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Emancipaton Proclaimation:

: A presidential proclaimation issued by Abraham Lincoln that all slaves were freed in the rebellious states - Allowed the enlistment of African American soldiers - Did not compensate owners - Did not outlaw slavery - Did not make freedmen citizens - War goal - which discouraged the British and Frencs governments from recognizing the confederacy

Fort Pillow Massacre

: Confederate troops evacuated Fort Pillow to avoid being cut off from the rest of the Confederate army - Union forces occupied fort pillow and used it to protect the river approach to Memphis - Forrest launched a month long cavalry raid to capture Union prisoners and supplies, and demolish posts - Needing supplies, Forrrst moved onto fort pillow - Union troops surrendered, but Forrests's men massacred them in cold blood - Lincoln's order of retaliation

CSA Conscription Act

: First American military draft - Shortage of men, was being invaded - Unpopular, because it seemed like a usurpation of the rights of individuals by the government, the very thing that the CSA seceded against - White able bodied men between 18-35 had to fight for 3 years, and all one year soldiers had to fight for 3 years - Exempt were occupations seen as most valuable to the home front like civil servants, workers, teachers - Also anyone who owned 20 or more slaves didn't have to go - For a while, drafted men could pay to not go

Seven Days

Chickahominy River was an important factor in the defense of Richmond - Maclellan waited there for reinforcements - Culmination of the Peninsula campaign - Confederates attacked, pushed back Union, but reinforcements came to the union rescue - Confederates were phenomenally mismanaged, Jacksons men and him were too fatigued to fight properly - McClellan hesitated on a siege of Richmond, believing himself outnumbered, which accomplished Robert E. Lee's goal of dislodging McClellan - Confederacy got mowed down at Malvern Hill - Strategic confederate victory, Richmond had not been sieged, but huge casualties, equaled all the battles in the Western Theater, including Shiloh - Established a pattern for harder fighting and greater casualties - Ended Peninsular campaign - Northern morale was crushed, Confederate morale skyrocketed - AGGRESSIVE LEE VS. MACLELLAN

Atlanta:

City became a critical point during the Atlanta campaign - The fall of Atlanta was a critical point in the Civil War, giving the north more confidence, leading to the re-election of Lincoln - Vital transportation and logistics center - After a five week siege by Sherman, he burned Atlanta - Boosted northern Morale - Confederate army was never in a position to retake the city

Battle of Chattanooga 3:

Following the defeat of Rosecrans, the Confederate army under Braxton Bragg occupied key areas around Chatanooga - Chattanooga was a vital rail hub, as well as an important manufacturing center - At first Rosecrans caused Bragg to abandon Chattanooga, but after a mistake caused a gap in te Union line, causing the army to retreat to Chattanooga and set up defenses - Bragg's army besieged the city, threatening to starve the Union forces into surrender - The Union forces were starving, waiting for reinforcements - Grant travelled over the treacherous mountain supply lines and arrived in Chattanooga - Approvd a plan for a ferry to cross the Tennessee River to a point that could reach Union supply boats, which became the "Cracker Line" - This broke the siege - George H. Thomas sezed minor high ground at Orchard Knob, while the William Sharman launched a surprise attack against Bragg on Missionary ridge - Joseph Hooker finally defeated the confederates in the Battle of Lookout Mountrain - Bragg's defeat eliminated the last confederate control of Tennessee, and opened a door to the Deep South, leading to Sherman's Atlanta campaign

George Meade

Defeated Robert E. Lee at the battle of Gettysburg, seen as the turning point of the war, even though he had only been appointed just three days before was able to organize his forces against Lee's - Distinguished himself during the Battle of South Mountain - During the battle of Fredricksburg, Meade's division made the only breakthrough of the Confederate lines, spearheading through a gap in Stonewall Jackson's corps - After Joseph Hooker resigned, Lincoln personally appointed Meade he was to replace Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac - Skillfully deployed Pickett's Charge, causing huge confederate casualties, which caused Lee to retreat, however he did not effectively pursue Lee afterward - During the initial assaults on Petersburg, he failed to coordinate his corps before General Lee could reinforce the line, resulting in a 10 month stalemate

Battle of Fort Henry:

: First important victory for the Union and Ulysses S. Grant in the Western theater - Grant landed 2 divisions just north of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. He attacked while it was being simultaneously attacked by United States Navy gunboats - A combination of effective naval gunfire as well as rising river waters, caused its commander to surrender before the army arrived - Opened the Tennessee River to Union traffic past the Alabama border - Timberclad raid of wooden ships destroyed Confederate shipping and railroad bridges upriver - Proceeded next to the Battle of Fort Donelson - Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were the sole positions to defend the important Tennessee and Cumberlandn rivers - Two direct invasion paths into Tenessee and beyond

Shenandoah Valley

: MacClelan was close to Virginia, and wanted to strike on Richmond - Stonewall Jackson - Jackson stopped a Union plan to liberate east Tennessee, marched back into the Valley - Jackson was victorious at Winchester, relieved the pressure against Rihmond - Forced to retreat due to his tired men - Diverted 60,000 Union soldiers from reinforcing the Union offensive against Richmond - Shows how use of speed and terrain can compensate for inferiority of numbers - Disrupted Fremont's east Tennessee campaign, and McDowell's plan to reinforce McClellan - Made stonewall even more of a hero/threat to the north

Frederick Douglass:

African American social reformer - A leader of the abolitionist movement, a great speaker - A living counter-example to the argument that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citiens - Described his experiences as a slave which became a bestseller, and an influential support for abolition - Firm believer in equality of all people - Held high positions, such as president of the Freedmen's savings bank

Confederate Emancipation:

