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An Overview of America's Civil War

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Title: An Overview of America's Civil War


1
An Overview of America's Civil War
1861-1865
2
Why? A Very Brief Review
3
Why secession?
  • Southern states believed that the union no longer
    protected their rights or promoted their welfare.
  • Specifically, they worried that Northern
    restrictions on slavery would undermine their way
    of life.

4
Why Preserve the Union?
  • President Lincoln made the preservation of the
    union his paramount goal.
  • He argued that the South did not have the legal
    right to secede because the constitution was a
    contract the South couldnt break.

5
1861 The Outbreak of War
6
Feb. 9, 1861
  • Jefferson Davis is elected President of the
    Confederate States of America
  • Alexander Stephens is Vice President
  • 6 States had already seceded from the Union

7
March 4, 1861
  • Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th
    President of the United States
  • Lincoln in his first inaugural address
  • In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow
    countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous
    issue of civil war. The government will not
    assail you. You can have no conflict without
    being yourselves the aggressor

8
April 12, 1861
  • Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South
    Carolina is bombarded by South Carolina troops.
  • The Union is forced to surrender the fort
  • Lincoln reacts by declaring a state of
    insurrection and calls for volunteer soldiers
  • By May 6, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and
    Arkansas secede bringing the number of
    Confederate states to 11.

9
April, 1861
  • Lincoln orders a naval blockade of the South.
  • This is part of the Anaconda Plan--the strategy
    of economic strangulation of the South..
  • In the long run, it was a significant union
    advantage.
  • Discussion Question why would talk of a naval
    blockade be unpopular in 1861?

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11
July 21, 1861
  • The first major battle of the war, the First
    Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) is fought.
  • Both sides expect the war to be short.
  • Poorly trained Union forces are defeated by the
    Confederates.
  • Many Washington residents who had come to watch
    the battle were forced to flee in the ensuing
    chaos.

12
November 8, 1861
  • 2 Confederate agents are taken from the British
    ship Trent by the U.S. Navy.
  • Britain considered this a hostile act and war
    nearly erupted.
  • Cooler heads prevailed after Lincoln released the
    prisoners.
  • Britain never did recognize the confederacy.

13
August, 1861
  • Congress passes the first Confiscation Act.
  • The Act authorized the seizure of all property
    used in military rebellion, including slaves.
  • This was the first step toward emancipation
  • In 1862, the Second Confiscation Act declared
    that slaves that came within the Union lines
    would be forever free.

14
1862 A Bloody Stalemate
15
March 9, 1862
  • The Monitor (Union) clashes with the Merrimac
    (Confederate).
  • This is historys first battle between iron-clad
    ships--a naval innovation.
  • The Battle ends inconclusively.
  • In general, the Union has the advantage at sea.

16
April 6-7, 1862
  • On the Western front, the Battle of Shiloh
    results in 13,000 Union casualties and 11,000
    Confederate losses.
  • The Union is able to claim a costly victory.
  • Discussion question how could the Union win
    but suffer more casualties?

17
April 16, 1862
  • President Jefferson Davis signs the Conscription
    Act, the first draft in American History.
  • Exceptions were made for plantain owners with
    over twenty slaves and people could hire others
    to serve for them. This fueled class tensions
    that proved costly later in the war.
  • The Union also eventually used a draft (starting
    March 3, 1863)

18
Spring, 1862
  • Union General McClellan plans the Peninsula
    Campaign, a strategy in which he would land
    troops on the peninsula between the York and
    James River and then march west from Richmond.
  • The plan unfolded well and by May McClellan was
    within five miles of Richmond. Then he got the
    slows (Lincolns term).

19
June 25-July 2, 1862
  • McClellans delay gave Lee time to attack.
  • After the 7 Days Battle, General Lee forces the
    Union army to retreat, ending the threat to
    Richmond and the possibility of an early end to
    the war.
  • Union losses are at 16,000 dead and wounded.
    Confederates lose 20,000.

20
September 17, 1862
  • The Battle of Antietam becomes the bloodiest
    single day of the war--and in American History.
  • The total casualties are 23,110 dead, wounded, or
    missing.
  • The battle is essentially a draw, but it ends
    Lees planned invasion of the North.
  • The aftermath...

21
antietam
22
September 23, 1862
  • The preliminary text of the Emancipation
    Proclamation is issued.
  • Lincoln waited for a Union victory to issue the
    Proclamation.
  • It freed the slaves in the rebelling states as of
    January 1, 1863.
  • Discussion question Why did Lincoln wait until
    1863 to emancipate the slaves?

23
December 13, 1862
  • The Battle of Fredricksburg is a major victory
    for the Confederates with significant Union
    Casualties.
  • At the conclusion of 1862, there is no end in
    sight to the war, with neither side holding a
    clear advantage on the battlefield.

