APUSH Chapter 14 (Civil War; 1861 - 1865)

Army of the Potomac

A Union army that spent only about 30 days in actual combat while being vigorously trained while not battling. They were also the main military force in the north, headed by George B. McClellan after the Battle of Bull Run.

Transcontinental railroad

Congress had land grants from Union Pacific and Central Pacific to build a railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. The project was monumental, and most of the hired workers were Chinese immigrants; called "coolies". It was completed in 1869, and stretches from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco; expanded the national market, facilitated the spread of settlement in the West, and brought about the death of the Plains Indians.

Black soldiers and sailors

Blacks in the north and south rejoiced that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed; it seemed like a death knoll for the entire institution. However, blacks were only allowed to fight in the Navy and as sailors, so they tried to fight to fight on land.

Contraband of war

Escaped slaves became known as "the contrabands". General Benjamin F. Butler of Virginia began to treat escaped blacks as contraband of war in 1861, where they were held in special camps and schools housed by the army; they were treated like confiscated military property when they escaped to the Union. The most elaborate insight on the South's battle plans came from blacks that escaped to the North.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln concluded that emancipation was now a political and military necessity. He needed to make slavery a target of the war, but waited until after the Union's victory after the Antietam victory to make the announcement. At first, the north's reaction was discouraging because they didn't want to be "Africanized". On January 1, 1863 Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but it only applied to the Union states for now; not the Confederation, but it sounded like the end of slavery was nigh. Lincoln, in his own mind, became the Great Emancipator. Also, the proclamation immediately ended slavery in the U.S.; there was no gradual or compensating for it.

First modern war

The Civil War was considered the world's first modern war because a large mass of armies confronted each other w/ deadly weapons from the Industrial Revolution. It soon became a war of society vs. society, and civilians were also targeted as military enemies. What determined a success or failure in battle depended largely on political leadership, using economic resources, and society's willingness to keep fighting back despite set-backs.

Army of Northern Virginia

The Confederate's main - albeit smaller - army headed by Robert E. Lee. Lee turned down the opportunity to head the Union army because he was loyal to his home state, Virginia.

Southern Unionist

Southerners who sided with the north; they were imprisoned for siding with the Union, but ultimately helped them win. Most celebrated Union heroes were Elizabeth Van Lew, who brought supplies to Union prisoners of war and helped them escape and Mary Elizabeth Bowser, who passed info about Confederate plans to the Union.

Ex parte Milligan

The Supreme Court case that declared it unconstitutional to bring accused people before military tribunals where civil courts were operating. The Constitution was not suspended during wartime; it was active both in war and in peace. Showed the fragility of civil liberties in the wake of a wave of patriotism and wartime demands for national unity.

Sea Island experiment

The U.S. had to transition from slavery to freedom, or undergo a "Reconstruction". The U.S. navy occupied the islands off South Carolina in 1861, and the white population fled, leaving behind all their slaves. Reformers and teachers called Gideon's Band worked to uplifting freed slaves, and each group had their own idea how freedom should be organized. Education was one of the goals for freeing blacks. Blacks were also given "freedom" by allowing them to work for wages and under better conditions. By 1865, the experiment was a success: black families were working for wages, being given education, and enjoying shelter and better diet.

National banking system

The U.S. needed a way to pay for the war. So the gov't implemented a new banking system that increased tariffs and imposed new taxes on production/consumption of goods - it was the nation's first income tax. The government also sold interest-bearing bonds and printed paper money called "greenbacks" that needed to be declared as legal tender. Congress then controlled all this through a system of nationally chartered banks, which drove state banks out of existence. Currency was now greenbacks and notes issued by national banks.

Monitor v. Merrimac

The famous sea battle between the Union Monitor and Confederate Merrimac. It demonstrated how the new technology transformed the Civil War's warfare; showed superiority over wooden ships by iron clad ships.

Battle of Antietam

The north had been pushed back by Lee's army for a little bit, but in this battle they were able to finally retaliate. The battle happened on September 17, 1862, and more people died on that day than all the other wars fought by the U.S. in the nineteenth century combined. The North claimed Antietam as a victory and pushed Lee's army back a little. It would be the north's only eastern victory for a while.

"King Cotton diplomacy"

The south was mainly headed by Jefferson Davis. He lacked the connection to the common men and women, and the Confederacy saw political parties as a threat. Their only asset was cotton, and they had to use it to make Great Britain intervene by sided w/ the Confederacy b/c they needed cotton for textiles. However, this diplomacy was ineffective because Britain didn't intervene; they wanted northern wheat more than cotton.

Radical Republicans

Uncompromising opponents to slavery besides abolitionists; made slavery the target of Union war effort

Second American Revolution

What the Civil War was nicknamed; showed the transformation of American government and society brought about from the changing status of black Americans

Women and war work

Women used Civil War to get into jobs in factories and nursing. They also could work as clerks in government offices, where many found a permanent place. Northern women also took part in organizations that gathered medical supplies and money that could send soldiers books, clothing, and food. They were lead of the Sanitary Fairs. However, they soon became displeased with their subordination in the workforce. Mary Livermore held her state's first woman suffrage convention. Clara Barton also became an advocate of woman suffrage.

Women in the Confederacy

Women's roles in the south also fluctuated. They managed business affairs and disciplined slaves; something that men used to do. They also supported soldiers in the field and ran commercial industries like arms factories. Their self-sacrificing devotion became famous, but their disaffection with the south also separated them from the Confederate cause.