Warm-Up
1. Do you think the Civil War could have been prevented?
2. What makes the Civil War different from foreign wars?
The Civil War and Reconstruction
1861-1865
THE CIVIL WAR
The War Begins – Confederates Fire on Ft.
Sumter
• Lincoln’s Dilemma
– Fort Sumter is one of the last remaining Union forts in the
South
– Lincoln can’t supply it or leave it without consequences
• First Shots
– Lincoln sends food and nothing else, Davis sends troops and
fires on the fort, staring the war
• Virginia Secedes
– North is called to arms, thousands of volunteers come forward
– Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina join the
Confederacy
– West Virginia joins the Union
Americans Expect a Short War
• Union and Confederate Strategies
– Union Advantages: resources, fighting power, factories, food
production, railroad and telegraphs
– Confederate Advantages: cotton (and its profits), generals,
military tradition, home field advantage
– Union’s Plan: use navy to blockade southern ports, riverboats
on the Mississippi, and attempt to take the capital
– Confederate’s Plan: protect homeland, invade north at first
opportunity
• Bull Run
– Battle of inexperienced troops, Confederacy wins first battle,
Union retreats to the capital
Union Armies in the West
• Forts Henry and Donelson
– Union army invades Tennessee with General Ulysses S. Grant
leading the charge, in 11 days claimed both forts
• Shiloh
– Confederates sneak attack the Union, Grant reorganizes and
forces a retreat
• Farragut on the Lower Mississippi
– David G. Farragut assigned to seize New Orleans
– Takes fire but still manages to claim the city, and began
capturing other major cities
A Revolution in Warfare

Ironclads
◦ Wooden ships encased in, or completely made out of, iron
◦ Could splinter wooden ships, withstand cannon fire, and resist
burning
• New Weapons
– Riffle’s replace muskets
– Minie ball advances bullet
technology
– Primitive hand grenades and
landmines
The War for the Capitals
• “On to Richmond”
– Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston was injured in battle
and command is passed to Robert E. Lee
– Lee moved against McClelland to defend the capital, Lee lead
fewer troops to victory
• Antietam
–
–
–
–
–
Then Lee headed toward Washington D.C.
Orders were intercepted and the Union
Bloodiest single day battle in American history
McClellan could have ended the war if he pursued Lee
Lincoln fires McClellan as a result
Wrap-Up
1. What do you think were General McClellan’s major
tactical errors?
2. Do you agree with Lincoln’s decision to fire McClellan?
Warm-Up
1. What were the new warfare inventions used during the
Civil War?
2. What was the bloodiest one day battle in American
history?
