Chapter 14 Reading Guide
Which effect of the war do you view as most significant?
Freedom from Slavery. It led to an imbalance in the national economy.
Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy
- Confederate hopes for victory depended on diplomacy and military - Confederate leaders wanted cotton to be king - Wanted British or French to give aid in the war - Union's POV: Critical not for confederacy to get foreign help
The Confederate States of America
- Constitution modeled after U.S. constitution - denied tariff power and federal internal improvements - prohibited foreign slave trade - president Davis was rejected greater authority - Georgia was urged to secede - Confederacy had a financial war; NO MONEY
Economic Change
- Costs of war were staggering and called for extreme measures by both sides
Thirteenth Amendment
- Country needed to ratify an amendment to free enslaved people - Dec. 1865 Amendment ratified to end slavery - Could not be clearer or simpler
Fort Sumter
- Danger of a war breaking out was acute - Two forts were harbored and cut off from vital supplements - Lincoln urged South Carolina to let go - It didn't, and the war began
Fredericksburg
- Dec. 1862 large Union army attacked Lee's army in Virginia - Union lost 12,000 compared to Confederates losing 5,000 - Both sides slow to see why big guns weren't working - 1862 no prospect of military victory for either side
Keeping Border States in the Union
- Delaware, Missouri, Maryland, and Kentucky stayed in the Union - Maryland had Union attacks and threats on the Washington railroad - Union army used martial law to keep the state under federal control - Missouri: presence of U.S. troops - Pro south elements - Lincoln avoided emancipation of slaves to protect unionists in the border states
Election of 1864
- Democratic nominee was General McClellan - Republicans renamed Unionists to attract war dogs - Chose Lincoln again - Lincoln became president again
Political Change
- Electoral process continued during the war - Secession created Republican majorities in both house of Congress - Sharp differences between the radical faction and moderate faction - Most democrats supported the war - Peace democrats and copperheads opposed the war and wanted peace - Congressman Vallandigham of Ohio was banished from U.S. because of his pro-confederacy speeches
Morrill Land Grant Act
- Encourage states to use the sale of federal land grants
Consequences
- Freed only about 1 percent of slaves - Slavery still allowed in border states - Of major importance; Enlarged purpose of war - Union army had new recruits because of freed slaves
Peninsula Campaign
- General McClellan wanted training for his troops - Army invaded Virginia in 1862 - General Lee halted the Union army
Ex Parte Milligan
- Government had acted improperly in Indiana - Certain civilians could be subject to military trial in court
Grant in the West
- Grant used a combination of gunboats and army maneuvers to capture forts on MS tributary - Victories opened up MS to Union attack - Confederates responded by killing 23,000 soldiers in Tennessee - Grant's victories complemented by Union capture of New Orleans.
Modernizing Northern Society
- Historians debate on whether the war helped or hindered the Northern economy - Workers' wage did not keep pace with inflation - War placed a premium on mass production and complex organization - Sped up consolidation of North's manufacturing business - Weapon makers became millionaires
The End of the War
- Hunger spread through the South - Grant continued to outflank Lee's lines until they collapsed - Everyone knew the end was near
Failure of Cotton Diplomacy
- King Cotton didn't work, because Europeans got cotton from elsewhere instead - Two factors in Britain's decision not to recognize the Confederacy 1. Lee's setback at Antietam 2. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
Sherman's March
- Led 100,000 Union men across Georgia and into South Carolina - Pioneer of total war tactics - marched through Georgia - Took Atlanta to help Lincoln's prospects - Broke the spirit of the Confederacy and its will to fight on
Gettysburg
- Lee led army into Maryland and Pennsylvania - Hope for peace or foreign intervention - 1863 50,000 died; Lee's surge was futile - Destroyed key part of Confederate army - Never regained the offensive
Second Battle of Bull Run
- Lee took advantage of a change in Generals - Sent Union army backwards - Pope started to defend Washington
The War Begins
- Lincoln assured Southerners he would not interfere with slavery
Use of Executive Power
- Lincoln drew upon his powers: - Called for "75,000 volunteers" to put down the Confederacy - Authorized spending for a war - Suspended the writ of habeas corpus
Civil Liberties
- Lincoln focused more on prosecuting war - Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus in pro-confederate states - Democrats said Lincoln was just a tyrant - Supreme Court ruled that federal government hadn't acted fully properly
The End of Slavery
- Lincoln hesitant to take action against slavery - Lincoln's concerns: 1. Support of border states 2. Constitutional protections of slavery 3. Racial prejudice of Northerners 4. Premature action to be overturned
Assassination of Lincoln
- Lincoln urged that the South be treated well - John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln - Aroused Union anger when sympathy was needed for Confederates - Lincoln's leadership was missed
Homestead Act
- Promoted settlement of the Great Plains
Morrill Tariff Act
- Raised tariffs and increased revenue to protect manufacturers
Freedmen in the War
- 1/4th of slaves sought Union army protection - 200,000 Blacks served in Union army - Performed courageously - Gained respect of white soldiers
