Unit I: Beginnings Through Reconstruction

1
Unit I Beginnings Through Reconstruction

• Chapter II The Civil War Era (1850-1865)

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The Roots of Conflict

• California Chooses
• The Gold Rush of 1849
• California is ready for statehood by 1850
• The Miners become political.
• Why was slavery an issue to the miners?

3
The Roots of Conflict

• Californian Constitutional Convention
• General Bennet Riley
• Hoped to present Congress with a fait accompli
• Mexican delegates
• How did the Mexicans influence the Californian
  Constitution?
• Excluded slavery from California

4
The Compromise of 1850

• Enter California
• Keeping the balance
• Admit two Californias?
• Henry Clay
• Slaveowning, antislavery Congressman
• Proponent of Colonization
• Tensions High In Congress

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The Compromise of 1850

• Provisions of the Compromise
• California admitted as a free state
• New Mexico and Utah territories have no
  restrictions on slavery
• Slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C.
• Stricter fugitive slave laws

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The Compromise of 1850

• Slaves, Slavecatchers, and Conductors
• Provisions of the Compromise
• Slavecatchers A growing industry
• Easier to retake fugitives
• Easier to kidnap free blacks
• Why was this permitted?
• Heavy fines and imprisonment for anyone who
  helped fugitives
• The Underground Railroad

7
The War of Ideas

• Slavery and Antislavery in the Press
• Novels
• Uncle Toms Cabin
• Harriet Beecher Stowe accuses the North as well
  as the South
• 300,000 copies
• Anti-Tom novels published in the South in
  response
• Newspapers
• The Liberator
• The North Star by Frederick Douglass
• Broke with Garrison over non-violence said
  violence was permissible as a means of action

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National Growth

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Begins with the Transcontinental Railroad
• Stephen Douglas
• Senator from Illinois. Wants the
  Transcontinental Railroad to go through Chicago.
  Why?
• Why does such a railroad lack Southern support?
• Popular sovereignty
• Repeals the Missouri Compromise line
• What does this mean?
• What do you expect to see happen in the
  territories?
• The Republican Party (G.O.P.)
• Formed by antislavery Northerners
• Modern Republican Party

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act
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They Shall Come All For Violence. . .

• Bleeding Kansas
• Rush to settle Kansas from both sides
• Elections are rigged
• Proslavery forces win an election in which less
  than half the ballots were legal
• Two governments in Kansas President Pierce
  recognizes proslavery government
• Impromptu battles fought
• Henry Ward Beechers Bibles
• Lawrence sacked
• John Brown starts his career

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Slavery In The Courts

• The Dred Scott Decision
• 1857 Dred Scott Sues For His Freedom
• Lived for a time in a free state
• Decision of the Court
• Dred Scott has no right to sue as he is not a
  citizen
• Congress has no right to forbid slavery in the
  territories
• What is the effect of this decision on politics?

13
Slavery In The Elections

• The Lincoln-Douglas debates
• Senatorial race of 1858
• Abraham Lincoln Illinois congressman
• Stephen Douglas Incumbent senator
• Accuses Lincoln of fomenting war
• Supports popular sovereignty to protect democracy
• Is not, technically, proslavery
• Agrees that territories can exclude slavery if
  they wish to
• What was the effect of this admission on the
  candidates politically?

14
Heroism Or Terrorism?

• John Browns Body
• Kansas raider moves east
• Attacks Harpers Ferry with the goal of making it
  a supply depot for a slave revolt to sweep
  through the South
• Surrenders to U.S. Colonel Robert E. Lee
• John Brown is tried and hanged for murder
• Martyrdom in the North
• Villainy in the South
• Disunion is openly endorsed

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The Drums of War

• The Election of 1860
• Democratic Party splits
• Southern Democrats require the protection of
  slavery in the territories
• Stephen Douglas persists in his goal of popular
  sovereignty
• Douglas is nominated by the Northern Democrats
• John Breckenridge nominated by the South
• What effect does this have on the election?
• Republican Party limits slavery
• Abraham Lincoln is nominated

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Rumors of War

• Election results
• Lincoln wins the electoral vote
• Breckenridge carries the South
• Douglas and Bell do well in the border states
• The South is outraged
• Why is compromise no longer seen as a possibility?

