The Civil War
Understanding the American Civil War
from start to finish 1800 to 1865
Objectives
• Understand the causes that led to the
American Civil War
• Understand events that led up to the
American Civil War
• Understand the differences between the
North and South that lead to Civil War
• Understand why the North was able to
achieve victory in the American Civil War
In 1776, the American colonists decided to declare
their independence from England.
Thomas Jefferson, a young lawyer
from Virginia, was asked to write a
Declaration of Independence to
inform the English and other nations
about this decision.
In the Declaration, Jefferson wrote...
We hold these truths
to be self-evident…
that all men are
created equal...
But in spite of Jefferson’s words, not all
Americans were equal.
In fact, about 1/5 of all
the people in America
were slaves.
The question of slavery
would haunt America
throughout its history.
After the Revolutionary War was won, the founders gathered to
draft a Constitution to form a new government.
Here, questions about slavery came up and arguments broke out..
It became clear that the Southern states would never join
the new United States of America if slavery were outlawed
by the Constitution.
Both sides made
compromises about
slavery to try to unite
the states. The issue
of slavery was finally
left open...
an issue that future
generations would
have to deal with.
Throughout the early 1800s
people in the Northern states
voiced their beliefs that slavery
should be abolished. They
were called abolitionists.
The abolitionist movement
grew.
Every time a new state
wanted to join the union,
big arguments broke out
about whether the state
should be a free or slave
state.
Things were getting worse
between the Northern and
Southern states.
The Southern states pressured the federal government to
pass stronger laws for the capture of runaway slaves.
In 1857 the Supreme Court decided a case of
a runaway slave named Dred Scott.
Dred Scott was suing for his
freedom, but the court held that
the Constitution protected
slavery and that African
Americans were not citizens
protected by the Constitution.
This decision made the abolitionists very angry.
It left no room for compromise.
The nation was pushed closer to civil war.
Then, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln
was elected President...
...by the Northern
states.
Electoral Map of 1860. Lincoln carried red states.
This caused most of the Southern states to leave the Union.
Sectional Differences
Issues
Economic
Factors
North
•Agriculture &
industry
•Immigrant labor
South
•Agriculture
•Slave labor
Slavery Issue •Abolitionists
•Pro-slavery
•Favored entry of free •Favored entry of slave
states
states
Compromise
of 1850
•California admitted
as a free state
•Slave trade
abolished
•Utah and New Mexico
Territories opened to
slavery
The Election
of Lincoln
•Supported by North
and West
•Alienated the South
Economic Issues- North
• North had a diverse economy with
agriculture and growing factories and
industry
• North had a growing immigrant population
attracted by factory jobs (+3.5 million in
1850s)
• North was building infrastructure to
support industry – Railroads, roads, canals
Economic Issues- South
• Southern economy was based on agricultureCotton, Rice, Tobacco
• Southern plantations were kept going through
Slavery
• South had little infrastructure- relied on rivers to
transport goods
• More than 2/3s of Southerners lived on small
farms w/o slaves
• Most Southerners believed that slavery was
essential to their economy and way of life
Road to War
• Missouri Compromise (1820) -- Maine
admitted as a free state and Missouri as a
slave, but no other slave states from the
Louisiana Purchase territory would be
allowed north of Missouri’s southern
boundary
Road to War
• Nullification Crisis (1832) -- Responding
to a high cotton tariff, South Carolina
declares a state can void any act of
Congress it feels is unconstitutional
Road to War
• Mexican War (1846-1848) -- viewed by
some as a Southern attempt to expand
slavery
– Wilmot Proviso (1846) fails. Would have
formally renounced any intention to
introduce slavery into lands seized from
Mexico
Road to War (cont)
• Compromise of 1850-- California
admitted as a free state; slavery in New
Mexico and Utah territories to be
determined by popular sovereignty; the
prohibition of the slave trade prohibited in
the District of Columbia; a more stringent
fugitive slave law
Compromise of 1850
• California becomes a free state
• End of slave trade in Washington DC
• New territories of New Mexico and Arizona
would have nor rules against slavery
• Fugitive Slave Law issued – Slaves equal
property and must be returned
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
•
•
•
•
•
Split the Nebraska territory in two
Nebraska in the North free territory
Kansas in the South would get to vote on it
Violence broke out in Kansas over this
Even in Congress-
Senator Brooks (S. Carolina) beat Senator Sumner
(Mass) with a cane over the issue
Election of Lincoln
• Democratic party was spilt into factions
between North and South
• Whig party took votes from Democrats
• Lincoln wins the 1860 presidential election
• Lincoln was not even on the ballot on 10
Southern states
• With his election South Carolina succeeds
from the Union 12/20/1860
The War
• 1861 December South attacks Fort
Sumter in South Carolina
• A couple battles happened
• The North had more troops and supplies
• The South ran out of stuff and couldn’t get
foreign help
• General Lee surrendered to Gen Grant on
April 9, 1865
By April, 1861, war broke out among the
Northern and Southern states.
Objectives
North
• Restore Union
– Therefore couldn’t
completely alienate or
destroy the South or
the Southern people
• South
• Hold on to de facto
independence
– Continue the struggle
long enough for the
North to tire of it
– Similar to American
colonists
Comparison
North
• 20 million people
• 110,000
manufacturing
establishments
• 22,000 miles of
railroad
• 75% of nation’s total
wealth
• 16,000 man Army
and 90 ship Navy
South
• 9 million people (over 4
million slaves)
• 18,000 manufacturing
establishments
• 8,500 miles of railroad
• Wealth lay in land and
slaves (non-liquid)
• No existing military
Comparison
North
South
• Had to project forces
across large and
hostile territory
• Requirement for
offense
• Had to maintain supply
lines
• Fighting to regain
preexisting status quo
• Could take advantage
of interior lines
• Could win by only
succeeding on the
defense
• Friendly territory and
population
• Fighting for homeland
and independence
After four bloody years of civil war,
the South was defeated.
Result of Civil War
• Over 618,000 military deaths
• Emancipation of over 4 million slaves
• Destroyed old Southern (Antebellum)
Questions following the Civil War
•
•
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What to do with former slaves?
Should Southerners be punished?
What to do with the rebellious states?
What impact will this have on the economy
of the South? And National economy?
In 1863, President Lincoln
issued the Emancipation
Proclamation, which freed the
slaves in the rebel states.
After the Civil War ended, Congress passes three new
Amendments to the Constitution.
13th Amendment (1865)
“Slavery…shall not exist
within the United States
or any place subject to
their jurisdiction.”
14th Amendment
Sometimes called the
“Civil War Amendments.”
(1868)
All people born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens.
All citizens must be treated equally under the law.
Due process of law for all.
15th Amendment (1870)
Right to vote cannot be denied based on “race,
color, or previous…servitude.”