1-7: The American Civil War

This general became the commander of the Union forces in the West after Grant was promoted supreme commander of all Union Armies in 1864. He is most remembered for his destructive campaign through the South.

William Tecumseh Sherman

In 1863 at the dedication of a national cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield, President Lincoln presented a short speech. This is what Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln stated that our nation was founded on the ideal that all men are created equal. But, as Americans were at war with one another (North vs South), our nation and its founding principle of equality were being tested. He urged the citizens of the Union to keep fighting the war so that the "dead shall not have died in vain" and that the nation shall have "a new birth of freedom" and a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." In essence, Lincoln redefined the Civil War as a struggle to not only maintain the Union but to also bring true equality to all its citizens.

This was the American Civil War. This is when it occurred, and these were the main results.

1) It was a military conflict between the United States (a.k.a. the Union, the North, USA) and the Confederate States of America (a.k.a. the Confederacy, the South, CSA) 2) The war started in 1861 and ended in 1865. 3) The Union won the war. Over 600,000 soldiers died and $5 billion in property was destroyed. The war brought freedom to 4 million black slaves and answered the question of whether a state has right to secede from the Union.

These were the costs of the Civil War.

1) More than 600,000 soldiers died and another 500,00 were wounded. 2) Enormous financial costs ($6 billion) 3) Thousands of Southerners lost their homes and other possessions. 4) The South's economy was destroyed (eliminated its slave labor system, wrecked most of its industry and machinery, wiped out about 40% of its livestock).

These were the results of the American Civil War.

1) The Confederacy was defeated. (Later, during the Era of Reconstruction, the seceding states were allowed to regain their status as states and given representation in Congress.) 2) The practice of slavery was outlawed throughout the U.S. 3) The federal government assumed supreme national authority (i.e. ended ideas of nullification and secession). 4) Americans increasingly thought of the U.S. as one nation rather than a collection of states. 5) The Republican Party tended to dominate the federal government for several decades.

Militarily, this is how the Union and Confederacy compared at the start of the Civil War.

1) The South had a motivating cause (defend their homes and culture) and good generals (experienced from Mexican-American War). 2) The North had a more established, powerful central government, Lincoln's leadership, a larger population, and more resources, food, factories, and railroads.

These were the causes of the Civil War.

1) The U.S. was established with legal slavery. 2) The North and South developed major economic and cultural differences and desires (sectionalism). 3) Territorial expansion during the mid-1800s and the question of slavery in the territories challenged the traditional balance of power between the North and South. 4) A number of threatening events of the 1850s intensified the rift between Northerners and Southerners. 5) Lincoln's election triggered Southern secession. 6) The attack on Fort Sumter triggered the start of the war.

These are examples of 19th-century technology that influenced the warfare of the American Civil War.

1) rifles (much better accuracy and range than smooth-bored muskets, made charges against defensive positions more difficult and deadly) 2) field fortifications (defensive barriers and trenches made necessary by the effectiveness of the rifle) 3) ironclad warships 4) railroads 5) telegraph

This year represents a major turning point in the American Civil War. During this year, two key Union victories (at Vicksburg and Gettysburg) split and crippled the Confederacy. Although many more Civil War battles would be fought after this year (some of which would be Confederate victories), the North thereafter had a distinct advantage and was able to slowly wear down the South.

1863

During the Civil War, both the U.S. government and the Confederate government created legal loopholes that enabled men to avoid being drafted into military service. These were a few of those loopholes.

A man who was drafted could avoid military service during the Civil War by paying a $300 fee, hiring a substitute who would serve in his place, or by holding an "essential" job, such as a position in government. (Note: Unable to easily utilize the loopholes, poorer Americans tended to resent the draft system, and some fiercely resisted conscription. For example, in July of 1863, draft riots occurred in New York City that lasted four days.)

This is the nickname of the Union's military strategy during the Civil War. The three-part plan involved (1) blockading Southern ports with the Union Navy to cut off the Confederacy's cotton trade with Europe, (2) gaining control of the Mississippi River and isolating the western portion of the Confederacy, and (3) capturing the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.

