The Civil War
1861-65
APUSH Ch. 15
© Mr. Willis
Goal of War
• North
– To preserve the Union!
– Bring South back into
nation
– Emancipation not goal
until 1863
• South
– To remain
independent of North
– Not to conquer North,
but not be conquered
by North
Gov’t during war
• South (CSA aka
Confederacy)
• North (Union)
– Pres. = Lincoln
– VP = Hannibal Hamlin
(until 1864 election)
– Sec. of State = William
Seward
– Sec. of Treas. = Salmon P.
Chase (until 1864)
– Sec. of War = Edwin
Stanton (after 1862)
– Pres. = Jeff Davis
– VP = Alexander Stephens
– Treas. = Christopher
Memminger
North: Key Generals
You must KNOW
Ulysses S. Grant!
(I will be President in a
few years)
1) Ulysses S. Grant
President Lincoln
fires me after an
epic fail.
2) George McClellan
They still curse me
in the South.
Look at my lovely
sideburns…
…..wait for it)
3) William T Sherman
4) Ambrose Burnside
South: Key Generals
You must KNOW
Robert E. Lee – a
Virginian and a
brilliant general!
2) “Stonewall” Jackson
1) Robert E. Lee
Ever been on
Pickett Rd in
Fairfax?
3) George Pickett
Ever driven on
Lee-Jackson
highway? (Rt 50)
Advantages
• North
– Manpower (2.1 million
troops)
– $$$ - paper and specie
(75% of US wealth)
– Industry – over 90% of
manufacturing, weapons,
coal, iron, textiles, etc.
– Labor
– RR – over 70%
– Agriculture – over 2/3 of
food production
– Political leadership
• South
–
–
–
–
Strategy – defensive war
Home field advantage
Military leadership (at first)
Cause (?)
Political Problems During War:
Union
• Draft (aka conscription)
– Enrollment Act of 1863
– Able bodied, 25-45 eligible
– Exemptions: gov’t officials,
ministers, sole providers
• Also allowed substitution,
paying $300 gov’t fee
New York Draft Riots 1863
Political Problems During War
Union
• Money/financing
– 1st nat’l income tax
– Legal tender Act – print extra paper $
• Problem?
– Inflation – 80% during war
– Offset by making paper $ legal tender for debts – showed gov’t
had faith in currency, public followed suit
– War bonds
– National Bank Act
• Passed due to lack of Democrats in gov’t (hard $ supporters)
• Gave private bankers incentive to buy war bonds
• Perm. Changed banking in US
Political Problems During War
South
• Money/financing – solutions?
– War bonds
– Printed extra $$$ - problems?
• inflation – 9000%
• Never made legal tender
– South never had confidence in $$$, made inflation worse
Political Problems During War
South
• Labor/manpower
– Draft – controversy?
• Angered a region already against central power
• Exemptions –
– hiring substitutes
– Owners/overseers of 20+ slaves (benefitted upper class)
– Shortage of industrial workers
• Slaves put to work in factories
(Tredegar Iron Works,
Richmond)
• Later considered
using as soldiers
Strategy – North
Anaconda Plan (Winfield Scott)
1. Blockade South’s ports -- destroy trade, cut off $
2. Cut South in two:
- take Mississippi River
- cut supply lines & RR
3. Take Richmond
(capital)
Strategy – South
• Fight defensive war
• Convince North that war to preserve Union
too costly
• When it was obvious North would not give
up easily, CSA invaded North
– Antietam in 1862
– Gettysburg in 1863
Political Problems during war
You’re fired!
Union
• Military leadership – problems?
– Burden of offensive war
– Overcautious generals
• Esp. George McClellan
–
–
–
–
–
Appt. commander in East after 1st Manassas
Excellent at raising, organizing, training army
Several times did not pursue weakened CSA forces
Fired by Lincoln after Antietam (Sept. 1862)
Revolving door until 1864 (Grant)
• Best Union generals started war in west
– Grant, Sherman
– Not promoted to command until later
Battles Battles Battles
• Over 70% of battles in VA and Tenn.
• War generally divided into 2 theaters of
operations:
– War in East – fighting along Atlantic states
– War in West – fighting in states that border
Mississippi River
New Technology
• Tech changed, but tactics did not (mostly)
– Linear formations
– Trade volleys
• Main innovation – rifled musket and minie
ball
• Others: repeating rifles,
Gatling gun, ironclad ships,
submarines, revolvers, etc
• Impact on warfare when tech
gets ahead of tactics?
