The Civil War (1861-1865)
and Reconstruction
Unit 4
I. Background Info.

Civil War – war between the northern states and
the southern states
-the “War Between the States”
-the “War of Rebellion”
-the “War for Southern Independence”

Northern States – United States, Union,
Yankees, Blue

Southern States – Confederate States of
America, Confederacy, Rebels, Secess, Gray
I. Background Info.

1850s – North and South moving in opposite
directions – How?
1)
Different Economies
-North: industrial and urban
-South: agricultural and rural
I. Background Info.
2)
Slavery and Western Expansion – divided the
nation – northerners did not want slavery in
the West, southerners did

Remember: Missouri Compromise and
Compromise of 1850
II. Early Stages of the War
First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861):
-Bull Run is a stream north of Manassas, VA
-1st major battle of the war
-Gen. Irwin McDowell led the poorly trained Union
troops towards Richmond, VA (capital of Conf.)
-took McDowell and his troops 4 days to march 28
miles

II. Early Stages of the War
-gave Conf. time to call in more troops
-Union began to push Conf. lines back
-some Conf. soldiers, led by Gen. Thomas
“Stonewall” Jackson refused to give up
-Union advance was stopped and forced to retreat
back to Wash. D.C.
II. Early Stages of the War
-Conf. won the battle
-casualties (killed, wounded, missing)
Union – 2,900
Conf. – 1,900
-after the battle, Lincoln replaced McDowell with
Gen. George McClellan
-the battle convinced both sides the war would not
end quickly
II. Early Stages of the War

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Union Advantages:
Greater Population – 21.5 million to 9 million
Controlled most of the railroads – move troops
and supplies
More factories – produced more/better war
supplies
More money
Better political leadership – esp. Lincoln
II. Early Stages of the War

1)
2)
3)
4)
Confederate Advantages
Did not have to win the war (only had to keep
from being beaten)
Defending their own land (most of the war
fought in the South)
Fighting for a cause (independence)
Better military leadership (esp. Lee)
II. Early Stages of the War
Union War Strategies:
1) Blockade southern coast (would cut off trade
with Europe)
2) Take control of Miss. River (would split Conf.
into two sections)

•
These first 2 two strategies were nicknamed the
Anaconda Plan
-i.e. slowly choke the Confederacy until it dies
3)
Capture Richmond
II. Early Stages of the War
Conf. War Strategies:
1) Withhold cotton from the world (wanted to
force England and France to help them –
backfired)
2) Survive until the northerners get tired of
fighting and give up

II. Early Stages of the War

Tactics and Technology:
-Both sides fought by the book (war manuals) –
problem: all books on battle tactics in 1860 were
out of date, but no one knew it
-Early war manuals were written for the smoothbore musket: used a round ball – very
inaccurate and took a long time to load
II. Early Stages of the War
-Basic battlefield alignment: (draw diagram)
-Offense always had the better position
-New weapon introduced during the war: rifle
musket:
-fired a bullet shaped “minie-ball” out of a
spiraled gun barrel – more accurate (up to
400 yards) and quicker to load
-Made the cavalry less important – Why???
-Rifle musket allowed the defense to now have the
better position (Which side does that help more?)
II. Early Stages of the War
Artillery: the Napoleon Gun fired a 12lb
smooth-bore ball – fired 3 types of projectiles:
1) Explosive shells
2) Solid shot/ball (rolling)
3) Case shot – 2 types:
a. Grape shot (golf-ball sized)
b. Canister shot (metal, nails, sawdust, etc.)

II. Early Stages of the War

The Civil War was fought on 2 fronts:
1) Eastern Front – east of Appalachian Mts.
2) Western Front – west of Appalachian Mts.
22 major battles in the war (at least 6,000
casualties)
 Many battles had 2 names:
-North used physical features (rivers,
mountains, etc.)
-South used closest town

II. Early Stages of the War
War in the West:
-Fought for control of the Miss. River
-Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant took control of Fort
Henry and Fort Donelson on KY/TN border in
Feb. 1862

II. Early Stages of the War
Battle of Shiloh:
-April 1862
-TN / Miss. border
-Largest battle in the West
-Conf. launched a surprise attack on April 6 –
Grant away from camp
-Conf. decided to wait until the next day to finish
off Union (troops were tired)

