The Civil War (1861-1865)
Chapter 2
I. Background Info.
Civil War – war between the northern states
(Union) and the southern states (Confederacy)
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 – Why?
1) Contrasting Economies – North relied on
industry (urban) – South relied on agriculture
(rural – slave labor)
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
-took McDowell 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 – to protect way of life
Better military leadership – esp. Lee
II. Early Stages of the War
Union War Strategies:
1) Blockade southern coast to cut off trade with
Europe
2) Take control of Miss. River to split Conf. into
two sections
3) Capture Richmond (capital of Conf.)
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) Hoped northerners would get tired of fighting
and give up
II. Early Stages of the War
Tactics and Technology:
-both sides fought by the book – problem: every
book on battle tactics in 1860 were out of date but
no one knew it
-early war manuals were written for the smooth-bore
musket: used a round ball – very inaccurate and
took too long 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 mini-ball out of a
spiraled gun barrel – more accurate (up to 400
yards) and quicker to load
-made the cavalry less important
-rifle musket allowed the defense to now have the
better position
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 600,000
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:
-where the Civil War was won and lost – fought for
control of the Miss. River
-Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant took control of Fort
Henry and Fort Donelson in TN in Feb. 1862
II. Early Stages of the War
Battle of Shiloh:
-April 1862
-TN / Miss. border
-largest battle in the West
-Conf. led by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson stationed
at Corinth, MS – Grant at Pittsburg Landing, TN
-Conf. launched a surprise attack on April 6 – Grant
away from camp
II. Early Stages of the War
-Conf. decided to wait until the next day to finish off
Union
-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
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. Merrimac and
renamed it the C.S.S. Virginia
-ironclad – wooden ship covered with iron plate
armor
II. Early Stages of the War
-March 9, 1862 – Virginia sunk 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
-March 10, 1862 – 1st battle between ironclads
-problem with the Virginia: had to maneuver
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– helped take 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
II. Early Stages of the War
-gave Conf. time to retreat to Richmond
-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 and 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 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
-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
behind
-Lee sent Jackson behind Hooker and he attacked
-Hooker forced to retreat
-Conf. victory
-Stonewall Jackson killed (major loss for South)
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 shoes met Union
soldiers in Gettysburg – both sides took positions
outside of town
III. The Tide of the War Turns
-July 2 – day of movement and positioning – Lee
ordered Gen. James Longstreet to attack the
southern Union line
-Conf. tried to take Little Round Top hill (great
position for artillery) but failed
-July 3 – Lee decided to attack the Union center –
Longstreet opposed – after 2 hrs. of artillery fire
the South attacked
III. The Tide of the War Turns
-Conf. Gen. George Pickett organized 15,000
troops to march across the one mile long wide
open field towards Cemetery Ridge (Pickett’s
Charge) - complete disaster for Conf. – only ½
returned
-Union victory
-Casualties: Union – 23,000
Conf. – 28,000
-bloodiest battle of the war – 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
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
-Union finally gains control of the Miss. River and
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 forest caught on fire during the fighting –
Grant took heavy losses – battle was a draw (but
favored the Union)
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
IV. A New Birth of Freedom
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
-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
V. Reconstruction
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
the federal government’s controversial effort to
repair the damage to the South and to restore
southern states to the Union is known as
Reconstruction (carried out from 1865-1877 and
involved 4 Presidents)
V. Reconstruction
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%
V. Reconstruction
-Human Toll – destroyed a generation of young men,
fathers, brothers, and husbands – North lost
364,000 soldiers – the South lost 290,000 soldiers,
1/5 of its adult white men – one out of every three
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
V. Reconstruction
-Southerners’ Hardships: the postwar South was
made up of three major groups of people – each
group faced its own hardships and fears:
1) Black 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
V. Reconstruction
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
V. Reconstruction
3) Poor White Southerners – many white laborers
could not find work any more 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
V. Reconstruction
Three Reconstruction Plans
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:
V. Reconstruction
1) How and when should southern states be allowed
to resume their role in the Union?
2) Should the South be punished for its actions, or
be forgiven and allowed to recover quickly?
3) Now that black southerners were free, would the
races have equal rights?
