The Civil War & Reconstruction

A Divided Nation

The South Secedes

Causes• States Rights • The Compromise of 1850• The Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854• Lincoln-Douglas Debates

1858 (House Divided Speech)• Both Houses of Congress

controlled by the North. • The Presidential election of

1860. ( Lincoln’s Election)

Effects• South Carolina fears a

northern-controlled government will act against slavery and secedes from the Union.

• Several other slave states follow South Carolina’s lead and form the Confederate States of America.

The South Secedes

• The rest of the Lower South follow (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas)

• Soon the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas also secede bring the total to eleven.

Confederate States of America

• In Feb. 1861, The Confederate States of America was formed.

• Jefferson Davis was chosen as it’s first president.

• When Lincoln officially became president Mar. 4, 1861 he promised not to touch slavery where it already existed if it would preserve the Union

The War Begins • Confederate leaders demanded

that all federal forts in the south surrender.

• April 1861, Lincoln tried to resupply the forts by sea.

• Confederate leaders ordered General Beauregard to take Fort Sumter, by force if necessary.

• When Major Anderson refused to surrender, Confederate forces in Charleston attacked the fort with artillery for two days. (Apr. 12-13, 1861)

The War Begins

• On Apr. 14 1861, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter.

• The attack on fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War.

• Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days.

The War Begins

Union Advantages• Population was four times

the size of the non-slave population in the south.

• Large industrial base.• Better transportation

systems. (railroads)• Larger better equipped

army.

Southern Advantages• The South’s war goals were

simple (Left alone/Slavery)• The South would fight a

defensive war. • Better army officers.

(Robert E. Lee) • Foreign dependence on

southern cotton. (expected military aid from British/French)

Tactics and Technology

• Both sides still used Napoleonic tactics. (taught at West Point)

• Both sides used rifled muskets which increased their range.

• Civil War artillery used exploding shells.

• The Telegraph allowed officers to communicate with leaders.

Tactics and Technology

Confederate War Strategy• The Confederate states

planned to fight like Washington during the Revolution.

• Trade space for time. (retreat when necessary)

• Strategy of attrition: wear out a stronger foe by lengthening the war.

Weaknesses of the Plan • Governors, Congressmen, and

the public demanded that every part of the Confederacy be defended.

• Small Confederate armies were positioned throughout the south.

• Temperament of the southern people. (believed 1 southerner could whip 10 Yankees).

• Refused to fight a defensive war.

Tactics and Technology

Union War Strategy• “The Anaconda Plan”• The plan’s goal was to

surround the Confederacy and strangle it into submission.

• The Union Navy would set up a naval blockade to prevent foreign aid.

• Capture the Mississippi River and cut the South in half.

• Capture the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia.

Early War Victories

• July, 1861, Bull Run, Manassas, Virginia (first land battle)

• Apr. 1862, Shiloh, Tennessee (opened water route south)

• Although the Union army in the West was winning, the Union army in the East was suffering defeat after defeat. (Poor generalship)

Early War Victories

• Defeats in the East hurt Northern Morale. • General Lee decided to take the offensive and

lead his army into Maryland. • The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day of

the Civil War. (Sept. 17, 1862)• It was considered a Union victory only because

General Lee was forced to retreat back to Virginia.

• Casualties combined exceeded 23,000

The Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam

The Fighting Continues • Emancipation Proclamation• The proclamation enabled

many blacks to serve in the Union Army.

• The high water mark for the Confederacy was the Battle of Gettysburg.

• The Army of Northern Virginia (Southern Army) never really recovered from the defeat.

• Lincoln issues the Gettysburg Address.

The War Ends • By 1864, with victory in hand

Congress issued the Thirteenth Amendment.

• The Thirteenth Amendment officially outlawed slavery in the United States.

• April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

• On 3 May 1865, General Johnston surrendered the remainder of the Confederate Army in North Carolina.

The Cost of War

• In four years of fighting 600,000 Americans were dead, 2% of the population.

• The Southern infrastructure was almost totally destroyed.

• The war destroyed much of the wealth that had existed in the South.

• Southern influence in the US federal government was severely weakened.