull Run
• July 1861 – Union and Confederate troops
meet at Manassas junction
• Most units had little organization, no
standard discipline or training, no
standardized weapons or uniforms
• This made it difficult to tell who the enemy
was!
• Neither army had a clear chain of command
• Under the guidance of
Stonewall Jackson,
the Confederacy got
the upper hand and
claimed victory when
the Union troops ran
away
• This battle let both
sides know that it was
going to be a long war
• Lincoln now called for
500,000 troops for five •For the remainder of 1861,
there were no major battles
years
because both sides had to
gather better armies
First Modern War
• The Civil War is often
referred to as the first
modern war because of
the use of the rifled
musket
• Rifling allowed bullets
to travel at a velocity of
3 to 5 times faster than
previous muskets
• This lead to increased
wounded and dead
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• July 1863- meet their accidentally and a
battle developed
• Union stood strong for three days, even after
Lee sent 1/3 of his army to attack dead center
at Cemetery Ridge
• Great Union victory
• Bloodiest battle of the war
• Lee lost 1/3 of his army!
The Human
Price of
War
Generals: Stonewall Jackson
• Graduate of West Point, he
earned his generalship
during the Mexican War
• Earned his name
“Stonewall” after 1st Bull run
• Became a major general and
took command of
Confederate forces in the
Shenandoah Valley
• Successful in many battles,
he was Lee’s greatest
Lieutenants until he was
shot accidentally by
Confederate fire at the
retreat at Chancellorsville
• He died of pneumonia
shortly after
Generals: Robert E. Lee
• Graduate of West Point
• 1st offered field command of
UNION troops by Lincoln –
refused
• Lee was against secession
and slavery, but felt too
much loyalty to Virginia
• His defeat and retreat at
Gettysburg constituted the
turning point of the war
• Spent most of the war as
commander of the Northern
Virginia troops
• Became commander of all
Confederate armies in Feb.
1865
Generals: Ulysses S. Grant
• Graduate of West Point
• Earned the title of
“unconditional
surrender Grant”
• Had many victories in
the West
• Became supreme
commander of the
Union forces March
1864
• He wore down Lee’s
forces forcing Lee to
surrender at
Appomattox, Va. April
9, 1865
Generals: William T. Sherman
• Graduate of West Point
• Given command in
Kentucky in 1861
• After Shiloh was
promoted to major
general
• Captured Atlanta then
began his “March to the
Sea” to capture
Savannah, Georgia
(1864)
• Took command of U.S.
army in 1869 after Grant
became president
Emancipation Proclamation
• To retain the loyalty of the border states Lincoln had
resisted demands of the radical Republicans for
abolition
• He modifies his position to help the war effort by
offering a moral reason for the Union to fight
• The Proclamation declared that slaves in all areas
still in rebellion were “then, thencefoward, and
forever free.”
• This actually freed no slaves for it applied only to
areas in which the government exercised no control
Sherman’s March to the Sea
• Georgia
• Sherman led 62,000
men without
supplies
• Orders were to live
off the country and
destroy war
supplies, public
buildings, railroads
and factories
• His army exceeded
instructions by acts
of pillage
• By bringing the war
home to civilians by
destruction of
goods, rather than
life, Sherman is
often as the first
modern general
Start
The South Surrenders
• Union soldiers
surround Lee in Virginia
– no possible escape
route
• Confederate troops
desperate – many
starving – North’s
blockade and
Sherman’s march
worked by strangling
the South through
cutting off access to
supplies
• April 9, 1865
Appomattox Court House,
Virginia
Lincoln Assassinated!
• 10:15pm on April 14,
1865 (Good Friday)
Lincoln was shot by
John Wilkes Booth, a
radical Confederate
supporter, while
watching a performance
of Our American Cousin
• He was carried
unconscious across the
street where he died
just before 7:30am the
next morning
Booth’s Escape Route
Booth escaped to
Virginia, but was
caught in a barn
near Bowling
Green
He refused to
surrender, the
barn was fired on
but it is believed
that he probably
shot himself
Results of the War
• 600,000 dead
• South destroyed
• Slavery ends with the Thirteenth Amendment,
December 18, 1865
• Who will be responsible for deciding how to deal
with the rebellious South? Congress? The
president?
• Will the new president, Andrew Johnson, a
southerner, follow Lincoln’s Plan for
Reconstruction?
• What will the status of the freemen be?