The Civil War
1861–1865
Essential Questions
• What social, political, and economic issues tended to
divide Americans in the period prior to the
Civil War?
• Why did the election of Abraham Lincoln seem to
exacerbate sectional tensions in the prewar period?
• What impact did political and military leadership
have on the conduct of the war?
• How did the war affect minorities during the period
(women, free blacks, slaves, immigrants)?
• How did the Civil War “make” modern America?
Fundamental Causes of the War
• Sectionalism and states’ rights
• Slavery
• Economic issues
The Dividing Union
•
•
•
•
Missouri Compromise (1820)
Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law
Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Dred Scott
Cartoon criticizing the Fugitive Slave Law
The Election of 1860
Abraham
Lincoln
John C.
Breckinridge
Stephen A.
Douglas
John Bell
Electoral Votes in 1860
Secession
• South Carolina
was first
to secede
• Several other
states followed
soon after
• Virginia
seceded after
the Battle of
Fort Sumter
Seceding states appear in green
Discussion Questions
1. What were the three fundamental causes of the
Civil War? Which do you think was the most
important? Why?
2. How did the Dred Scott decision help bring the
country closer to civil war? Do you think the
decision made civil war inevitable? Why or
why not?
3. While running for president, Abraham Lincoln said
that he had no plans to abolish slavery. Why then
did Southerners fear his election so much?
The Creation of the Confederacy
• Delegates met in
Montgomery, Alabama
• Formed the Confederate
States of America
• Jefferson Davis elected
president, with
Alexander Stephens as
vice president
CSA President Jefferson Davis
Buchanan’s Inaction
• Believed secession was
illegal, but that acting
to prevent it was
also illegal
• Decided to let the
incoming administration
handle the problem
President James Buchanan
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
• March 4, 1861
• Promised not to
interfere with slavery
where it already existed
• Attempted to reconcile
with the South
A crowd listens to Lincoln’s speech at the
Capitol building
Lincoln and Fort Sumter
• Confederates demanded that the fort be surrendered
• Lincoln received urgent message from Ft. Sumter’s
commander
• Lincoln faced with dilemma of resupplying Sumter
• Decided to send only “food for hungry men”
Fort Sumter
The War Begins
• Bombardment began on April 12, 1861
• Anderson surrendered to Gen. Beauregard, a close
friend and colleague
Painting depicting
the bombardment of
Fort Sumter
The “Anaconda Plan”
The Union’s strategy:
• Naval blockade
from Louisiana
to Virginia
• Control of the
Mississippi River
Confederate strategy
primarily defensive
Cartoon about the “Anaconda Plan”
Advantages & Disadvantages:
The Union
A Massachusetts factory
Advantages:
• Industry and railroads
• Larger population
• Legitimate government
• Strong political leadership
Disadvantages:
• Funding difficulties
• Offensive war
• Lack of skilled
military leaders
Advantages & Disadvantages:
The Confederacy
Advantages:
• Defensive war on home turf
• Common cause
• Strong military tradition and
outstanding leaders
Disadvantages:
• Weak economy
• Smaller population
• Ineffective central
government and leadership
Generals Robert E. Lee and
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
War Aims: North and South
• The North: to preserve the Union
• The South: safeguarding states’ rights, as well as
protecting the South from “Northern aggression”
Abraham
Lincoln
Horace
Greeley
Discussion Questions
1. Pretend you are a member of Buchanan’s cabinet.
How would you advise him to deal with the
secession crisis in the period before the next
president took office?
2. Do you think the “Anaconda Plan” was an effective
strategy for subduing the Confederacy? If not, what
strategy would you have recommended?
3. Which side’s goals for the war seem more
reasonable to you? Why?
Recruiting Soldiers
• Lincoln called
for 75,000
volunteers for
three months’
enlistment
• Response was
overwhelming
• Union also
encouraged
enlistment
with bounties
New Yorkers line up to enlist
Ethnic Recruitment
• Both sides appealed to
ethnic pride in order
to recruit
• Many nationalities
joined both sides
• Irish Americans among
the most common
An enlistment poster aimed at Irish
Americans
Bull Run
• First major battle of
Civil War
• About 25 miles from
Washington, D.C.
• “Stonewall” Jackson
became famous
• Confederate victory
Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
The Trent Affair
• Union forces seized two Confederate
diplomats from aboard a British ship,
the Trent
• British contended the seizure was an
act of war
• Union eventually released
the diplomats
• Confidence built between the U.S.
and British governments
• Britain refused to support
Confederacy
The San Jacinto
accosting the
Trent
Shiloh
• Union forces led by
Ulysses S. Grant
• Confederate attack
nearly wiped out
Union forces on
first day
• Grant counterattacked the
next day
• Union victory
A view of Shiloh after the battle
Ironclads
• Confederates built
the Merrimack
from a sunken
Union ship
• Union quickly
built the Monitor
• Monitor and
Merrimack fought
to a draw in first
battle between
ironclads
A painting of the battle
New Technologies in Warfare
•
•
•
•
Minie ball
Submarine
Heavy artillery
Aerial
reconnaissance
• Gatling gun
• Trench warfare
A Gatling gun
A New Union Commander
• McClellan selected as
commander after
Bull Run
• McClellan popular
with troops
• A thorough
administrator
• Overly cautious
Gen. George B. McClellan
Lee Takes Command
• General Joseph E.
