Why secession?
• Southern states
believed that the union
no longer protected
their rights or
promoted their
welfare.
• Specifically, they
worried that Northern
restrictions on slavery
would undermine their
way of life.
Why Preserve the Union?
• President Lincoln made
the preservation of the
union his paramount goal.
• He argued that the South
did not have the legal
right to secede because
the constitution was a
contract the South
couldn’t break.
Feb. 9, 1861
• Jefferson Davis is elected
President of the Confederate
States of America
• Alexander Stephens is Vice
President
• 6 States had already seceded
from the Union
March 4, 1861
• Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th
President of the United States
• Lincoln in his first inaugural address:
“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow
countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous
issue of civil war. The government will not assail
you. You can have no conflict without being
yourselves the aggressor”
April 12, 1861
• Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston,
South Carolina is bombarded by South
Carolina troops.
• The Union is forced to surrender the fort
• Lincoln reacts by declaring “a state of
insurrection” and calls for volunteer soldiers
• By May 6, Virginia, Tennessee, North
Carolina and Arkansas secede bringing the
number of Confederate states to 11.
April, 1861
• Lincoln orders a naval blockade of the South.
• This is part of the Anaconda Plan--the
strategy of economic strangulation of the
South..
• In the long run, it was a significant union
advantage.
• Discussion Question: why would talk of a
naval blockade be unpopular in 1861?
July 21, 1861
• The first major battle of the war, the First
Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) is fought.
• Both sides expect the war to be short.
• Poorly trained Union forces are defeated by
the Confederates.
• Many Washington residents who had come
to watch the battle were forced to flee in the
ensuing chaos.
November 8, 1861
• 2 Confederate agents are taken from the
British ship Trent by the U.S. Navy.
• Britain considered this a hostile act and war
nearly erupted.
• Cooler heads prevailed after Lincoln
released the prisoners.
• Britain never did recognize the confederacy.
August, 1861
• Congress passes the first Confiscation Act.
• The Act authorized the seizure of all
property used in military rebellion,
including slaves.
• This was the first step toward emancipation
• In 1862, the Second Confiscation Act
declared that slaves that came within the
Union lines would be “forever free”.
March 9, 1862
• The Monitor (Union) clashes with the
Merrimac (Confederate).
• This is history’s first battle between ironclad ships--a naval innovation.
• The Battle ends inconclusively.
• In general, the Union has the advantage at
sea.
April 6-7, 1862
• On the Western front, the Battle of Shiloh
results in 13,000 Union casualties and
11,000 Confederate losses.
• The Union is able to claim a costly victory.
• Discussion question: how could the Union
“win” but suffer more casualties?
April 16, 1862
• President Jefferson Davis signs the
Conscription Act, the first draft in American
History.
• Exceptions were made for plantain owners
with over twenty slaves and people could hire
others to serve for them. This fueled class
tensions that proved costly later in the war.
• The Union also eventually used a draft
(starting March 3, 1863)
Spring, 1862
• Union General McClellan plans the
Peninsula Campaign, a strategy in which he
would land troops on the peninsula between
the York and James River and then march
west from Richmond.
• The plan unfolded well and by May
McClellan was within five miles of
Richmond. Then he got “the slows”
(Lincoln’s term).
June 25-July 2, 1862
• McClellan’s delay gave Lee time to attack.
• After the 7 Days Battle, General Lee forces the
Union army to retreat, ending the threat to
Richmond and the possibility of an early end to
the war.
• Union losses are at 16,000 dead and wounded.
Confederates lose 20,000.
September 17, 1862
• The Battle of Antietam becomes the
bloodiest single day of the war--and in
American History.
• The total casualties are 23,110 dead,
wounded, or missing.
• The battle is essentially a draw, but it ends
Lee’s planned invasion of the North.
• The aftermath...
antietam
September 23, 1862
• The preliminary text of the Emancipation
Proclamation is issued.
• Lincoln waited for a Union “victory” to
issue the Proclamation.
• It freed the slaves in the rebelling states as
of January 1, 1863.
