SSUSH 9: Civil War

Identify Ulysses S. Grant.

• Graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point • Won first Union victories • Captured control of Mississippi River in Siege of Vicksburg • Appointed commanding general of Union armies by Lincoln • Accepted surrender of Confederate Gen. Lee to end Civil War

Identify Abraham Lincoln.

• U.S. representative from Illinois • President of United States of America, 1861-1865 • Appointed Gen. Ulysses S. Grant commanding general of Union armies • Issued Emancipation Proclamation • Promoted Thirteenth Amendment to Constitution

Identify Robert E. Lee.

• Graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point • Fought larger Union armies to standoff at Battle of Antietam • Defeated at Battle of Gettysburg • Appointed general in chief of Confederate armies by Davis • Surrendered to U.S. Gen. Grant to end Civil War

Identify William Tecumseh Sherman.

• Graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point • Served under Gen. Grant during Siege of Vicksburg • Destroyed Atlanta; ended Confederate's ability to fight • Accepted surrender of all Confederate armies in Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida

Identify Jefferson Davis.

• Graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point • U.S. senator from Mississippi • U.S. secretary of war • President of Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 • Appointed Robert E. Lee as general in chief of Confederate armies

Identify Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

• Graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point • Won First Battle of Bull Run • Fought under Confederate Gen. Lee at Antietam and Second Bull Run • Died in battle

Describe Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, and explain its effects on America.

Abraham Lincoln was reelected president in 1864. When he delivered his second inaugural address, Union victory over the Confederacy was certain, and Americans foresaw an end to slavery. Instead of boasting about that victory, Lincoln expressed sorrow that the states had not been able to resolve their differences peacefully. However, he clearly stated that slavery was such an evil that the North was right to have gone to war over the issue. Nevertheless, he urged Americans not to seek revenge on slaveholders and their supporters and military. Instead, he urged reconstruction of the South "with malice toward none; with charity for all." Now at the end of the Civil War, Lincoln formed what would become the popular memory of why the war was necessary. He said it had been fought to preserve the Union as an indivisible nation of citizens who would no longer profit from "wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces"--from taking their earnings from the labor of unpaid slaves.

Describe the Southern economy.

Agriculture 29% of U.S. population; 67% free, 33% slave; too few free men to assemble an army capable of defending the South 8% of U.S. industrial output; minimal resources to produce many weapons and other military supplies and equipment Though most Southerners owned slaves, the economy of the South as a whole depended on the production of cash crops such as cotton, corn, rice, and tobacco, which required human labor and depended on slavery. 66% of U.S. exports; favored low (or no) tariffs on imported goods to keep the prices of manufactured goods more affordable Less than half as much as the North produced 29% of U.S. railroad network; inefficient railway transport system. Poor capacity to transport troops and their supplies, food, etc.

Describe the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation on Northern free slaves, Southern slaves, and Union troops.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves held in the North, it was warmly welcomed by African Americans living in Union states. They understood the proclamation announced a new goal for the Union troops--besides preserving the Union, the troops were fighting for the belief that the United States would abolish slavery throughout the nation.

Explain the importance of Fort Sumter.

April 1861--Fort Sumter was a federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Confederate forces staged a 24-hour bombardment against it and, by attacking federal property, had committed an act of open rebellion. To uphold the Constitution, President Lincoln believed he had no choice but to call for troops to respond against the Confederacy. As a direct result, the Civil War began.

Identify the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

In 1854, Congress again took up the issue of slavery in new U.S. states and territories. This time, the territories were Kansas and Nebraska, and Congress approved the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and gave the settlers in all new territories the right to decide for themselves whether theirs would be a free or a slave state. This made a pro-slavery doctrine, popular sovereignty (rule by the people), the law of the United States.

Identify the Dred Scott decision.

In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision, settling a lawsuit in which an African American slave named Dred Scott claimed he should be a free man because he had lived with his master in slave states and in free states. The Court rejected Scott's claim, ruling that no African American--even if free--could ever be a U.S. citizen. Further, the Court said Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories. Thus, the Court found that popular sovereignty and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 were unconstitutional.

Describe Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and explain its effects on America.