24
1863 The Turning Point
25
May 1-4, 1863
  • The Confederates win the Battle of
    Chancellorsville as Lees Army once again defeats
    the Union forces.
  • Despite the victory, the Confederates lose one of
    their best commanders--General Thomas Stonewall
    Jackson. He is accidentally killed by one of his
    own troops.

26
May 22-July 4, 1863
  • Union General Ulysses S. Grant, commander on the
    Western front, begins his attack on Vicksburg,
    Mississippi.
  • Grant uses of siege or blockade of Vicksburg
    designed to starve the enemy into submission.
  • After running out of food, the Confederates
    surrender the city on July 4.
  • Vicksburg was key to controlling the Mississippi
    River and cutting the Confederacy in half.

27
July 1-3, 1863
  • The Battle of Gettysburg rages in Pennsylvaniaa
    confederate victory would open a path to
    Washington DC.
  • Both sides suffer extreme casualties (a combined
    total of over 50,000 dead and wounded).
  • The Confederates are defeated and Lee is forced
    to retreat back to Virginia.

28
July 13-16, 1863
  • In a violent reaction to the Conscription Act,
    mobs riot in many Union cities.
  • Many felt the war was a rich mans war, but a
    poor mans fight.
  • The worst riot was in New York City where Irish
    mobs lynched blacks.
  • Federal troops were dispatched to end the mayhem.

29
September 19-20, 1863
  • The Battle of Chickamaugua is fought in Georgia.
  • The Confederates defeat the Union troops and
    force them back to Tennessee.
  • This proves that although the Confederates are
    reeling, they are still able to fight effectively.

30
November 19, 1863
  • Lincoln issues the Gettysburg Address

31
  • Four score and seven years ago our fathers
    brought forth,upon this continent, a new nation,
    conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
    proposition that all men are created equal.
  • Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
    whether that nation, or any nation so conceived,
    and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on
    a great battle field of that war. We come to
    dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting
    place for those who died here, that the nation
    might live. This we may, in all propriety do.
    But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we
    can not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this
    ground -- The brave men, living and dead, who
    struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our
    poor power to add or detract. The world will
    little note, nor long remember what we say here
    while it can never forget what they did here.

32
  • It is rather for us, the living, we here be
    dedicated to the great task remaining before us
    -- that, from these honored dead we take
    increased devotion to that cause for which they
    here, gave the last full measure of devotion --
    that we here highly resolve these dead shall not
    have died in vain that the nation, shall have a
    new birth of freedom, and that government of the
    people by the people for the people, shall not
    perish from the earth.
  • Discussion Question why is the Gettysburg
    address considered a great speech?

33
1864-1865 The Final Months
34
March 10, 1864
  • After successfully leading his troops to victory
    in the West, Grant is named top commander of the
    Union Army.
  • Grant is the last in a long string of Generals
    given command. Many disappointed Lincoln by
    being too cautious, including McClellan.
  • On August 29, the Democrats nominate George
    McClellan for President.

35
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36
September 2, 1864
  • William T. Sherman captures Atlanta and burns
    much of the city.
  • He then proceeds on his infamous March to the
    Sea, destroying everything in his path.
  • This victory boosts Lincolns chance for
    reelection.

37
Total War
  • Definition Warfare in which opponents attack
    civilians and the economic system of the enemy in
    addition to its soldiers.
  • Examples Shermans March and the Siege of
    Vicksburg
  • Discussion is total war moral? What limits
    would you place on total war if you were
    Commander-in-chief?

38
November 8, 1864
  • Election Day. Lincoln is reelected by a wide
    electoral margin, but by fewer than 500,000 votes
    in the popular election.
  • Discussion question should presidents face
    elections during times of war or should elections
    be delayed until after the war?

39
January 31, 1865
  • The House passes the 13th amendment abolishing
    slavery. It then goes to the states for
    ratification.
  • Review why didnt the Emancipation Proclamation
    abolish slavery?

40
April 3, 1865
  • Union troops enter Richmond.
  • 2 Days later, President Lincoln tours the City.
    He sits in President Davis chair.
  • The end is near.

41
April 9, 1865
  • Lee formally surrenders to Grant at Appomattox
    Courthouse, Virginia.
  • Both men are cordial and respectful. Grant
    offers generous terms and food to Lees men.

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43
April 14, 1865
  • Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He
    dies the next day.
  • Andrew Johnson, a former Southern Democrat,
    becomes President.

Fords Theatre
44
Results of the Civil War
  • 620,000 killed
  • Union preserved
  • Slavery abolished
  • Power of federal government solidified
  • Southern society in shambles

45
An End and a New Beginning
  • What was won?
  • What was lost?
  • How would we rebuild?

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