Chapter 15 Reading Guide
Overview:
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South Carolina’s firing on Fort Sumter aroused the North for war. Lincoln’s call for troops to suppress the
rebellion drove four upper South states into the Confederacy. Lincoln used an effective combination of
political persuasion and force to keep the deeply divided Border States in the Union.
The Confederacy enjoyed initial advantages of upper-class European support, military leadership, and a
defensive position on its own soil. The North enjoyed the advantages of lower-class European support,
industrial and population resources, and political leadership.
The British upper class sympathized with the South and helped Confederate naval efforts. But effective
diplomacy and Union military success thwarted those efforts and kept Britain and France neutral in the war.
Lincoln’s political leadership proved effective in mobilizing the North for war, despite political opposition
and resistance to his infringement on civil liberties. The North eventually mobilized its larger troop
resources for war and ultimately turned to an unpopular and unfair draft system.
Northern economic and financial strengths enabled it to gain an advantage over the less-industrialized
South. The changes in society opened new opportunities for women, who had contributed significantly to
the war effort in both the North and South. Since most of the war was waged on Southern soil, the South
was left devastated by the war.
From the Concept Outline for Chap 15 – KNOW THESE IDEAS – be able to give specific
examples of all the concepts
Key Concept 5.3: The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South
settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the
federal government and citizenship rights.
I.
The North’s greater manpower and industrial resources, the leadership of Abraham Lincoln and others, and
the decision to emancipate slaves eventually led to the Union military victory over the Confederacy in the
devastating Civil War.
A. Both the Union and the Confederacy mobilized their economies and societies to wage the war even
while facing considerable home front opposition.
B. Lincoln and most Union supporters began the Civil War to preserve the Union, but Lincoln’s decision
to issue the Emancipation Proclamation reframed the purpose of the war and helped prevent the
Confederacy from gaining full diplomatic support from European powers. Many African Americans
fled southern plantations and enlisted in the Union Army, helping to undermine the Confederacy.
C. Lincoln sought to reunify the country and used speeches such as the Gettysburg Address to portray
the struggle against slavery as the fulfillment of America’s founding democratic ideals.
D. Although the Confederacy showed military initiative and daring early in the war, the Union ultimately
succeeded due to improvements in leadership and strategy, key victories, greater resources, and
the wartime destruction of the South’s infrastructure.
By the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
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Compare and contrast the strategies, resources, and internal conflicts/dissent in the Union and
the Confederacy. Why did the North win the war?
Identify the turning points of the war. Why were they turning points?
Evaluate the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the contributions of African
Americans during the Civil War. (Also consider the role of women in the North and South.)
Analyze the social, political, and economic effects of the Civil War on each of the three regions:
North, South, West.
Key Terms:
15.1
Conscription Act 1862 (confed)
Enrollment Act 1863 (Union)
Greenbacks & the National Bank Act
Jefferson Davis
Border states – know them!
Habeas corpus/Ex Parte Merryman
Anaconda Plan
First Bull Run (Manassas)
Antietam
Gen. George B. McClellan
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Gen. Stonewall Jackson
Gen. Ulysses Grant
Monitor and the Merrimac
Confiscation Act
Emancipation Proclamation 1862
Gettysburg
Vicksburg
15.2
Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
Homestead Act of 1862
Morrill Land Grant Act
New York City Draft Riots
Copperheads or Peace Democrats
United States Sanitary Commission
Dorothea Dix (yes, her again!)
Clara Barton
Gen. William T. Sherman
“March to the Sea”
Election of 1864
Appomattox
Ex Parte Milligan
(Chapter 15.1)
Mobilizing for War
1. What were the relative strengths and Weaknesses of both sides before the war. How ready was
each side to fight?
2. Recruitment and Conscription (the Draft):
a. How did each side raise their army? Was there opposition? Why? Who fought?
b. How well did each side supply their army? What were the main challenges faced by each
side?
3. $$$: How did each side finance the war (3 methods)? What worked, and what didn’t? How/why
was the North more successful?
4. Political Leadership: What were the liabilities and strengths of each side early in the war?
(Lincoln/Davis) How united was each side? Notice how party unity leads to disunity in the South, and
how party disunity in the North leads to greater unity. (deep!)
5. Border states (slave states that stay in the Union). List them. How does Lincoln keep them in the
Union (and why is it so important)? What is habeas corpus mean in your own words? Was Lincoln’s
action unconstitutional, or a justified move?
