Civil War: Causes and Effects

• South Carolina was the first state to secede.
• "To secede" means to formally withdraw from the union.
• The Civil War was a war fought in the same country, resulting in 750,000 deaths.

Causes of the Civil War

• Immediate cause: Confederates fired on Fort Sumter.

Short-Term Causes

• Disagreement over slavery in the territories was a contributing factor.
• Northerners were outraged by the Fugitive Slave Act.
• Southern states seceded due to fear that the North would gain too much power, aiming for independence.
• The election of Lincoln as President triggered secession.

Long-Term Causes

• Slavery versus Freedom
• Industrialization versus agriculture
• Industrialized North versus farming South
• States versus Federal government (states' rights)

Effects of the Civil War

• It provided the foundation for modern America.
• The shift of national power tilted from southern slaveholders to northern capitalists.
• It led to the creation of a powerful Congress.
• The focus changed, with Americans considering the country a single nation rather than a union of separate states.
• Both sides experienced losses.
• The Confederacy lost slavery.
• Jeffersonian America disappeared.
• Transformation of Lincoln's America shifted to free labor, small shops, and independent farmers within an industrial giant.
• Slavery was abolished.
• Modernization of the Northern economy was sped up.
• The Union was preserved.

The First Modern War

• The Civil War was the first modern war
• Mass armies confronted each other.
• Deadly weapons were created by the industrial revolution.
• Enormous casualties resulted from the conflict.
• Battles involved army against army engagements..

The Armies

• Army of the Potomac - The Union Army, fought in the East, with 25% of soldiers being foreign born
• Army of Northern Virginia – The Confederate Amy, fought in the East

Gods and Generals

• Robert E. Lee was offered command of the Union forces by Lincoln, but chose to remain loyal to his home state of Virginia.
• General George McClellan molded the Army of the Potomac, opposing the idea of ending slavery and hoped a compromise could avert the war
• Union Generals - Ambrose Burnside, George Meade, Ulysses S. Grant
• Confederate Generals – “Stonewall” Jackson, George Pickett, James Longstreet, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Robert E. Lee

The Soldiers

• Billy Yank was the nickname for Union soldiers.
• Johnny Reb was the nickname for Confederate soldiers.

Strategies

• Anaconda Plan choked the enemy, seizing control of Mississippi River, no supplies and food leaving the country, cotton will not leave the country, exercise pressure against Richmond, Virginia
• War of Attrition

Technology of War

• Rifles could shoot from 600 yards.
• Hot air balloons, grenades and telegraph were used

Monitor and Merrimac

• The Battle of the Ironclads.
• Ships bombarded each other

H.L. Hunley

• Confederate Submarine

State of Medicine

• Heavy casualties on both sides worsened by conditions on the field.
• Disease, poor nutrition, and inadequate medical care were common features of the war.

The First Two Years of the Civil War

• The Union aimed to control the Mississippi River in the West.
• In the East the goal was to capture the capitals.
• In Spring 1862, General Johnston was replaced by General Lee, who drove McClellan away from Richmond.

The First Battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861)

• Politicians from Washington came to observe the war.
• The North planned the battle, but the South new about it

Antietam

• The political importance of the Battle of Antietam allowed Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
• It was the bloodiest single-day battle.
• General Robert E. Lee, crossed into Maryland, was repelled in their northern advance by General McClellan and the Army of the Potomac

The Emancipation Proclamation

• It freed slaves in the rebel states Factors that led Lincoln to conclude emancipation:
• It gave a moral purpose of the war.
• It ensured that compromise was no longer possible.
• It encouraged the salves in the South to resist their enslavement
• Black soldiers and sailors served during the Civil War.
• The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment was the first black regiment misused in active combat.
• The draft riots occurred.
• “Contraband camps” were camps for escaped slaves.

Fighting in 1863

• New York Draft Riots mostly involved Irish immigrants due to the introduction of the draft
• The main targets of the riots were rich Republicans, conscription officials, and African-Americans
• Vicksburg Campaign – series of maneuvers and battles in Vicksburg, Mississippi; lasted about 6 weeks; total war, trenches, and biological warfare tactics
• The union claimed victory at The Battle of Gettysburg. It was a 3-day battle.

