Unit 3 – Pre Civil War“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe

this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I don not expect the Union to be dissolved-I do not expect the house to fall-but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”Abraham Lincoln – 1858

“I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away; but with Blood.”John Brown

Causes of the Civil War• Compromise of 1850

– CA admitted as a free state– Popular sovereignty for NM and Utah– No slave sales in DC– Fugitive Slave Act

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852– Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel about the realities of slavery

• Kansas-Nebraska Act – 1854– Kansas and Nebraska territories would decide slavery issue

themselves – canceled out the Missouri Compromise• Republican and No Nothing Parties – 1854

– Republicans were anti-slavery former Whig members– No Nothings were Nativists – against immigration

• Bleeding Kansas – 1856– Raids and killing between anti-slavery and pro-slavery

groups that immigrated into Kansas

More Causes of the Civil War• Violence in the Senate – 1856

– Rep. Brooks beat Senator Sumner with his cane after Sen. Sumner insulted his relative, Sen. Butler

• Election – 1856– James Buchanan wins – favors slavery in the South –

wants the Supreme Court to decide the slavery issue.• Dred Scott Decision – 1857

– The Supreme Court rules that slaves are property, not citizens, and living in a “free state” does not make a former slave free

• Lecompton Constitution – 1857– Pro-slavery groups write a state constitution for

Kansas for statehood, but it fails to win support• Lincoln-Douglass Debates – 1858

– Abraham Lincoln runs against Stephen Douglas for Senator of Illinois, and they hold a series of 7 debates on the slavery issue

• John Brown’s Raid – 1859– John Brown raids an arsenal at Harper’s Ferry VA to

get weapons to give to slaves to start a revolt. He is captured by Robert E. Lee and sentenced to death

Dred Scott

QuestionWhich was the greatest cause for the

eventual Civil War?

Election of 1860• Candidates:

– Southern Democrats – John C Breckinridge– Northern Democrats – Stephen Douglas– Constitutional Union Party – John Bell– Republicans – Abraham Lincoln

• Neither side wanted to accept a person on the other side of the slavery issue

• What advantages did Lincoln have?

Election of 1860 - continuedResults • Lincoln won the electoral vote

with 180 votes, but only won 39% of the popular vote and carried no southern states

• What is the significance of Lincoln’s win?

Electoral Votes - 1850

Southern Secession1. Lower 7 states secede by January 1861

1. Lincoln’s not in office yet – President Buchanan does not use force to stop it

2. They meet and form the Confederate States of America2. Fort Sumter is taken by Confederate forces

1. Lincoln made sure the Union would not be the aggressors3. President Lincoln calls for volunteers for the Union Army4. VA, NC,Tenn, and AR all join the CSA

The Confederacy

Why was is so important for Abraham Lincoln to not let the

southern states secede?

Battle of Bull Run• Ill prepared Union army marched to Manassas• Many spectators followed the army to watch the battle and

picnic• Confederate army used railroads to reinforce its ranks• Confederate army forced the Union army to retreat with the

civilians - carnageSignificance of Battle•Showed the war was not going to be quick or easy for the North•Union raised 1 million 3 year volunteers•Many in the south felt the north would not want to fight a bloody war•Few casualties compared to future battles

AdvantagesUnion

• Twice as many railroad tracks

• Twice as many factories

• More money• More population• Organized army• Strong navy• Functioning

government

Confederates• Majority of trained

officers were from the south

• Defending their homeland

• Fighting for their way of life

StrategiesUnion

Slow Victory• Naval blockade of

southern ports• Control the Miss. River• Use its huge resource

advantageQuick Victory

• Take the Confederate capital of Richmond

Confederate• War of attrition• Be on the defensive• Force England and

France to help by withholding cotton from them

What was flawed with the Southern strategy

of war of attrition?

Changing WarfareTactics

• Assaulting a position with massive amounts of men– Needed more men than

could be killed during the charge

– Weapons were not accurate and slow to reload

– Ways wars were fought for generations

Technology• Rifle

– Bullet shaped ammo– Spiral shaped groves in rifle

barrels (rifling)– Powder packs allowed for

quicker reloading• Artillery

– Exploding shells– Canisters – shells filled with

shot (bullets) that exploded and shot bullets everywhere

Naval Technology• Gunboats – flat bottomed steam ships that could travel up

river and were well armed and fortified• Ironclads:

– Merrimack – the CSA created a ship with iron plates bolted to its sides• Sank Union ships trying to blockade the CSA

– Monitor – the Unions answer to the Merrimack, but it had a flat top with a cylinder sticking out where cannons were placed

– Only fought once, eventually the Merrimack retreated– Wood sided ships were not a thing of the past

Civil War Battles (west)• Fort Henry and Donelson – February 1862

– Gen. Grant used gunboats to bombard both forts into surrendering– Left the western part of the CSA exposed

• Shiloh – April 1862– 2 days of battle left 11,000 CSA dead and 13,000 Union dead– Bloodiest battle in the western hemisphere

• Mississippi battles – April to June 1862– Captured New Orleans and most major ports on the Mississippi River except

two– Cut the CSA in half and control of the Miss River– Union Naval technology helped in the west

Civil War Battles

Civil War Battles (east)• Battle of Seven Pines – May 1862

– McClellan is General of the Army of the Potomac• Well organized, but cautious

– Lincoln has to push McClellan into action– Looses the battle– CSA Gen. Joseph Johnston dies and Robert E. Lee is put in charge

• Seven Days Battle – June 1862– Lee splits his army, fakes an attack on DC, and attacks McClellan– CSA looses 20,000 men to the Unions 16,000 in the battles– McClellan decided to retreat

• 2nd Battle of Bull Run – August 1862– Gen Pope takes McClellan’s post as commander– Is crushed by Lee in his march to Richmond– McClellan is put back into charge of the Army of the Potomac

• Battle of Antietam – September 1862– Lee’s plans to invade the North are discovered by McClellan– McClellan hesitates even though he has 2x as many soldiers– Bloodiest battle of the Civil War– Lee retreats, but McClellan doesn’t follow to crush his army

Evaluations• General McClellan• General Lee• General Grant• Abraham Lincoln• Southern Military• Northern Military