Britain Remains Neutral
• The Trent Affair
– Britain began importing cotton from Egypt and India and not the
Confederacy keeping them neutral in the war
– A British ship, the Trent, carried two Confederate diplomats
◦ The ship is stopped by a Union
vessel and the Confederates are
arrested
◦ British threaten war
◦ Lincoln forced to free them and
publically disagree with the
ships Captain
Proclaiming Emancipation
• Lincoln’s View of Slavery
– Lincoln didn’t like slavery but didn’t believe he had the power
to end it
– Lincoln finds a way to use his war power to claim Confederate
slaves
• Emancipation Proclamation
– Frees slaves only behind Confederate lines
• Reactions to the Proclamation
– Had a more symbolic importance, free blacks began enlisting in
the Union army
– Confederates were outraged
– Compromise no longer an option, war was the only way out
Both Sides Face Political Problems
• Dealing with Dissent
– Suspended habeas corpus, holding citizens without trial
– Copperheads, Northern Democrats, were most targeted
• Conscription
– Draft of citizens into the army, used by both sides to boost
troop numbers
• Draft Riots
– Poor people most affected, begin rioting against the draft and
being forced to serve
African Americans Fight for Freedom
• African-American Soldiers
– African-Americans could serve but in segregated units
commanded by white officers
– Paid less and were assigned the harder jobs, when captured by
Confederates they were shot or returned to slavery
• Slave Resistance in the Confederacy
– Slaves joined the Union army as they advanced, stayed on
plantations and sabotaged the plantation
– Whites in the South did everything they could to prevent an
uprising
The War Affects Regional Economies
• Southern Shortages
– The South was suffering food shortages, prices rose to
unpayable levels
– People began rioting and smuggling to get food
• Northern Economic Growth
– Industries experienced a boom as the government needed
materials
– Wages don’t keep up with prices, those who replace men in the
workforce aren’t paid equally
– Companies make poor products to increase profit
– Government takes advantage of wealth and begins collecting
income taxes
Soldiers Suffer on Both Sides
• Lives on the Line
– Sanitary conditions are terrible, disease runs rampant through
the soldiers
• Civil War Medicine
– U.S. Sanitary Commission founded to improve conditions and
train nurses
• Prisons
– Horrible conditions, many died while in prisons
Wrap-Up
1. Who did the Emancipation Proclamation free?
2. Why did Britain have to remain Neutral?
Warm-Up
1. Think about the biggest news story in your lifetime.
How did it make you feel? What impact did it have on
your life? Did it change the country? Did it change the
world?
Prelude to Gettysburg
• Battle of Chancellorsville
– South forces the North to
retreat
– After the fighting is over
General Stonewall Jackson is
accidentally shot by his own
men
– Lee decides to invade the
North one more time hoping
to tip the balance of power
• Day 1
Gettysburg
– Confederate soldiers are attempting
to meet up near Gettysburg
– Have run-ins with Union cavalry who
begin setting up defensive positions
– The Confederates take control of the
town as Union armies converge on
the city
– Reach a stalemate with the
Confederates occupying the town and
the Union occupying the high ground
of cemetery ridge
Gettysburg (cont.)
• Day 2
–
–
–
–
Union: 90,000 soldiers, Confederate: 75,000 soldiers
Lee orders Confederates attack multiple locations
Union counters and runs low on ammunition
Union able to hold their position despite heavy attacks
• Day 3
–
–
–
–
Lee believed he could break the Union, ordered an artillery barrage
Union forces renew artillery and infantry
Union holds off Confederate attack and destroys Confederate forces
Union: 23,000 dead or wounded, Confederate: 28,000 dead or
wounded
– Confederacy left unable to recover losses or invade the North again
Grant Wins at Vicksburg
• Vicksburg Under Siege
– Grant destroys rail lines in
Mississippi to distract
Confederates while Union army
claims the capital
– Grant turns to Vicksburg, and
begins a constant barrage
– Confederacy ran short on food,
the city fell on July 4th cutting
the Confederacy in half
Gettysburg Address – November 19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 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 have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here
gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should
do this.
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 consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what
we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that
from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the
last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain -- that this nation, under God, 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.
The Confederacy Wears Down
• Confederate Morale
– Government asks planters to plant fewer cash crops and more
food
– Soldiers began deserting due to lack of food, or advocating
peace
• Grant Appoints Sherman
– Grant made Commander of Union forces; appoints Sherman
Commander in Mississippi
– Begin a total war campaign
• Grant and Lee in Virginia
– Grant repeatedly attacks Lee’s forces in Virginia knowing they
are short on men hoping to force surrender
The Confederacy Wears Down (cont.)
• Sherman’s March
– Marched through Georgia toward the Atlantic destroying
everything in his path
– Turns north to meet with Grant and causes even more
destruction in South Carolina
• The Election of 1864
– Republican: Abraham Lincoln; VP Andrew Johnson
– Democrat: George McClellan
– Radical Republicans: John C. Fremont
• The Surrender at Appomattox
– April 9, 1865 Lee surrendered to Grant
– Lincoln wanted generous terms of surrender
Wrap-Up
1. Do you think that a general’s win-loss record on the
battlefield is the best gauge of measuring greatness as
a military leader? Why or why not?
2. Why do you think Lincoln urged generous terms for a
Confederate surrender?
Warm-Up
1. What led to the South’s morale deteriorating?
2. What was Grant and Sherman’s rational for using total
war?
