CHAPTER 15

What major advantages did each of the combatants, Union and Confederacy, possess at the start of the Civil War?

How successfully did the governments and economies of the North and South respond to the pressures of war?

How did the issues of slavery and emancipation transform the war?

What factors determined the military outcome of the war?

In what lasting ways did the Civil War change the U.S. as a nation?

Mobilization for War Both North and South were unprepared

Union Army of 16,000 Scattered all over the country (the West) 1/3 of its officers resigned to join the

Confederacy Unproven president No taxes in decades Never imposed the draft

Confederacy No tax structure No navy Two gunpowder factories Unconnected railroad lines

The South Initially, Confederacy to use state troops, limited to

12 months; after Sumter Pres. could receive state troops for terms of six months to the duration of the war without state consent

April 1862 – Confederates enacted 1st conscription law: all white men 18-35 for 3 yrs. To duration

Later 40 then 50 and as young as 17 Southerners protested this as an assault on state

sovereignty Exemptions: to specific occupations and state

officials (highly abused) Loophole (closed in 1863): you could hire substitutes Amendment: 20-Negro law (rich man’s war and poor

man’s fight)

However, only 1 in 5 southerners was a draftee

70-80% of southerners served 1864 conscription law: if you’re

in, you stay in for the duration

Supplying the Confederacy Weapons

First from Europe Second from confiscated arsenals Third form guns on the battlefield

Food and clothing Many went without shoes Railroads were sparse or down The Economy relied on cotton and tobacco Early northern invasion destroyed the

livestock and grain-raising districts In 1863 the Confederate Congress passed

the Impressment Act: they could confiscate food and slaves

Recruitment and conscription

Initially and local issue, not national or state

Citizens opened recruiting offices, held rallies, etc.

Southerners provided their own horses and rankings were elected by the officers and enlisted men

But this was shortlived

The North Little trouble supplying the troops, but getting

troops was a different story: getting volunteer units from an unmilitary society

Initially, the president asks for 500,000, with state quotas, but left to the states

1863 Enrollment Act – white males 20-45 with exemptions to high govt. officials, ministers, and men who were the sole support of widows, orphans, or indigent parents Two means of escape: substitution and

commutation

Enrollment districts competed through bounties Protests, but only 8% were draftees; and of the

draftees, 120,000 of 170,000 were substitutes

Financing the War Federal spending had been low in the 40s

and 50s Expenditures had come from tariff duties and

the sale of public lands But war required more expenditures and

money was needed Both the north and the south sought to avoid taxes However, in 1861 the Confederacy enacted a small

property tax and the Union an income tax Both sides turned to war bonds: S ($15 m) N ($150

m) But the bonds needed to be paid for in gold or

silver specie : many people held on to their’s

Solution: print money North

Legal Tender Act called for $150 m. in greenbacks (and to ensure confidence, made it legal tender in most all public and private debts)

South Never made paper money legal tender Since the South had difficulty collecting taxes

(transportation issues) the printed more money and inflation soared (9,000%); $1 in 1861 cost $46 in 1864

National Bank Act: with the south gone and the northern democrats weakened, the Republicans pushed through this act that established the criteria by which a band could obtain a federal charter and issue national bank notes

Shows the North’s ability and experience and cohesion

Political Leadership North

Lincoln was considered ineffectual early He had opposition in the Radicals He seemed to be in the middle, yet

accused of being with both sides of his party\

Co-opted Chase (opponent) by making him Sec. of Treasury

But left departments alone Emphasized his Commander-in-chief

status His call for militiamen pushed

hesitators in the South towards secession

The Nature of the Conflict Lincoln (North)

sees this as domestic insurrection caused by individuals

Rebels, not traitors Purpose of the war was to Preserve the

Union Davis (South)

Lee was the hero and he was loyal to Virginia Preserve state’s right to control over

domestic affairs Just needed to defend itself Thought Europe would support them

South Jefferson Davis and his vice president

Alexander Stephens quarreled over what was essential to the meaning of the Confederacy

States rights: The Confederate Congress prohibited the Confederate Congress from enacting protective tariffs and from supporting internal improvements Stephens supported the defense of slavery

and states rights; Jefferson supported the existence of the South

The South could not deal with these issues the way the north could

Side issues of extreme importance Europe

needed Northern wheat more than they needed Southern cotton (Confederates had embargoed shipments of cotton to Britain to prove importance. Wrong)

British business investors had a rich stake in Anglo-American unity

$ trumps jealousy of U.S. power Emancipation policy gained loyalty from

liberals Lincoln secured the border states The Confederacy had a fundamental

paradox: purpose was state’s rights, but management war requires centralization (Davis always had this problem)

