Written by: Greg Clevenger
Overview
• Civil War among
bloodiest of all wars
• High death toll
• America could have
become two nations
United States 1861
North and South
• Historical, political, and
economic differences
• North had more people,
industry, and money
• South was primarily
agricultural
1861 – 1865
• Starts with Fort Sumter being fired upon
• Ends with General Lee surrendering to General Grant
Major Causes
• Missouri Compromise
• Wilmot Proviso
• Compromise of 1850
• Kansas-Nebraska Act
Missouri Compromise – 1820
• Equal representation for
slave and free states
• Maine adopted as a free state
• Missouri adopted as slave
state
• Included stipulations
involving Louisiana
Purchase territory
Wilmot Proviso - 1846
• Attempted to outlaw
slavery in territory from
Mexico via Mexican War
• Did not pass Senate
• Increased bitterness
regarding slavery
Wilmot
Compromise of 1850
• California admitted
as a free state
• 4 territories to
decide slavery
issue
• Texas gave up
disputed land in
return for
$10,000,000
• Created Fugitive
Slave Law
Kansas-Nebraska Act - 1854
• Repealed Missouri
Compromise
• Kansas and
Nebraska
territories decide
on slavery issue
• Pro-slavery and
anti-slavery groups
fight in Kansas
• 1861 Kansas
admitted as free
state
Dred Scott Decision - 1857
• Said Congress had no
right to draw lines
separating free and slave
states
• Slaves not citizens, had
no right to sue
• Overturned the
Compromise of 1820
Scott
Frederick Douglass Video
QuickTime™ and a
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Single click screen
to view video
The Lincoln-Douglas Debate – 1858
• Ran against each other for U.S. Senator
• Debated on issues of the day
• Douglas promoted popular sovereignty
• Lincoln opposed expansion of slavery
Lincoln’s View on Slavery
“If A. can prove, however
conclusively, that he may,
of right, enslave B. – why
may not B. snatch the
same argument, and
prove equally that he may
enslave A.?”
Lincoln
Lincoln’s View on Slavery
“You say A. is white and B. is black. It is color then;
the lighter having the right to enslave the darker?
Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the
first man you meet with a fairer skin than your own.”
Single click the speaker icon or audio words
to hear the clip >>>>
Lincoln’s View on Slavery
“You do not mean color
exactly? You mean the
whites are intellectually
the superiors of the
blacks, and therefore
have the right to enslave
them? Take care again.
By this rule, you are to be
slave to the first man you
meet with an intellect
superior to your own.”
Single click the speaker icon or audio words
to hear the clip >>>>
Lincoln’s View on Slavery
“But, say you, it is a
question of interest;
and if you can make it
your interest, you have
the right to enslave
another. Very well.
And if he can make it
his interest, he has the
right to enslave you.”
Single click the speaker icon or audio words
to hear the clip >>>>
Election of 1860
• Candidates representing
different views on slavery
• Abraham Lincoln –
Republican
• Stephen Douglas –
Northern Democrat
• John Breckenridge –
Southern Democrat
• John Bell – Constitutional
Union Party
Breckenridge
Early Assassination Attempt
• Journeyed to Washington
D.C. on Feb. 11, 1861, for
inauguration
• Plot to kill Lincoln near
Baltimore, Maryland
• Lincoln arrived safely
First Inaugural Address –
March 1861
“We are not enemies, but friends…. Though passion may
have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”
Secession From the Union
• Seven states seceded
shortly after Lincoln’s
victory
• Four more states
threatened
First Shots at Fort Sumter
• Supply ship prevented
from reaching Fort
Sumter February 1861.
• Undelivered supplies
returned to New York
• First shots fired April
1861
Fort Sumter
• South launched 34 hour
attack
• Major Anderson led North
• Brigadier General
Beauregard led South
• Anderson’s student:
Beauregard
Beauregard
Fort Sumter Surrendered
• No fatalities during siege
• Union surrendered fort to
Confederate personnel
April 13
• Lincoln called out militia
• Prompted official
secession of four more
states
Anderson
Fort Sumter Video
Single click screen
to view video
The Confederate States of America
• Organized in
Montgomery, Alabama
• Capital moved to
Richmond, Virginia
• Davis elected first
Confederate President
Davis
Jefferson Davis Video
Single click screen
to view video
Confederate Constitutional Differences
• Term of President and
VP six years
• Set up unicameral
congress
• President had line
item veto
• Protected domestic
slavery
Union “Yankee” Soldiers
• Federal forces estimates
vary from 1,550,000 to
2,200,000
• Blacks and Native
Americans in Union
troops
• Blue uniforms
• Knapsack
• Haversack
Confederate “Rebel” Soldiers
• Confederate forces estimates vary from 600,000 to
more than 1,200,000
• Gray uniforms
• Traveled lighter
than Union
• Rolled bedding
in blanket
• Personal items
in haversack
More About the Troops
• First modern war
• More soldiers died
from diseases than
battle
• Many soldiers
suffered venereal
diseases
Weapons
• Ranged from shotguns to repeating rifles
• Numerous developments in warfare and weapons
Lincoln and His Generals
• Lincoln faced with
decision
• General Winfield Scott
resigned in 1861
• Lincoln watched results
of battles over telegraph
Scott
Lincoln and His Generals
• Colonel Ellsworth killed
• Lincoln went through
many generals:
– McClellan, Burnside,
Hooker, and Meade
• Grant was final and best
commander
Ellsworth
Conflicts
• Over 10,000 armed
conflicts
• Hundreds of battles
• 384 conflicts
identified as principal
conflicts
• Most fought in South
Key Early Battles
• Bull Run – 1861
• Antietam – 1862
• Fredericksburg – 1862
First Battle of Bull Run—1861
• Caused Northerners to take Confederate Army seriously
• Called Battle of Manassas by Confederates
• Fought close to Washington D.C, at Manassas Junction
• People came to picnic and watch
Battle of Antietam – 1862
• The single bloodiest
day in Civil War
• Over 22,500
casualties
• North could have
won the war here
• Emancipation
Proclamation written
and adopted shortly
after battle
Battle of Fredericksburg – 1862
• Burnside replaced
McClellan
• Lee halted advance
upon Richmond
• Southern victory
McClellan
Union Fredericksburg General
• Burnside’s mutton chop
whiskers became male
fashion trend
• Name switched to
sideburns
• Acknowledged he was not
competent to lead such a
large army
Burnside
Confederate Fredericksburg General
“It is well that war is
so terrible—we
should grow too
fond of it.”