Jefferson Davis prepared to bring slaves into its armies, and offer freedom to those who joined - Decided this 5 months before the Confederacy collapsed - Confederate nationalism, racist ideology - Would require masters to give up property, seemed counterintuitive - Last stab at Union

John Wilkes Booth

Known confederate sympathizer, opposed the abolition of slavery in the United States - Booth and a group of co-conspirators originally plotted to kidnap Lincoln, but later planned to kill him, Seward, and Johnson - Booth believed the Civil War was not yet over because Johnston's army was still fighting the Union - Only booth, out of all the conspirators, was successful - Booth shot Lincoln, fled on horseback, but was shot by a union soldier

Confiscation Acts:

Laws passed by the United States with the intention of freeing the slaves still held by Confederate forces in the south - First act authorized confiscation of any confederate property by the union (including slaves) - Second act stated that any confederate official who did not surrender within 60 days of the act's passage would have their slaves freed - Only applied to confederate areas that had already been occupied by Union army - Lincoln opposed these acts, fearing they would push the border states away, but signed them anyway - Gradual movement toward emancipation that would eventually lead to the Emancipation proclaimation - Overturning social order of south as opposed to union restoration

Robinson Reply

Lincoln replies to a letter, stating his Emancipation Proclaimation and enlisting African Americans was helping the union, even though before he said he would try to save it without freeing the slaves - African Americans deserved emancipation thanks to their fighting - Says that he would not go back on this, as the original letter seems to suggest - Defends it, saying that taking slaves from confederacy is a good move - Reminds the person that Jefferson davis is not trying to put the union back together, he is

Niagara Falls Declaration:

Lincoln: Any proposition which brings back the union and abandons slavery will be met by liberal terms on other collaterial points - Confederacy won't negotiate peace to this, Lincoln uses this to blame confederates - Confederacy turns it around saying Lincoln is way too stubborn about slavery - Northerners' sons are dying because Lincoln wants to free slaves

Grady McWhiney's Attack and Die:

New interpretation of the severe loss of life suffered by the confederacy during the civil war - Due to their Celtic heritage, they were aggressive and carelessly threw their lives away, as opposed to being defensive - Union are more british, Confederates are celtic - Union commanders, due to their heritage, were more defensive and adapted better to change - Confederacy was too aggressive - Celtic charge, history of offensive warfare - e..g Battle of Culloden and Telamon, where losses on the Celtic side were very high

14th Amendment

One of the reconstruction Amendments of 1868 - Addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the law, proposed in response to freedmen after the American Civil War - Had to be adopted for the Confederates to be able to rejoin the Union, and was enforced by the Northern army - Formed the basis for Roe v. Wade, Bush v. Gore - Overturned the Dred Scott ruling - Equal protection clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction, which was the basis for Brown v. Board of Education - Republicans needed the black vote to stay in power - Johnson vetoed it, but congress overrode it and became law

Battle fo Yorktown:

Part of the Peninsular Campaign - George MacLellan's Arm of the Potomac encountered Jon Magruder's confederate force at Yorktown - McClellan expended to move through this area easily, but his quick advance was foiled. This lost opportunity slowed him down as he had to wait for reinforcements - McLellan planned a massive bombardment, but the Confederate army slipped away toward Williamsburg - MCLC planned to use US navy forces to envelop Yorktown, but the ironclad CSS Virginia made him switch to land - McLellan estimated that the Confederates had way more troops than they actually did - McClellan was hesitant, and chose not to attack without more reinforcements, instead preparing to siege Yorktown, and the time this took allowed the Confederates to improve their defenses

Battle of the Crater:

Part of the Siege of Petersburg - Robert e Lee vs Ambrose Burnside - The federals exploded a mine, blowing a gap in the confederate defenses of Petersburg, Virginia - Everything deteriorated rapidly, confusing the Union - The confederates quickly recovered and launched several counterattacks - Grant considered the assault "the saddest affair I have ever witnessed in the war" - The breach was sealed off quickly - A division o fblack soldiers was badly mauled - This may have been the best chance for Grant to end the siege of Petersburg, instead of another 8 months of trench warfare

Fifteenth Amentmemnt

Prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude - Ratified in 1870 as the last of the Reconstruction Amendments - Followed amendments to abolish slavery and provide citizenship and equal protection under the law - The narrow election of Grant to the presidency convinced republicans that protecting the franchise of black voters was important for the party's future - However, many blacks in the south were disenfranchised by new laws such as poll taxes and literacy tests, and voter intimidation - Voting rights act of 1965

Jim Crow Laws:

Racial segregation laws between 1876-1965 at the state and local level - Racial segregation of all public facilities in the former confederacy, with a "separate but equal" status for African Americans, but facilities were inferior to whites - Systematic economic, education, and social disadvantages for African americans - Followed the Black Codes, which restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans - Overruled by the Civil Rights act of 1964

James Mason:

Represented the CSA as appointed commissioner between the Confederacy to the United Kingdom and France - Was removed as Contraband of war by the USS san Jacinto - Confederates hoped this would cause a war between the States and Britain, weakening the states to collapse - The British government demanded an apology, and strengthened its military forces in Canada in preparation - Lincoln released the envoys and disavowed Captain Wilkes' actions - Mason and Slidell resumd their voyage to Britain, but failed in their goal of achieving diplomatic recognition

Sharpsburg/Antietam

Fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland - First major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil - Bloodiest single day battle in American history - over 20,000 dead/missing - After pursuing Robert E. Lee into Maryland, he attacked Lee's army in defensive positions behind Antietam creek - Hooker mounted a powerful assault on Lee's left flank - Union assaults against the Sunken road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up - At a crucial moment, AP Hill's division arrived from Harper's Ferry and launched a surprise counterattack, driving back Burnside, and winning - Outnumbered 2-1, Lee committed his entire fource, while McClellan sent in less than 3 quarters of his army - McClellan vs. Lee's skills - Tactically inconclusive, but in military terms it was a Union victory, as the Confederates withdrew first - Enough of a Victory fo Lincoln to announce his Emancipation Proclaimation, which discouraged the British and Frencs governments from recognizing the confederacy

