Causes of the Civil War

• The Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter led to states choosing sides in the conflict

Formation of the Confederacy

• Representatives from seceded states formed the Confederate States of America in early 1861
• The Confederacy's core principle was the continuation and expansion of slavery
• Southerners believed in their right to secede, mirroring their voluntary entry into the Union
• Confederate soldiers fought to defend Southern independence and the right to enslave Black people

Union Perspective

• Northerners viewed Southern secession as rebellion
• They fought to defend national unity and ideals of freedom

Divided Loyalties

• Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the Confederacy
• West Virginia formed by counties loyal to the Union
• Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained in the Union as "border states" with divided citizens

Inevitability of Civil War

• A conflict between citizens of the same country became unavoidable

Initial Actions

• President Lincoln called for 75,000 Union volunteers
• Confederate President Jefferson Davis also sought volunteers

Northern Advantages

• The North had a population of 22 million, compared to the South's 9 million
• The North possessed 90% of the nation's manufacturing and most banks
• The North was richer and technologically superior
• The North had more farms to feed troops and abundant resources, including iron, coal, copper, and gold
• The Union controlled the seas and had 21,000 miles of railroad tracks

Northern Weakness

• The North struggled with military leadership, as many officers resigned to join the South
• Lincoln searched for effective generals throughout the war

Southern Advantages

• The South had strong military leadership with officers such as Robert E. Lee
• To win, the North had to invade and conquer a large territory, but the South only had to defend it

Southern Disadvantage

• The South was vulnerable to division if the Union controlled the Mississippi River because it threatened the strategic port of New Orleans.

Southern Weaknesses

• The South's agriculture-based economy struggled to support a long war
• The South lacked factories for producing military supplies
• The South also lacked adequate railroads

Abraham Lincoln

• Lincoln believed the Union was perpetual and tied its preservation to the American Revolution

Jefferson Davis

• Davis believed in states' rights and white racial superiority
• Secession was justified because the South had the right to have the same freedoms the founders had outlined
• Davis did not believe freedom extended to enslaved people

Anaconda Plan

• The Union strategy involved:
  • Naval blockade of the South
  • Dividing the Confederacy
  • Capturing Richmond

Rose Greenhow

• Greenhow was a Southern supporter who gathered intelligence in Washington

First Battle of Bull Run

• Greenhow warned the South of the Union's plans
• Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson played a key role in the victory
• The Union forces retreated back to Washington in panic
• It demonstrated that the war would not be easily won by the North

Second Battle of Bull Run

• Confederate victories protected Richmond through the spring and summer of 1862
• General James Longstreet prevented the Union army from attacking Jackson's right flank
• Robert E Lee ordered a counterattack, which forces U.S. troops to retreat

Women's Roles

• Women managed farms and businesses
• Women found work in factories and as nurses, teachers, and government workers
• Women served as messengers, guides, spies, and soldiers

Dorothea Dix

• Dix was appointed director of the Union army's nursing service

Clara Barton

• Barton was the founder of the American Red Cross, and cared for soldiers on the battlefield

Anaconda Plan in Action

• Union Navy blockaded Southern ports, cutting off trade
• Great Britain refused to break the blockade, which reduced the South's ability to export cotton or import supplies

Dividing the Confederacy

• Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans in April 1862
• General Ulysses S. Grant won victories in Kentucky and Tennessee
• The Union victory put Kentucky and much of Tennessee under Union control
• Ulysses S. Grant was known as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant because he refused to accept any battle outcome other than total surrender

Thwarted Union Attempt

• General George McClellan failed to capture Richmond despite outnumbering Confederate forces

Battle of Antietam

• General Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland in September 1862
• The battle was fought near Sharpsburg along Antietam Creek
• McClellan's troops pounded Lee's forces
• Lee retreated to Virginia the day after
• More Americans were killed in that single day of fighting than in the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War combined.
• The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day of the war

New Realities of War

• Improved weapons made killing from a distance much easier
• Rifles replaced muskets, which made attacks from great distances more accurate
• Cannons and artillery were improved and made it easier for armies to attack from a distance
• Medical care lagged behind weaponry
• Doctors lacked knowledge of infections and spread them rapidly
• Hospital death rate was high and soldiers often refused care
• Far more soldiers died of disease than wounds due to unsanitary conditions

Lincoln's Evolving Views

• Lincoln initially resisted making abolition a war goal and had said that, “is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery”
• He recognized the need for European support and a weaker Confederacy

Emancipation Proclamation

• Lincoln issued the Proclamation on January 1, 1863
• It declared enslaved people free in Confederate states
• The proclamation did not grant rights of citizenship
• The emancipation proclamation changed the war into crusade for freedom for many in the North