II. Early Stages of the War
-Grant attacked the next morning and retook the
positions he had lost
-Union victory (held the ground at the end of the
battle)
-casualties: Union - 13,000
Conf. - 11,000
-Newspapers demanded that Grant be fired (high
casualties) – Lincoln refused saying, “I can’t
spare this man; he fights.”
II. Early Stages of the War
Naval War in 1862
-The South made one major attempt to break the
Union blockade – rebuilt the U.S.S. Merrimack
and renamed it the C.S.S. Virginia

-ironclad – wooden ship covered with iron plate
armor (draw)
II. Early Stages of the War
-March 9, 1862 – Virginia sank 2 ships in
Chesapeake Bay – worse day in the history of
U.S. Navy until 1941
-Virginia came back the next morning and saw the
U.S.S. Monitor, the Union’s ironclad (draw)
-March 10, 1862 – 1st battle between ironclads
-Problem with the Virginia: hard to maneuver
C.S.S. Virginia vs. U.S.S. Monitor
II. Early Stages of the War
-Virginia was damaged the worst – hit 98x’s
-Battle was a draw – never met again
-Changed the future of naval warfare – wooden
ships became obsolete

April 1862 – major Union victory at New Orleans
by Adm. David Farragut – major step in taking
control of Miss. River
II. Early Stages of the War
Peninsular Campaign:
-March-June 1862
-peninsula SE of Richmond
-Union’s 2nd attempt to take Richmond
-Union led by McClellan – great organizer of troops
but very cautious
-Union won minor battle at Yorktown
-McClellan waited a month before moving on to
Richmond (Why?????)

II. Early Stages of the War
-gave Conf. time to prepare
-Gen. Robert E. Lee took command of Conf. troops
-Conf. victory
-Richmond saved again
-beginning of Lee’s rise to fame
-McClellan lost command
II. Early Stages of the War
Second Battle of Bull Run
-Aug. 1862
-McClellan’s troops placed under command of John
Pope
-Lee divided his army by sending Jackson to attack
behind Pope’s army
-Pope turned to attack Jackson then Lee attacked
from the other side
-Conf. victory – Richmond saved again

II. Early Stages of the War
Battle of Antietam
-Sept. 1862
-in Maryland
-Lee wanted a victory on northern soil to hopefully
get support from Europe
-early Sept. Lee slipped into Maryland
-McClellan (back in command) had no idea where
Lee was until…

II. Early Stages of the War
…a Union soldier found Lee’s battle plans rolled up
into 3 cigars
-McClellan waited 16 hrs. before attacking Lee
(STUPID!)
-gave Lee time to plan a defense
-armies met near Antietam Creek – bloodiest
single day of war (“the creek ran red”)
-Union victory
-casualties: Union-12,000
Conf.- 14,000
III. The Tide of the War Turns

After Antietam, McClellan replaced by Gen.
Ambrose Burnside
Battle of Fredericksburg:
-Dec. 1862 - in VA
-Burnside marched with 122,000 towards
Richmond
-Lee stationed at Fredericksburg – great defensive
position

III. The Tide of the War Turns
-draw diagram
-Burnside attacked – major mistake
-Conf. victory
-casualties: Union- 13,000
Conf.- 5,000
-Burnside resigned and was replaced by Gen.
Joseph Hooker
III. The Tide of the War Turns
Battle of Chancellorsville
-May 1863 – in VA
-Hooker moved around Fred. and attacked from
the other side
-Lee sent Jackson behind Hooker and he attacked
-Hooker forced to retreat
-Conf. victory
-Stonewall Jackson killed (major loss for South)


Stonewall Jackson had his left arm removed due
to the wounds, and then was thought to be
recovering. However he got pneumonia from his
wounds, and died on May 10, 1863, 8 days after
being shot. When he learned of Jackson's
wounds, General Robert E Lee was quoted as
saying "Jackson has lost his left arm, but I have
lost my right".
III. The Tide of the War Turns
-some northerners called for peace
-Hooker resigned and was replaced by Gen.
George Meade
-Lee moved into PA to look for supplies
III. The Tide of the War Turns
Battle of Gettysburg
-July 1-3, 1863 – in PA
-turning point in the war
-largest battle ever fought in N.A. – Union had
88,000 - Conf. had 75,000