Reconstruction Acts

Fulfillment of the requirements of these acts were necessary for the former confederate states to be re-admitted into the union - Creation of 5 military districts in the south, each commanded by a general, which would serve as the acting government for that region, because that was the only way that black suffrage would be possible, as well as the enforcement of other federal laws - Each state had to draft a new state constitution which would have to be approved by congress - The states were also required to ratify the 14th Amendment, enfranchising blacks - Andrew Johnson tried to veto these measures, which was overturned by congress - Congress was afraid the Court might strike it down as unconstitutional, so Congress repealed Habeas Corpus Act

Siege of Petersburg

Richmond-Petersburg Campaign - Nine months of pre-ww1 trench warfare - Robert E Lee had dug trenches around Petersburg, and fortified the city - Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully at first - Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Robert E Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond - Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempt to cut off te railroad supply lines through Petersburg to Richmond, which overloaded dwindling confederate resources - Lee finally gave in when supply lines were finally cut, and a true siege would have begun, abandoning both cities and leading to his retreat and surrender at Appomattox Court House - War's largest concentration of African American troops

Minie Ball:

Rifle had greatest grange and accuracy, opposed to the Musket - Not widely used because rifliing was sometimes difficult, ramming down bearing, killing the responsiveness and reliability - Minie perfected the minie ball, easy to slide down - Missing piece to rifle being the civil war gun - However, caused a technology lag

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction and the Republican party after the Civil War - Seen as traitors to the region's value by being more northern than southern, supporting desegregation and racial integration - Scalawags gained power by taking advantage of the Reconstruction laws of 1867, which disenfranchised the majority of Southern white voters who could not take the Ironclad oath - Scalawags controlled every former Confederate state except Virginia - General James Longstreet

Chancellorsville:

Spotsylvania, Virginia - Joseph Hooker vs Robert E Lee - Robert E Lee divided his army, and achieved victory, even though the Union force was double the size of his - Stonewall Jackson was killed here - Hooker planned to envelope Lee, and attack his front and rear - The confederates split, and a small force deterred John Sedgwick from advancing, while the other half attacked Hooker - Lee divided his army again, sending Jackson's corps to flank Union forces, where he was killed by friendly fire - Hooker withdrew

Army of Northern Virginia

The primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater - Most often arrayed against the army of the Potomac - Lead by Robert E. Lee for the majority of the War - Was the lynchpin of the southern side, as Lincoln had predicted. When he surrendered, the other armies followed suit. - Caused MccLELLAN to abandon his Peninsula campaign - After this Lee, defeated John Pope at Second Manassas, and pushed the battle lines to 20 miles outside Washington. - At Sharpsburg, his army suffered heavy casualties and withdraw, which gave Lincoln the confidence to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, which would ultimately devastate the Confederacy's slave based economy - Attack the North to acquire supplies, proved to be a huge blunder causing the loss of Confederate Control of the western regions, as well as his own army, as Union forces cut him off from the south. Lee had to fight his way out at Gettysburg. - Invaded the North again at the Battle of Gettsburg, which produced the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War. Lee ordered a massive frontal attack, Pickett's Charge, which was repulsed and resulted in heavy confederate losses, causing him to retreat, and applied for resignation, which Davis refused. The Confederacy never recovered, turning point of the civil war. - Lost and surrendered at the Siege of Petersburg

High War Casualties:

The rifle - Lagging medical care - No sense of hygene, anti-septic, amputation use to treat infection - No hand washing - Believed bacteria travelled on the wind, and in stale air - Koch's postulence - Limbs were becoming amputated as a precautionary measure - Measles, malaria, other contagious diseases that many were not exposed to - Later on, depression, mania, suicide, alcoholism.. - New rifle technology may have caused the high battlefield deaths - Lag in technology, healthcare technology didn't keep up with the fighting technology - Disparity between traditional tactics and modern weapons - Napoleonic close order formations - Offensive-defensive taught at westpoint

Army of the Tennessee

Troops under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant in the Union's District of West Tennessee - Battle of Shiloh - Siege of Corinth - Fort Henry & Donelson - Vicksburg - Under Sherman, Chattanooga campaign, Atlanta Campaign, March to the Sea - Present at most of the great battles that became turning points of the war, won decisive battles in decisive theaters of the war

Unconditional Surrender

Ulysses S. Grant at battle of Fort Donelson - to Brig General Buckner: "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted" - U.S. = Ulysses S/Unconditional surrender - Made Grant's reputation

Frank Blair/Francis Preston Blair Jr:

Union Army general - Democratic Party's; nominee for Vice President in 1868 - Brother of Montgomery Blair - Highly opposed to secession, leading the Unconditional Union Party, which advocated the use of force to prevent Missouri from seceding. - After pro-Southern Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson was removed, Blair helped to organize a Union friendly Government in Missouri - Resigned from the house of representatives in 1862, and joined the army, where he was promoted to Major General - Commanded a division in the Vicksburg campaign, and at Chattanooga

William Rosecrans:

Union General with early successes in the Western theater - Rivals with Grant and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton - Given command of the army of the Cumberland, he fought against Braxton Bragg, driving him from Middle Tennessee, and causing him to abandon the critical city of Chatanooga - Rosecrans pursued Bragg, and during the bloody battle of Chickamauga, his badly worded order mistakenly opened a gap in the Union line, and Rosecrans a third of his army were swept from the field, and Chatanooga was besieged, causing Rosecrans to remove him from Command - This mistake was reorganized defensively by Thomas J. Wood, nicknaming him the Rock of Chickamauga - Worst union defeat in the Westrn Theater