Trent Affair
- 1861 British came close to siding with Confederacy - Union warship took Confederate diplomats to Britain prisoner - Britain threatened war over the incident - Lincoln let them go - Diplomats failed to obtain their goal
The Draft
- 1861 When volunteers for soldiers were short, both sides in the war drafted people - First conscription act made all men between 20 and 45 liable for military service - Allowed draftees to be exempt by either finding a substitute or paying a fee - July 1863 People rebelled against draft; It was temporarily suspended
Emancipation Proclamation
- 1862 Lincoln used his powers to free all slaves from states - Justified as military necessity - Encouraged border states to free slaves - 1862 Lincoln delivered an Emancipation Proclamation
Vicksburg
- 1863 Union forces controlled New Orleans and Mississippi River - Union artillery bombed Vicksburg - Federal warships fully controlled Mississippi River
The Union Triumphs, 1863 to 1865
- 1863 War turning against Confederates - Economy in desperate shape
Grant in Command
- 1864 Grant made commander of all Union armies - Strategy of war by attrition - his army faced heavy casualties - reduced Lee's army - Became a modern "total" war
First Battle of Bull Run
- 30,000 troops marched from D.C. to attack Confederate forces - Confederate forces countered and scared the Union troops away - Showed that the war would not be short and that the rebels were not to be messed with
Confederate Raiders
- Able to gain enough recognition to buy British warships - These did great damage to Union vessels - Adams realized that Confederates were buying superships - Persuaded British to not sell them
Secession of the Upper South
- After Lincoln's power was imminent, four more states joined the Confederacy - Confederates moved their capital to Richmond, Virginia - Western Virginia stayed loyal to union, and thus became a separate state
Antietam
- After victory, Lee went to Maryland. Hoped victory here would get British support - McClellan got Lee's battle plan from a copy left by a Confederate Officer - 22,000 soldiers were killed at Antietam - McClellan was removed by Lincoln after failing to take advantage of weak confederacy - Antietam gave Union a moral victory - Lincoln used this triumph to strike into slavery
Effects of the War on Civilian Life
- American society underwent deep and wrenching changes
Pacific Railway Act
- Authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad
End of Slavery
- Blacks born into slavery were most affected by the civil war - 1865 13th amendment led to 4 million people freed - Economic hardship and political oppression would continue - Slaves with no rights were now protected by the Constitution - 750,000 lives and 15 billion in war costs - Civil War destroyed slavery and destroyed South's economy
Wartime Advantages
- Both North and South had strengths and weaknesses
Military
- Confederacy only had to defend; Union had to conquer - Had experienced leaders and high troop morale - Union hoped their higher population would work in their favor - Union could count on U.S. Navy
Turning Point
- Confederacy suffered 2 crushing defeats
Surrender at Appomattox
- Confederate government tried to negotiate for peace - Lee retreated from Richmond with 30,000 men - Forced to surrender by Grant, who treated him with respect
Political
- Confederate goal: Fighting for independence - Union goal: Fighting to preserve - Confederates needed a strong federal government; Didn't have that - Ultimate hope of the Confederates was that people would quit the war
Union Strategy
- Scott's strategy: - U.S. Navy blockade Southern ports - Control of Mississippi River; Cause division - Raise 500,000 troop army - Key in achieving Northern victory
First Years of a Long War
- Took 4 years for the war - Union troops finally won
Confiscation Acts
- Union General Butler refused to return prisoners - first Confiscation Act allowed enemy property to be seize - thousands of "contrabands" found their way into Union camps - 1862 second Confiscation Act Freed people enslaved by those against U.S.A.
Financing the War
- Union borrowed 2.6 billion through the sale of government bonds - U.S. treasury issued paper currency called Greenbacks - This currency contributed to inflation - Prices in the North rose by 80% during the war - First unified bank system since Andrew Jackson's vetoes in the 1830s
Economic
- Union dominated - Controlled most of the banking and capital - Northern logistical skills came in handy - Confederates counted on outside help to be successful
Monitor vs. Merrimac
- Union hopes depended on maximization of economic and naval advantage - Ironclad ship defeated Union ships under McClellan - Monitor went against Merrimac, and stopped it from defeating Union - Vulnerable wooden ships were now replaced by more formidable ironclad ones
Social Change
- Women and blacks were most affected by the war - Absence of men gave women added responsibilities - Women also played a critical role as nurses and soldier volunteers - Most women continued Urban or Rural jobs after the war - Civil war had two effects on Women 1. Field of Nursing open to women 2. Responsibilities led to equal voting rights for women
Political Dominance of the North
- suspensions were only temporary - long term effects of the war more important - supremacy of federal government was an accepted fact - abolition of slavery enhanced American democracy - 1863 Lincoln implored the idea of equality for all
List and eplain the four main ways the civil war impacted the nation.
1. 750,000 people died 2. Freed 4 million people from slavery 3. Accelerated industrialization and modernization in the North 4. Destroyed much of the South