In November 1863, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was another event by which he shaped popular opinion in favor of preserving the Union. The occasion was the dedication of a military cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield four months after 51,000 people were killed in the battle there. Most of the ceremony was performed by famous orator Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours, as was the manner at that time for an important event. Then Lincoln rose to speak, starting with his famous words "Four score and seven years ago." He spoke for just two minutes in what is now considered one of the greatest speeches in the English language. His address helped raise the spirits of Northerners who had grown weary of the war and dismayed by southern victories over the larger Union armies. He convinced the people that the United States was one indivisible nation.

Describe the Northern economy.

Industry and trade 71% of U.S. population; 99% free, 1% slave; large enough to assemble an army capable of defending the Union 92% of U.S. industrial output; generous resources to produce weapons and other military supplies and equipment Many citizens worked for someone else and owned no property. Even in large-scale farming regions, machines reduced the need for agricultural workers. 34% of U.S. exports; favored high tariffs on imported foreign goods to protect northern industries and workers' jobs More than twice as much as the South produced 71% of U.S. railroad network; efficient railway transport system. Ready capacity to transport troops and their supplies, food, etc.

Explain the importance of Gettysburg.

July 1863--Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee hoped that an invasion of Union territory would significantly weaken Northern support for the war effort. A major Southern victory on northern soil might also convince Great Britain and France to aid Confederate forces. Lee's army was met by Union troops at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In the course of a three-day battle, as many as 51,000 were killed. It was the deadliest battle of the American Civil War. Lee gave up attempts to invade the Union or to show Northerners that the Union troops could not win the war. Four months later, Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Explain the importance of Atlanta.

July-September 1864--Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman besieged Atlanta, Georgia, for six weeks before capturing this vitally important center of Confederate manufacturing and railway traffic. Sherman's goal was to disrupt the Confederacy's capacity to resupply its troops throughout the South. Union troops burned Atlanta to the ground and then marched to the Atlantic Ocean, destroying the railways, roads, and bridges along the path, as well as the crops and livestock his troops did not harvest and butcher to feed themselves. Now the South knew it would lose the war, and the North knew it would win. Lincoln easily won reelection against a candidate who wanted a truce with the Confederacy.

Describe Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and his reasoning behind the decision.

Lincoln used his emergency powers again to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. It emancipated (freed) all slaves held in the Confederate states. Lincoln did not expect Confederate slaveholders to free their slaves, but he thought news of the proclamation would reach southern slaves and encourage them to flee to the North. Lincoln believed one reason southern whites were free to join the Confederate Army was because slaves were doing war work that, otherwise, the whites would have to do. Encouraging slaves to flee north would hurt the southern war effort.

Explain the importance of Vicksburg.

May-July 1863--Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant laid siege to Vicksburg, Mississippi, because the army that controlled its high ground over a bend in the Mississippi River would control traffic on the whole river. After a seven-week siege, Grant achieved one of the Union's major strategic goals: He gained control of the Mississippi River. Confederate troops and supplies in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas were cut off from the Confederacy. This Union victory, coupled with the Union victory at Gettysburg, was the turning point of the war.

Describe Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus and its effects on Northern Confederate sympathizers.

Not all Northerners supported President Lincoln's efforts to preserve the Union. Some were Confederate sympathizers (just as some Southerners were Union sympathizers). Throughout the war, in some states Lincoln suspended the constitutional right of habeas corpus--the legal rule that anyone imprisoned must be taken before a judge to determine if the prisoner is being legally held in custody. The Constitution allows a president to suspend habeas corpus during a national emergency. Lincoln used his emergency powers to legalize the holding of Confederate sympathizers without trial and without a judge to agree they were legally imprisoned. Over 13,000 Confederate sympathizers were arrested in the North.

Describe John Brown's raid and Americans' perspectives of the attack.

One famous abolitionist, John Brown, decided to fight slavery with violence and killing. In 1856, believing he was chosen by God to end slavery, Brown commanded family members and other abolitionists to attack pro-slavery settlers in Kansas, killing five men. In 1859, he led a group of white and black men in a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia). They seized federal weapons and ammunition, killing seven people. Brown's plan was to deliver the weapons and ammunition to slaves, who would then use them in an uprising against slaveholders and pro-slavery government officials. But the raid failed, and Brown was captured by U.S. Marines led by U.S. Army Colonel Robert E. Lee. Eventually, Brown was convicted of treason against the state of Virginia and executed by hanging. Many Americans thought Brown was a terrorist killer. Others thought he was an abolitionist martyr.

Describe Abraham Lincoln's views on preserving the Union.

