CIVIL WAR
The Civil War took place not only on the battlefields but also in political, economic, and
social realms.
CAUSES:
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Industrial North and slave holding South had economic and lifestyle differences.
There were issues of territorial expansion and political alignments. Slavery was
the underlying issue from which all other issues flowed. On a higher plain, the
Civil War was nothing less than a clash between ideas about how Americans
should interpret and enact their founding ideals. The immediate catalyst for the
secession crisis was Abraham Lincoln’s election on a platform that pledged to halt
western expansion of slavery.
South felt that it was being pushed around by the North. Said they had a right to
leave the Union. Many in the South maintained that the Declaration of
Independence enshrined the right of secession, which Lincoln’s election gave
southern states reason to invoke. Many in the North said that no state had the right
to secede because the Constitution followed, and therefore superceded, the
Declaration, and its spirit forbade secession. The North said that the Declaration
said that all men are created equal…so slaves should be free; better to abide by
the Constitution which upheld slavery. Lincoln felt that this would be the end of
the only significant democratic government in the world, and an end to the great
experiment. If the losing side in an election severed the government whenever it
disapproved of the results, electoral government lacked legitimacy and all hopes
for self government were destroyed. Lincoln was elected according to procedures
outlined in the Constitution, which made reneging on the outcome tantamount to
abandoning elections altogether.
Most Northerners believed they were fighting to preserve the union; most
Southerners believed they were fighting for their states’ rights to govern
themselves as was taught in the American Revolution. Many simply thought that
slavery was simply the issue that had caused the argument over states’ rights to
escalate to war. “How could we submit to be governed by those whose steady
determination is to sacrifice our happiness, and even our lives, in the abolition of
an institution guaranteed to us by the constitution of our fathers? Rebelling
against a government that inadequately protected slavery re-enacted the colonies’
rebellion against Great Britain: both were battles for liberty.” Liberty had to do
with the unobstructed pursuit of material prosperity for oneself and one’s family.
*Footnote: letters and diaries of the time almost never discussed political
principles such as states’ rights. Confederates focused on individualistic and
family concerns. But most Confederate troops did not own slaves. So…why?
Slavery played many roles in the South: Slavery gave all whites the freedom to
pursue property ownership, and it made white’s equal in not being slaves. It
anchored the individual identity of white southern men in a firm conception of
men’s rights, duties, and social roles, intertwined with the southern notion of
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honor, and supplied a mechanism of race control in a region where 40% of the
population was black. *This idea of white manhood carried with it a heroic side –
your job to protect the virtue of white women. Honor also depended upon
demonstration of authority over subordinates, including women, children, and
African-Americans. To many white Southerners, outside reproaches about slavery
insulted southern honor by casting aspersions on Southerners’ morals, questioning
how white men exercised authority over others. Such insults necessitated war.
(T. 1a,b,c)
The North and South disagreed on tariffs (taxes on goods brought in from another
country). As early as the 1830’s, South Carolina threatened to leave the union
over this issue. Farmers and plantation owners of the South wanted to sell their
cotton and tobacco to other countries and buy manufactured goods as cheaply as
possible because the South had few factories. Northern FACTORY OWNERS
wanted high tariffs on imported goods so they could sell their own products in the
U.S.
Many justified slavery with the Bible, as a part of God’s divine order.
As late as 1862, Lincoln stated: “If I could save the Union without freeing any
slaves I would do it, and if I could save the Union by freeing all the slaves I
would do it…what I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe
it helps to save the Union.” (Letter to Horace Greeley of the NY Tribune) As a
candidate he had advocated a gradual end to slavery, compensation to owners, and
the colonization of freed slaves elsewhere. *Remember that hostility to slavery
did not necessarily mean support for racial equality.