Carpetbagger

Union general - Was in one of the timberclads going down the Tennessee river to destroy Confederate bridges - Became commander of Fort Henry, where he stayed as the rest of the force went to Fort donaldson - Reinforced Fort Donaldson, reinforcing McClernand, defying Grant's orders - Key in stabilizing the Union defensive line - Lead a counterattack which retook the ground which was lost, getting him promoted - His orders at Shiloh given by Grant were lost by an aide, and Walace did not know which route to the front he should take - Wallace arrived to find that he was in the wrong place, and was not near Pittsburg landing with the rest of the Union warmy - Wallace marched back, but the conditions were terrible and progress was slow - Was used as a scapegoat for the horrible casualties at Shiloh, causing him to be removed

New York City Draft Riots

Violent disturbances in NYC over Working Class discontent with the new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American civil War - Largest civil insurrection in American history besides the Civil War - Lincoln was forced to divert several troops to control the city - Primarily Ethnic, working class Irish who resented the fact that wealthier men could afford to pay someone to hire a substitute, potentially saving their lives - Turned into a race riot - Numerous public buildings, homes of blacks and abolitionists were ransacked, and the Colored Orphan Asylum was burned to the ground - NYC was dependent on the south for textiles, and many NYCers resented the war - Forced hundreds of blacks to flee the city

First Manassas

Virginia battle - First major battle of the American Civil War - Union forces were slow in positioning themselves, allowing Cofnederate reinforcements to arrive in time by rail - Poorly trained, poorly led troops - Confederate victory, followed by a disorganized retreat by the US - Convinced the Union this wouldn't be over so quickly - Stonewall Jackson stoud his ground under fire, earning huis nickname - Union troops pancicked - Largest and Bloodiest battle in American history up to that point - War would be more brutal than imagined, North as shocked - President Lincolmn called for 500,000 more men - Irvin McDowell was replaced with MacClellan

Anaconda Plan

Winfield Scott's plan to subdue the confederacy - Emphasized blockade of the southern ports, and an advance down the Mississippi River to cut the south in two - A lot of people thought it was not aggressive enough - Guided Lincoln's war strategy - Wanted to choke out the confederacy, less bloodshed - In the capture of Vicksburg, the Anaconda was validated - 12 major ports - Ships that managed to get through the blockade only carried a small fraction of supplies - Killed King Cotton

Nathan Bedford Forrest

-Leads a fierce cavalry charge against the Union at Shiloh, and rides alone into the Union troops - All 1,000 troops miss, except for one who runs up to him and shoots him point blank, even then he survives, and is slashing at them with his sword - Gets away and arrives to confederate lines, and becomes a legend - Becomes a union war criminal when he massacres African American soldiers at Fort Pillow, Earns nickname "Devil Forest" - The African Americans may have surrendered - Becomes the first grand wizard of the KKK

Reconstruction

1863-1877 - Andrew Johnson and Lincoln both wanted to bring the south back to normal as soon as possible, while Radical Republicans used congress to block the moderate approach, impose harsh terms, upgrade rights of freedmen - Former confederates were removed from power, blacks were given the vote in the south - Freedmen's Bureau - Republican coalitions came to power in nearly all southern states, set out to transform society - Bureau protected legal rights of freedom, negotiated labor contracts - Sharecropping - Ulysses S. Grant supported radical reconstruction, and protected African Americans in the south using the Force Acts passed by congress, and suppressed the Ku Klux Kla - Tensions between Republicans and Southern Democracts/Conservatives that opposed African American power, widespread corruption by carpetbaggers/northerners moving south, and state spending - Counterattacked, and regained power from republicans in the Southern States - As time went on, Northerners wanted to forget the issue of slavery and the Civil War, and the support for reconstruction dwindled - Army was removed in 1877, and many Republican governments collapsed in the south - South became a poverty-stricken backwater attached to agriculture - Civil rights failed - Democratic dominance forced freedmen into second class

William T. Sherman

: Total War, Sherman's march - Fought in Vicksburg - Succeeded Grant as the Union commander in the western theater, leading his troops to capture Atlanta, a military succees that contributed to the re-election of Lincoln - Marched through Georgia and the Carolinas, further undermining the Confederacy - Accepted the surrender of all Confederate armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida - had a breakdown, was described as insane - Wanted to redeem himself - First major test was at Shiloh, was being very stoic to make sure no one called him crazy again - Proved instrumental to the successful Union counterattack, which was praised by Grant and Halleck - Became close to Grant - Success in Atlanta made Sherman a household name - Lincoln's defeat could have been victory for the confederacy - Burned many cities to the ground - March to the sea: Lived off the land with his men, and caused over 100 million in property damage - At the end, he captured Savannah - Distracted from Grant's lack of progress against Lee in Northern Virginia - Targeted South Carolina, as it was the first to secede from the Union - Johnson: No such army since the days of Julius Caesar - Sherman's neckties, destruction of railways

Freedmen's Bureau

A US federal government agency that aided distressed freedmen during the Reconstruction era - Freedmen's Bureau Bill established the Freedmen's Bureau - Important agent of early Reconstruction - Disbanded under Ulysses S. grant - Kept an eye on labor contracts, and pushed blacks and whites to work together as employers and employees - Sharecropping - Power was expanded to teach Adfrican Americans to read and write - Bureau agents also served as legal advocates for African Americans in court - By 1869, the Bureau had lost most of its funding and was forced to cut much of its staff - Solved problems of clothing, food, water, healthcare, jobs - Huge accomplishments in education

