CHAPTER 3 SECTION 1- THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS
conscription
"the draft," which required all young men to be ready for military or other service
War Democrats
Sub-division of the fractured democratic party. Consisting of a large portion, the war democrats patriotically supported the Lincoln administration. These democrats did not pose as big a threat to the Union as the Peace Democrats or copperheads.
Peace Democrats
Sub-division of the fractured democratic party. Tens of thousands who did not support the Lincoln Administration. The hippies of the civil war.
Abraham Lincoln
16th president of the United States; helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederacy; an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery.
Telegraph
A device that used electrical signals to send messages quickly over long distances
Fort Sumter
A federal outpost in Charleston, South Carolina that was attacked by the Confederates in April 1861, sparking the Civil War.
war of attrition
A war based on wearing the other side down by constant attacks and heavy losses
Conoidal Bullets
Accurate and precise bullets
Jefferson Davis
An American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865
Robert E. Lee
Appointed command of the Confederate Army in 1862 during the Civil War. Despite his skill he was forced to surrender to Ulysses S Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force
Anaconda Plan
Union war plan by Winfield Scott, called for blockade of southern coast, capture of Richmond, capture Mississippi R, and to take an army through heart of south
Crittenden's Compromise
final attempt at compromise drafted by senator john crittenden that called for the protection of slavery where it existed. (Congress defeated it)
South Carolina secedes
four days after Lincoln was elected, this state voted unanimously to secede.
Border states
in the civil war the states between the north and the south: delaware, maryland, kentucky, and Missouri
Civil War Technology
telegraphs used to communicate with troops and coordinate attacks. Railroads used to transport troops and supplies. Photographs used to record images of the war. Ironclad ships, first time combat took place between armored steamships.
martial law
the body of law imposed by the military over civilian affairs (usually in time of war or civil crisis)
habeas corpus
Constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment
Confederate States of America
Eventually made up of 11 former states that seceded; Jefferson Davis was the 1st & only president; unable to defeat the North b/c of lack of railroad lines, lack of industry, & inability to get European nations to support their cause.
Legal Tender Act
Lincoln signed in 1862, authorized $150 million in greenbacks. - Confederacy never made its paper money legal tender, responded by making more paper money, which accelerated southern inflation.
John Breckenridge
One of the two democratic candidates against Lincoln. The other was Stephen A Douglas. He was nominated by the Southern Democrats. Buchanan's VP.
Election of 1860
Presidential Election that ended with Abraham Lincoln as President, the Southern states began to secede forming the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as their President.
Stephen Douglas
Senator from Illinois, author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act & the Freeport Doctrine, argues in favor of popular sovereignty; debated Lincoln prior to the 1860 presidential election
Greenbacks
Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war
Civil War
The period of warfare between the Confederate States of America (1861-1865) and the United States over the issues of states' rights and slavery.
Ironclads
Wooden ships with metal armor that were employed by both sides during the Civil War.