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Two Houses, Alike In Dignity

• Secession and Confederacy
• South Carolina leads the way
• Declaration of the Causes of Secession
• What argument does South Carolina use to justify
  its right to secede?
• Six more states secede
• Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
  Louisiana, and Texas
• Confederate States of America formed
• President Jefferson Davis

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The Founding of the Confederacy

• With Liberty and Justice For. . ?
• The Confederate Constitution
• Blacks and Whites are not equal
• Economics of the Confederacy
• Slaves as property cannot be given up
• Agriculture cannot continue without slaves
• Cotton seen as so valuable that it can win a war

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One Last Chance

• The Northern Response
• States Rights
• Virginia, Kentucky, and South Carolina assert the
  rights of the states to nullify federal laws
• Northern states reject this principle
• What are Northern motives for rejecting the right
  to secede?
• What are Northern justifications?
• How are democracy and liberty used in the debate
  over secession?
• The Failure of Compromise
• Restoration of the Missouri Compromise line
• Lincoln rejects the plan. Why?
• Lincoln pleads for peace, but denies that
  disunion can occur.

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Cry Havoc. . .

• Crisis at Fort Sumter
• Federal forts guard Charleston harbor
• Buchanan had tried to resupply the forts, but the
  ships had been fired on.
• Lincoln announces that the forts will be relieved
• Confederate forces fire on the fort, which
  surrenders
• Could War Have Been Avoided?
• What do we see as the main cause of the Civil War?

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The Call To Arms

• The Armies Form
• Lincoln Calls Out The Militia
• Only 17,000 men in the United States Army
• Lincoln calls for 75,000 troops for 90 days
• Both North and South believe the war will last
  only months
• Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas
  secede
• Kentucky remains neutral refuses to contribute
  troops
• Lincoln asks Robert E. Lee to command the Army

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The Call To Arms

• The Confederate Army
• Virginia Ascendant
• Virginia improves the Confederacys chances.
  Why?
• Lee accepts a commission in the Confederate Army
• Confederates choose Richmond as their capital
• What unique choices did the border states face?
• What would make secession attractive or not?

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The Die Is Cast

• Choosing Sides
• Maryland and West Virginia
• Lincoln arrests members of the Maryland state
  legislature who support secession
• West Virginia secedes from Virginia
• First Wheeling Convention
• Federal troops win the Battle of Philippi
• Residents vote to establish West Virginia
• Missouri and Delaware choose Union
• Families and friends also choose

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Comparisons

• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Population
• North 71, South 29
• Railroad mileage
• North 71, South 29
• Why is this important?
• Manufacturing
• North 86, South 14
• Industrial Workers
• North 92, South 8
• Why doesnt the South use slaves in the factories?

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Comparisons

• Strengths and Weaknesses
• The Navy sides with the North
• Why does this shape the war?
• The Industrial Revolution
• The Generals
• The Mexican war ensures that American officers
  are veterans
• 1/3 of officers join the Confederacy
• The Souths generals are more skilled
• The South fights defensively
• Why is this a military advantage?
• Why is it a political advantage?

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Terrain

• Geography and Strategy
• War aims
• The North needs to force the South to reunite
• Economic warfare Lincoln declares blockade
• The South needs to remain independent
• Economic warfare Cotton embargo
• Europeans have cotton stockpiled
• Why do both sides move to an active military
  strategy?

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Terrain

• Geography and Strategy
• Two-front War
• Eastern Front East of the Appalachians
• Western Front Between the mountains and the
  Mississippi
• What role do you expect the Mississippi to play?
• The Naval conflict
• Blockade and blockade-runners
• Commerce-raiders

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Blood and Steel

• The Two Armies
• The Union
• Only begins to organize after secession
• How does the Unions greater urbanization hurt
  them?
• The Confederacy
• Already organized into drilled militias
• Why are uniforms important?
• The Greatest Killer
• Disease kills more soldiers than bullets do
• What conditions are responsible for this?

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Women In The War

• Angels of the battlefield
• Auxiliaries forces that do not fight, but
  support the soldiers
• Why are auxiliary forces so important to an army?
• Clara Barton Founder of the American Red Cross
• Elizabeth Blackwell founds the Sanitary
  Commission
• Nurses up until this point, was considered a
  male profession

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The Agony of War

• The Battle of Bull Run
• Why was this location important?
• How does this support Northern strategy?
• Also called Battle of Manassas
• The North tended to name battles after the
  nearest river the South after the nearest town.
• What does this battle tell us about the
  importance of morale?
• Stonewall Jackson
• What was the effect of the battle on the North?
• What is Lincolns response?
• What is the effect on the South?

