The Civil War 1861

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The Civil War18611865
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Essential Questions

• What social, political, and economic issues
  tended to divide Americans in the period prior to
  the Civil War?
• Why did the election of Abraham Lincoln seem to
  exacerbate sectional tensions in the prewar
  period?
• What impact did political and military leadership
  have on the conduct of the war?
• How did the war affect minorities during the
  period (women, free blacks, slaves, immigrants)?
• How did the Civil War make modern America?

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Fundamental Causes of the War

• Sectionalism and states rights
• Slavery
• Economic issues

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The Dividing Union

• Missouri Compromise (1820)
• Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law
• KansasNebraska Act (1854)
• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Dred Scott
Cartoon criticizing the Fugitive Slave Law
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The Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln
Stephen A. Douglas
John C. Breckin-ridge
John Bell
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Electoral Votes in 1860
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Secession

• South Carolina was first to secede
• Several other states followed soon after
• Virginia seceded after the Battle of Fort Sumter

Seceding states appear in green
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Discussion Questions

1. What were the three fundamental causes of the
   Civil War? Which do you think was the most
   important? Why?
2. How did the Dred Scott decision help bring the
   country closer to civil war? Do you think the
   decision made civil war inevitable? Why or why
   not?
3. While running for president, Abraham Lincoln said
   that he had no plans to abolish slavery. Why then
   did Southerners fear his election so much?

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The Creation of the Confederacy

• Delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama
• Formed the Confederate States of America
• Jefferson Davis elected president, with
  Alexander Stephens as vice president

CSA President Jefferson Davis
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Buchanans Inaction

• Believed secession was illegal, but that acting
  to prevent it was also illegal
• Decided to let the incoming administration handle
  the problem

President James Buchanan
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Lincolns First Inaugural Address

• March 4, 1861
• Promised not to interfere with slavery where it
  already existed
• Attempted to reconcile with the South

A crowd listens to Lincolns speech at the
Capitol building
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Lincoln and Fort Sumter

• Confederates demanded that the fort be
  surrendered
• Lincoln received urgent message from Ft. Sumters
  commander
• Lincoln faced with dilemma of resupplying Sumter
• Decided to send only food for hungry men

Fort Sumter
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The War Begins

• Bombardment began on April 12, 1861
• Anderson surrendered to Gen. Beauregard, a close
  friend and colleague

Painting depicting the bombardment of Fort Sumter
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The Anaconda Plan

• The Unions strategy
• Naval blockade from Louisiana to Virginia
• Control of the Mississippi River
• Confederate strategy primarily defensive

Cartoon about the Anaconda Plan
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Advantages Disadvantages The Union

• Advantages
• Industry and railroads
• Larger population
• Legitimate government
• Strong political leadership
• Disadvantages
• Funding difficulties
• Offensive war
• Lack of skilled military leaders

A Massachusetts factory
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Advantages Disadvantages The Confederacy

• Advantages
• Defensive war on home turf
• Common cause
• Strong military tradition and outstanding leaders
• Disadvantages
• Weak economy
• Smaller population
• Ineffective central government and leadership

Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Stonewall
Jackson
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War Aims North and South

• The North to preserve the Union
• The South safeguarding states rights, as well
  as protecting the South from Northern aggression

Horace Greeley
Abraham Lincoln
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Discussion Questions

1. Pretend you are a member of Buchanans cabinet.
   How would you advise him to deal with the
   secession crisis in the period before the next
   president took office?
2. Do you think the Anaconda Plan was an effective
   strategy for subduing the Confederacy? If not,
   what strategy would you have recommended?
3. Which sides goals for the war seem more
   reasonable to you? Why?

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Recruiting Soldiers

• Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for three
  months enlistment
• Response was overwhelming
• Union also encouraged enlistment with bounties

New Yorkers line up to enlist
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Ethnic Recruitment

• Both sides appealed to ethnic pride in order to
  recruit
• Many nationalities joined both sides
• Irish Americans among the most common

An enlistment poster aimed at Irish Americans
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Bull Run

• First major battle of Civil War
• About 25 miles from Washington, D.C.
• Stonewall Jackson became famous
• Confederate victory

Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson
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The Trent Affair

• Union forces seized two Confederate diplomats
  from aboard a British ship, the Trent
• British contended the seizure was an act of war
• Union eventually released the diplomats
• Confidence built between the U.S. and British
  governments
• Britain refused to support Confederacy

The San Jacinto accosting the Trent
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Ironclads

• Confederates built the Merrimack from a sunken
  Union ship
• Union quickly built the Monitor
• Monitor and Merrimack fought to a draw in first
  battle between ironclads

A painting of the battle
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Shiloh

• Union forces led by Ulysses S. Grant
• Confederate attack nearly wiped out Union forces
  on first day
• Grant counterattacked the next day
• Union victory

A view of Shiloh after the battle
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New Technologies in Warfare