RECONSTRUCTION
The War Changes the Nation
• Political Changes
– The war puts an end to thoughts that secession is legal
– Increased the scope and reach of the federal government
• Economic Changes
– Return of National Banking and subsidies
– North fully industrialized, South eliminates slavery and
experience economic devastation
• Costs of the War
– 620,000 Americans dead, 575,000 wounded
– $3.3 Billion spent
The War Changes Lives
• New Birth of Freedom
– Constitutional Amendment was needed to officially end slavery
– Thirteenth Amendment officially ends slavery and must be
ratified before states can be readmitted to the Union
• Civilians Follow New Paths
– Veterans either continue military service, return home, or many
moved west
– Clara Barton helped to found the American Red Cross in 1861
The Assassination of Lincoln
• April 14, 1864 Lincoln, his wife, and another couple
attend a play at Ford’s Theatre
• As the play is preparing to close John Wilkes Booth enters
the presidential box and shots Lincoln in the back of the
head
• Booth managed to escape with a broken leg
• A 12 day man hunt ensues ending in Booth’s death
• Lincoln is taken to Peterson House where he dies on April
15
Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction
• Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan
– Lincoln did not believe in session and wanted to readmit the
Southern states as soon as possible
– Confederates to be pardoned (not govt. officials) after 10%
were citizens again they could form a new government
– Plan was disliked by Radical Republicans
• Radical Reaction
– Wanted a majority to be citizens again not just 10%
– Lincoln pocket veto’s the Radical Republican Bill
– This move upsets the Radicals and a struggle for control over
Reconstruction begins
Johnson’s Plan
• Johnson Continues Lincoln’s Policies
– Said states could be readmitted if they withdrew their secession,
swear allegiance to the Union, and to the 13th Amendment
– Pardoned more than 13,000 Confederates
• Presidential Reconstruction Comes to a Standstill
– Radical Republicans refuse to let Southern legislators into
Congress
• Civil Rights Act of 1866
– Gave African Americans citizenship and forbade discriminatory
laws
– Black Codes were used to interfere with the rights of AfricanAmericans – Freedmen’s Bureau sought to end that
– Johnson veto’s both
Congressional Reconstruction
• Moderates and Radicals Join Forces
– Republicans work together to overrule the veto of both Acts
– 14th Amendment made all people born in the United States
citizens of the country
– Johnson doesn’t want the Southern states to ratify it since they
didn’t write it; prolongs ratification until 1868
• 1866 Congressional Elections
– Johnson tried to gain support for Democrats with a train tour
– Backfires and allows Republicans to gain a two-thirds majority
in Congress
Congressional Reconstruction (cont.)
• Reconstruction Act of 1867
– Divides the South and occupies them with military
– Johnson vetoed and Congress overrode the veto
forces
• Johnson Impeached
– Congress believed Johnson was not upholding his presidential
duty
– Pass Tenure of Office Act which Johnson violated
– Congress moves to impeach him, unsuccessfully
• Ulysses S. Grant Elected
– Grant wins election by wide margin
– 15th Amendment gave African-American men the right to vote;
Enforcement Act makes states enforce the Amendment
Wrap-Up
1. How might Reconstruction have been different had
Lincoln lived?
2. Do you think that Radical Republicans were justified in
attempting to impeach Andrew Johnson?
Warm-Up
1. What was the Bloodiest One Day Battle of the Civil
War?
2. What battle was the Turning Point of the Civil War?
Conditions in Postwar South
• Physical and Economic Conditions
– Confederate governments had to rebuild all aspects of their
region
– South continued to be economically disadvantaged
• Public Works Programs
– Built roads, bridges, and railroads, established orphanages and
institutions for the care of mentally ill and disabled
– Needed larger governments to sustain these programs
Politics in the Postwar South
• Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
– Scalawags: Southerners who joined the Republican party
– Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved South to exploit the
South’s postwar turmoil
• African Americans as Voters
– African Americans were eligible to vote for the first time, 90%
joined the Republican Party
• Political Differences
– Republican Party splinters, African Americans eventually return
to Democratic Party
– Many Southerners emigrate to other nations
Former Slaves Face Many Challenges
• New Won Freedoms
– Freedmen tested the waters of their freedom, travelled freely,
and moved to new areas
• Reunification of Families
– Slavery had split up families and afterward they went looking
for one another, rarely reunited
– Marriages and families sprang up because of those new
freedoms
• Education
– Nearly 80% of freed African Americans were illiterate, when
granted freedom they began seeking education
– Founded colleges and institutions for learning
Former Slaves Face Many Challenges
(cont.)