Politics tore the country apart. The laws and compromises made by a wellintentioned government backfired. If it hadn’t been for the Missouri Compromise
of 1850 –crafted by Henry Clay and endorsed a tougher Fugitive Slave Law –
helped to keep the Union together for another 11 years, and the Kansas-Nebraska
Act –Douglas, introduced the idea of popular sovereignty which allowed people
living in a territory to decide for or against slavery –led to bloodshed ie Bleeding
Kansas and repealed the Missouri Compromise (he wanted Southern support for
his railroad), the North and South may have stayed united. Maybe? Pierce signed
it into law. The North and West banned together to form the Republican Party.
The idea of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it was the nation’s God-given right to
expand across the continent. Maybe?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
John Brown: Found guilt of inciting insurrection; he had participated earlier in
several murders for which he was never prosecuted. In the audience when he was
hung, was JW Booth a 20 year old actor.
In the final analysis, it seems that the North and South defined liberty differently.
The Confederates associated liberty with the enjoyment of their own families,
privileges, and belongings. Northerners assumed liberty transcended personal and
family interests. It was an individual possession than a universally applicable
ideal, embedded by the Revolution into the foundation of the American Republic.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES:
NORTH:
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Population -22M; transportation –ships 42 at the beginning, 700 at the end 20,000 miles of rail, and economics –as the men went to war, the women took
over their jobs -!00,000 factories, and $189 M in banks. (T- RR)
SOUTH:
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Population -9M –3 ½ which were slaves; transportation - ships 18 that extracted a
heavy toll on the North -9,000 miles of rail, and economics -20,000 factories, and
$47 M in assets. They had the nation’s best military officers; better marksmen and
horsemen. South was fighting a defensive war.
THE CIVIL WAR AND THE CONFEDERACY:
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Fought for the right to govern themselves locally: however, Davis took control of
the Southern economy, imposing taxes and using the revenues to spur industrial
and urban growth; he took control of the railroads and commercial shipping; he
obligated families to tithe a portion of each year’s crops to the government; and
he created a large government bureaucracy to oversee economic development.
When Southerners opposed his moves, he declared martial law and suspended the
writ of habeas corpus. Rapid economic growth brought inflation –as high as
300%- plunging many Southerners into poverty. In 1862, he imposed a draft
which caused greater poverty. The draft caused class conflict; government
allowed the wealthy to hire surrogates and exempted those with 20 slaves or
more. The poor had no choice. *Who serves today? Near the end of the war, some
blacks were recruited into the Southern army; this erased the differences between
black and white. There were desertions. *Cold Mountain.
THE CIVIL WAR AND THE UNION:
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The northern economy got a boost from the war as the demand for war-related
goods, such as uniforms and weapons, spurred manufacturing. Many became
wealthy; corruption was widespread. Inflation was 10 to 20% a year. Workers
formed unions. Businesses blacklisted union members, forced new employees to
sign contracts not to join unions, and used violence to break strikes. The
Republican Party, believing that government should support business without
regulation, opposed unions. The power of the central government increased.
Lincoln implemented economic development programs without waiting for
congressional approval; gave grants and loans to businesses; raised tariffs to
protect Union trade; suspended writ of habeas corpus in the border states –Taney
said that the President had gone beyond his power, Lincoln ignored him (most
presidents since have cited war or national security as a reason to expand powers
of the executive); strengthened the national bank and printed national currency –
before each state had circulated its own bank notes.
INNOVATIONS:
Usually see a burst of innovations during times of war.
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First modern war.
First time photography was used to capture war.
First time wartime use of the telegraph.
First time railroads carried troops and supplies.
Advances in technology: rifle and bullets. The minie ball had ridges on it which
made its path more accurate. In combination, they would render massed assaults
on fortified positions, like Pickett’s charge, ineffective. There would be an
increase in amputations. (Dances clip)
This new technology would change military strategy. You would now dig
trenches and build barricades. The shovel became as important as the rifle.
Iron clad ships would put an end to wooden fighting ships. (T-5)
Primitive hand grenades and land mines were used.
Hot-air balloons were used for scouting.
U.S. Secret Service; the Medal of Honor; the income tax; a viable machine gun;
naval torpedoes; and the first African-American U.S. Army officer –Major M.R.
Delany.