President Lincoln believed preservation of the United States (the "Union") was the most important task for any U.S. president. He did not believe the southern states had the right to secede from the Union and thought they were merely rebelling against the government. He never considered the Confederacy a separate country. When Lincoln called for a large volunteer army to preserve the Union, more states--Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee--seceded to join the Confederacy. Although Lincoln had often stated he wished only to restrict the spread of slavery, not to abolish it, over time he did embrace the idea of ending slavery in the United States.

Describe the failure of popular sovereignty due to changing populations in Kansas and Nebraska.

Pro- and antislavery groups hurried into Kansas in attempts to create voting majorities there. Antislavery abolitionists came from eastern states; pro-slavery settlers came mainly from neighboring Missouri. Some of these Missourians settled in Kansas, but many more stayed there only long enough to vote for slavery and then returned to Missouri.

Describe the rise of opposing factions in Kansas that led to the ultimate failure of popular sovereignty.

Pro-slavery voters elected a legislature ready to make Kansas a slave state. Abolitionists then elected a rival Kansas government with an antislavery constitution, established a different capital city, and raised an army. Pro-slavery Kansans reacted by raising their own army. The U.S. House of Representatives supported the abolitionist Kansans; the U.S. Senate and President Franklin Pierce supported the pro-slavery Kansans. Violence between the two sides created warlike conditions. Popular sovereignty had failed.

Describe the election and the events that led to the beginning of the Civil War.

Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. South Carolina voted to secede (separate from) the United States, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and then Texas. They formed a new country called the Confederate States of America (the "Confederacy"). When they attacked the U.S. Army base at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in April 1861, the long-feared Civil War began.

Explain the importance of Antietam.

September 1862--Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee marched his forces to Antietam Creek, Maryland, where he fought the war's first major battle on northern soil. It was the deadliest one-day battle in American history, with over 26,000 casualties. Neither side won a victory. As Lee withdrew to the South, Union forces might have been able to end the war by going after the Confederates--Union soldiers outnumbered them two-to-one--but they did not follow Lee. The significance of the Battle of Antietam was that Lee's failure to win it encouraged Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Explain the effects of the Dred Scott decision.

The Dred Scott decision gave slavery the protection of the U.S. Constitution. Pro-slavery Americans welcomed the Court's ruling as proof they had been right during the previous few decades' struggles against abolitionists. In contrast, abolitionists convinced many state legislatures to declare the Dred Scott decision not binding within their state borders. The new Republican Party said that if its candidate were elected president in 1860, he would appoint a new Supreme Court that would reverse Dred Scott.

Describe the general locations of most land battles, sea battles, and river battles during the Civil War.

Union and Confederate forces fought many battles in the Civil War's four years. Land battles were fought mostly in states west of the Mississippi River; sea battles were fought along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico; and river battles were fought on the Mississippi.

Explain the importance of the growing economic disparity between the North and the South.

When southern forces opened fire on Union forces at Fort Sumter, they began a war that would last four years and take the lives of 821,000 soldiers. From the start, the Confederacy was at a serious disadvantage. The southern economy differed greatly from the economy of the northern states, and, in the end, the numerical and industrial superiority of the northern economy proved too much for the South to overcome.

Explain the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation towards the Civil War effort.

The announcement of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was one of the main actions of the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves residing in territory that was in rebellion against the federal government. This encouraged slaves in the South to attempt to escape. As the number of runaway slaves climbed, the South's ability to produce cotton and food declined. To counter this, the South devoted some of its manpower to keeping slaves from running away. In addition, following the proclamation, the North began to allow African Americans to join the Union army. While few served in combat, more than 150,000 African Americans took the place of white soldiers by garrisoning forts and working behind the front lines. This was the equivalent of giving the North a new army larger than the South's. Some historians believe this was enough to guarantee a northern victory. The Emancipation Proclamation had a very practical effect on the outcome of the war. When you think about it, do not forget its impact on manpower and the outcome of the Civil War.

Identify the key differences between Northern and Southern leaders of the Civil War.

The political and military leaders of the Union and the Confederacy represented the different beliefs and values that separated the North from the South. The northern leaders thought it was illegal for the southern states to secede from the Union. They considered the Confederates outlaws, not citizens of a separate country. On the other hand, the southern leaders put loyalty to their home states above everything else. They fought for the Confederacy to protect their homes, even though they may have had misgivings about secession.