The Civil WarThe Civil War

Timeline Timeline

A United StatesCivil War Assignment

A United StatesCivil War Assignment

By Angela Chung

• Since the gold rush, there came an enormous growth in population to 95 000 people

• Out of urgent need for order, a government and a constitution is created, forbidding slavery

The Situation in California

The Situation in California

Since California Since California is against is against slavery, its slavery, its admittance into admittance into the union would the union would upset the upset the balance balance between anti-between anti-slavery and pro-slavery and pro-slavery states. slavery states. Should Should California be California be allowed to join allowed to join the United the United States?States?

A Question of Statehood:

A Question of Statehood:

• Senator Henry Clay attempted to work out a compromise

• He proposed that California be admitted, and that the slave trade – not slavery – be banned in Columbia

• For the South, a stronger Fugitive Slave Law will be enforced to suppress the Underground Railroad

• The law was passed, but only offered a temporary solution to the problem

Compromise of 1850

Compromise of 1850

• The North started to protest against the Fugitive Slave Law because any black person could be taken away by a slaveholder even without proof, and was not permitted to testify at his or her trial

• Most free states passed laws to counter this

Reward poster for a runaway slave in 1850

Results:Results:

• Anti-slavery feeling intensified in the North

• To fuel this, Harriet Beech Stowe published “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

• The book illustrated the horrors of slavery, and was a bestseller – 300 000 copies were sold in the year of publication

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Proposed to encourage settlement in the trans-Missouri region

• Divided the region into Kansas and Nebraska, but both regions were above latitude 36º 30’ , where slavery was forbidden– how should the issue of slavery be decided?

The Kansas-Nebraska ActThe Kansas-Nebraska Act

• The Act stated that the question of slavery would be decided by popular vote

• Effectively opened the North to slavery, causing protest from the North and resentment from the South

• Both North and South sent settlers to Kansas and Nebraska to try and influence the decision of whether or not there will be slavery, resulting in a violent struggle

• Dred Scott was an African American who was brought to a anti-slavery state and brought back to Missouri

• Residence in a non-slavery land should have freed him, but this was ignored• Made the controversy on slavery more bitter

• Dred Scott sued for his freedom for over 10 years, but it was ruled against him, saying that since African Americans were not considered citizens, he had no right to sue in a federal court

The Dred Scott Decision

The Dred Scott Decision

• John Brown, an avid abolitionist, led 21 people and attacks Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in attempt to free and arm the slaves there

• He was caught by Colonel Robert E. Lee and tried for treason

• He was found guilty and hanged on December 2

• Was regarded as a martyr by the Northerners

John Brown’s

Raid

John Brown’s

Raid

• "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free..."

• Is a Northerner, intolerant of slavery

• First decisive movement towards the end of slavery begins

Abraham Lincoln is elected President!

Abraham Lincoln is elected President!

• Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky made a last-ditch attempt to save the Union from breaking up by proposing a compromise, which was to reestablish the 36º 30’ line dividing anti and pro-slavery states

• Lincoln refused because he wanted to abolish slavery altogether

The Crittenden

Compromise

The Crittenden

Compromise

• Deeply upset by Lincoln’s victory, South Carolina secedes from the Union

• Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas do the same

• Together, the slave states formed their own constitutional alliance – the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy)

Secession!Secession!

• Fort Sumter was located on South Carolina – this posed a problem because it was a fort controlled by the Union on enemy territory

• The fort was running low on provisions, so Lincoln decides to resupply it

• Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, had to decide whether to give in, or fire on the relief ships and risk war – he chose the latter

Fort Sumter after attack

Outbreak of War!

Outbreak of War!

• Angered, the North mobilized their forces

• Lincoln requested 75 000 troops to be raised to crush the rebellion

• This initiated a huge response, and there were more volunteers than asked for

• Nationalism was also spreading among the Confederacy

• The prospect of war was heating up

• “Young men were dying to fight.”

Civil War soldiers

Preparing to Fight

Preparing to Fight

• Faced with the threat of having to fight against the Southern states, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee also secede from the Union

• Washington D.C. is now in danger because it was surrounded

• Lincoln must stop Maryland from seceding at all costs

Map of Allegiances in the United States

More States Secede

More States Secede

• Secession sympathizers were strong in Baltimore

• Union troops passing through Baltimore, on their way to D.C., were attacked by pro-Confederates

• Lincoln, in response, suspended the rights of Baltimore’s people with the Martial Law

• Anyone supporting the Confederacy could be arrested without trials

• Secured Maryland in the Union

Baltimore RiotBaltimore Riot

• Lincoln issued a blockade against Southern ports to crush Confederate economy

• Seemed foolish at first, but became more and more effective as Union navy grew (626 ships, 59 000 sailors)

• The South tried to appeal to Britain for help, but in vain

Civil War blockade runners

BlockadeBlockade

• The Union’s attempts at capturing Richmond, Virginia were crushed when they met defeat by General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

• The Union was saved only by Davis’ insistence for Confederacy’s defensive war

• General Irvin McDowell was replaced by George McClellan, but the Union continued to meet defeat

The Bull Run

The Bull RunThe Bull Run

• The Union army was ambushed by the Confederates near Corinth, on the Tennessee-Mississippi border

• The Union narrowly escaped when the Confederate general, Johnston, was killed

• The Union suffered casualties of 13 000 of 63 000 troops, while the Confederacy lost 11 000 of 40 000.

