THE AMERICAN CIVIL WARChapter 14

1861-1865

What Caused the War?CAUSE #1

Election of Lincoln Southern States felt Lincoln was unjustly elected in

1860, regarded him as a radical He got less than 40% of the popular vote More Americans voted against him than voted for him But he won with a majority of the electoral vote,

mostly from the more populous Northern (free) states

Cause #2

Unresolved issues about States’ Rights regarding taxation and slavery

Nullification Crisis

Nullification question never settled Nature of membership in Union never

defined: is it permanent, or voluntary? Are states individually more important than

the Union? (in terms of sovereignty) Southern perception that Lincoln would not

accept nullification, would enforce a ban on slavery

John Brown

1856 “Pottawattomie Massacre” in Kansas Brutal murder of 7 sleeping pro-slavery

people by John Brown Captured in 1859 attempting to steal

weapons for a slave revolt from a U.S. Army arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia

“Cult hero” to abolitionists, traitor to pro-slavery faction

Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay’s imperfect compromise solution to problems of the 1850s:

1. California admitted as a “free” state

2. In all the other lands ceded by Mexico, the slavery issue to be decided by popular sovereignty (“pro-choice” on slavery)

3. Slave market in Washington DC closed

4. Fugitive slave laws tightened

War begins, April 12, 1861

• South Carolina was the first state to secede

• Followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Florida

• Union garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, is in “enemy” territory once South Carolina seceded in 1860

War begins, April 12, 1861

Dilemma for Lincoln: whether to attempt sending supplies to support Fort Sumter

• If yes, it would be perceived by the Confederacy as an invasion of sovereign territory by a “foreign power”

• If no, President is abandoning his own soldiers and allowing them to starve

Secession continues

• After the fall (“liberation?”) of Fort Sumter, more Southern (cotton, slave) states secede

• Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee

• Border states (slave states) of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri did not secede

Advantages of the Union (North)

Union had double the population Double the railroads 5 times as many factories Immigrants still coming

Disadvantage: “cause” was nebulous and unclear “Preserving the Union?” Why? Was NOT a “righteous crusade to free the slaves,” at

least not yet

Advantage of the Confederacy (South)

Confederates had the best generals (esp. Robert. E. Lee, N. B. Forrest)

Defending is always easier than attacking

Better cause: “Defending our homes and families!” Our HOME STATE!

Farm boys more experienced at shooting than factory workers

Union Goal, and Strategy

GOAL: subdue Rebels, force seceded states back into Union

STRATEGY: Blockade Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico Control Mississippi River Then press inward (eastward, toward the

Atlantic Ocean) to strangle the Confederacy “Anaconda Strategy”

Confederate goal, and strategy

GOAL: defend homeland and force Union to accept that Confederacy was gone forever

STRATEGY: Outlast Union Wear down Union forces Force Union to use up weapons and supplies

– “war of attrition” Thus force Union to give up and go away

Important Battles

Bull Run (AKA Manassas Creek) – 1st and 2nd

Two important CSA victories Lee could have captured Washington DC and

ended war in 1862; chose not to do so WHY? Antietam Creek, Fredericksburg: Two

important Union wins, heavy losses to CSA (1863, 1864)

Lincoln and civil liberties

Suspended habeas corpus in border states Imprisoned “suspected” rebels without trial Was forbidden to do this by Supreme Court

(ex parte Merryman, 1861) Ignored Supreme Court’s order “Copperhead” Republicans called Lincoln a

dictator

Lincoln and the draft

Ongoing problem recruiting Union soldiers “Cause” of the war was vague – “Preserving

the Union?” Both sides resorted to conscription (draft) by

1863 Union law allowed purchase of a substitute

recruit for $300 fee “Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight”

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued by Lincoln January 1863Freed ONLY those slaves in states

still in rebellion (excluded Tennessee, New Orleans, and the border states that did not secede)

Helped encourage enlistment into Union Army, giving a “cause”

Gettysburg – turning pointJuly 1863

Gettysburg was the largest battle in the history of the Western hemisphere.

Over 100, 000 people died in 3 days.It was the last time the South

invaded the North.

Blacks in the Military

After the Emancipation Proclamation blacks began to join the Union Army

Initially they were only used for manual labor

Eventually, Blacks saw live combat54th regiment out of Massachusetts

Blacks in the Military

There is evidence that some blacks served in the Confederate Army, although historians disagree

Hoke Collier

SurrenderAppomattox Court House, VA

• April 9, 1865 (3 days short of the 4th anniversary of Fort Sumter)

• Grant accepted surrender signature from Lee

• Lee’s soldiers allowed to keep one weapon and a horse, if needed

SurrenderAppomattox Court House, VA

• Union never declared war• Never signed a peace treaty• Lincoln had never recognized

the Confederacy as a “foreign” nation

“The Face of a Lost Generation”

Private Edwin Francis JemisonCompany C, 2nd Louisiana Infantry

Dec 1, 1844 - July 1, 1862

Killed by a cannonball at the Battle of at Malvern Hill, Virginia, on July 1, 1862 at age 17. Buried in Memory Hill Cemetery, Milledgeville, Georgia. His tombstone reads:

Edwin FrancisSecond Son of R.W. & S.C.

JemisonBorn Dec. 1, 1844.

Fell a Confederate Soldier at Malvern Hill July 1, 1862.

Results of the Civil War?

Reconstruction – time of rebuilding the bonds of union after the Civil War

Concern was reconstructing unityReconstruction was NOT about

reconstructing the damage done to the South by the war