July 1 – Conf. soldiers looking for supplies (esp.
shoes) met Union soldiers in Gettysburg – both
sides took positions outside of town
July 2 – day of movement and positioning – Lee
ordered Gen. James Longstreet to attack the
southern Union line (Little Round Top) – attack
failed
III. The Tide of the War Turns
July 3 – Lee decided to attack the Union center –
Longstreet opposed – after 2 hrs. of artillery fire
the South attacked
-Gen. George Pickett org. 12,500 troops to
march across the 1-mile-long wide open field
towards Cemetery Ridge (Pickett’s Charge)
-complete disaster for Conf. – only ½ returned
III. The Tide of the War Turns
-Union victory
-Casualties: Union – 23,000
Conf. – 28,000
Result:
1) bloodiest battle of the war
2) Lee blamed himself and retreated back to VA –
lost 1/3 of his army
III. The Tide of the War Turns

Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19, 1863) – 15,000
met at the cemetery to honor the Union dead –
Edward Everette gave a 2 hr. speech – Lincoln
then gave a 2 min. speech
“Four score and seven
years ago our fathers
brought forth on this
continent, a new nation,
conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the
proposition that all men
are created equal…we
here highly resolve that
these dead shall not have
died in vain -- that this
nation, under God, shall
have a new birth of
freedom -- and that
government of the
people, by the people, for
the people, shall not
perish from the earth.”
III. The Tide of the War Turns
Siege at Vicksburg: (May-June 1863 in Miss.)
-Grant began the siege in late May
-siege - tactic where the enemy is surrounded and
starved in order to make them surrender
-Union victory
-30,000 Conf. forced to surrender
-Result:
1) Union finally gains control of the Miss. River
2) Grant was moved to the east to fight Lee

IV. A New Birth of Freedom
March 1864 – Grant given command of Union
troops in Wash. – Gen. William Sherman
replaced Grant in the west
 After Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Lee knew the
South was in trouble
 Grant decided to move towards Richmond in
early May 1864 with 120,000 men – Lee had
only 65,000 – Grant forced Lee to protect
Richmond and 3 battles occurred:

IV. A New Birth of Freedom
1) Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6, 1864) –
armies met near Chancellorsville in dense forest
– the woods caught on fire during the fighting –
Grant took heavy losses – battle was a draw
(but favored the Union – Why???)
IV. A New Birth of Freedom
2) Battle of Spotsylvania (May 8-19, 1864) –
Conf. attacked – two week battle – heavy Union
casualties again – Grant kept moving towards
Richmond
3) Battle of Cold Harbor (June 3, 1864) – only
8 miles from Richmond – heavy Union casualties
(7,000 in one hr.) – Conf. victory
IV. A New Birth of Freedom
Unable to take Richmond, Grant moved around
the city and attacked Petersburg, a railroad
center south of Richmond – wanted to cut off
shipments of food to Richmond – the attack
failed
 Siege at Petersburg (June 18, 1864 – Apr. 2,
1865) – cut off supplies to the city and pounded
it with artillery – trying to starve them out

IV. A New Birth of Freedom
Lee built up defenses around Richmond and
waited for the northern election in Nov. 1864 –
wanted Lincoln to lose and the North to give up
– he knew it was their last chance
Sherman’s March to the Sea:
-moved southward from Chattanooga, TN towards
Atlanta, GA – captured Atlanta on Sept. 2, 1864
-Nov. 1864 – burned Atlanta and marched towards
Savannah, GA (on the coast) – destroyed
everything on their way

IV. A New Birth of Freedom
Election of 1864:
-Lincoln thought he would lose – so, he chose a
democrat, Andrew Johnson, as the V.P.
candidate
-the democrats nominated McClellan (Seriously??)
-Sherman’s capture of Atlanta led to Lincoln’s reelection
 13th Amendment (Feb. 1865) – abolished slavery

IV. A New Birth of Freedom
The End of the War:
-Sherman began to move northward through SC
and NC burning everything
-Lee arrived at the small VA town of Appomattox
Court House on Apr. 9, 1865 – met with Grant
and surrendered because the Conf. were down
to 35,000 starving men
-Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on
Apr. 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theater in Wash.

