


Anaconda Plan –a strategic plan proposed by Winfield Scott to
slowly strangle the South, ending the Civil War before it had
begun.

The Union would blockade Confederate ports, and send troops
and gunboats down the Mississippi River to divide the
Confederacy. Once commerce was sealed off, Southerners were
expected to compel their Secessionist leaders to “make terms.”

This diplomatic strategy was not adopted because Union military
leaders and the war-fevered press claimed that to aggressively
destroy the South’s armies was the only way to win the war.
 Lincoln
had to deal with disagreements
within his own political party and the
Northern public.
 Lincoln’s
goal to preserve the union, even if
he had to leave slavery alone, did not satisfy
abolitionists.

War Democrats – supported the war to preserve the Union, but
opposed ending slavery.

Peace Democrats became known as Copperheads because
Republicans viewed them as traitors. They opposed the war
and wanted to restore the union through negotiations.

Democrats and Republicans disagreed over conscription – the
draft. Riots erupted in northern cities.

Criticism over Lincoln’s suspension of writs of habeas corpus –
the right to be charged with a crime or be released.
 The
South tried to gain support from Britain and
France. Both countries utilized southern cotton for
their textile factories.
 Confederate
diplomats aboard the British ship Trent
were taken into custody by Union navy and held for
several weeks.

This incident, which led to discussion of war
between the U.S. and Britain, became known as the
“Trent Affair”.
 Issued
by President Lincoln, emancipating all
slaves in states still engaged in rebellion
against the Union.
"All persons held as slaves … shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever free“
— Abraham Lincoln
 Why
did Lincoln wait so long into the war to
issue this proclamation?
 The Union needed a decisive victory to lend
credence to the proclamation and got one
at the Battle of Antietam (September 17th
1862.)
 September
22nd 1862: Lincoln Signed the
preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It
became law January 1, 1963.
 The
five-page document declared that slaves in the
rebel states were free and provided them with the
support of the U.S. government—including the Army
and Navy.
 The
Emancipation Proclamation only applied to the
states in rebellion.
 Lincoln’s
advisors did not initially support the
Emancipation Proclamation.

Served as a firm demonstration of the President’s executive
war powers.

Changed the focus of the war: pushed slavery to the forefront.

Helped prevent the involvement of foreign nations in the war.

Paved the way for African-Americans to fight for their freedom.

Led the way to eventual total abolition of slavery in the U.S.
 Lincoln
considered the Emancipation
Proclamation the crowning achievement of
his presidency.

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863) was the turning point of the
war, paving the way for Union victory, but at a high cost (50,000
casualties on both sides).

Lincoln’s 3-minute dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery
in Gettysburg is considered on of the most important speeches
in American History.

The Gettysburg Address recast the Civil War in a new light, and
Americans came away with a new understanding of the nation’s
purpose—preserving a union based on the ideal that “all men
are created equal.”

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civilwar/shermans-march

Sherman's famed March to the Sea, also known as the
Savannah Campaign, began after the encirclement of Atlanta in
August 1864. On November 15th 1864, the march began across
Georgia, leaving a 60-mile-wide path of destruction

The purpose of the march was to make Southern civilians
understand the harshness of war and weaken their support.

This was the third part of the newly revised Anaconda Plan.
o 1. Blockade southern ports
o 2. Mississippi Plan- station Union vessels on Mississippi
River.
o 3. Savannah Campaign- “Sherman’s March to the Sea”
Union


Major General William T.
Sherman
62,000 men
Confederates


Lieutenant General William
J. Hardee
13,000 men
 Sherman
reached Savannah, GA on December 21,
sparing the beautiful, historic port city (Ga.’s first
settlement), then turned his destructive forces toward
South Carolina.
I
am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It
is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard
the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud
for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.
- William Tecumseh Sherman

At the same time in Virginia, General Ulysses S. Grant was
focused on capturing Richmond, VA, the Confederate
capital.

Grant had tried, unsuccessfully, for ten months to infiltrate
the city. He was finally successful after his victory at
Petersburg, VA. ( 50 miles from Richmond)

The Confederates knew that if Richmond fell the war would
surely be over.

Robert E. Lee sent a letter to Jefferson Davis after the Siege of
Petersburg, saying that they would be better off abandoning the
capital because it could no longer be defended. Taking
immediate action Davis burned all Confederate documents about
the war and went on the run.

Confederates set Richmond on fire to leave nothing for the Union
to use against the remaining Confederates.

The Confederates were running out of food and supplies, and
were surrounded by Union forces, cut off from escape to the
South.

April 9th 1865: Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Grant at
Appomattox Station a few days after Richmond had fallen to
Union troops.

Through lenient terms, Confederate troops were paroled and
allowed to return to their homes. Union soldiers were ordered to
refrain from overt celebration or taunting. Although not the end
of the war, the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia set
the stage for its conclusion.