Wade-Davis Bill

A bill proposed for the Reconstruction of the South written by two radical republicans - In contrast to Lincoln's more lenient 10% plan - Made re-admittance to the union for former confederates contingent on a majority in each southern state to take the Ironclad oath - Was pocket vetoed by Lincoln even though it passed - Radical Republicans were outraged that Lincoln did not sign the bill - Lincoln believed it would be too difficult to repair the south if this bill was passed - Proposed to ensure reconstruction by guaranteeing a republican government in the south - This would cause permanent national control over the southern states - Lincoln believed the south had never "left" the union, so had to be treated fairly

Andersonville POW Camp:

A confederate Civil War POW camp - Commanded by Major Henry Wirz, who was executed after the war for murder - Overcrowded to 4x its capacity, with inadequate food and water, ad unsanitary conditions - Anyone who crossed the boundaries were shot without warning - Guard brutality, disease, starvation, exposure

Baltimore Riot:

A conflict that took place in Maryland between Confederate sympathizers and members of the Massachusetts Militia en route to Washington for federal service - First bloodshed of the American Civil War - Many Baltimoreans sympathized with the Southern cause - Lincoln was afraid of assassination here - As the war began, the city's divided loyalties created tension - Supporters of succession and slavery were "national volunteers" while unionists and abolitionists were "mnute men" - One week after Fort sumter - A mob of secessionists attacked the train cars they were travelling in, so the troops marched in formation through the city -The mob attacked with bricks, stones, and pistols, and several soldiers fired into the mob, beginning a giant brawl - Showed that passions on both sides could not be quelled

Radical Republicans

A faction of American politicians within the Republican Party from 1854 to the end of Reconstruction in 1877 - Strongly opposed slavery, distrusted ex-Confederates, demanded harsh policies for former rebels, emphasized rights for freedmen - Often fought with Lincoln, saying he wasn't doing enough - Limited political and voting rights of ex-confederates - Weakened the powers of Andrew Johnson, and got him removed - Ulysses S. Grant was a radical republican - After the 1866 elections, they controlled Congress, putting a stop to many of Johnson's plans, and gave blacks in the south the vote - This allowed Republican governments to be set up in the south - Sent the army to support new state governments - Split with Liberal republicans over the election fo Grant

United States Joint Committee on Reconstruction:

A joint committee of the United States congress that played a major role in reconstruction - Created to inquire into the condition of the States of the confederacy, and report whether they are entitled to be represented in either house of congress - Drafted the 14th amendment - Required southern states to approve it before being let back in - William P. Fessendon of Maine served as chairman - Heard testimony from each of the four military districts in the south

Redeemers/Southern Redemption

A political coalition in the South during reconstruction. Southern wing of the Bourbon democrats, the conservative, pro-business faction in the Democratic party, that sought to oust the Republican coalition - During reconstruction, the South was under federal occupation, and state governments were dominated by Republicans who pressed for freedmens rights - Southern Democrats exercised power through paramilitary organizations, removing Republican officeholders and terrorizing freedmen - Redeemed = Taken over by white democrats - Corrupt Bargain: Hayes became president in exchange for numerous favors for the south ,including removal of federal troops from remaining "unredeemed" Southern states - Former confederates able to vote again - White democratic southerners saw themselves as redeeming he south by regaining power - Worked hard to disenfranchise African Americans with poll taxes, literacy tests, allowing Jim Crow laws to be passed

Overland Campaign/Wilderness Campaign:

A series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1974. - Ulysses S. Grant became general-in-chief of all the Union armies, and directed the actions of the Army of the Ptomac against Robert e. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia - Lincoln argued that instead of targeting locations, like MacClellan would, the smarter idea would be to go after Lee, the Confederacy's strongest general. - The Union suffered severe losses, but it was a strategic Union victory - Grant maneuvered the battle into a siege at Richmond and Petersburg in just over 8 weeks - Grant wanted to place his forces between Lee and Richmond, inviting an open battle, but Lee surprised grant by attacking the larger Union army aggressively in the Battle of the Wilderness - Instead of withdrawing like MacClellan would have, Grant tried to continue with the plan, but Lee kept fighting him back, the defensive line not breaking - Lee finally had somewhat an advantage, but fell ill and failed to attack in time to take advantage of it - Grant surprised lee by stealthily crossing the James River, and besieged Petersburg, which lead to the eventual surrender of Lee's army, and the end of the Civil War

Gettysburg Address:

A speech by Abraham Lincoln, one of the best known speeches in history - Read at the dedication of the military cemetery at Gettysburg, 4 months after the Union defeated the confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg - In just over 2 minutes, Lincoln reiterated the principles of human equality stated by the Declaration of Independence, and proclaimed the Civil war as a struggle for the preservation of the Union,a nd it would bring true equality to all its citizens - Stated the war was a struggle for the principle of Human equality - Compared the principles of the founding fathers with the Civil War

13th Amendment:

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime - First of three reconstruction amendments following the civil war - Cemented the free status of slaves after the Emancipation proclaimation - Sharecropping: The nxt slavery?