In Battle 1861-1862
6. Briefly summarize the tactical advantages and disadvantages of each side.
7. Changes (new weapons) and continuities in fighting and military strategy?
8. What was the Anaconda Plan?
9. Know the basics and significance of Bull Run/Manassas and Antietam. What was the early war in the
east a stalemate?
10. Who had better generals early in the war – the North or the South?
11. Which side dominated western battles? (Note Ulysses Grant). What is the significance of the map on
page 449? Where does the western war spread for Union soldiers?
12. Briefly characterize life for soldiers.
13. What were the main diplomatic goals of each side? Were they successful?
Emancipation Transforms the War, 1863
14. BIG IDEA: How does Lincoln’s stance on abolition/slavery change over the course of the war?
Why?
15. What did the Emancipation Proclamation say? What did it actually accomplish? What did it
NOT do? How did it change the war?
16. How was it viewed/what was its impact in the North? In the South?
17. What was the experience of blacks in the Union Army? How were they treated?
18. What difficult choices did blacks in the South face during the War? How/why did “slavery
disintegrate” during the war even in the absence of a large-scale uprising?
19. What were the two turning point battles for the North in July 1863? Why were they so critical?
(Chapter 15.2)
War and Society: North and South
20. Summarize the economic impacts of the war for the north and south. Did impacts differ for the
elite or the “ordinary” Americans? Briefly identify the three major pieces of legislation passed
by Congress in the early 1860’s (in your key terms).
21. What kind of dissent emerged in the North and South? Be sure to identify and know the
significance of the New York City Draft Riots, the Copperheads, and Ex parte Milligan.
22. What medical advances were made in the War? Know the emergence of nursing as a field and
its key players.
23. What roles did women play during the war? Did these new roles advance the cause of women’s
rights?
The Union Victorious: 1864-1865
24. Why did Lincoln fear he would lose re-election in 1864? Why was the fall of Atlanta significant?
25. What was Sherman’s strategy and how did he justify it? Do you agree?
26. Where and when did Lee surrender to Grant? How did Grant treat the surrendering Southern
army?
27. What happened on April 14, 1865? Know the who, what, when, how.
28. Read the last section, “The Impact of the War” and the chapter conclusion carefully. Summarize
what you feel are the most important points.
29. What do you anticipate will be the next big challenges that the nation will face?
SEE THE NEXT PAGES FOR A NOTES ORGANIZER. YOU MAY USE THIS
ORGANIZER OR ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ON YOUR OWN PAPER. IF
YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMPLETE THESE CHAPTER QUESTIONS
ELECTRONICALLY USING THIS FILE, THAT’S FINE – JUST MAKE SURE
YOU PRINT THEM OUT AND INCLUDE THEM IN YOUR NOTEBOOKS
FOR THE OUTLINE CHECK ON TEST DAY.
North
1. Before
the War –
Strengths/
Weakness/
Readiness?
2. Raising
and
Supplying
an Army
3. Financing
the War
4. Political
Leadership
5. Border
states
South
North
South
6. Briefly
Summarize
the tactical
advantages
and
disavantages
of each side
7. How had
war
changed (or
not) from
previous
wars
What were the main parts?
8.
Anaconda
Plan
1. Bull Run//Manassas and the Peninsula Campaign:
9. Eastern
Battles:
Who won?
Significant
2. Antietam:
3. Why was the war in the east called a stalemate?
McClellan/Burnside
10. Military
Leadership
– C/C in a
few phrases
11. War in
the West
Lee/Jackson
North
South
12. Life for
Soldiers
13.
Diplomatic
Plans
How did Lincoln’s views on emancipation evolve over time? Why?
14.
Confiscation
vs
Emancipatio
n
What did it say? What did it actually accomplish? What did it NOT do?
15. The
Emancipation
Proclamation
16. Impact
of the EP in
the ….
North
17. Blacks
in the
Union Army
18. Slavery
in Wartime
1. Gettysburg
19. Turning
points in
1863
2. Vicksburg
20.
Economic
Impact
Pacific Railroad Act of 1862-
Homestead Act of 1862-
Legislation
in the North
Morrill Land Grant Act-
South
North
South
Why was the North finally able to pass this type of legislation?
21. Dissent
22. Medical
Improveme
nts
23. Role of
Women
What were the basic gripes of Lincoln’s main challengers in the election of 1864?
24.
Lincoln’s
political
troubles in
1864
25.
Sherman’s
March to
the Sea
I will …”make war so terrible…that generations would pass before they could appeal to it
again.”
North
26. The end
of the war
27.
Lincoln’s
assassinatio
n
28. Impact
of the War
– the Big
Picture
29.
Challenges
South