• Discussion question: Why did Lincoln wait
until 1863 to emancipate the slaves?
December 13, 1862
• The Battle of Fredricksburg is a major
victory for the Confederates with significant
Union Casualties.
• At the conclusion of 1862, there is no end in
sight to the war, with neither side holding a
clear advantage on the battlefield.
May 1-4, 1863
• The Confederates win the Battle of
Chancellorsville as Lee’s Army once again
defeats the Union forces.
• Despite the victory, the Confederates lose
one of their best commanders--General
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. He is
accidentally killed by one of his own troops.
May 22-July 4, 1863
• Union General Ulysses S. Grant, commander
on the Western front, begins his attack on
Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• Grant uses of siege or blockade of Vicksburg
designed to starve the enemy into submission.
• After running out of food, the Confederates
surrender the city on July 4.
• Vicksburg was key to controlling the
Mississippi River and cutting the Confederacy
in half.
July 1-3, 1863
• The Battle of Gettysburg rages in
Pennsylvania—a confederate victory would
open a path to Washington DC.
• Both sides suffer extreme casualties (a
combined total of over 50,000 dead and
wounded).
• The Confederates are defeated and Lee is
forced to retreat back to Virginia.
July 13-16, 1863
• In a violent reaction to the Conscription
Act, mobs riot in many Union cities.
• Many felt the war was “a rich man’s war,
but a poor man’s fight.”
• The worst riot was in New York City where
Irish mobs lynched blacks.
• Federal troops were dispatched to end the
mayhem.
September 19-20, 1863
• The Battle of Chickamaugua is fought in
Georgia.
• The Confederates defeat the Union troops
and force them back to Tennessee.
• This proves that although the Confederates
are reeling, they are still able to fight
effectively.
November 19, 1863
• Lincoln issues 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.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
battle field of that war. We come to dedicate a portion of
it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that
the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can
not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground -- The
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we
say here; while it can never forget what they did here.
It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to
the great task remaining before us -- that, from these
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause
for which they here, gave the last full measure of
devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall
not have died in vain; that the nation, 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.
Discussion Question: why is the Gettysburg address
considered a great speech?
March 10, 1864
• After successfully leading his troops to
victory in the West, Grant is named top
commander of the Union Army.
• Grant is the last in a long string of Generals
given command. Many disappointed
Lincoln by being too cautious, including
McClellan.
• On August 29, the Democrats nominate
George McClellan for President.
September 2, 1864
• William T. Sherman captures Atlanta and
burns much of the city.
• He then proceeds on his infamous March to
the Sea, destroying everything in his path.
• This victory boosts Lincoln’s chance for
reelection.
Total War
• Definition: Warfare in which opponents
attack civilians and the economic system of
the enemy in addition to its soldiers.
• Examples: Sherman’s March and the Siege
of Vicksburg
• Discussion: is total war moral? What limits
would you place on total war if you were
Commander-in-chief?
November 8, 1864
• Election Day. Lincoln is reelected by a
wide electoral margin, but by fewer than
500,000 votes in the popular election.
• Discussion question: should presidents face
elections during times of war or should
elections be delayed until after the war?
January 31, 1865
• The House passes the 13th amendment
abolishing slavery. It then goes to the states
for ratification.
• Review: why didn’t the Emancipation
Proclamation abolish slavery?
April 3, 1865
• Union troops enter Richmond.
• 2 Days later, President Lincoln tours the
City. He sits in President Davis’ chair.
• The end is near.
April 9, 1865
• Lee formally surrenders to Grant at
Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
• Both men are cordial and respectful. Grant
offers generous terms and food to Lee’s
men.
April 14, 1865
• Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes
Booth. He dies the next day.
• Andrew Johnson, a former Southern
Democrat, becomes President.
Ford’s Theatre
Results of the Civil War
•
•
•
•
•
620,000 killed
Union preserved
Slavery abolished
Power of federal government solidified
Southern society in shambles
An End and a New Beginning
• What was won?
• What was lost?
• How would we rebuild?