The First Battle and Its Aftermath

July 21, 1861: First Battle of Bull Run/First Battle of Manassas North seeks to take Richmond and

must go through Manassas Junction (citizens march out of Washington with the troops)

Maybe started to ensure the militiamen acquired in April didn’t head home because their time was about to expire

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/bullrun.html

1862 After Bull Run, Lincoln brought in

George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac

Apr.-July: McClellan’s Pennisula Campaign ended in defeat, as his refusal to attack cost the Yankees

Sept. 17: McClellan and Lee meet at Antietam in Maryland (single bloodiest day- 24,000 dead)

Dec. 13: Fredricksburg

War in the West Ulysses S. Grant Early 1862 Grant takes Fort Henry and Fort

Donelson In doing so he demanded “unconditional surrender”

He got 15,000 prisoners Important because Henry guarded the waterway to

Nashville (capitol, railroad center, and powder plant site)

Apr. 1862: Grant and Sherman take Shiloh (23,000 dead) The Confederates strip defenses of New Orleans to

aide Shiloh This allows Farragut to take New Orleans and Baton

Rouge North also takes Pea Ridge in Arkansas

Importance of the early Western Campaign: North takes the Mississippi

The Soldiers’ War Local companies into regiments Training was notoriously weak Food was horrific: beans, bacon,

salt pork, pickled beef, and hardtack Union armies sometimes drove their

own cattle Sanitation

Lice, fleas, ticks, disease was rampant

Battle consisted of large masses of soldiers facing off at close range until one side gave up or fell back

The Civil War contained literate armies

Ironclads and Cruisers

North began with over forty active warships; the South had none

Steam-driven ships could penetrate the South’s excellent river system

But blockading the 3,500 miles of Southern coast was not easy; the North had to employ all types of ships/boats

Naval patrols and amphibious operations shrank the South’s ocean trade to 1/3 its prewar level

The Diplomatic War Would the French help the

Confederacy? Napoleon III sought to establish a

colonial empire in Mexico would welcome a divided America

The Trent incident James Mason to Britain and John Slidell

to France to seek recognition Union captain boards the British Trent

and takes the prisoners to Boston Cotton diplomacy failed

From Confiscation to Emancipation

Lincoln stated in 1861 he had no intention of interfering with slavery

However, as the war dragged on, “total war” and the military value of emancipation became clear

As the North began to invade the South the issue of what to do with slaves began

Slaves who fled behind Union lines were “contraband” and subject to seizure

Under the Confiscation Act of 1861 all property used in military aid of the rebellion was to be seized Slaves who had been used by the armed

rebel forces who had fled became “captives of war”

But Lincoln (stating that the South’s rebellion lacked any legal basis) did not want to violate Southerners protection of property; he also wanted to protect northerners employment

“to fight against slaveholders without fighting against slavery, is but a half-hearted business”

With slave labor at full swing, white southerners could fight

2nd Confiscation Act in 1862: seize property of those in rebellion, and slaves “shall be forever free”; the president can employ blacks as soldiers

Emancipation Proclamation: After Antietam, preliminary language set If southern states had returned they could have kept

slavery As of Jan. 1, 1863, forever free Great political stroke; issued as military measure by the

commander in chief

Crossing Union Lines As Union troops overran areas slaves would

seek refuge behind the lines Early in the war masters could retrieve slaves

from the Union army However, after 1862 they were free; many

served in the Union army Some stayed in the south for a wage on

plantations of owners who had sworn allegiance to the Union

By 1865 500,000 slaves in Union hands But the freedmen were a problem; before the

end of the war aid societies were established 1865 the Freedmen’s Bureau is set up; also a

provision for 40 acres with the option to buy after 3 yrs.

Black Soldiers in the Union Army

Not allowed, turned away, or disbanded

After the 2nd Confiscation Act, black regiments set up in New Orleans

After the Emancipation Proclamation large-scale enlistment

Union drafts now included blacks 186,000 African Americans serve

(half came from Southern states) Black recruitment offered

opportunities for white commissions

Black soldiers suffered a far higher mortality rate than white troops Not killed in action; diseases

Confederacy refused exchanges for black soldiers; they were sent back to their state; many were executed

Pay for black soldiers was $10, then a deduction for clothing (whites got $13 with no deduction); equalized in 1864

However, service was a symbol of citizenship

Slavery in Wartime During the war the South tightened

patrols, moved entire plantations, and spread horror stories amongst the slaves

Even though some slaves helped their owners, most opted for freedom

And if they stayed on the plantations, they became increasingly difficult

First large area liberated was the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia First aid groups arrive Blacks get land