—General Lee
Robert E. Lee
Other Key Battles
• Gettysburg – 1863
• Vicksburg – 1863
• Wilderness
Campaign – 1864
Gettysburg – 1863
• Fought over three
days in July
• Lee led South
• Meade led North
Meade
Gettysburg
• Over 55,000 died
• Chamberlain secured Northern victory
Gettysburg
• Lee had 75,000 men at Gettysburg
• Over 5,000 Confederate casualties at Pickett’s Charge
• Lee escaped Meade
Lee Speaks to
Pickett at Gettysburg:
“Come General Pickett,
this has been my fight
and upon my shoulders
rests the blame.”
Pickett
Lincoln at Gettysburg
• Pennsylvania purchased
17 acres for cemetery
• Lincoln asked to dedicate
• Everett spoke for over
two hours
• Lincoln spoke for barely
2 minutes
Famous Quotes from the
Gettysburg Address
“Four score and seven
years ago, our Fathers
brought forth upon this
continent a new nation,
conceived in Liberty and
dedicated to the
proposition that all men
are created equal”
Single click the speaker icon or audio words
to hear the clip >>>>
Battle of Vicksburg – 1863
• “Turning point” battle in west
• Grant gains control of Mississippi River
• 43 day siege of
Mississippi stronghold
Battle of Vicksburg
• Grant and Sherman
defeated in first efforts
• Confederate guns
controlled river
• South—31,000 men
• North—75,000 men
• South—9,091 casualties
• Union—10,142 casualties
Grant
Civilian Life in Vicksburg – 1863
• Cave digging
• Thousands of civilians in hospitals
• Newspapers published on wallpaper
Civilian Life
• “General Starvation”
• Mule meat sold at a
dollar per pound
• Skinned rats hung
beside mule meat
• Confederates ate
dog meat
Battle of the Wilderness – 1864
• Virginia battle
between Grant and
Lee
• Fought blind in
dense forest
• South lost over 7,000
soldiers
• North more than
17,000 soldiers
• Grant continued
south to Richmond
Surrender at Appomattox – 1865
• Lee surrenders to Grant on Palm Sunday
• Grant guaranteed no trials for treason
• Grant no desire to take Lee’s sword
Appomattox Video
Single click screen
to view video
Grant’s Words at Appomattox:
“I regard it as my
duty, to shift from
myself the
responsibility of any
further effusion of
blood, by asking of
you the surrender of
that portion of the
Confederate States
Army known as the
Army of Northern
Virginia.”
Single click the speaker icon or audio words
to hear the clip >>>>
Lincoln’s Final Days
• Lincoln entered
Richmond April 4,
1865
• Blacks fell on
knees before him
• “You must kneel
to God only”
The Last Day
• Premonitions of
April 14, 1865
• Dreamed of funeral
at White House
• In dream, President
had died
• Took buggy ride
earlier in day
Mary Todd Lincoln
The Last Day
• Anderson raised U.S. flag
over Fort Sumter same
day Lincoln shot
• Attended comedy at
Ford’s Theatre
The Last Day
• Shot by John
Wilkes Booth
• Other leaders
attacked
• Conspiracy
• Nine people
involved in
assassination
• Booth killed 12
days later
Assassination Video
Single click screen
to view video
The War’s Most Serious Casualty
• Lincoln taken to Petersen House
• Many came to pay last respects
• Shot on Good Friday
• Died following
morning
Secretary of War
Stanton Commented:
“Now he belongs to the ages”
Loose Ends
• Remaining Confederate troops defeated or
surrendered between April 9 and end of May 1865
• Jefferson Davis captured in Georgia May 10
Why the North Won
• Supplies, manpower,
industry, economy
• Easy to invade South
by rivers
• South lost will after
Vicksburg and
Gettysburg
• England was antislavery and proindustrialism
Why the South Lost
• Leadership, diplomacy, not recognizing the will of North
• No quick, decisive
victories
• Generals never
dared
• No finances to
fight war
• Did not receive
aid anticipated
In Conclusion
• America in bad
shape
• Significant Southern
losses
• 4 million African
Americans freed
• Slaves played role in
liberation
• 150,000 former
slaves fought as
Union soldiers