The Civil War1861-65

APUSH Ch. 15

© Mr. Willis

Goal of War

• North– To preserve the Union!– Bring South back into nation– Emancipation not goal until 1863

• South– To remain independent of North– Not to conquer North, but not be conquered

by North

Gov’t during war

• North (Union)– Pres. = Lincoln– VP = Hannibal Hamlin (until 1864 election)– Sec. of State = William Seward– Sec. of Treas. = Salmon P. Chase (until 1864)– Sec. of War = Edwin Stanton (after 1862)

• South (CSA aka Confederacy)– Pres. = Jeff Davis– VP = Alexander Stephens– Treas. = Christopher Memminger

North: Key Generals

2) George McClellan1) Ulysses S. Grant

4) Ambrose Burnside3) William T Sherman

You must KNOW Ulysses S. Grant! (I will be President in a

few years)

Look at my lovely sideburns…

…..wait for it)

President Lincoln fires me after an

epic fail.

They still curse me in the South.

South: Key Generals

2) “Stonewall” Jackson1) Robert E. Lee

3) George Pickett

You must KNOW Robert E. Lee – a

Virginian and a brilliant general!

Ever driven on Lee-Jackson highway?

(Rt 50)Ever been on Pickett Rd in

Fairfax?

Advantages• North

– Manpower (2.1 million troops)– $$$ - paper and specie (75% of US wealth)– Industry – over 90% of manufacturing, weapons, coal, iron,

textiles, etc.– Labor– RR – over 70%– Agriculture – over 2/3 of food production– Political leadership

• South– Strategy – defensive war– Home field advantage– Military leadership (at first)– Cause (?)

Political Problems During War:Union

• Draft (aka conscription)– Enrollment Act of 1863– Able bodied, 25-45 eligible– Exemptions: gov’t officials,

ministers, sole providers• Also allowed substitution,

paying $300 gov’t fee

New York Draft Riots 1863

Political Problems During WarUnion

• Money/financing– 1st nat’l income tax – Legal tender Act – print extra paper $

• Problem?– Inflation – 80% during war– Offset by making paper $ legal tender for debts – showed gov’t

had faith in currency, public followed suit– War bonds– National Bank Act

• Passed due to lack of Democrats in gov’t (hard $ supporters)• Gave private bankers incentive to buy war bonds• Perm. Changed banking in US

Political Problems During WarSouth

• Money/financing – solutions?– War bonds– Printed extra $$$ - problems?

• inflation – 9000%• Never made legal tender

– South never had confidence in $$$, made inflation worse

Political Problems During WarSouth

• Labor/manpower– Draft – controversy?

• Angered a region already against central power• Exemptions –

– hiring substitutes– Owners/overseers of 20+ slaves (benefitted upper class)

– Shortage of industrial workers• Slaves put to work in factories

(Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond)

• Later considered using as soldiers

Strategy – NorthAnaconda Plan (Winfield Scott)

1. Blockade South’s ports -- destroy trade, cut off $2. Cut South in two: - take Mississippi River - cut supply lines & RR3. Take Richmond (capital)

Strategy – South

• Fight defensive war• Convince North that war to preserve Union

too costly• When it was obvious North would not give

up easily, CSA invaded North – Antietam in 1862– Gettysburg in 1863

Political Problems during warUnion

• Military leadership – problems?– Burden of offensive war– Overcautious generals

• Esp. George McClellan– Appt. commander in East after 1st Manassas– Excellent at raising, organizing, training army– Several times did not pursue weakened CSA forces– Fired by Lincoln after Antietam (Sept. 1862)– Revolving door until 1864 (Grant)

• Best Union generals started war in west– Grant, Sherman– Not promoted to command until later

You’re fired!

Battles Battles Battles• Over 70% of battles in VA and Tenn.• War generally divided into 2 theaters of

operations:– War in East – fighting along Atlantic states– War in West – fighting in states that border

Mississippi River

New Technology• Tech changed, but tactics did not (mostly)

– Linear formations– Trade volleys

• Main innovation – rifled musket and minie ball

• Others: repeating rifles, Gatling gun, ironclad ships, submarines, revolvers, etc

• Impact on warfare when tech gets ahead of tactics?

