The Civil War Begins Secession of states, Ft. Sumter and advantages for each side

The Civil War Begins

Secession of states, Ft. Sumter and advantages for

each side

Seven states secede between election & inauguration (% of population enslaved)

1) South Carolina (57%)

2) Mississippi (51%)

3) Florida (45%)

4) Alabama (45%)

5) Georgia (42%)

6) Louisiana (47%)

7) Texas (27%)

Four more states secede after fall of Ft. Sumter (% of population enslaved)

8) Virginia (33%)

9) Arkansas (22%)

10) Tennessee (24%)

11) North Carolina (33%)

Five slave states remain in Union (% of population enslaved)

• Missouri (13%)

• Kentucky (21%)

• Maryland (15%)

• Delaware (3%)

• West Virginia– Splits away from Virginia, admitted to Union in

1863)

Advantages for the North

– Population (21 million v. 5 million free people)– More stable economy– Advanced industry

• Manufactured own weaponry (lots of it)

– Extensive railway system– Larger Navy– Well-established political institutions, practices– Abraham Lincoln

Advantages for the South

– Fighting (mostly) defensive war• Shorter supply lines• Familiarity with terrain• Local populations supportive

– White population more united than population of the North

– Southern dominance of cotton supply could lead to support from Britain and France

– Better generals

Question

First, a preface to the question: Wars, particularly long wars, cause suffering that can be sustained IF people are clear about, and committed to, what they are fighting for.

Which side had the psychological advantage (and why)?

Armies During the Civil War

• Southern militias begin forming after John Brown’s raid in 1859

• Both sides initially call for volunteers– More than the requested number turn out

• North and South, voluntary enlistments slowing by end of 1861

• Both North (1863) and South (1862) begin drafting men into the army

Armies During the Civil War

• In both North and South, people who were drafted could pay a substitute to go instead– Repealed in South (1863), remains in North

• By end of 1861, 700,000 in Northern armies

• By end of 1862, 500,000 in Southern armies

• By 1864, for South desertions become problem (about 100,000 by end of war)

Armies During the Civil War

• South also had trouble paying for troops– States wouldn’t contribute requested funds– Confederate gov’t printed currency to pay war

costs• Hyperinflation

• Tensions in North over draft– Draft riots

Armies During the Civil War

• As war proceeds, African Americans play larger role in Northern armies– 1% of North’s population, provide almost 10%

of Army – 85% of eligible blacks served

• Confederate Congress authorizes arming slaves– War ends before implemented

Big Picture

• As war goes on and casualties grow, Northern advantage in numbers in military increases

• Key to war: Could North (and Lincoln) sustain popular (psychological) support for the war?

Psychological Advantages: South

• Have something to lose– Economics of slavery– Southern ‘way of life’ (traditional, rural)

• More unified

• Confidence in military, generals

• Hope that they will gain allies in Europe– Britain and France both want cotton

Psychological Advantages: North

• Confidence in their ultimate victory– Strength of numbers, economy– Faith in political institutions

• Weakness is in power of war’s purpose– Is the ‘Union’ worth fighting and dying for?

Notes on ‘Civil War’

• Jefferson Davis• Abraham Lincoln• Ft. Sumter (South Carolina)• Ulysses S. Grant• Robert E. Lee• George McClellan• Evolution regarding role of African-Americans in

the war (and role of Frederick Douglass)• First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)