CW TIMELINE:
In 1861, 7 southern states seceded from the union over slavery and states rights. *connect
with the argument over states rights during the constitutional debates. Lincoln became
president on March 4, 1861. * Why March 4th?
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Six states to secede were South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
and Mississippi. –all before Lincoln took office. They were called the
Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis, a senator from Mississippi,
became their president. West Point; Mexican War; Pierce’s Secretary of War. He
had tried to introduce camels into the military. *Hi Jolly. (T-7)
Within six months, five additional states, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North
Carolina, and Tennessee, left the union. This was a total of eleven; the flag has 13
stars on in because they thought Missouri and KY would join. North Carolina was
the last to join. The slave holding states of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and
Delaware remained in the union. Maryland, because of its proximity to D.C. was
put under martial law. The western part of Virginia seceded and on June 20, 1863,
became the union state of West Virginia. It is the only state to have acquired its
sovereignty by proclamation of a President. All of the Confederate states had
troops who fought for the North except South Carolina. Lincoln himself had 4
brothers-in-law who fought for the South. (T-9)
April 12, 1861: Confederates fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter, in the harbor of
Charleston, South Carolina. Two union troops accidentally die during a cannon
salute as the fort is surrendered by Anderson. President Lincoln calls for 75,000
volunteers for 3 month’s service. *Why only 3 months?
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July 21, 1861: First Battle of Bull Run –also called Manassas by the South. *The
North called battles by rivers, the South by Towns. The armies of the North were
rivers, the South by states. Confederates won; surprised North. (t-10)
March 9, 1862: The Union Monitor and Confederate Merrimack, fight a naval
battle.
April 6-7, 1862: General U.S. Grant wins a hard-fought battle at Shiloh,
Tennessee. (T-11)
September 17, 1862: In Antietam, Maryland, the single bloodiest day of the war.
–about 20,000 dead.
December 13, 1862: Lee wins victory at Fredericksburg, Va. Union looses
12,000, the South 5,000. *2nd in his class at West Point without a single demerit;
father ‘Light-Horse Harry Lee’ one of GW cavalry heroes; Mexican War; ready to
retire when CW broke out; home became Arlington Cemetery; had heart attack in
1863 –continued to command; highly respected on both sides. (T-12)
Jan. 1, 1863: President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation takes effect. It was
an official public statement, not a law. It could be enforced because of the powers
given to Lincoln as commander in chief in a time of war. It didn’t free slave in the
border states, because they were not at war with the US. These slaves could only
be freed by a constitutional amendment or by state lawmakers. It freed slaves only
in rebel territory –small parts of which were held by Union forces. Which meant
that slaves were free in territories in which the Union did not have control! It also
said that southern states could rejoin the Union without giving up slavery. But it
meant that if the North won, slavery was over! This changed the focus of the war.
It had mixed consequences. Those who would fight to preserve the union may not
be willing to fight to free slaves who might take their jobs. It was received well in
Europe and guaranteed that England and France would not recognize the South as
a separate nation. (Note that England could now get cotton from Egypt and India
and because their wheat crop had failed, they needed wheat from the North)
May 1-4, 1863: Lee and Jackson defeat a larger Union army at Chancellorsville,
VA. After the battle, Jackson was accidentally shot by one of his own men. He
died a week later from pneumonia. (Was a hypochondriac –constantly worried
that his body was out of balance, so always raising each arm over his head to
allow the blood to balance in his body. –requested cold wet towels draped over
his body after his left arm was amputated, probably led to the pneumonia that
killed him.
July 1-3, 1863: Gettysburg -3 days. Union victory marked a turning point in the
war. 1/3 of Confederate Army died. Combined losses were 51,000 killed,
wounded, or missing. 17 Confederate generals died here. *L. Chamberlain. –
Maine, Little Round Top, in 24 battles, wounded 6 times, Bowdain College pres.,
4x Gov. (T-14); Read Chamberlain excerpt.