4) If so, how might those rights be protected?
5) What branch of government would be responsible
for Reconstruction? (executive, judicial, or
legislative)
V. Reconstruction
the Constitution didn’t answer these questions
Lincoln’s Plan:
Lincoln’s plan did not require the new
constitutions to give voting rights to African
Americans – nor did it “readmit” southern states to
the Union, since in Lincoln’s view, their secession
had not been constitutional
V. Reconstruction
Much of Lincoln’s opposition came from a group
of congressmen from his own party – the group,
known as Radical Republicans, believed that the
Civil War had been fought over the moral issue of
slavery
the Radicals viewed Lincoln’s plan as too lenient
(easy) on the South – they presented their own
plan which Lincoln then vetoed
V. Reconstruction
Before a compromise could be reached between
Lincoln and the Radicals, he was assassinated –
Now what?
V. Reconstruction
Johnson’s Plan:
when Johnson took office in April 1865, Congress
was in recess until December – during those 8
months, Johnson pursued his own plan for the
South – his plan, known as Presidential
Reconstruction, was even more generous to the
South
V. Reconstruction
Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction:
defeat in the war had not changed the fact that white
people still dominated southern society
one by one, southern states met Johnson’s
Reconstruction demands and were restored to the
Union – the first order of business in these new,
white-run governments was to enact black codes, or
laws that restricted freedmen’s rights – the black
codes established virtual (near) slavery with
provisions such as these:
V. Reconstruction
-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
-labor 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)
V. Reconstruction
-limits on women’s rights – mothers who wanted to
stay home and care for their families were forced
instead to do farm labor
-land restrictions – freed people could rent land or
homes only in rural areas – forced them to live on
plantations
STOP
V. Reconstruction
in early 1866 Congress passed a Civil Rights Act
that outlawed the black codes – Johnson vetoed it
– Congress overrode the veto
14th Amendment – guaranteed all citizens equal
protection of the laws – ultimately granted African
Americans citizenship rights
V. Reconstruction
Radicals in Congress passed the Reconstruction
Act of 1867– these are the key provisions: This is
the plan actually used during Reconstruction for
every southern state except TN (readmitted under
Johnson’s plan)
V. Reconstruction
1) It put the South under military rule, dividing it
into 5 districts, each governed by a northern
general
2) It ordered southern states to hold new elections
for delegates to create a new state constitution
3) It required states to allow all qualified male
voters, including African Americans, to vote in
elections
V. Reconstruction
4) It temporarily barred southerners who had
supported the Confederacy from voting
5) It required southern states to guarantee equal
rights to all citizens
6) It required the states to ratify the 14th
Amendment
V. Reconstruction
on Feb. 24, 1868 House members voted to
impeach Johnson (to accuse him with
wrongdoing in office) – Johnson became the
first President to be impeached
If 2/3 of the Senate were to vote for
conviction, Johnson would become the first
and only President ever removed from
office – Johnson was able to escape
conviction by 1 vote
V. Reconstruction
15th Amendment – guaranteed African American
males the right to vote (suffrage)
northern Republicans who moved to the postwar
South became known as carpetbaggers –
southerners gave them this nickname, which
referred to a type of cheap suitcase made from
carpet scraps – they were depicted as greedy men
seeking to grab power or make some fast cash
V. Reconstruction
in the postwar South, to be white and a southerner
and a Republican was to be seen as a traitor southerners had a nickname for those people as
well, scalawag (Scottish word meaning scrawny
cattle) – many had opposed secession – most were
poor small farmers who hated the rich planters
V. Reconstruction
in March 1870 the last southern states were
restored to the Union – however, the U.S. was far
from united - from 1868 through 1871, groups of
white southerners launched a violent counterattack
against Radical Reconstruction
V. Reconstruction
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) – started in 1866 as a social
club in Pulaski, TN - quickly evolved into a
terrorist organization – membership consisted
largely of ex-Confederate officers and plantation
owners - most professions were eventually
represented in the Klan
V. Reconstruction
during Reconstruction, the Klan sought to
eliminate the Republican Party in the South by
intimidating Republican voters, both white and
black – the Klan’s long-term goal was to keep
African Americans in the role of submissive
laborers