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The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning

The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War Definition What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

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Page 1: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

The American Civil War

Jan 2011 C. Corning

Page 2: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Civil War

Definition

What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Page 3: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Characteristics of a Civil War An organized military action – 1,000 battle

deaths/year and 5% of deaths inflicted by the weaker party.

At least two factions within a single country/nation-state – one of which is the national government – which are divided over religious, ideological, political, economic and/or social issues.

The war occurs in the country in which the opposing factions originate and the primary leadership of each faction is from that country.

Page 4: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Why Study the American Civil War?

The Civil War remains the deadliest and most destructive of all America’s wars.

The first modern war on the continent (and maybe the world).

Only conflict in U.S. history fought entirely on the nation’s soil.

Strengthened the power of the Federal Government.

Forever destroyed the institution of slavery in the U.S.

Page 5: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Causes of the American Civil War

Economic and social differences between the North and the South.

States versus federal rights.

The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State Proponents.

Growth of the Abolition Movement.

The election of Abraham Lincoln.

Page 6: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Causes Economic and social differences between the

North and the South:

The southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery.

On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods.

This disparity between the two set up a major difference in economic attitudes.

Page 7: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Causes States versus federal rights.

Many States Rights proponents felt that the U.S. Constitution ignored the rights of states to continue to act independently.

They felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. This resulted in the idea of nullification, whereby the states would have the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional.

The federal government denied states this right. However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun fought vehemently for nullification. When nullification would not work and states felt that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession.

Page 8: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Causes The fight between Slave and Non-Slave State

Proponents.

Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states from the former Louisiana Purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in Missouri.

Wilmot Provision in 1846 which would ban slavery in the new lands. However, this was shot down to much debate.

The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between slave and free states, northern and southern interests. Many of these states were formed in territory won in the Mexican-American War (1846 – 1848).

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. It created two new territories that would allow the states to use popular sovereignty to determine whether they would be free or slave.

Page 9: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Causes Growth of the Abolition Movement.

Increasingly, the northerners became more polarized against slavery. Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholders.

Major events included: the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle

Tom's Cabin, The Dred Scott Case John Brown's Raid Passage of the Fugitive Slave Act that held

individuals responsible for harboring fugitive slaves even if they were located in non-slave states.

Page 10: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Causes The election of Abraham Lincoln

When Lincoln was elected in 1860, South Carolina issued its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession." They believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern States’ interests.

Before Lincoln was even president, seven states had seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

Page 11: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

The Birth of the Republican Party

Question: Why do new political parties form?

By the end of the 1850s the nation’s political landscape had shifted. New concerns – increase in immigration, Whig party split over the issue of slavery and a weak Democratic party. (Review pg 320) Nativism – Know Nothing Party Free-Soil Party – no more extension of slavery (however

not a party of abolitionism).

Discontented Whigs formed the Republican party (sound familiar? Ie the Tea Party?).

Page 12: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Events Leading up to Secession

Slavery begins to dominate most political discussions

Dred Scott Decision (1857) – Roger Taney’s Majority Opinion “Constitutional Rights Do Not Extend to Blacks” He was the Chief Justice – blacks cannot be citizens

Lincoln-Douglas Debates – 1858 Illinois Senate Race Douglas (D) supported popular sovereignty (believed

that slavery would die out) Lincoln (R) – slavery was immoral, fear that it would

spread to new territories

Harpers Ferry (VA) – John Brown Oct 1859 – “slave uprising”

Page 13: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Lincoln’s Election 1860 Presidential Election – three candidates: Lincoln

(R), Douglas (D) and Breckinridge (D)

Lincoln won but with less than half of popular vote – not a strong “mandate” – no electoral votes from the South

The South felt that they had no voice in national politics South Carolina seceded from the Union on Dec 20,

1860, followed by Mississippi and Florida in Jan 1861 Later Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas Feb 1861 – delegates from these states met – formed

the Confederate States of America (The Confederacy) Constitution similar – but “protected and recognized”

slavery Jefferson Davis - President

Page 14: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

The Beginning After the seven southern states seceded and formed the

Confederacy, soldiers began to take over federal buildings in their states – government buildings and military installations. Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor – Confederates demanded

surrender, Lincoln only sent food, Confederates attack April 12, 1861.

Lincoln responded by calling for 75,000 troops April 17th Virginia seceded (unwilling to fight against other

southern states) and brought ironworks and factories to the Confederate side.

By May Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina secede Western counties of Virginia secede from VA and become

West Virginia (1863 statehood – special exception) Four remaining slave states: Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky

and Missouri remain in the Union.

Page 15: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Military History Northern and Southern Resources – page 339 –

unevenly matched (although it could be argued at the beginning of the war that the South had better military leadership!)