Anaconda plan

During the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces took thousands of prisoners. At first, prisoner exchanges occurred, but the Union later abandoned this practice when Confederates began executing black soldiers. Both sides built and operated prisoner camps that featured horrible conditions and high death rates. This Confederate prison in Georgia was the worst prison camp of the war. It's prisoners suffered from poor shelter and sanitation, little food, and rampant disease.

Andersonville

In 1865, Grant's large army pursued Lee's weakened forces in Virginia and engaged in series of running fights. Outnumbering Lee's army by more than two to one, Grant's forces eventually blocked Lee's retreat at this village in Virginia. There, on April 9 in a private home, Lee surrendered his forces to Grant, an event that inspired the remaining Confederate armies to surrender soon after.

Appomattox (The original name of the village was Appomattox Court House.)

This is how many African-American men participated in the war.

At first, only whites fought in the Civil War. In 1862 Congress authorized blacks to serve in the military, and after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, large numbers of runaway slaves enlisted in the Union Army. During the war, African Americans in the Union Army served in separate (segregated) regiments and were often assigned labor duty. Some black fighting units, such as the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, engaged in battles. In the Confederate Army, African Americans were used as a slave labor force and never allowed in combat.

This is why far more troops were killed by disease (including infection) than by bullets during the American Civil War.

At the time of the Civil War, surgeons had little understanding of germs. They didn't use antiseptics, and antibiotics had not yet been invented. Consequently, soldiers who were wounded in combat often developed deadly infections (e.g. gangrene, blood poisoning). Additionally, army camps often had poor sanitation and hygiene, which led to outbreaks of diseases like dysentery and typhus.

This Civil War battle occurred in Maryland in 1862 and was the bloodiest single day of combat during the war. Although General Lee was outnumbered two to one, the Union General George McClellan chose not to commit all his forces to the battle. The next day, when Lee retreated with his troops, McClellan didn't pursue the weaker Confederate Army. Consequently, General McClellan was fired by President Lincoln after this battle.

Battle of Antietam

This was the first large land battle of the American Civil War. In 1861, three months after Confederate forces captured Fort Sumter, 30,000 Union soldiers marched from Washington, D.C., toward the Confederate capital in Virginia. Confederate troops intercepted the Union Army along a creek about twenty-five miles from Washington. This one-day battle ended when Confederate reinforcements arrived and the Union Army fled. The Confederate victory boosted the morale of the South and helped shatter the Northern belief that it would be a quick, easy war.

Battle of Bull Run

This was the other "turning point" battle of 1863. Hoping to lure Grant's army away from its siege on Vicksburg, General Lee invaded the North by leading a large Confederate Army into Pennsylvania. Eventually, Lee's 75,000 Confederate troops were intercepted by 90,000 Union troops, and for three days they fought among a few low hills and a cemetery on the outskirts of a small town in Pennsylvania. After Confederate forces failed to take the hills and their all-out attack on the cemetery (Pickett's Charge) ended in disaster, the crippled Confederate Army retreated and was never again strong enough to invade the North.

Battle of Gettysburg

This "turning point" battle occurred in 1863. At that time, Confederate forces controlled the lower Mississippi River by setting up a battery of cannons in a town along the river. General Grant led Union troops down the Mississippi River, circled around behind the cannons aimed at the river, and pinned 30,000 Confederates inside the town. After six weeks of being bombed and starved, the Confederate forces in the town surrendered, and the Union was able to gain control of all of the Mississippi River.

Battle of Vicksburg (a.k.a. Siege of Vicksburg)

This is how the South and the North financed (paid for) the war.

Both the CSA and the USA printed money, levied taxes, and borrowed money by selling war bonds. The Confederate government, newly made and with little power over the Southern states, struggled to sell bonds and raise tax revenue. It resorted to printing large sums of money, which led to harmful inflation. The U.S. federal government, which was well established and trusted by Northerners, was able to borrow, tax, and print money more effectively.

This Union volunteer distributed medicine and nursed wounded soldiers during Civil War. After the war, she founded the American Red Cross, a relief agency that seeks to alleviate suffering caused by war and disaster.

Clara Barton

These two candidates competed in the presidential election of 1864, and this was the outcome of that election.