Johnston wounded
• Robert E. Lee takes
command of
Confederate army
• Lee proves an able
commander
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Antietam
• Attempt by Lee to invade the North
• Near Sharpsburg, Maryland
• McClellan tipped off to Lee’s plans when a soldier
found secret orders wrapped around cigars
• Single bloodiest day in American history
Artillery Hell, a
painting of
early morning
hostilities at
Antietam
Antietam: Battle Scenes
Dead soldiers await
burial after the
morning fighting in
the Miller cornfield
Antietam: Battle Scenes
A view of the
Burnside Bridge
from the
“Confederate side”
Antietam: Battle Scenes
An Army
field hospital
Antietam: Battle Scenes
Confederate dead
along the
Hagerstown
turnpike
Antietam: Aftermath
• Lincoln met with
McClellan after
the battle
• Lincoln fired him,
complaining that he
“had the slows”
• McClellan replaced by
series of commanders
Lincoln meets with McClellan at Antietam
Alabama Claims
Painting of the CSS Alabama fighting
the USS Kearsage
• Confederates purchased
commerce raiders
from Britain
• Alabama highly successful
in disrupting Union
shipping
• U.S. government demands
compensation from Britain
• In 1872, an arbitration
commission ordered Britain
to pay $15.5 million
Discussion Questions
1. Compare Lee and McClellan as commanders.
Which do you feel was more effective? Why?
2. Why do you think McClellan refused to pursue
Lee’s army into Virginia after the battle of
Antietam? Do you think Lincoln should have fired
him for this? Why or why not?
3. Which of the inventions/innovations in warfare do
you think was the most effective? Why?
Prelude to Emancipation
• At first, Lincoln did not
believe he had the
authority to end slavery
• However, every slave
working on a plantation
allowed a white
Southerner to fight
• Lincoln saw
emancipation as a
strategic issue as well as
a moral one
Slaves on a South Carolina plantation, 1862
Advantages to Emancipation
Lincoln discussing emancipation with his cabinet
• Cause “union” in
the North by
linking the war to
abolishing slavery
• Cause disorder in
the South as slaves
were freed
• Kept Britain out of
the war
The Emancipation Proclamation
• Lincoln announced
proclamation after Antietam
• Took effect on January 1, 1863
• Freed slaves only in “territories
in rebellion”
A cartoon celebrating emancipation
Women’s Roles in the War
Clara Barton
Dorothea Dix
Mary Bickerdyke
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
Women Warriors
• Some women
posed as men in
order to fight
• Frances Clayton
(right) fought in
artillery and
cavalry units
• Total number
unknown
Civil War Espionage
Belle Boyd
Rose Greenhow
Pauline Cushman
Sam Davis
Dealing With Dissent
• Copperheads
• Led by Rep. Clement
Vallandigham of Ohio
• Lincoln suspends
habeas corpus
Rep. Clement Vallandigham
Manpower for the War
• Mostly volunteers
• Conscription needed to
sustain troop levels
• In the North, draftees
could hire substitutes or
pay $300 to opt out
An illustrated sheet music cover
protesting the inequities of the draft
New York Draft Riots
• July 1863
• Rioters mainly poor
whites and Irish
immigrants
• Opposed to
freeing slaves
• More than 100
people killed
Rioters loot a New York store
African American Enlistment
Col. Robert Gould Shaw
Memorial to the 54th
Massachusetts
• Congress allowed black
enlistment in 1862
• 54th Massachusetts
commanded by
Colonel Shaw
• Half of 54th killed in
assault on Ft. Wagner
• Helped spur further
enlistment
The Sanitary Commission
• Poor health conditions in
army camps
• U.S. Sanitary
Commission created
• Purposes included
improving hygiene and
recruiting nurses
• Developed better
methods of transporting
wounded to hospitals
A Civil War field hospital
Civil War Medicine
• Infection often deadlier
than the wounds
• Amputations more
common
• Anesthesia widely used
A surgeon at the Camp Letterman field
hospital at Gettysburg prepares for an
amputation
Andersonville
• Confederate POW camp
in Georgia
• 32,000 prisoners
jammed into 26 acres
• One-third of all
prisoners died
• Superintendent was
executed as a
war criminal
Severely emaciated POWs rescued
from Andersonville
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think issuing the Emancipation Proclamation
was a necessity for Lincoln? Why?
2. Do you think Lincoln was justified in suspending
habeas corpus during the war? Why?
3. Why do you think that both sides allowed sanitary
conditions in prison camps and within their own
armies to deteriorate to such a level?