• Minie ball
• Submarine
• Heavy artillery
• Aerial reconnaissance
• Gatling gun
• Trench warfare

A Gatling gun
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A New Union Commander

• McClellan selected as commander after Bull Run
• McClellan popular with troops
• A thorough administrator
• Overly cautious

Gen. George B. McClellan
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Lee Takes Command

• General Joseph E. Johnston wounded
• Robert E. Lee takes command of Confederate army
• Lee proves an able commander

Gen. Robert E. Lee
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Antietam

• Attempt by Lee to invade the North
• Near Sharpsburg, Maryland
• McClellan tipped off to Lees plans when a
  soldier found secret orders wrapped around cigars
• Single bloodiest day in American history

Artillery Hell, a painting of early morning
hostilities at Antietam
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Antietam Battle Scenes
Dead soldiers await burial after the morning
fighting in the Miller cornfield
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Antietam Battle Scenes
A view of the Burnside Bridge from the
Confederate side
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Antietam Battle Scenes
An Army field hospital
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Antietam Battle Scenes
Confederate dead along the Hagerstown turnpike
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Antietam Aftermath

• Lincoln met with McClellan after the battle
• Lincoln fired him, complaining that he had the
  slows
• McClellan replaced by series of commanders

Lincoln meets with McClellan at Antietam
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Alabama Claims

• Confederates purchased commerce raiders from
  Britain
• Alabama highly successful in disrupting Union
  shipping
• U.S. government demands compensation from Britain
• In 1872, an arbitration commission ordered
  Britain to pay 15.5 million

Painting of the CSS Alabama fighting the USS
Kearsage
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Discussion Questions

1. Compare Lee and McClellan as commanders. Which do
   you feel was more effective? Why?
2. Why do you think McClellan refused to pursue
   Lees army into Virginia after the battle of
   Antietam? Do you think Lincoln should have fired
   him for this? Why or why not?
3. Which of the inventions/innovations in warfare do
   you think was the most effective? Why?

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Prelude to Emancipation

• At first, Lincoln did not believe he had the
  authority to end slavery
• However, every slave working on a plantation
  allowed a white Southerner to fight
• Lincoln saw emancipation as a strategic issue as
  well as a moral one

Slaves on a South Carolina plantation, 1862
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Advantages to Emancipation

• Cause union in the North by linking the war to
  abolishing slavery
• Cause disorder in the South as slaves were freed
• Kept Britain out of the war

Lincoln discussing emancipation with his cabinet
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The Emancipation Proclamation

• Lincoln announced proclamation after Antietam
• Took effect on January 1, 1863
• Freed slaves only in territories in rebellion

A cartoon celebrating emancipation
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Womens Roles in the War
Clara Barton
Mary Bickerdyke
Dorothea Dix
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
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Women Warriors

• Some women posed as men in order to fight
• Frances Clayton (right) fought in artillery and
  cavalry units
• Total number unknown

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Civil War Espionage
Belle Boyd
Rose Greenhow
Pauline Cushman
Sam Davis
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Dealing With Dissent

• Copperheads
• Led by Rep. Clement Vallandigham of Ohio
• Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

Rep. Clement Vallandigham
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Manpower for the War

• Mostly volunteers
• Conscription needed to sustain troop levels
• In the North, draftees could hire substitutes or
  pay 300 to opt out

An illustrated sheet music cover protesting the
inequities of the draft
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New York Draft Riots

• July 1863
• Rioters mainly poor whites and Irish immigrants
• Opposed to freeing slaves
• More than 100 people killed

Rioters loot a New York store
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African American Enlistment

• Congress allowed black enlistment in 1862
• 54th Massachusetts commanded by Colonel Shaw
• Half of 54th killed in assault on Ft. Wagner
• Helped spur further enlistment

Col. Robert Gould Shaw
Memorial to the 54th Massachusetts
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The Sanitary Commission

• Poor health conditions in army camps
• U.S. Sanitary Commission created
• Purposes included improving hygiene and
  recruiting nurses
• Developed better methods of transporting wounded
  to hospitals

A Civil War field hospital
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Civil War Medicine

• Infection often deadlier than the wounds
• Amputations more common
• Anesthesia widely used

A surgeon at the Camp Letterman field hospital at
Gettysburg prepares for an amputation
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Andersonville

• Confederate POW camp in Georgia
• 32,000 prisoners jammed into 26 acres
• One-third of all prisoners died
• Superintendent was executed as a war criminal

Severely emaciated POWs rescued from Andersonville
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Discussion Questions

1. Do you think issuing the Emancipation
   Proclamation was a necessity for Lincoln? Why?
2. Do you think Lincoln was justified in suspending
   habeas corpus during the war? Why?
3. Why do you think that both sides allowed sanitary
   conditions in prison camps and within their own
   armies to deteriorate to such a level?