The Gettysburg Address

• Given by Abe Lincoln
• It stood as an American touchstone, offering comfort and inspiration to the living by honoring the sacrifices of the dead
• Second American Revolution

Fighting in 1864

• There was a new military strategy, end of frontal attacks, cavalry charges, and wooden ships
• It was the bloodiest of the war
• It showed more commonality with the ugly trench warfare of WW1 than the fighting that began the Civil War
• Ulysses S. Grant displayed strategy and became the only Union general to maintain the initiative against General Lee
• Atlanta was captured
• Sherman marched to the sea
• Grant, in 1864, initiated a war of attrition against Lee's army in Virginia.
• Grant's casualties were 60,000 – “Butcher of men"

The Capture of Atlanta

• Atlanta fell in September 1864
• General Sherman
• Burnt military facilities
• Chaotic evacuation
• Northern newspapers extensively covered the news of the capture, and the Northern morale was boosted
• Sherman's capture of Atlanta was the event that helped Lincoln win the reelection

Election of 1864

• Candidates were Lincoln (Republican) and George McClellan (Democrat) Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
• Sherman's March to the Sea- marched through Georgia; they burned cotton and looted houses; they wanted to demoralize the South's civilian population

1865 Lee Surrender at Appomattox

• The US authority would not disturb officers and soldiers as long as their paroles were observed
• It guaranteed Confederate soldiers immunity from treason persecution
• Lee asked that his men be given their horses to plan foodstuff, which Grant allowed.
• Grant sent three-day rations to 25,000 southern soldiers
• The surrender ceremony occurred three days later, and Confederates would stack their arms and flags

Confederate States of America

• President - Jefferson Davis
• Vice president - Alexander Stevens
• Number of states composing CSA – 11
• Capital City – Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861), Richmond, Virginia (May 30, 1861 - April 3, 1865), and Danville, Virginia (April 3, 1865 – April 10, 1865)
• Government – Republic; strong states' rights and weak central government
• “King Cotton” diplomacy – had little influence on foreign policy of other nations

Cornerstone of The Confederacy - Cornerstone Speech

• Rested upon "the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.” (Alexander Stephens - VP of CSA)

Political Leadership

• Lincoln had flexible and excellent communication skills.
• He expanded the regular army.
• Declared martial law
• Suspended the writ of habeas corpus
• Jailed 10,000 subversives without trial
• Closed down a few newspapers for publishing false information, yet still allowed anti-administration newspapers to criticize the president and his party
• Advanced public money into private hands without consulting Congress

Davis

• Davis was rigid, unimaginative, and uninspiring.
• He lacked influence with state governments and faced resistance from governors.
• He did not have an organized party system behind him to organize support.
• He did not declare martial law despite disloyalty and internal division.
• Greatest failing was the lack of initiative and leadership at home; paid little attention to the deteriorating economic situation, effectively communicating the war's meaning to ordinary men and women
• He assumed personal direction of the armed forces but left policymaking to the Confederate congress.
• Offended many of his field commanders
• Supported incompetent officers
• “King Cotton” diplomacy - ineffective
• The Confederate nation became far more centralized than the Old South had been

Federal Government Policies

• Homestead Act - everyone who wishes could have 160 acres of land in the west for free, paying only $10 for the transaction.
• The federal government gave land to states through Land Grant College program with a special purpose to create A&M colleges.
• The Pacific Railway Act created the transcontinental railroad in 7 years.

Copperheads

• They wanted to stop the war and compromise with the South.
• Clement Wallandigham was arrested and shipped to the South for his vocal opposition.

Economies North

• North was booming
• Huge land and money grants to railroad companies to build the transcontinental Railroad
• A new financial system of new taxes, increased tariffs, printed Greenbacks, bonds, and made a lot of money.

Economies South

• The South faced a crisis, with many families experiencing poverty and debt.
• The rich were unwilling to pay heavy taxes.
• Heavily borrowed farmers resisted planting foodstuff.
• Physical destruction
• There was a lot of patriotism, but public disaffection existed.
• Social change and internal turmoil engulfed much of the Confederacy, causing the South to become increasingly divided.
• The military confiscation of farmers' goods was a source of disaffection.
• The “20-negro” clause of the conscription system was a "rich man's war and a poor man's fight".

Factors behind the Union's defeat of the Confederacy

• It had the superior material resources.
• There was a ruthless resolve of Union generals like Grant and Sherman.
• Slaves were running away from their masters.
• Social change and internal turmoil occurred within the Confederation.

Thirteenth Amendment

• Lincoln believed this was needed to ensure freedom for slaves and outlawed slavery in 1865.

Juneteenth

• Commemorates the day that Union Army Major General Gordon Granger rode into Texas and told slaves of their emancipation (known as Emancipation Day).

Women and the War

• Women on both sides assumed many roles traditionally reserved for men.
• The war became a war to end slavery
• Northerners began to think of America as a single nation rather than a union of separate states.
• The federal government greatly expanded its powers.