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On Oceans and Rivers

• The Naval War
• Blockade and Blockade-Runners
• How does this hurt the South?
• Chokes off economic power
• What does get through costs more. Why?
• Blockade effectiveness?
• How does this play to the strengths of the North?
• Commerce-Raiders
• C.S.S. Alabama and her sisters

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Waves of Iron

• The Dawn of the Ironclads
• From Merrimac to Virginia
• Steam frigate converted to ironclad
• Why is this ship so effective tactically?
• The Monitor
• What does the Monitor tell us about the
  effectiveness of spies?
• Why is the battle a draw?
• The Hunley
• Last-ditch attempt to break the blockade of
  Charleston
• First successful use of a submarine in war
• Why is the Confederacy leading the way in naval
  innovation?
• Why were these ships ineffective strategically?

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The Western Front

• Union Victories in the West
• General Ulysses S. Grant takes on Tennessee
• Captures two Confederate forts on the Cumberland
  river
• Why are the rivers so important?
• Capture of Nashville
• Confederates attempt to take St. Louis
• Battle of Pea Ridge Union Victory
• Cherokee regiments fighting for the South

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From West to South

• The Battle of Shiloh
• Grant marches South to Mississippi
• Waiting for Buells reinforcements
• Confederate General Johnston attacks
• Johnston killed in action. Northern General
  Sherman has horses shot from under him.
• Why are the commanders placing themselves in this
  kind of danger?
• Confederates win the first day. Why is the river
  important tactically?
• Reinforcements arrive in the night. Union
  victory.
• Massive casualties.

35
The Big Easy

• The Battle of New Orleans
• Farragut takes New Orleans with a naval squadron.
• Most of the Mississippi is now in Union hands
• How does this affect the sea war?
• The land war?

36
Victory or Defeat?

• The Victories of General Lee
• The Peninsular Campaign
• General George B. McClellan
• General McClellan had over 100,000 men
• The Confederates had as few as 10,000
• What does this tell us about the importance of
  spies?
• Lincoln and McClellan become more and more
  antagonistic.
• Second Battle of Bull Run
• Confederates threaten Washington

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The Continuation of Warfare by Other Means

• The South Invades
• Britain and France
• King Cotton stirs.
• What lesson is Lee taking from the Revolution?
• Antietam Creek
• Lees drive stopped
• Bloodiest single day of the war
• McClellan refuses to pursue Confederate forces to
  achieve tactical victory.
• Why does a tactical draw add up to a Northern
  victory?

38
Free At Last

• The Emancipation Proclamation
• How does this change the character of the war?
• How does it help and hurt the Union cause?
• How does it help and hurt the Confederate cause?
• Where were the slaves not freed?
• Why was this so?
• The Black regiments
• Why did Black leaders urge Black soldiers to
  fight on unequal terms?
• Why would Black troops fight for the Confederacy?
• What risk did Black soldiers run in fighting for
  the Union?

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Gettysburg

• The Invincible South
• Confederates win at Fredericksburg and
  Chancellorsville
• Second Invasion
• What were Lees war aims in this invasion?
• Why is time on the Northern side?
• Economic collapse in the South
• Why is time on the Southern side?
• Copperhead Democrats
• Is a desire for peace always good?
• What effects does the invasion have on the
  Northern Army?

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Gettysburg

• The Accidental Turning Point
• Both sides blunder into one another near
  Gettysburg, PA
• Three day battle, fought in many small actions
• Picketts Charge seals the Confederate defeat
• Why is this charge so disastrous?
• What technological advance makes this happen?
• Lee retreats to Virginia
• Why isnt Meade promoted?
• Battle of Vicksburg
• Grant victorious. Why is this battle so
  important?
• The Gettysburg Address

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War Is Hell

• Grant Takes Command
• Grant takes Chattanooga
• South surrounded on all sides
• Farragut takes Mobile
• Shermans March to the Sea
• What does total war mean?
• Sherman burns Atlanta, and lives off the land
• What was the intent of this doctrine?

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The End of the War

• Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
• Lee trapped between Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan
• Union technological advances and material in full
  advance
• The Henry (Remington) rifle
• Lee surrenders at Appomattox
• Rejects proposal for continuous guerilla warfare
• Lincoln decides to be merciful
• Lincoln is assassinated

43
After the War

• Assessing the War
• Why did the North win?
• Material The Lost Cause theory
• Superior political position
• Superior strategy
• Federalism Reconsidered
• What was the effect on the powers of the states?
• What was the effect on the powers of the national
  government?
• What sort of powers did the federal government
  gain?