During the presidential election of 1864 (which occurred only in the North due to the secession of the Confederate states), Abraham Lincoln (Republican) ran against George McClellan (Democrat), the former Union general whom Lincoln fired for being too cautious. Although many Northerners had become distressed by the war's length and the high number of casualties, a series of Union victories (e.g. Sherman's capture of Atlanta) shortly before the election helped boost the public's opinion of Lincoln's job performance. In the end, Lincoln won by a sizable margin.

This is how the Union and Confederacy responded to the prevalence of infection and disease.

During the war, the Union created the U.S. Sanitary Commission, which sent nurses and supplies to field hospitals set up near battles. The Confederacy didn't have a sanitary commission, but thousands of Southern women volunteered as nurses.

This executive order was issued by President Lincoln in 1863. Lincoln proclaimed that slaves in rebellious states (not border states) were free and eligible to enroll in the Union Army. This wartime measure had a number of effects. It made the abolition of slavery an official goal of the Union war effort and helped invigorate Northern support for the war. It encouraged slaves to escape and harmed the Confederacy's economy and ability to make war. And lastly, the proclamation led to large-scale enlistment of blacks in the Union Army.

Emancipation Proclamation

This federal fort is on an island in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. Because the fort is located in the South, the Confederate States claimed that it was the property of the Confederacy. Lincoln claimed that this fort was federal property of the United States. On April 12, 1861, before federal reinforcements could arrive, Confederate forces bombed this fort until Union forces surrendered. News of the fall of this fort angered Northerners. Lincoln claimed it was an attack on the Union and called for volunteers to join the military and recapture it. The Confederate attack on this fort is considered the beginning of the American Civil War.

Fort Sumter

This general commanded the eastern Union Army, which was known as the Army of the Potomac. He was a good organizer and trainer of troops but very cautious to engage in battle. In 1862, after he chose not to pursue the wounded Confederate Army after the Battle of Antietam, this general was fired by President Lincoln.

George McClellan

This occurred during the event known as "Sherman's march to the sea."

In 1864 and 1865 General Sherman led 60,000 Union troops on an invasion into the deep South. Marching through Georgia and the Carolinas, Sherman's forces demolished resources, railroads, houses, and farms, and then joined up with Grant's army in Virginia. Sherman's campaign was conducted with the hope that the destruction of resources and private property would lower Southern morale and help end the war.

This is how President Lincoln dealt with the border states and public dissent in the North.

President Lincoln sent federal troops to occupy and "secure" several of the border states (prevent them from seceding). To restrain pro-Confederate citizens who attempted to obstruct the Union, aid the Confederacy, or promote secession of the border states, Lincoln sometimes took unconstitutional measures. His administration jailed thousands of Confederate sympathizers, suspended the writ of habeas corpus (requires an arrested person to be brought into court), and seized telegraph offices.

This general commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and in 1865 was promoted to general-in-chief of all Confederate forces. Although he was considered a brilliant battlefield commander and won most of his battles, his two major offensives into Union territory ended in defeat.

Robert E. Lee

These were the border states.

The border states were slave states in the upper South that did not secede from the Union. The borders state were: 1) Missouri 2) Kentucky 3) Maryland 4) Delaware 5) West Virginia (which broke off from Virginia in 1861 and became a new state of the Union during the war)

This amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced in Congress midway through the Civil War and was finally ratified by the states in 1865. The amendment banned slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States (except as a punishment for a crime).

Thirteenth Amendment

This Union general was aggressive and willing to sacrifice men to win the war. For much of the conflict, he served in the Western Theater, where Union forces fought to secure the Mississippi River region. President Lincoln promoted him to chief general of the Union Army in 1864.

Ulysses S. Grant

These are the basic facts of Lincoln's assassination.

Where: Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. (Lincoln and his wife were attending a play.) When: April, 1865 (just several days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox) Who: Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth How: Booth entered Lincoln's theater box and shot him in the head. Why: Booth hated abolitionism and Lincoln. He was a strong supporter of the Confederacy and was angry with the outcome of the war.

Although the Union and the Confederacy were able to muster large numbers of volunteers to fight during the American Civil War, both sides eventually had to resort to conscription, which means this.

drafting men into military service