Reconstruction of the South

The South was the main battleground of
the Civil War and its largest casualty
Hardly a farm or family remained undamaged
by the end of the war

Reconstruction was an era in which the
government attempted to rebuild (and at
times punish) the South

War’s Aftermath:
 Physical
Toll – destroyed 2/3rds of
southern shipping and 9,000 miles of
railroads – also devoured farmland, farm
buildings, and farm machinery; work
animals and 1/3 of all livestock; bridges,
canals, and levees; and thousands of
miles of roads – factories, ports, cities
burned – the value of southern property
dropped 70%
 Human
Toll – destroyed a generation of
young men, fathers, brothers, and
husbands – North lost 364,000 soldiers –
the South lost 289,000 soldiers, 1/5 of its
adult white men – one out of every 3
southern men were killed or wounded –
the North’s decision to destroy southern
homes and property resulted in countless
civilian lives – children were made orphans
and brides became widows
Civil War Casualties
KIA
Union 110,000
Conf. 94,000
Total 204,000
Disease
224,000
164,000
388,000
POW Dead Wounded Total
30,000
275,000
640,000
31,000
194,000
483,000
61,000
469,000
1,123,000

Southerners’ Hardships: the postwar
South was made up of 3 major groups of
people – each group faced its own
hardships and fears:
1) African American Southerners –
some 4 million freed people were starting
their new lives in a poor region with slow
economic activity – as slaves, they had
received food and shelter – now found
themselves homeless, jobless, and hungry
2) Plantation Owners – planters lost
slave labor worth about $3 billion – the
federal government seized $100 million in
southern plantations and cotton – with
worthless Confederate money, some
farmers couldn’t afford to hire workers
and others had to sell their property to
cover debts
3) Poor White Southerners – many white
laborers could not find work anymore
because of the new job competition from
freedmen – poor white families began
migrating to frontier lands such as
Mississippi and Texas to find new
opportunities

Most southerners accepted the war’s
outcome and focused on rebuilding their
lives – however, the fall of the
Confederacy and the end of slavery raised
some tough questions:
1) How and when should southern states be
2)
3)
4)
5)
allowed to resume their role in the
Union?
Should the South be punished for its
actions, or be forgiven and allowed to
recover quickly?
Now that black southerners were free,
would the races have equal rights?
If so, how might those rights be
protected?
What branch of government would be
responsible for Reconstruction?
(executive, judicial, or legislative)
The Constitution didn’t answer these questions,
so a power struggle between the 3 branches of
government began.
Lincoln’s Plan
 Did not want to make the South suffer
 Wanted to restore Southern states quickly
 Lincoln’s 10% Plan:

1. Offered amnesty, or pardon, to all southerners
who took an oath of loyalty to the US
Except…gov’t officials, military officers,
judges, members of Congress
2. When 10% of a state’s voters had taken this
oath, the state could rejoin the Union
3. Required Southern states to ratify, or approve
the 13th Amendment

Many “Radical” Republicans viewed this
plan as too easy on the South, so they
passed the…
–
Wade-Davis Bill: same as Lincoln’s plan
except 50% of voters (not 10%) had to take
an “ironclad” oath before being readmitted
 Vetoed by Lincoln
Johnson’s Plan
 Took office when Lincoln died and while
Congress was in recess (on a break)
 His plan Presidential Reconstruction
1. Readmitted the Southern states under
Lincoln’s 10% Plan
2. Granted all southerners full pardons,
including former Conf. officials
Even easier on the South than Lincoln’s
Plan
 Every southern state was readmitted
under this plan
 But, Republicans voted to reject the new
southern members of Congress (many
were former military officers)
 That means this plan was voided.

Congressional Reconstruction
 Also known as Radical Reconstruction
1. Divided the South (except TN) into 5
military districts each governed by a
Union general
2. Must give the right to vote to all adult
males, regardless of race
3. Must ratify the 14th Amendment before
electing members to Congress

This was the plan actually used to re-admit
the southern states to the Union.
Legislation and Reactions

The Freedmen’s Bureau (March
1865):
 Fed and clothed former slaves and other
poor southerners
 Helped former slaves find work on
plantations and negotiated salaries
 Worked to educate former slaves (paid
for schools, teachers, etc.)
“Black Codes”
Passed by southern states to limit the rights of
African Am.’s
 Ex: curfews, work contracts, vagrancy, land
ownership, etc.
 The intention was to return African Americans to a
“virtual slavery”