Progression of War• Eastern Campaign

– 1861-3: South won most battles for 1st 2-3 yrs, but none that completely beat the North

– Public felt South was winning, reality = stalemate– CSA superior generals:

• R.E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, JEB Stuart, John Mosby

Eastern Campaign• Turning point battles:– Antietam – Sept 1862 – Lee’s invasion of North halted – major

losses• North issues Emancipation Proclamation• Political victory – ends hope of British support for CSA

– Gettysburg – July 1863 – Lee once again turned back in North• Major losses, South never fully recovers• Timing coincides w/ Vicksburg

Western Campaign• Union steadily wins gradual victories• Key battles:

– Shiloh (TN) – helps split CSA in two– Vicksburg (July 1863) – Union takes fort near mouth of

Miss River – able to push Anaconda Plan forward– Grant & Sherman play key role in west– Grant promoted to top commander in East in 1864

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/ACW_Western_Overview.png

Society During War• Slavery in South

– Emancipation Proclamation – 1862 (after Antietam)

– Made abolition goal of war – political shift– Freed slaves ONLY in rebelling states– Kept Britain out of war– Many freedmen in North enlist– Many slaves ran away, joined Union

• 54th and 55th Mass. – black combat regiments

• Not paid equal w/ whites at first, so many refuse pay

• South issues decree to execute any from Black units

Political Problems During WarUnion

• Political dissent – sources?– Democrats – few left, but vocal

• War Democrats – supported war but opposed emancipation, stronger fed. Gov’t

• Copperheads – anti-war Democrats in North– Radical Republicans

• Favored emancipation from start• Thaddeus Stevens (House),

Charles Sumner (Senate)– Public

• Some opposed war• Draft riots• Race riots (blacks used as

strikebreakers -- aka scabs)

• How did Lincoln deal w/ dissent?– Used fed. troops to put down riots– Declared martial law in border states– Suspended civil liberties

• Habeas corpus – gov’t could hold Confed. sympathizers w/o pressing charges

– Sup.Ct struck down in Ex Parte Merryman, Lincoln ignored the Court

– Used military courts to try civilians • Struck down in Ex Parte Milligan

– Banished opposition• Clement Vallandigham (Copperhead)

– Kept rivals in the loop• Put political opponents in cabinet

Political Problems During WarUnion

Political Problems During WarSouth

• How did South deal w/ dissent?– Davis suspended habeas corpus

• Used sparingly– Draft dodgers

• Local gov’ts formed patrols

Political Problems During WarSouth

• Dissent – sources?– Not from parties – CSA almost totally Dem.– States’ rights activists – esp. Alexander Stephens – attacked

Davis’ policies– Non-slaveholding parts of south

• Saw war as elite slaveholder conspiracy to extend power of wealthy

Society During War• Health

– Civil War hospitals more dangerous than battlefields– Women break into nursing (Clara Barton – American

Red Cross)– Prison camps worst – disease & famine

• Andersonville (GA)• South destroyed physically and economically

Beginning of the End• Atlanta

– After victories in west, Sherman marches on Atlanta• TOTAL WAR – destroy will to fight in deep south• Bombards, burns city• March to the Sea – Sherman’s troops march from Atlanta to

Savannah – destroy everything in path– Homes looted, burned– Crops destroyed– Livestock killed– RR tracks torn up, wrapped around

tree trunks– Destruction continues into SC, up coast– News of Sherman’s victories helps

Lincoln get re-elected in 1864

Election of 1864

• Candidates:– Republican – Lincoln– Democrat – McClellan– Arguments against Lincoln?

• Some unhappy he hadn’t ended war yet• Sherman’s victories propel him to victory• Gave soldiers furlough days to vote; capture of Atlanta key

The End of War• Sherman marches North to link up w/ Grant• Grant advances on Lee from Potomac• Siege of Petersburg (outside Richmond) – city falls, Union has path into

CSA capital• CSA gov’t flees• Grants catches up to Lee outside Appomattox Courthouse – Lee surrenders

April 9, 1865• Other CSA generals gradually surrender over next few weeks – war over• Lincoln assassinated a few days later (John Wilkes Booth)

Costs of War• 620,000 dead (about 2/3 from disease)

– 360,000 Union– 260,000 Confederate– Another 400,000 wounded– New estimates 750,000 dead

• South loses 60% of wealth

Republicans in Charge

• Morrill Tariff Act of 1861– High protective tariffs, pro-industry

• Homestead Act of 1862– Free-Soilers, 160 acres/5 yrs

• Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862– Go Aggies!

• Pacific Railway Act 1862– Northern route for trans-cont RR

Effects of War• Social

– Slavery ended (13th amend)– Civil rights awarded later to former slaves

• Political– Union reunited– Federal power asserted over states rights

• Secession destroyed as a concept– Lincoln expands President’s powers

• Sets a precedent for wartime powers– Precedent of national draft & income tax– Important Supreme Ct. cases (Merryman and Millgan)

• Economic– South’s economy destroyed. End of agrarian ideal– North’s economy & industry accelerated– RR and investment fields grow– Shift toward national banking– Greenbacks as national currency (soft money policies grow)

Add to your quiz

10. What were the 3 main turning point battles of the Civil War? (1862, 1863, 1863)

Briefly explain why each battle was a turning point. (10 words or less for each)

Turn over your paper and collaborate with your pod on the SAQ.