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Chancellorsville

• Jacksons forces surprised Union troops
• Confederates won unlikely victory
• Jackson hit by friendly fire and died a week
  later
• Lee pressed on to Pennsylvania

A painting of the battle
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Gettysburg Prelude

• Lee crossed into Pennsylvania
• Sent troops for supplies
• Confederates encounter Union force outside
  Gettysburg

Gettysburg battlefield view from Culps Hill
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Gettysburg Day One

• Small Union force led by Buford delayed a larger
  Confederate force
• Buford held high ground at Seminary Ridge
• Bufords stand allowed time for reinforcements to
  arrive

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Gettysburg Day Two

• Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
• Defense of Little Round Top
• 20th Maine repelled Confederates and saved Union
  position

Colonel (later Major General) Joshua L.
Chamberlain
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Gettysburg Day Three

• Lee believed Union lines were still vulnerable
• Ordered Picketts forces to attack center of
  Union lines
• Picketts Charge resulted in over 6500
  Confederate casualties

Artists rendition of the battlefield during
Picketts charge
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Impact of Gettysburg

• Confederates lost 28,000men (one-third of army)
• Union lost 23,000 men(one-quarter of army)
• Town overwhelmed by dead and wounded soldiers
• Lee unable to rebuild army
• Turning point of the war

A Confederate soldier lies dead at Devils Den
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Siege of Vicksburg

• Key to total Union control of the Mississippi
  River
• Several attempts by Grant to take the city failed
• Grant barraged the city for two months
• Vicksburg fell on July 4, 1863

Union troops surround Vicksburg during the siege
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The Gettysburg Address

• Lincoln invited to attend cemetery dedication
• Everett the principal speaker
• At the time, Lincolns two-minute speech was
  considered great by some, a failure by others

The only known picture of Lincoln (lower center)
at the Gettysburg Cemetery dedication
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Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think the loss of Stonewall Jackson
   was so devastating to the Confederacy?
2. Why was the Battle of Gettysburg such an
   important victory for the Union? How might things
   have been different had the Confederacy won the
   battle?
3. Should Lee have been relieved of command because
   of his strategy at Gettysburg? Why or why not?

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The Wilderness Campaign

• Grant came to support total war
• Sought to crush Lees army in Virginia
• Fought in dense forest near Fredericksburg
• Grant criticized for taking high losses

Grant at Cold Harbor during the Wilderness
Campaign
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Shermans March to the Sea

• Sherman sought to break the Souths ability to
  make war
• Captured Atlanta in September 1864
• Led the March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah
  
• Took Savannah by Christmas 1864

Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
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Election of 1864

• Lincoln sought reelection
• Democrats nominated McClellan
• Union victories helped Republican campaign
• Lincoln won by large margin

A political cartoon shows Lincoln and Davis
tearing a U.S. map while McClellan tries to
intercede
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Lincolns Second Inaugural
Lincoln addresses the crowd at his second
inauguration. It is believed that John Wilkes
Booth is the figure at top row center.
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The Fall of Richmond

• Lee told Davis the capital was in danger
• Davis ordered evacuation
• Union forces took Richmond
• Lincoln toured the city soon after

The remains of buildings after the Union
invasion, April 1865
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The 13th Amendment

• Proposed and co-authored by Senator Henderson of
  Missouri
• Approved by Congress in January 1865
• Ratified by 27 states by December 1865
• Abolished involuntary servitude

Illustration depicting the Senate debate over the
13th Amendment
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Surrender at Appomattox

• Lee realized his position was hopeless
• Asked to meet with Grant
• Met in Appomattox on April 9, 1865
• Lenient surrender terms

An artists rendition of the meeting
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Lincolns Assassination

• April 14, 1865, at Fords Theater
• Shot by actor John Wilkes Booth
• Booth killed 12 days later
• Vice President Andrew Johnson became president

An illustration of Lincolns assassination
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Impact of the War
Freedmen disinter bodies of soldiers killed at
Cold Harbor for reburial after the war
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Impact of the War the Union

• 111,000 killed in action
• 250,000 killed by non-military causes (mostly
  disease)
• Over 275,000 wounded
• Estimated cost in todays dollars 6.19 billion

Union dead at Gettysburg
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Impact of the War the Confederacy

• 93,000 killed in battle
• 165,000 killed by non-military causes
• Over 137,000 wounded
• Estimated cost in todays dollars 2.10 billion

Destruction in Atlanta after Shermans troops
took the city
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The Road to Reconstruction

• Lincolns assassination led to rise of Radical
  Republicans
• Conflict over how to best deal with the former
  Confederate states
• Reconstruction period brought about great
  political upheaval
• South punished for causing the war

President Andrew Johnson
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Discussion Questions

• Why did Grants total war policy meet with
  resistance even in the North? Do you think the
  policy was a good idea? Why?
• How did Grant and Shermans military campaigns
  help Lincoln win reelection in 1864?
• What was the impact of Lincolns assassination on
  the North? On the South?