Battle of Gettysburg

• Lee aimed to capture a Northern city
• Union General George G. Meade led 90,000 troops
• Confederate troops gathered behind Seminary Ridge
• Gettysburg was a victory for the Union but at the cost of over 17,500 Union soldiers and 23,000 Confederate troops were killed or wounded
• Lee withdrew to Virginia

Pickett's Charge

• Was the closet the Confederacy came to winning the war
• Thousands of Confederate soldiers charged against an impenetrable barricade of Union troops, eventually retreating when they realized the height of the task

Northern Opposition

• "Copperheads" were Democrats who favored peace over saving the Union or ending slavery
• Some Northerners sympathized with the Confederacy
• Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus

Gettysburg Address

• Lincoln's speech linked the war to the Declaration of Independence
• The speech extended liberty to Black Americans

Technological Firsts

• The Civil War was the first American war to use railroads, telegraphs, photographs, and ironclad ships

The Merrimack and the Monitor

• The Confederacy converted the Merrimack into an ironclad ship named the Virginia
• The Union built the ironclad Monitor
• The battle between the ships demonstrated ironclads' superiority

Control of the Mississippi

• The Union campaign aimed to divide the South
• Farragut captured New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez
• Memphis, Tennessee, was also seized by Union forces

Siege of Vicksburg

• The town's location on a bluff and hairpin turn in the Mississippi made it difficult to capture
• Grant besieged the city with naval and ground forces
• Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, 1863
• The Mississippi was controlled by the Union and the Confederacy was divided in two

Confederate Home Front

• The Union's blockade caused shortages and high prices in the South
• Cotton and tobacco sales decreased and farmers began planting food crops
• Invading Union armies destroyed crops, therefore the South was often hungry
• Clothing wore out and was replaced with patches and homespun cloth

Black Americans

• The Emancipation Proclamation inspired many to stop working or flee north
• As well as that, some also joined Union and gave information about Southern troops and supply lines so that they could better plan assaults.

Initial Resistance

• Initially, White Northerners viewed the conflict as only concerning White people.

Black Recruitment

• Congress allowed Black Americans to join army in 1862
• About 186,000 Black Americans enlisted in the Union army, and 19,000 joined the Union navy

The Massachusetts 54th Regiment

• The 54th Massachusetts Infantry was an all-Black regiment led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
• The regiment was paid less than white officers
• After 3 months of difficult training, the regiment participated in an attack on Fort Wagner outside of Charleston
• The regiment was worried about being executed or sold into enslavement if captured

African Americans at War

• The assault on Fort Wagner was an impossible mission and Black soldiers fought with great courage despite this
• 166 Black regiments fought in nearly 500 battles of liberty and saving the Union
• Despite this, they also risked death or enslavement if captured

Grant's Strategy

• Grant wanted to engage and strike the enemy to end the war
• Grant would lead a force against Lee to capture Richmond
• General William Tecumseh Sherman would lead a second army into Georgia to capture Atlanta

Grant Invades Virginia

• Grant invaded Virginia in May 1864, and lost 18,000 men in the first 2 days.

Total War

• Grant would war on the enemy to weaken war resources
• General Philip Sheridan was ordered to wage total war in Virginia's grain-rich Shenandoah Valley
• General Sherman cut a path of destruction through Georgia

Reelection of Lincoln

• Northern Democrats nominated General George McClellan to run against Lincoln
• McClellan urged an immediate end to the conflict
• Sheridan's destruction of the Shenandoah Valley and Sherman's capture of Atlanta occurred just in time to rescue Lincoln's campaign
• Lincoln was reelected in November 1864

Sherman's March

• Sherman marched his army across the state toward Savannah, seeking to disrupt supplies
• Sherman's troops destroyed everything along the route
• He captured Savannah, Georgia, in December 1864
• It was concluded with Black ministers that each freed family should be granted 40 acres of land and a mule to work it.

Surrender at Appomattox

• On April 2, 1865, the Union forces broke through Confederate lines to capture Petersburg
• Grant's soldiers surrounded Lee's army
• General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 due to there being nothing else left for him to do
• Grant gave food to the troops
• As Lee returned to his headquarters, Union troops began to shoot their guns and cheer wildly, which led Grant to tell them to stop celebrating because the rebels were their countrymen again

Aftermath

• The Civil War had burned away one country and created another one
• The new country wasn't going to have enslavement or the right to secession
• Those momentous changes came at great costs

Lasting Impact

• The Civil War:
  • Reflected technology of the Industrial Revolution
  • Introduced total war
• The Civil War had left many issues unsettled
• White Southerners sought to retain an unequal social order
• The conflicts over states' rights and the status of African Americans would continue