Andrew Johnson

Abraham Lincoln's vice president, came into power after his assassination - Democrat who was picked to show party unity - Favored quick restoration of the union, but did not believe in giving protection to former slaves, which irritated Republican dominated congress - First president to get impeached - Opposed the 14th Amendment, which also caused trouble - Opposed to rights for African Americans, civil rights disaster - Johnson's removal of Stanton without Senate approval violated the Tenure of Office Act

Fort Monroe

After Virginia seceded, Lincoln had Fort Monroe quickly reinforced so it would not fall to Confederate forces - Held by Union forces through the Civil War, which launched several land and sea expeditions from there. Turned into the 7 days battle, giving Lee respect - Part of Scott's Anaconda plan, troops from Fort Monroe extended Union control along the coasts of the Carolinas - Several land operations against Confederate forces were mounted from the fort, such as the Battle of Big Behel - Fort Monroe Doctrine: Any escaping male slaves who reached Union lines would be considered contraband, and free forever. Thousands of slaves fleed to Fort Monroe, "Freedom's Fortess" - Ships were transported unbothered here to support McClellan's peninsular campaign, which formed at Fort Monroe - Maintaining control of Fort Monroe gave the crucial naval support Grant needed to take Petersburg, which was the key to the fall of the Confederate capitol at Richmond

Horace Greeley

An American newspaper editor, founder of the Liberal republican party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of Slavery - The New York tribune, which he founded and edited, was the most influential US newspaper from the 1840s-1870s, and established Greeley's reputation as the greatest editor of his day - Greeley used it to promote Whig and Republican parties, as well as oppose slavery - Ran against Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, but died - Spoke out against the Confederacy

Vicksburg

Attack against Vicksburg, Misssippi, a fortress city that dominanted the last Confederate controlled section of the Mississippi river - Surprise landing below Vicksburg, moving rapidly inland - Once his rear was clear of threat, Grant moved toward Vicksburg - Champion Hill and Big Black Bridge victories weakened Pemberton's forces, forcing him to retreat to defend Vicksburg - Grant sieged the city - Ulysses S grant gained control of the Mississippi river - Major turning point of the war - Confederacy was now cut in 2 - Key to the south - Closes the Anaconda - Sealed their fate

Salmon P. Chase

Believer in slave power, believed that southern slave owners wanted to seize control of the federal government, then block the process of liberty - As chief justice, he presided over Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial - Anti slavery champion who spoke against the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska act - Drafted the free-soil platform - United anti-slavery Democrats and whigs, which lead to the establishment of the Repblican party - Was A lIncoln's secretary of the treasury - During the Civil War, he suggested paper currency be printed and used, which secured an immediate market for government bonds, and provided a uniform, stable national currency - Ensured the Union could sell debt to pay for the war effort - Tried to pressure Lincoln many times by repeatedly threatening to resign - Instrumental in "In god we trust" - Lincoln accepted Chase's third offer of resignation, because Lincoln was already nominated as presidential candidate, and the treasury was already in stable shape - Replaced Roger Taney as Supreme Court judge to appease the radical republicans - Appointed the first African American attourney

Don Carlos Buell

Buell lead Union armies in Shiloh and Perryville - Reinforced Grant at Shiloh, helping him to defeat the Confederates - Buell considered his arrival as the primary reason Grant avoided a major defeat - Lagged getting to Pittsburg Landing, where he was credited with "saving" Grant once again, and personally played down Grant's contribution - Historians instead say that Grant helped himself, and Buell got in the way - Slaveholder, which raised Northern suspicions, as well as his slowness - Also had a non-interference policy with Southern civilians - When a town in Alabama was pillaged by Union soldiers, Buell was furious, arousing even more suspicions, and the public demanded he be removed - Failed to pursue Bragg's withdraw from Perryville, which got him removed

Robert E. Lee

Commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War - When Virginia declared secession, Lee chose his home state over the Union, even though he was an anti-slavery Unionists - Thought to be one of the best tactitions of the war, but his foresight and offensiveness would bring him down - His aggressive tactics are what resulted in a high casualty on the confederate side, when the confederacy already had a shortage on manpower - Was the lynchpin of the southern side, as Lincoln had predicted. When he surrendered, the other armies followed suit. - Lee rejected the idea of a sustained fight against the North - Became a southern war hero - Was one of the first to see the futility of secession, as well as a long and difficult war, but supported Virginia anyway. - Was offered the position by Frank Blair to be a commander in the Union army, but rejected - At first had a reputation for being flighty, cowardly, but that quickly changed after he caused MccLELLAN to abandon his Peninsula campaign - After this Lee, defeated John Pope at Second Manassas, and pushed the battle lines to 20 miles outside Washington. - At Sharpsburg, his army suffered heavy casualties and withdraw, which gave Lincoln the confidence to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, which would ultimately devastate the Confederacy's slave based economy - Lee dissuaded Jefferson Davis from saving Vicksburg, which was under siege by Ulysses S. Grant, and instead persuaded him to attack the North to acquire supplies, proved to be a huge blunder causing the loss of Confederate Control of the western regions, as well as his own army, as Union forces cut him off from the south. Lee had to fight his way out at Gettysburg. - Invaded the North again at the Battle of Gettsburg, which produced the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War. Lee ordered a massive frontal attack, Pickett's Charge, which was repulsed and resulted in heavy confederate losses, causing him to retreat, and applied for resignation, which Davis refused. The Confederacy never recovered, turning point of the civil war. - Lee built elaborate trenches, predating the Trench warfare of WWI - Lost and surrendered at the Siege of Petersburg

Battle of Gettysburg

Confederacy occupies Gettysburg - Largest and bloodiest battle - Peak of the confederate effort - Fighting was very very close - Pickett's charge, the confederate push, collapses and is wiped out - Confederate army flees - Vicksburg also surrenders on the same day - Revitalizes the north - Largest number of casualties in the entire war - War's turning point - George Meade v. Robert E. Lee - Ended lees' attempt to invade the North - After his success at Chancellorsville, Lee lead his army through the Shenandoah Valley to begin his second invasion of the north: The Gettsburg campaign - Army was in high spirits - Wanted to shift the focus away from war-ravaged Virginia by penetrating the north - Hoped to sour Northern opinion of the war - At first, the Confederacy seemed to be winning, collapsing the hastily developed Union lines - However on the 2nd day, the Union had a better defensive line - Dispite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines - Dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 confederates against the center union line known as Pickett's charge - repulsed, great losses, causing Lee to retreat and try to resign, which Davis refused - Uses the dedication ceremony for the Gettsbug address - Same day as Vicksburg surrender