Progression of War
• Eastern Campaign
– 1861-3: South won most battles for 1st 2-3 yrs, but none that
completely beat the North
– Public felt South was winning, reality = stalemate
– CSA superior generals:
• R.E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, JEB Stuart, John Mosby
Eastern Campaign
• Turning point battles:
– Antietam – Sept 1862 – Lee’s invasion of North halted – major
losses
• North issues Emancipation Proclamation
• Political victory – ends hope of British support for CSA
– Gettysburg – July 1863 – Lee once again turned back in North
• Major losses, South never fully recovers
• Timing coincides w/ Vicksburg
Western Campaign
• Union steadily wins gradual victories
• Key battles:
– Shiloh (TN) – helps split CSA in two
– Vicksburg (July 1863) – Union takes fort near mouth of
Miss River – able to push Anaconda Plan forward
– Grant & Sherman play key role in west
– Grant promoted to top commander in East in 1864
Society During War
• Slavery in South
– Emancipation Proclamation – 1862 (after
Antietam)
–
–
–
–
–
Made abolition goal of war – political shift
Freed slaves ONLY in rebelling states
Kept Britain out of war
Many freedmen in North enlist
Many slaves ran away, joined Union
• 54th and 55th Mass. –
black combat regiments
• Not paid equal w/ whites at
first, so many refuse pay
• South issues decree to
execute any from Black units
Political Problems During War
Union
• Political dissent – sources?
– Democrats – few left, but vocal
• War Democrats – supported war but
opposed emancipation, stronger fed. Gov’t
• Copperheads – anti-war Democrats in North
– Radical Republicans
• Favored emancipation from start
• Thaddeus Stevens (House),
Charles Sumner (Senate)
– Public
• Some opposed war
• Draft riots
• Race riots (blacks used as
strikebreakers -- aka scabs)
Political Problems During War
Union
• How did Lincoln deal w/ dissent?
– Used fed. troops to put down riots
– Declared martial law in border states
– Suspended civil liberties
• Habeas corpus – gov’t could hold Confed. sympathizers
w/o pressing charges
– Sup.Ct struck down in Ex Parte Merryman, Lincoln
ignored the Court
– Used military courts to try civilians
• Struck down in Ex Parte Milligan
– Banished opposition
• Clement Vallandigham (Copperhead)
– Kept rivals in the loop
• Put political opponents in cabinet
Political Problems During War
South
• How did South deal w/ dissent?
– Davis suspended habeas corpus
• Used sparingly
– Draft dodgers
• Local gov’ts formed patrols
Political Problems During War
South
• Dissent – sources?
– Not from parties – CSA almost totally Dem.
– States’ rights activists – esp. Alexander Stephens – attacked
Davis’ policies
– Non-slaveholding parts of south
• Saw war as elite slaveholder conspiracy to extend power of
wealthy
Society During War
• Health
– Civil War hospitals more dangerous than battlefields
– Women break into nursing (Clara Barton – American
Red Cross)
– Prison camps worst – disease & famine
• Andersonville (GA)
• South destroyed physically and economically
Beginning of the End
• Atlanta
– After victories in west, Sherman marches on Atlanta
• TOTAL WAR – destroy will to fight in deep south
• Bombards, burns city
• March to the Sea – Sherman’s troops march from Atlanta to
Savannah – destroy everything in path
–
–
–
–
Homes looted, burned
Crops destroyed
Livestock killed
RR tracks torn up, wrapped around
tree trunks
– Destruction continues into SC, up coast
– News of Sherman’s victories helps
Lincoln get re-elected in 1864
Election of 1864
• Candidates:
– Republican – Lincoln
– Democrat – McClellan
– Arguments against Lincoln?
• Some unhappy he hadn’t ended war yet
• Sherman’s victories propel him to victory
• Gave soldiers furlough days to vote; capture of Atlanta key
The End of War
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sherman marches North to link up w/ Grant
Grant advances on Lee from Potomac
Siege of Petersburg (outside Richmond) – city falls, Union has path into
CSA capital
CSA gov’t flees
Grants catches up to Lee outside Appomattox Courthouse – Lee surrenders
April 9, 1865
Other CSA generals gradually surrender over next few weeks – war over
Lincoln assassinated a few days later (John Wilkes Booth)
Costs of War
• 620,000 dead (about 2/3 from disease)
– 360,000 Union
– 260,000 Confederate
– Another 400,000 wounded
– New estimates 750,000 dead
• South loses 60% of wealth
Republicans in Charge
• Morrill Tariff Act of 1861
– High protective tariffs, pro-industry
• Homestead Act of 1862
– Free-Soilers, 160 acres/5 yrs
• Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
– Go Aggies!
• Pacific Railway Act 1862
– Northern route for trans-cont RR
Effects of War
• Social
– Slavery ended (13th amend)
– Civil rights awarded later to former slaves
• Political
– Union reunited
– Federal power asserted over states rights
• Secession destroyed as a concept
– Lincoln expands President’s powers
• Sets a precedent for wartime powers
– Precedent of national draft & income tax
– Important Supreme Ct. cases (Merryman and Millgan)
• Economic
– South’s economy destroyed. End of agrarian ideal
– North’s economy & industry accelerated
– RR and investment fields grow
– Shift toward national banking
– Greenbacks as national currency (soft money policies grow)
Add to your quiz
10. What were the 3 main turning point
battles of the Civil War? (1862, 1863,
1863)
Briefly explain why each battle was a turning
point. (10 words or less for each)
Turn over your paper and collaborate with
your pod on the SAQ.