Chancellorsville
• Jackson’s forces
surprised Union
troops
• Confederates won
unlikely victory
• Jackson hit by
“friendly fire” and
died a week later
• Lee pressed on to
Pennsylvania
A painting of the battle
Gettysburg: Prelude
• Lee crossed
into
Pennsylvania
• Sent troops for
supplies
• Confederates
encounter
Union force
outside
Gettysburg
Gettysburg battlefield: view from Culp’s Hill
Gettysburg: Day One
• Small Union force led
by Buford delayed a
larger Confederate force
• Buford held
high ground at
Seminary Ridge
• Buford’s stand allowed
time for reinforcements
to arrive
Gettysburg: Day Two
• Col. Joshua Lawrence
Chamberlain
• Defense of Little
Round Top
• 20th Maine repelled
Confederates and saved
Union position
Colonel (later Major General)
Joshua L. Chamberlain
Gettysburg: Day Three
Artist’s rendition of the battlefield during
Pickett’s charge
• Lee believed Union
lines were still
vulnerable
• Ordered Pickett’s
forces to attack
center of
Union lines
• “Pickett’s Charge”
resulted in over
6500 Confederate
casualties
Impact of Gettysburg
• Confederates lost 28,000
men (one-third of army)
• Union lost 23,000 men
(one-quarter of army)
• Town overwhelmed by
dead and wounded soldiers
• Lee unable to rebuild army
• Turning point of the war
A Confederate soldier lies dead at
“Devil’s Den”
Siege of Vicksburg
Union troops surround Vicksburg during
the siege
• Key to total Union
control of the
Mississippi River
• Several attempts by
Grant to take the
city failed
• Grant barraged the city
for two months
• Vicksburg fell on
July 4, 1863
The Gettysburg Address
• Lincoln invited to attend
cemetery dedication
• Everett the principal
speaker
• At the time, Lincoln’s
two-minute speech was
considered great by
some, a failure by others
The only known picture of Lincoln
(lower center) at the Gettysburg
Cemetery dedication
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think the loss of Stonewall Jackson was
so devastating to the Confederacy?
2. Why was the Battle of Gettysburg such an important
victory for the Union? How might things have been
different had the Confederacy won the battle?
3. Should Lee have been relieved of command because
of his strategy at Gettysburg? Why or why not?
The “Wilderness Campaign”
• Grant came to support
“total war”
• Sought to crush Lee’s
army in Virginia
• Fought in dense forest
near Fredericksburg
• Grant criticized for
taking high losses
Grant at Cold Harbor during
the Wilderness Campaign
Sherman’s “March to the Sea”
• Sherman sought to
break the South’s ability
to make war
• Captured Atlanta in
September 1864
• Led the March to the
Sea from Atlanta
to Savannah
• Took Savannah by
Christmas 1864
Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Election of 1864
A political cartoon shows Lincoln and Davis tearing a
U.S. map while McClellan tries to intercede
• Lincoln sought
reelection
• Democrats
nominated
McClellan
• Union victories
helped Republican
campaign
• Lincoln won by
large margin
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural
Lincoln addresses the crowd
at his second inauguration. It
is believed that John Wilkes
Booth is the figure at top
row center.
The Fall of Richmond
• Lee told Davis the
capital was in danger
• Davis ordered
evacuation
• Union forces took
Richmond
• Lincoln toured the city
soon after
The remains of buildings after the
Union invasion, April 1865
The 13th Amendment
• Proposed and coauthored by Senator
Henderson of Missouri
• Approved by Congress
in January 1865
• Ratified by 27 states by
December 1865
• Abolished “involuntary
servitude”
Illustration depicting the Senate debate
over the 13th Amendment
Surrender at Appomattox
•
•
•
•
Lee realized his position was hopeless
Asked to meet with Grant
Met in Appomattox on April 9, 1865
Lenient surrender terms
An artist’s
rendition of the
meeting
Lincoln’s Assassination
• April 14, 1865, at
Ford’s Theater
• Shot by actor John
Wilkes Booth
• Booth killed
12 days later
• Vice President Andrew
Johnson became
president
An illustration of Lincoln’s
assassination
Impact of the War
Freedmen disinter bodies of soldiers killed at
Cold Harbor for reburial after the war
Impact of the War: the Union
• 111,000 killed in action
• 250,000 killed by non-military causes
(mostly disease)
• Over 275,000 wounded
• Estimated cost in today’s dollars: $6.19 billion
Union dead at
Gettysburg
Impact of the War:
the Confederacy
• 93,000 killed
in battle
• 165,000 killed by
non-military
causes
• Over 137,000
wounded
• Estimated cost in
today’s dollars:
$2.10 billion
Destruction in Atlanta after Sherman’s
troops took the city
The Road to Reconstruction
President Andrew Johnson
• Lincoln’s assassination
led to rise of “Radical
Republicans”
• Conflict over how to best
deal with the former
Confederate states
• Reconstruction period
brought about great
political upheaval
• South “punished” for
causing the war
Discussion Questions
1. Why did Grant’s “total war” policy meet with
resistance even in the North? Do you think the policy
was a good idea? Why?
2. How did Grant and Sherman’s military campaigns
help Lincoln win reelection in 1864?
3. What was the impact of Lincoln’s assassination on
the North? On the South?