Strategy: both sides thought it would be a quick war Union pursued what became known as the Anaconda

Plan – three prong strategy: Navy Blockade Southern ports Union riverboats and armies move down Mississippi Rv –

why? Union armies capture the Confederate capital – Richmond,

VA Confederacy – mainly defensive strategy

Page 16: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Battles How to read a military history map – the “key” is

crucial! Pages 340, 358, 361, 363,

First Battle of Bull Run – July 21, 1861 – about 25 miles south of Union capital and 100 miles north of the Confederate capital. Lasted most of the day, Union winning in the morning

but the Confederate rallying in the afternoon, led by Stonewall Jackson

Lincoln responded to the Union lost by calling up 1 million men for a three year enlistment and appointed George McClellan as commander of Union Army (aka Army of the Potomac).

Page 17: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Battles in the West Feb 1862, the Union army led by Ulysses S. Grant invaded

western Tennessee - within 2 weeks captured Ft. Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River.

March 1862, Grant camped his army near a Tennessee church named Shiloh, close to the Mississippi border. April - Confederate soldiers surprised the Union army and

inflicted significant casualties before the Union army could re-group and force Confederate forces to retreat.

Both sides became aware of the need for defensive measures while “in camp”, bloody engagement and failure of Confederates to hold onto Ohio-Kentucky frontier.

April – Union takes hold of New Orleans – why significant?

Page 18: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Battle for the Seas March 1862, the ironclads the Monitor (Union) and the

Merrimack (Confederate) fought a duel at sea. Ironclad ships could splinter wooden ships, withstand

cannon fire and resist burning. The Merrimack attached three Union ships, the Monitor

responded the attack and in the end the battle was a draw.

The Confederate submarine CSS Hunley (named for one of its financiers, Horace Lawson Hunley) was intended for attacking the North's ships, which were blockading the South's seaports. The sub was extremely hazardous to operate, and had no air supply other than what was contained inside the main compartment. February 17, 1864, it sank the USS Housatonic off Charleston Harbor.

Page 19: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

The War for the Capitals The third prong of the Union strategy was to capture the

Confederate capital. Problem: Gen McClellan was slow to act and did not move against Richmond until the spring of 1862. McClellan moves South and into the armies of Robert E. Lee –

Seven Days’ Battles (June 25 – July 1, 1862). McClellan moved away from Richmond and headed towards the sea.

Lee captured the advantage of momentum and moved against the Washington D.C. On August 29 and 30, his troops won a big victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run. A few days later Lee takes his army across the Potomac River into Maryland. McClellan ordered his army to intercept and the two armies

fought at Antietam on Sept 17th – bloodiest single day battle in US history.

Union victory but Lee is able to retreat and Lincoln fires McClellan.

Page 20: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

The Politics of War At the beginning of the war, the Southern states expected

Britain to support them – why? However Britain pursues a policy of neutrality – India and wheat.

The abolition movement pressured Lincoln to resolve the question of slavery Although Lincoln did not agree with slavery, he felt that the

federal gov’t did not have the power to abolish it where it already existed.

“My … object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery.”

Just as Union soldiers could confiscate Confederate supplies, Lincoln also authorized the army to emancipate slaves.

Since England support abolitionism, this was also a diplomatic move.

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Page 21: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Emancipation Proclamation 1863 Excerpt on page 346 – the proclamation only applied to those

slaves within States that were in a state of rebellion.

It did NOT free any slaves immediately because it only applied to those slaves in Confederate areas, outside Union control. Did not apply to those areas of the south under Union

military control nor to slave states who did not secede.

Reactions: turned the fight into a moral struggle and allowed free blacks to enlist in the Union army. ( Blacks already were used in the Confederate army as “labor”.) Democrats concerned that it would antagonize the South Confederacy saw this as confirmation of their fears about

federal gov’t. Now there was no opportunity for compromise to end the

war.

Page 22: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Problems Associated with Civil Wars

How to deal with dissenters?

Neither side is homogenous – there were Confederate sympathizers in the North and the same in the South. How did each gov’t handle their critics? Lincoln often suspended habeas corpus – suspected

Confed. sympathizers were arrested and held without trial; he also sent federal troops against civilian populations and seized telegram offices.

What was the constitutionality of his actions? Jefferson Davis also had to suspended many civil

liberties. Lincoln’s actions set a precedent for the expansion of

Presidential power in a time of war. (WWII, Vietnams, Iraqi War)

Page 23: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Problems Associated with Civil Wars

How to Find Soldiers for Your Army?

Volunteers – initially usually a good number but usually not enough to staff a full military fighting force

Conscription – the draft that forces certain members of the population to serve in the Army Union – men 20 – 45 years old– passed in 1863;

however 92% of Union forces were volunteer Draft riots in New York – immigrants – not our war Breakdown of social stablility

Confederate – men 18 – 35 years old (later 17 – 50) passed in 1862, “rich man’s war but poor man’s fight” - ??

Page 24: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Other Wartime Issues African-American Soldiers

Slave Resistance in the Confederacy

Inflation and Shortages in the South

Northern Economic Growth

Health and Sanitation issues

Prisoners of War

Page 25: The American Civil War Jan 2011 C. Corning. Civil War  Definition  What other Civil Wars have you studied? Common Characteristics?

Battle of Antietam