Brinkley, Chapter 14 Notes - Marlington Local...Brinkley, Chapter 14 Notes 3 Beginning of 1864, Grant had become general in chief of all Union armies. Grant believed in using the North's

Brinkley, Chapter 14 Notes

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Brinkley

Chapter 14

The Civil War

SC seceded first on December 20, 1860.

The Secession CrisisAlmost as soon as Lincoln was elected, militant leaders in the South demanded an end to the Union.

In February 1861 the seceded states met in Montgomery AL and created the Confederate States of America.

Buchanan insisted the states did not have the right to secede but conceded the federal gov't could do nothing about it.

Once formed, the Confederacy began to seize federal property in their boundaries except the fortified military installations of Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens.

Buchanan refused to yield Fort Sumter when SC demanded it and ordered an unarmed merchant ship to Fort Sumter with troops and supplies.

Confederate gun ships refused the merchant ship to reach Fort Sumter.

Efforts for compromise began.

Southerners in the Senate seemed to willing to accept the plan. Republicans, however refused to

accept it because it allowed slavery to expand.

The Crittenden Compromise

John J. Crittenden of Kentucky led the compromise efforts.

Proposed reestablishing the MO Compromise line and extending it West to the Pacific. Slavery permitted South of the line and prohibited North.

When Lincoln was inaugurated, there was no compromise. In his inauguration speech, Lincoln

stated the actions of the South were insurrectionary and did not acknowledge their secession.

When Lincoln took office in March, 6 other states seceded: MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, & TX.

Meanwhile, Fort Sumter was running out of supplies. Lincoln sent no troops and fired no shots to force the South to be the aggressors. The Confederacy bombarded and attacked Fort Sumter - beginning the Civil War.

Almost immediately, four more states seceded: VA, AK, TN, and NC. The

remaining four slave states became known as border states: MD, DE,

KY, and MO.

General Winfield Scott

The CommandersNorth South

William Tecumseh Sherman

George McClellan

Ulysses S. Grant

George Meade

Irvin McDowell

Robert E. Lee

Stonewall Jackson

PGT Beauregard

Sidney JohnstonJoseph Johnston

Europe and the Disunited States

At the beginning of the war, Europe supported the Confederacy:

1 - Dependence on cotton

2 - England and France wanted to weaken the US, an increasingly powerful rival to them in world commerce

France would not pick sides until England did. England was reluctant to support the Confederacy due to popular support for the Union.

As England and France used up their surplus of cotton they found a bigger desire

for the war to end. Some textile mills remained oped through importing Egyptian and Indian cotton, but over 500,000 textile

laborers were laid off. By the end of the war, no European nation offered

diplomatic recognition to the Confederacy.

Locals brought picnic baskets and blankets to watch battle unfold in horror. Very few Americans believed the war would last long.

The Opening Clashes, 1861

First major battle: First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)

Confederates Won confirming to Americans the war would not be over quickly.

End of 1861 - George B. McClellan liberated the anti-secessionist mountain people from Virginia. Created loyal government to the Union called West Virginia.

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New Orleans fell to the Union in April 1862. Important turning point in the war. The mouth of the MS River was closed to Confederate trade and the South's largest and most important banking center was in Union control.

The Western Theater, 1862

Battle of Shiloh

Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston (KIA)

Narrow Union Victory - Grant controlled the Mississippi River from the Ohio river to the city of Memphis

Union troops tried to capture Richmond, but an assault by Confederates through the Shenandoah Valley forced Union troops to retreat.

The Eastern Theater, 1862Peninsular Campaign, winter 1861-1862

Battle of Fair Oaks (Seven Pines)

Robert E. Lee replaced Joseph Johnston and launched a new offensive called the Battle of Seven Days to cut McClellan off from his supply lines. McClellan managed to fight his way out and set up a new base on the James River. McClellan was only 25 miles away from Richmond.

Despite pressure from Lincoln to advance to Richmond, McClellan did not advance. Lincoln replaced McClellan with John Pope. Pope, in a rash decision attacked Confederate troops but was quickly defeated and retreated back to DC. Lincoln removed Pope from command and reinstated McClellan.

August 28-30, 1862

Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)

September 17, 1862. Union Victory that could not have come soon enough.

Battle of Antietam

The Eastern Theater, 1862

Union lost at a crucial time. Lincoln losing support for the war.

Single Bloodiest 1 Day Battle in US History. 22,717 total deaths.

Significance: Union Victory = Northern Support for the War.

On September 22, 1862 after the Union victory at Antietam, Lincoln announced his intention to use his war powers to issue an executive order freeing all slaves in the Confederacy.

The Politics of EmancipationRepublicans disagreed sharply on the issue of slavery.

"Radical Republicans" led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner wanted to use the war to abolish slavery immediately and completely.

Conservative Republicans favored a more cautious policy in order to placate the border states.

In 1861, Congress passed the Confiscation Act that declared all slaves used for insurrectionary purposes would be considered free.

An 1862 law abolished slavery in DC and the western territories and provided compensation for owners.

July 1862 - Second Confiscation Act freeing all slaves of owners who supported the insurrection (but did not necessarily use the slaves for insurrection).