-curfews – generally, African-Americans could not
gather after sunset
-vagrancy laws – freedmen convicted of vagrancy
(not working) could be fined, whipped, or sold
for a year’s labor
-work contracts – freedmen had to sign
agreements in January for a year of work (those
that quit in the middle of the year lost all the
wages they had earned)
-land restrictions – freed people could rent land or
homes only in rural areas – forced them to live
on plantations
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Granted former slaves the right to sue, serve on
juries, and other legal rights
 Vetoed by Johnson
 Congress overrode the veto

13th Amendment
1865
 Abolished slavery and “involuntary servitude”
(except as punishment for a crime) in the US

14th Amendment
1868
 Granted citizenship to all persons born or
naturalized in the US, including African Am.’s

15th Amendment
1870
 Granted African Am. males the right to vote

Ku Klux Klan
Started by white supremacists in Pulaski, TN
(including former Conf. general Nathan Bedford
Forrest)
 Goal was to terrorize Afr. Am’s and to “keep
them in their place”
 Ku Klux Klan Act (1871): authorized military
protection for Afr. Am’s


To limit Johnson’s executive powers (enforce
laws), Congress passed the Tenure of
Office Act in 1867
Said the Senate must approve the president’s
removal of any Senate-approved officials
(included all Cabinet positions)
Congress was trying to protect Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton, who often clashed with
President Johnson about Reconstruction
Johnson ignored the new act and fired Stanton
Republicans in the House impeached (formal
charges) Johnson for ignoring the new act
 Johnson escaped conviction in the Senate by
only one vote and was not removed from office


Carpetbaggers – northerners who
moved to the South after the war
Many elected or appointed to positions in
the South’s new state governments
Locals viewed them as “intruders” who
profited from Southern misery (often
bought up cheap land)

Scalawags – white southerners who worked
with the Republican Party and supported
Reconstruction
Many were owners of small farms who did not
want power back into the hands of the wealthy
plantation owners

Most former slaves became sharecroppers
during the Reconstruction period
Rented plots of land, often from their former
masters, in exchange for housing and a
percentage of the crop profits
By 1880: More than 80% of southern African
Americans had become sharecroppers

When African Americans were given the
right to vote, hundreds of former slaves
were elected to numerous offices (mayor,
police chiefs, even Congress)
Hiram Revels became the first African
American elected to the Senate in 1870

Ulysses S. Grant became President in
1869
Not an effective leader and had very little
political experience
His presidency is known for numerous
scandals among his Cabinet members (ex:
the “Whiskey Ring” – false tax reports
cheated the government out of millions of
dollars)
A depression also began in the 1870s which
hurt the Republican Party
Election of 1876
 Due to the problems of the Grant
administration, Democrats were hopeful
that their candidate, Samuel Tilden,
could win the election of 1876
Republicans nominated Rutherford B.
Hayes, governor of Ohio
Tilden received almost 300,000 more votes
but the election was contested because
officials disputed the results in some states

Congress appointed a commission to settle
the controversy, resulting in the
Compromise of 1877:
1. Democrats agreed to Hayes being
President
2. Republicans agreed to end
Reconstruction
3. Southern states received federal money,
more power to govern themselves, and a
promise to withdraw federal troops

The Compromise of 1877 brought
Reconstruction to an end and began the era of
the “Solid South”
For nearly a century after Reconstruction,
southerners distrusted the Republican Party and
“solidly” supported Democratic candidates

As Reconstruction ended and groups like
the KKK became more powerful, African
Americans soon lost whatever political
power they had gained following the war

Southern states began passing Jim Crow
laws that required African Americans and
whites to use separate public facilities
 These laws established racial segregation
(separation based on race) in restaurants,
hospitals, schools, parks, transportation, etc.
 2 kinds of segregation:
1. de jure – segregation based on law
2. de facto – segregation that occurs
“naturally” (neighborhoods)

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): US Supreme
Court ruled segregation was legal as long as
the separate facilities were equal – “separate
but equal” doctrine
In reality, the facilities for whites were usually
superior
This established de jure segregation as legal

Many states also tried to avoid upholding
the 15th Amendment by requiring citizens
to pass literacy tests (must read/write to
vote) or pay poll taxes (a fee to vote)
Both were an attempt to disenfranchise, or
prevent African Americans from voting

Grandfather clauses were passed to
make sure poor and illiterate whites could
still vote
If your father or grandfather had voted before
Reconstruction began, you could vote,
regardless if you could read/write or pay the
tax