• The Union realized exactly how determined the Confederates were

The Battle of Shiloh

Battle at Shiloh

Battle at Shiloh

• To capture New Orleans, the Union had to get past 2 Confederate forts up from the Gulf of Mexico

• Since the Union was unable to destroy the forts, it slipped passed them during the night

• New Orleans fell without firing a shot

New Orleans Falls!

New Orleans Falls!

• The bloodiest battle in US military history with the death of 23 000 soldiers

• McClellan found out that the Confederate forces were divided and that Lee’s arm could be destroyed

• McClellan attacked the Confederacy at Antietam, Maryland, causing Lee to retreat to Virginia

• However, McClellan’s losses were too great to finish Lee off

AntietamAntietam

• Lincoln’s order to free Confederate slaves, should the Union win

• Was the turning point for the war – it gave the Union soldiers a reason to fight

Emancipation

Proclamation

Emancipation

Proclamation

• An accidental clash in Gettysburg, southern Pennsylvania, where advancing Confederate troops were stopped by a Union army

• Confederate troops tried to dislodge the Union army from their high position by an open charge across a field, but in vain

GettysburgGettysburg

Soldiers dead at Gettysburg

• By the end, 23 000 Unionists and 28 000 Confederate troops were killed or wounded

• This was an especially damaging blow to the Confederacy because its population was considerably smaller than the Union’s

• Marked the turning point – the war was now in favour of the Union

• To control the Mississippi River, the Union must take Vicksburg

Vicksburg battle

map

• The Union army reached Jackson (Mississippi’s capital), then headed for Vicksburg, where he attacked

• Vicksburg, already starved of supplies, surrendered on July 4

• Port Hudson (last Confederate port on the Mississippi) fell 5 days later, cutting of Texas and Arkansas (leading food producers) from the Confederacy

Vicksburg Falls

Vicksburg Falls

• A speech given at the battlefield cemetery by President Lincoln to honour the soldiers who died

• “…these dead shall not have died in vain…”

• Union determination to win is even stronger now

Illustration of Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address

Gettysburg Address

Gettysburg Address

• With the victory in the Mississippi, the Union can now focus on breaching the Confederacy

• Chattanooga was a rail system on the Tennessee-Georgia border

• The Union army was driven off, but when reinforcements came, the Confederacy was beaten back

• Tennessee had now fallen to the Union – only Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia were left

ChattanoogaChattanooga

• Whether or not Lincoln was going to win was largely based on the performance of the Union army

• Although the mid-1864 wars were not so promising, Lincoln won the election

• “…It was best not to swap horses while crossing the river…”

Lincoln is Re-elected!

Lincoln is Re-elected!

• General Sherman of the Union was commanded to destroy the Confederate army in the west

• He moved swiftly out of Tennessee, captured Atlanta and burned in to the ground

• To divide the South, Sherman decided to destroy his way through the rich agricultural areas

• He reached Georgia and inflicted $100 million of property damage, as well as $20 million of military damage

• Discovering that General George Thomas had already destroyed the Confederate army in the west, he left Savannah, Georgia and continued through the Carolinas to join with Grant in Richmond, destroying everything in his wake

Sherman’s March

Sherman’s March

General William T. Sherman

• With Grant in Richmond and Sherman coming through the Carolinas, General Lee of the Confederate army realized that it was hopeless and evacuated Richmond, which was quickly taken over by the Union by April 4

• Days later, Grant caught up with Lee’s forces, and urged him to surrender

The Confederacy Surrenders!

The Confederacy Surrenders!

• Lee formally surrendered to the Union in the Appomattox Court House

• Grant offered Lee forgiveness if their agreed not to fight again

• He accepted and his soldiers solemnly marched out

• Against President Davis’ wishes, the other generals also surrendered by June

• The grueling war was finally over

Appomattox Court HouseAppomattox Court House

• Lincoln was assassinated by a mad Confederate supporter, John Wilkes Booth

• Tragedy because Lincoln was the best person to patch up the North and South’s relations

• He did not live to see his country reunited

Lincoln Assassinate

d

Lincoln Assassinate

d

The EndThe End

Thank you for watching!