An Overview of America's Civil War

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An Overview of America's Civil War
1861-1865
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Why? A Very Brief Review
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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.

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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.

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1861 The Outbreak of War
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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

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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

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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1862 A Bloody Stalemate
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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.

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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?

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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)

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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).

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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.

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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...

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antietam
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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?

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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.

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1863 The Turning Point
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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November 19, 1863

• Lincoln issues the Gettysburg Address

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• 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.

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• 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?

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1864-1865 The Final Months
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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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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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
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Results of the Civil War

• 620,000 killed
• Union preserved
• Slavery abolished
• Power of federal government solidified
• Southern society in shambles

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An End and a New Beginning

• What was won?
• What was lost?
• How would we rebuild?

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