John B. Magruder

Confederate general - Delayed federal troops during the Peninsula campaign, gave McClellan the false impression that the confederates had more forces than they actually did - Caused McClellan weeks of needless delay - However, was unimpressive in the 7 Days Battle, possibly due to stress or drinking - Won the Battle of Galveston, recapturing the city and its port for the Confederacy

Stonewall Jackson

Confederate general during the Civil War - Accidentally shot and killed at the battle of Chancellorsville - Death was a severe setback for the confederacy - Southern heroism, "Lost Cause" hero - Excelled in Manassas, where he earned the nickname "Stone Wall" - His envelopment of the Union Army at Chancellorsville is studied worldwide

Appomattox:

Final engagement of the Confederate Army before it surrendered to the Union army - One of the last battles of the American Civil War - After Lee abandoned the confederate capitol of Richmond, he hoped to catch up with Confederate forces in Nroth Carolina - Union forces pursued, and cut them off at Appomattox court House - Lee launched an attack to break through the Union force, but surrendered when he knew the Union army was stronger - The war in Virginia ended, which triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signaling the end of the war

Battle of the Wilderness

First battle of Grant's Overland Campaign against Robert E Lee - The beginnings of the end of the war - Grant attempted to move through the dense underbrushes of the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, but Lee intercepted him - Lee thought that fighting in the woods would eliminate Grant's artillery advantage, and would confuse his army - The thick underbrush prevented the Union from recognizing the proximity of the Confederates - Heavy casualties for the Union - Ulysses S. Grant became general-in-chief of all the Union armies, and directed the actions of the Army of the Ptomac against Robert e. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia - Lincoln argued that instead of targeting locations, like MacClellan would, the smarter idea would be to go after Lee, the Confederacy's strongest general.

Albert Sydney Johnston:

General of the Confederate States army - Killed early in the Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh - Davis believed the loss of Johnston was the turning point of the Confederate fate - Did not believe in seccession, but followed his home state of Texas - In charge of command west of the Allegheny mountains - Ordered that Forts Henry & Donelson be fortified, orders which were not obeyed - Navy Gunboats were able to reduce the defenses of Fort Henry - Pillow and Floyd squandered their chance to avoid having to surrender most of the garrison, and abandoned it later, forcing Buckner to surrender - Took the blame and suffered calls for his removal - The fall of the forts exposed Nashville to imminent attack, and it fell without resistence to the Union - Johnson had to pull out of Nashville to avoid capture - At Corinth, Johnston delayed the Union forces from arriving, allowing Davis to send reinforcements - Launched a massive surprise attack at the battle of Shiloh, overrunning theUnion camps - He was wounded, and hit an artery and bled out at Shiloh - Highest ranking casualty of the war on either side, his death was a storng blow to the morale of the confederacy - Robert E. Lee took his place as the confederate favorite

North Carolina Proclamation:

How states will be readmitted to the Union - Appoints a provisional governor in North Carolina, who is to call for elections for a constitutional convention. - This convention will draw up a new, republican North Carolina constitution - Negates secession, and all state debts in fighting the war - All debts and bonds will not be paid back - States have to abolish slavery to be re-entered - Radical republicans are upset because nothing is mentioned about the black vote -This means only whites can vote on the new state convention - Accused of not reconstruction, but restoration - Confederacy was weak and shocked, Johnson missed an opportunity - Gives the confederates hope for white supremacy - This splits the republican party - King Cotton is destroyed, Britain moves their cotton production to India and Afghanistan - Banking and credit system is destroyed - End of Slavery-Agricultural civilization

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Intended to protect the Civil Rights of African Americans, in the wake of the American Civil War - Enacted, but vetoed by Johnson, but it got passed through again - Congressmen argued that Congress did not have sufficient power yet to enact the law, so they reinacted the act after the 14th Amendment was passed - Discussed Citizenship, equal rights - KKK undermined the act, it failed to immediately secure the rights of African Americans - Loopholes such as literacy tests in voting

Trent Affair

International diplomatic incident. The USS San Jacinto intercepted Britis mail ship RMS Trent, and removed, as contraband of war, two confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell - The envoys were bound for Britain and France to press the Confederacy's case for diplomatic recognition, and financial support for the Confederacy in the name of King Cotton, which they believed Europe was dependent on - The British Prime mInister, Lord Palmerston, remained neutral on the matter, but recognized Southern belligerency, allowing their ships the same privileges in foreign ports that US ships enjoyed - Confederates hoped this would cause a war between the States and Britain, weakening the states to collapse - The British government demanded an apology, and strengthened its military forces in Canada in preparation - Lincoln released the envoys and disavowed Captain Wilkes' actions - Mason and Slidell resumd their voyage to Britain, but failed in their goal of achieving diplomatic recognition

Peninsular Campaign:

Major Union operation launched in Virginia, first large scale offensive in the eastern theater, lead by McLellan - Intended to capture the Confederate capital of RICHMOND - MacLellan was initially successful against the equally cautious Joseph E. Johnston, but had no chance against the aggressive Robert E. Lee, which turned into the Seven Days battle, a humiliating Union defeat that earned Lee the respect of the south. - Beginning at Fort Monroe and going up the Virginia Peninula, Confederate Brig. Gen Magruder surprised Maclellan, foiling his quick advance. - Johnson was wounded in the Battle of Seven Pines, and was replaced with the aggressive Robert E. Lee - Even though Maclellan was victorious at 7 Pines, he was shaken, and lost the strategic initiative to capture Richmond - Lee used the month long pause in McLellan's advance to fortify the defenses of Richmond