July 4, 1863: Grant wins the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Union gains control
of the Mississippi and splits the Confederacy in two from east to west. (T-15)
March 10, 1864: Grant named commander of the Union armies. West Point;
Mexican War; 6th general to head the Union forces. Heavy drinker, called
‘Unconditional Surrender’; served 2 terms as President.
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May 3, 1864: Grant and the Army of the Potomac enter VA to attack Lee and
capture Richmond. –Capital of South after Montgomery.
September 2, 1864: General William T. Sherman occupies Atlanta, Georgia, and
sets much of the city on fire. –some say it may have been an accident. (T-16)
Nov. 8, 1864: Lincoln is reelected president. In this platform, he asked for a
constitutional amendment to outlaw slavery -13 amendment. At the same time, at
the Hampton Roads Conference, he offered the South a 5 year delay on the 13th
and $400 million in compensation. Davis turned him down.
Nov. 15, 1864: Sherman begins his infamous march to the Sea, from Atlanta to
Savannah. They cut a path 60 miles wide and 285 miles long. It splits the South in
two. This idea of ‘total war’ is a new concept.
Feb. 1, 1865: Sherman’s army starts through the Carolinas on a march as
destructive as the March to the Sea.
April 3, 1865: Union troops enter Petersburg, VA, and the Confederate capital of
Richmond.
April 9, 1865: Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Richmond.
(T-16)
April 14, 1865: President Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s
Theatre in D.C. He dies the next morning.
May 4, 1865: The last Confederate army surrenders.
About 620,000 people died in the CW from battle wounds and disease –more than
in any other war except WWII. For every one that died in battle, two died of
disease. 200,000 were prisoners in the South -30,000 died. Henry Wirz who ran
Andersonville was tried and hanged.
The North established a Freedman’s Bureau to help freed blacks establish a place
in postwar society.
The war permanently expanded the role of government. *All wars do.
INTERESTING FACTS:
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Northern men could pay $300 for a substitute to fight for them –some were
Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Charles Pillsbury, George
Pullman, Jay Gould, and Marshall Field.; could be excused in the South if you
had 20+ slaves.
Most in the North wore blue; in the South gray or ‘butternut.’
Twice as many soldiers died of sickness as died in battle.
About 300 women enlisted disguised as males.
The youngest soldier was 9 years old –Edward Black from Indiana. After the EP
over 200,000 blacks enlisted in the Union Army. The 54th Mass was the 1st black
unit. Captured in the movie ‘Glory.’ Led by Peter Vogelsang –became 1st
Lieutenant; 14 members were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor.
Edmund Ruffin, a VA newspaperman was credited with firing the first shot.
The most fought over area in the entire nation during the war was the Shenandoah
Valley. The town of Winchester, VA, changed hands 76 times.
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160,000 Irish fought for the Union; most famous Confederate Irishman was Major
Gen. Patrick Cleburne.
¼ of all CW battles and 60% of all casualties occurred within a 75-mile radius of
Richmond.
At the beginning of the war, only 10,000 families owned more than 50 slaves. ¾
of all Southern families owned none.
On April 14, 1861, Major Robert Anderson lowered the US flag over Fort Sumter.
Exactly 4 years later, he raised the flag again over the fort. It was April 14, 1865,
the day Lincoln was shot.
3,530 American Indians fought; 1/3 died. One became a general –Confederate
Brigadier General Stand Watie. 180,000 African-Americans fought; 36,000died.
6 Union officers ascended to the White House; U.S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur,
James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William
McKinley.
In 1970, Congress finally granted Lee a pardon and restored his citizenship, 100
years after his death.
The last Confederate general –Simon Buckner died in 1914.
DBQ: To what extent was the election of Abraham Lincoln a mandate for the abolition of
slavery in the United States?
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Key word is ‘extent.’
A mandate is an order.
The question is.. are the people of the US ordering the abolition of slavery when
they voted for Lincoln? Ask yourself what Lincoln stood for; what did the
election of 1860 mean?
Use the documents provided; you have 15 minutes to read and organize your
notes and 45 minutes to write.