The South actually passed (narrowly) a bill to arm 300,000 slaves (with no mention of emancipation at the end of the war)

Never implemented The whole debate (of which

Lee supported, as did Jefferson Davis late) showed the desperation and collapse of the slave society

The Turning Point of 1863

The Confederacy has early success in 1863 Lee defeats Hooker at Chancellorsville

with ½ the troops; an embarrassing loss for the North

Lee turns on the North, needing supplies and a hope that Lincoln will move troops from the West; as well a Confederate victory in the North might impact Northern Democrats

Gettysburg and Vicksburg and Chattanooga

The War’s Economic Impact: North

Hard hit: shoe industry, cotton-textile industry Just fine: arms and clothing for the military,

railroads Republicans dominated the North and imposed

tariffs to protect industries Pacific-Railway Act: two RRs, 60 m. in land

grants, and $20 m. in loans (CORRUPTION) Homestead Act: “free soil, free labor, free

men,” 160 acres after 5 yrs. (20,000) Morrill Act: public lands for universities in the

agriculture and mechanical arts

Benefitted the wealthy the most- industrialists, speculators

Average citizen paid high prices due to tariffs, high taxes, inflation; all the while salaries lagged 20% behind

The War’s Economic Impact: South

Commodity output declines 39%; it had been increasing by 50+% in the 40s and 50s

Railroad production destroyed Cotton production from 4 million bales

to 300,000 in 1865 Loss of manpower declined yields per

acre 9 in 10 families without meat Salt was $1.25 a sack in NY, $60 a

sack in the South; food riots

Why the shortage? The planter class continued to grow cotton This kept slaves on the plantations,

not the army camps Forced the govt. to continue

conscription laws Forced the govt. to impress food

Dealing with Dissent Confederacy

States’ rights advocates (VP Stephens) Loyalty to the Union (commoners,

Appalachians resentful of the 20 Negro rule and the slaveholding elite

Davis was given the right to suspend habeas corpus

Union Democratic minority (Peace

Democrats or Copperheads) Border state citizens (many

immigrants) feared black labor; also upset with economics of service

All dissent was much more easily dealt with in the North because of the institutionalization of republican/democratic conflict

The North had 15,000 persons arrested (though most were quickly released)

Ohio politician Clement L. Vallandingham was banished to the South

The Medical War United States Sanitary Commission – many

women volunteer for service Nursing corps: some 3,200 in both armies Red Cross founder Clara Barton aided Union

soldiers at Antietam: She showed up early For every 1 soldier who died in battle, 2

died of disease (this was an improvement upon the Mexican War)

Troop exchanges ended by mid war; prison camps saw more deaths South refused to trade black soldiers North didn’t want to bolster depleted southern

regiments

The War and Women’s Rights

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony connect women’s rights with black rights

They form the Woman’s National Loyal League

The New York Herald called their demand for rights as “nonsense and tomfoolery”

The Election of 1864 The debate over readmission was

already starting The Radicals wanted Salmon P.

Chase (Sec. of Treasury) Peace Democrats wanted an

immediate armistice Prowar Democrats and Republicans

form the National Union Party and replace Hannibal Hamlin with Andrew Johnson as VP

Democrats nominate George McClellan

Lincoln didn’t think he could win He granted furloughs to soldiers

so they could vote However, the fall of Atlanta

helped more The Republican convention

nominated Lincoln, but also endorsed a constitutional amendment banning slavery

Sherman’s March Through Georgia

“make war so terrible. . . That generations would pass before they could appeal again to it.”

Chasing everyone out saved him from having to provide for its civilians (food or imprisonment)

Sherman’s forces marched sixty miles wide, ten miles a day

Destroyed everything that could be used by the Southern war effort

“Those who brought war into our country deserve all curses and maledictions a people can pour out.”

Toward Appomattox Rebel desertions were epidemic “General Lee telegraphs that he

can hold his position no longer.” Lee surrendered to Grant in a

private home in the village of Appomattox Courthouse, VA

Grant paroled Lee’s 26,000 men and sent them home with their horses and mules “to work their little farms.”

The Impact of the War 620,000 soldiers dead

360,000 Union 260,000 Confederate

South lost 60% of its wealth A “more perfect Union” as opposed to

a “federation of states” National banking system;

industrialization; greenbacks; national power over property

Almost 4 million freed slaves

Choose one of the two

1. How would you describe/explain Lincoln’s view on slavery, and how is this evident in his actions throughout the war? Provide evidence.

2. Discuss a political predicament Jefferson Davis and other leaders found themselves in as they attempted to conduct the Confederacy’s fight against the Union? Provide evidence.