Battle of Shiloh/Pittsburg Landing

Major battle in the Western theater of the Civil War - Southwestern Tennessee - Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee river deep into Tennessee - The confederates launched a surprise attack and achieved considerable success, but were ultimately defeated on the second day - Wanted to defeat Grant's army before Buell's reinforcements arrived - Confusion in the Confederate battle lines allowed Grant's men to fall back and stabilize - Sidney Johnson was killed here - Beauregard, his replacement, decided against assaulting the final Union position that night - Reinforcements from Buell arrived, and Buell credited himself with saving Grant - Union commanders launched a counterattack, and Confederates were forced to retreat from the bloodiest battle in US history up until that time - Ended hopes that they could block the Union advance into Mississippi - Lew Wallace's lost division - Presses wanted answers for the high casualties, which was unusual - Grant eventually pushed down on the Mississippi to besiege Vicksburg - Ben Hur was based off this battle - Revives Sherman's career, inspiring Sherman's march - Convinced soldiers that this wasn't going to be a short, romantic war

Civil War Health

Many civil war doctors used amputation as a preventative measure against infection - Miasma theory: Diseases such as cholera were caused by bad air, and the way to remove them or prevent them was opening a window - Following field surgery, soldiers were transferred to final health care facilities - Patients were broken into small groups at the general hospital to prevent "misasma" - Many childhood diseases were spread, as soldiers came into close contact with each other - No antibiotics - Sedation with chloroform or alcohol

Sherman's March:

Military Savannah campaign - Conducted through Georgia to Savannah - Destroyed military targets, industry, infrastructure, railways _ Total war - Deep within enemy territory, living off the land, no supply line - Believed the Civil War would only end if the Confederacy was strategically, economically, and psychologically damaged - Stole food from local farms - Used crop data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas he believed they would be able to forage effectively - Sherman attempted to confuse and deceive the enemy about his destination - March attracted a huge number of refugees, to which Sherman assigned land under his Special Field Orders 15, AKA 40 Acres and a Mule - Accepted the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston

Second Manassas

Robert E. Lee vs. John Pope - Much larger scale and numbers than first manassas - Stonewall Jackson captured the Union supplky depot at Manassas Junction, threatnenig Pope's line of communications with Washington, DC - Jackson took up defensive positions on stony Ridge, then attacked a Union column, leading to a stalemate - Longstreet broke through Union resistance to reinforce Lee - Pope became convinced he had trapped Jackson, and concentrated the bulk of his army against him - Attacks were repulsed, with heavy casualties on both sides - Longstreet reinforced Jackson against Pope in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the the war - The union flank was crushed, and the army was driven back to Bull Run - Only an effective Union rear guard prevented a replay of the First manassus disaster - 10,000 union dead to only 1,000 confeds dead - Lee had enough confidence to go to invade the North - Pope was relieved of command - Longstreet got away with disobeying Lee, which he would then repeat at Gettsburg

Fredericksburg:

Robet E. Lee vs. Ambrose Burnside - One of the most one sided battles of the Civil War, with Union casualties more than twice as heavy as Confederates - Burnside wanted to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg and race to Richmond before Lee could stop him - Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving pontoon bridges in time, and Lee moved his army to block the crossings - Urban combat resulted in the city - Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions on a strongly fortified ridge known as Marye's heights - 2 Union generals were mortally wounded - Union tactics were disastrous - Pushed up southern Morale - Solidifies confederate respect for Union soldies

Edwin M. Stanton

Secretary of War under Lincoln administration - Effective management helped organize massive military resources , and guide the Union to victory - After Lincoln's assassination, Stanton remained as Secretary of War under President jOhnson. He opposed Johnson's lenient reconstruction policies. Johnson's attempt to dismiss Stanton ultimately lead to him being impeached by the House of Representatives - Spent much of his time persecuting Union officers who he suspected of being traitors for the south - Ordered the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who discouraged volunteer enlistments, or helped the enemy, or was disloyal to the states - Johnson's removal of Stanton without Senate approval violated the Tenure of Office Act

Battle of Fort Donelson

The capture of this fort opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South - This success elevated Brigadier General Grant from an obscure leader with a bad reputation to the rank of major general, earning him the nickname "Unconditional surrender" grant - Looked bad for the Union when a navy attack on the fort was repelled, and the fleet was hit heavily, making Grant realize the fort would have to be taken without naval support. - Followed the capture of Fort Henry - Grant surrounded the fort, but the Confederates launched a surprise attack against Grant's army, attempting to open an avenue of escape. Grant was away, but arrived in time to rally his men for a counterattack - The confederates lost their nerve, and Floyd ordered his men back to the fort - The next morning, Floyd panicked and gave up command to General Buckner, who agreed to accept the unconditional surrender terms offered by grant - Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were the sole positions to defend the important Tennessee and Cumberlandn rivers - Two direct invasion paths into Tenessee and beyond

KKK

The first Klan was founded in Tennessee by 6 veterans of the Confederate army - Little organizational structure and rituals, but many similar groups arose across the south with the same name, as an insurgent movement during the Reconstruction era - Targeted freedmen and their allies, and sought to restore White supremacy by threats and violence, including murder against black and white repulicans - in 1870-1871, the federal government passed the Force Acts, which were used to prosecute Klan crimes - Suppressed Klan activity, but new and openly active paramilitary organizations such as the White League and the Red Shirts took their place, suppressing the black vote and running Republicans out of office - Contributed to segregationist white democrats regaining political power in all southern states by 1877

National Union Party:

The name used by the Republican party for the 1864 presidental election - The temporary name was used to attract War democrats and Border State Unionists, and distance themselves from radical republicans - Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, from two opposite parties coming together, were elected in a landslide. - They ran against the Radical Republicans, which had named themselves the Radical Democracy party, who nominated Fremont - Wanted to stress the character of the war was re-unification - The confederacy was already wavering at this point, lending even more support - Fremont dropped from the race to avoid splitting the vote