The Union in Peril - Weeblyhistorysandoval.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/9/9/23997241/the_union_in_peril.pdfThe Union in Peril: The great meeting in Union Square, New York, to support the

The Union in Peril:

The great meeting in Union Square, New York, to support the government, April 20, 1861

Conflicts Lead to Secession:

• The Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, a slave, could not be free by living in a free state, enraged Northern abolitionists

• It not only permitted the extension of slavery but actually guaranteed it

Conflicts Lead to Secession:

• Harpers Ferry, in which John Brown lead a slave revolt in Virginia, ended with John Brown being hung and Southerners fearing a northern conspiracy

• Abraham Lincoln is elected president in 1860, without any support of the South

• Southern Secession began with South Carolina seceding along with other southern states to form the Confederate States of America

• Jefferson Davis is elected president of the new Confederate nation

John Brown being adored by an enslaved mother and child as he walks to his execution on December 2, 1859.

The Civil War Begins: 1861-1865

• First shots are fired at Fort Sumter

• Union and Confederate forces clash at Bull Run and Confederate forces secure their first victory of the war

• Union forces step up enlistments

1861, inside the fort flying the Confederate Flag

Union (North) Strength:

• Military and civilian population (outnumbered the south)

• Industrial (more railroad lines, factories, and industries)

• Resources (iron, coal, raw materials)

Confederate (South) Strengths:

• Cotton production

• First-rate Generals (top of the class)

• Highly motivated soldiers

Leaders:

• North (Union) President Abraham Lincoln

• General Ulysses S. Grant

• South (Confederacy) President Jefferson Davis

• General Robert E. Lee (also General “Stonewall” Jackson)

Emancipation Proclamation:

• Abraham Lincoln issues this proclamation

• Weapon of War: Union soldiers freed southern slaves to keep the Confederacy from using their slave labor

• Freed the slaves in rebel territory

The North takes Charge:

• The Battle of Gettysburg- Union and Confederate troops sustain heavy losses over a three day period (23,000 Union, 28,000 Confederate)

• Union troops win the battle and break the spirits of the Confederacy

• President Lincoln issues the Gettysburg Address that solidified America as a unified nation, not a collection of individual states

The North takes Charge:

• General Grant wins at Vicksburg, Confederacy looses a major advantage and control along the Mississippi River

The North takes Charge:

• The Confederacy wears down, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman introduces the notion of total war; civilians, livestock, plantations/farms, infrastructure, and all possible advantages of the South are burned, captured, or destroyed

• Confederacy surrenders at Appomattox, on April 3, 1865, ending the Civil War.

The Peacemakers (1868) by George P.A. Healy. Aboard the River Queen, March 28, 1865, General William T. Sherman, General Ulysses S. Grant, Lincoln, and Admiral David Dixon Porter discuss military plans for final months of the Civil War

The War changes Lives:

• The 13th Amendment abolishes slavery

• Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, the nation mourns

Reconstruction: 1865-1877

• This is the period during which the United States began rebuilding after the Civil War, lasting from 1865 to 1877

• 14th Amendment is passed, which prevented states from denying rights and privileges to any U.S. citizen- guaranteed citizenship

• 15th Amendment: states that no one can be kept from voting because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude-right for all men to vote