• Churches and Volunteer Groups
– Freed slaves founded churches, schools, social groups, political
groups and volunteer organizations
• Politics and African Americans
– African Americans held office in local, state, and federal
government
– South Carolina had a black majority in state legislature
• Laws Against Segregation
– Southern states passed laws to prevent segregation
– Focus on strengthening their community and not integration
Changes in the Southern Economy
• 40 Acres and a Mule
– A promise made by General Sherman
– Many freed slaves believed they should have part of planters’ land,
instead worked other land with a lack of tools and resources
• Restoration of Plantations
– Plantations focused on a single crop
– Southerners wanted complete control over labor, and faced shortages
• Sharecropping and Tenant Farming
– African American land owners shared money to buy supplies
• Cotton No Longer King
– Cotton prices fall, planters plant more to make up for it forcing prices
lower
Opposition to Reconstruction
• Ku Klux Klan
– Founded as a social club for Confederate veterans
– Started in Tennessee in 1866, became a violent terrorist
organization
• Anti-Black Violence
– The KKK attacked and killed blacks and white sympathizers
– Burned schools, churches, and property
– Violence kept African Americans away from voting polls
• Economic Pressure
– African Americans unable to make a living due to Klan actions
– Many businesses refused to do business with them decreasing
their chances of making a living
Opposition to Reconstruction (cont.)
• Legislative Response
– Congress passed Enforcement Acts to stem Klan activity
– Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional
– Klan reclaims south and violence slows
• Shifts in Political Power
– Amnesty Act revokes former Confederates the right to vote
– Congress also allowed the Freedmen’s Bureau to expire
Scandals and Money Crises Hurt
Republicans
• Fraud and Bribery
– Grant’s political inexperience cost him when making
appointments
– His staff began skimming profits off government contracts
• Republican Unity Shattered
– Grant wins re-election but both parties suffer breaks
• Continued Scandal
– Scandal continued in Grant’s administration
– An investigation revealed widespread corruption and Grant left
office feeling betrayed
Economic Turmoil
• The Panic of 1873
– Investing increased during the Civil War, many businesses fell
after its end
– Railroad investing ballooning caused financial failures and the
Panic of 1873
• Currency Dispute
– During the war the government issued greenbacks, paper
money that was not backed by gold, could not pull it all back
without financial collapse
– Specie Resumption Act promised to put the country back on the
gold standard
Judicial and Popular Support Fades
• Supreme Court Decisions
– Slaughterhouse case of 1873: 14th amendment only protected
citizenship rights
– U.S. v. Cruikshank in 1876: Whites could not be prosecuted for
suppressing blacks under the 14th Amendment
– U.S. v. Reese in 1876: Ruled in favor of whites who prevented
blacks from voting
• Northern Support Fades
– North sick of fighting a losing battle and focus on national
concerns
– Radical Republicans lost their leaders, and moral and social
issues fell away
Democrats “Redeem” the South
• Election of 1876
– Republican: Rutherford B. Hayes
– Democrat: Samuel J. Tilden
– Tilden won the popular vote but lost the electoral college vote;
Hayes elected on 3 conditions
• 1. Withdrawal of federal troops from Louisiana and S. Carolina
• 2. Federal money to build railroad from Texas to W. Coast,
improve Southern rivers, harbors, and bridges
• 3. Hayes to appoint a conservative Southern cabinet
• Home Rule in the South
– Republicans lost control of Southern states
• Legacy of Reconstruction
– Reconstruction ends with little progress being made