Girding for War: The North and South

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Chapter 20

• Girding for War The North and South
• 1861 - 1865

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• March 4, 1861 - Abraham Lincoln inaugurated
• stated that geographically, the United States
  could not be split
• A split U.S. brought up questions about the
  sharing of the national debt and the allocation
  of federal territories
• A split U.S. also pleased the European countries

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Fort Sumter

• Most fed. forts in the south had given power to
  the Confederacy
• Ft. Sumter (SC) refusedrunning low on supplies
• If Lincoln sent reinforcements, fighting would
  surely begin
• If he didnt resupply, the commander would
  surrender w/o a shot
• Informed SC that he intended to resupply but not
  re-enforce the fort
• Confederacy considered supplies to be
  reinforcements
• April 12, 1861 - cannons were fired onto the
  fort after 34 hours of non-lethal firing, the
  fort surrendered
• (only casualty gt a confederate horse)
• April 19 and 27 - Lincoln also called a blockade
  that was leaky at first but soon clamped down
  tight
• South, feeling that Lincoln was now waging an
  aggressive war, was joined by four more states
  Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina
• capital of the Confederacy moved from Montgomery,
  AL to Richmond, VA

4
Border States

• Border States were crucial for both sides
• would have almost doubled the manufacturing
  capacity of the South and increased its supply of
  horses and mules by half
• to retain them, Lincoln used moral persuasionand
  methods of dubious legality
• Declared martial law in MD
• Told them the war was to save the Unionnot free
  the slaves
• 5 civilized tribes went with the south

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Northern Advantages

• Economy (established)
• ¾ of nations wealth
• Transportation of goods and soldiers
• ¾ of nations railroads
• Controlled the navy overseas trade
• blockade southern ports
• Larger reserve of manpower (22 million pop.)
• Large of immigrants to add to reserves
• Disadvantages
• Many not as devoted to the cause, not fighting
  for their homes
• Most volunteers not very familiar with firearms

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Confederate Advantages

• only had to fight to a draw to win
• most of the fighting on home turf
• had the most talented officers
• Robert E. Lee Thomas Stonewall Jackson P.G.T.
  Beuregard
• Many volunteers were already very familiar with
  firearms
• Hunters commonly used their own rifles when
  they signed up for service
• Disadvantages
• South had 9 million (3.5 of which were slaves)
• Weak agrarian economy
• handicapped by a shortage of factories and
  manufacturing plants
• shortage of shoes, uniforms, blankets, clothing,
  and food, which didnt reach soldiers due to
  supply problems
• As the war dragged on, Northern strengths beat
  Southern advantages

7
King Cotton

• South was depending on foreign intervention to
  win the war, but didnt get it (why?)
• Foreign attitude toward slavery
• pre-1861 cotton production had been immense, and
  thus, England France had huge surpluses of
  cotton
• As the North won Southern territory, it sent
  cotton and food over to Europe
• India and Egypt upped their cotton production to
  offset the hike in the price of cotton

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Davis vs. Lincoln

• Problem with the South was that it gave states
  the ability to secede in the future (states
  rights)
• Davis was an able orator, but
• Lincoln had the benefit of leading an established
  government and grew patient as the war dragged on
• Honest Abe?????
• illegally proclaiming a blockade (needed consent
  of Congress)
• sending in troops to the Border States--
  justified his actions by saying that such acts
  werent permanent--had to do those things in
  order to preserve the Union
• suspension of habeas corpus so that
  anti-Unionists could be arrested, and the
  intimidation of voters in the Border States

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Volunteers and Draftees North and South

• Volunteers were plentiful until the war dragged
  on
• Congress passed the 1st conscription law
• Angered many because rich could hire a substitute
  for 300
• Deserters were a problem on both sides
• Economic Stresses of War
• Union passed the Morril Tariff Act
• increasing tariff rates by about 5-10
• green-backed paper money totaled nearly 450
  million
• unstable and sank to as low as 39 cents per gold
  dollar
• National Banking System was a landmark of the
  war, created to establish a standard bank-note
  currency
• National Banking Act was the first step toward a
  unified national banking network since the Bank
  of the United States was killed by Andrew Jackson
  
• South, runaway inflation plagued the Confederates
• overall, in the South inflation went up to 9000,
  as opposed to just 80 in the North

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Norths Economic Boom

• North became more prosperous during the war
• new factories had been formed
• a millionaire class was born for the first time
  in history
• Sizes for clothing were invented
• For speedy production standardization of
  military clothing
• the reaper helped feed millions
• 1859 - a discovery of petroleum oil sent people
  to Pennsylvania
• Women gained new advances in the war, taking the
  jobs left behind by men
• A Crushed Cotton Kingdom
• Lack of transportation supplies caused the
  South to suffer
• By the end of the war, the south claimed only 12
  of the national wealth as opposed to 30 before
  the war
• its per capita income was 2/5 that of
  Northerners, as opposed to 2/3 of Northerners
  prior to the war