As the war progressed, many Northerners slowly accepted emancipation as a central war aim if for nothing else to justify the enormous sacrifice in the struggle.

Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863 Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared forever free the slaves inside the

Confederacy. It did not apply to the border states nor those parts of the Confederacy

under Union control (TN, Western VA, and Southern LA).

The document clearly and irrevocably established that the war was being fought not

only to preserve the Union but also to eliminate slavery.

In areas indirectly affected by the proclamation, the antislavery impulse gained strength. By the end of the war 2 border states (MD & MO) and 3 Confederate

states (TN, AK, LA) abolished slavery. In 1865 Congress approved and the states ratified the 13th amendment.

1863: Year of DecisionMay 1863: Battle of Chancellorsville, VA

Union General Ulysses Grant was driving on

Vicksburg on the Mississippi River.

Vicksburg fell in 6 weeks. The impact was huge.

1. Grant controlled all of the Mississippi River; 2. The Confederacy was split in 2 with LA, AK

and TX cut off from the rest of the South.

Significance of Both Battles: Great turning points in the war for the Union.

May 18 - July 4, 1863: Battle of Vicksburg

July 1-3, 1863: Battle of Gettysburg

Confederate victory but, Stonewall Jackson was fatally wounded.

During the siege of Vicksburg, Lee proposed

an invasion of Gettysburg, PA which would divert

Union troops to the north. He argued if he would win a major victory on Union soil, England and France

might aid the Confederacy.

Lee's forces surrendered and some retreated. Lee lost nearly 1/3 of his army.

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Beginning of 1864, Grant had become general in chief of all Union armies. Grant believed in using the North's great advantage in troops and material resources to overwhelm the

South. He planned 2 great offensives for 1864.

The Last Stage: 1864-1865

In VA, the Union Army advanced toward Richmond and force Lee into decisive battles. Union victories at Spotsylvania Court House and Petersburg.

In GA, the Union Army, under William T. Sherman

advanced to Atlanta and destroyed the remaining

Confederate force.

Sherman faced less ferocious resistance. He drove the Confederates to Atlanta. He wanted to break the will of the southern people through a slash and burn campaign.

After Sherman burned Atlanta and it fell, he drove the Confederates to the Atlantic Ocean in the "March to the Sea." Sherman's troops lived off the land, destroyed supplies his army could not use and ravaged the land.

Sherman's March to the Sea

11/15 - 12/20, 1864

Republican party leaders nominated Lincoln for a second term and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, a War Democrat who opposed his nation's decision to secede, for vice-president.

1864 ElectionBy the 1864 election, the North was in political turmoil.

The Democrats (North ONLY) nominated former Union General George B. McClellan and adopted a platform denouncing the war and calling for a truce.

By the election in November though, several union military victories including the capture of Atlanta ushered in a Republican victory.

Lee recognized that further bloodshed was futile. He arranged to meet Grant at a private home in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. He surrendered on April 9th 1865. The war was over. Jefferson Davis was captured in Georgia.

Wrapping it Up: 1865

Sherman's "march to the sea" ended when Savannah surrendered December 20, 1864.

In April 1865, Grant's Army of the Potomac finally captured a vital railroad

junction southwest of Petersburg.

Plagued by heavy casualties and massive desertions, Lee informed Davis he could no longer defend Richmond. Within hours, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled the city.

With the last of his army, Lee began moved west in the hope of finding a way to move south and meet Johnston in North Carolina. But the Union pursued him and blocked his escape route.

By the end of the war, women were the dominant force in nursing. Encountered considerable resistance from male doctors. The Sanitary Commission countered resistance by presenting nursing in domestic terms: profession that made use of the same maternal, nurturing roles women played as wives and mothers.

African Americans and WomenAbout 186,000 emancipated blacks fought for the Union. Served in segregated regiments.

Most were assigned menial tasks behind the lines: digging trenches and transporting water. Black soldiers captured by Confederates were sent back to their masters or executed.

Women took over positions vacated by men as teachers, clerks, office

workers, mill and factory hands, and nursing.

Some women saw the war as an opportunity to win support for

suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in 1863

founded the National Woman's Loyal League. Worked for

abolition and suffrage.

The United States Sanitary Commission, an organization of civilian volunteers led by Dorothea Dix, mobilized female nurses to serve in field hospitals.

The war cut off Southern planters and producers from Northern markets, and a Union blockade of Confederate ports made the sale of cotton overseas difficult. Decimated the South's economy.

Economic and Social Effects of the War

Farms and industries that did not use slave labor lost its labor force to the army. The fighting wreaked havoc on the Southern landscape, destroying farmland, towns, cities, and railroads.

As the war continued, the shortages, the inflation, and the carnage created increasing instability in Southern society. Resistance to conscription, food impressment, and taxation increased throughout the Confederacy, as did hoarding and black-market commerce.

The war forced many women to question prevailing assumptions that females were not suited for the public sphere. After the war, women outnumbered men in most Southern states. Many unmarried or widowed women had no choice but to find employment.

The war was over, slavery was dead, and America faced the question of Reconstruction. But, for freed Blacks, the fight for freedom had just begun.