THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION 1860-1877

“ The Greeks did not understand each other any longer, though they spoke the same language” Thucydides

END OF THE WAITING GAME Lincoln Conciliatory toward the south in his

inaugural address. He had no intention to interfere with slavery where it existed, but he would preserve the Union.

There would be no war unless the south started it, the north did not want to be viewed as the aggressor

Southern states seized federal forts and arsenals. 1861- South Carolina seized Fort Sumter, by

April 1861 they needed food and supplies and Lincoln notified the government of South Carolina that he was sending supplies.

Confederates were suspicious of his motives and they wanted the total surrender of the fort. They began to fire on the fort and Lincoln declared this an act of war

April 15 Lincoln asked for 75,000 Union troops to fight against the confederacy The Confederacy began to raise troops and

Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina left the Union

Both sides predicted a short war…..

BORDER STATES Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and

later West Virginia Huge strategic prize in population and

manufacturing capacity KY and WVA strategic because of Ohio River Maryland- Lincoln sent in troops and

declared martial law To keep border states on side of Union

Lincoln would not declare publicly he was fighting to free slaves

Indian Territory- Five Civilized tribes fought on side of Confederacy because many owned slaves

War became “brothers war” in many families

ADVANTAGE FOR NORTH AND SOUTH

Foreign Policy Europe’s ruling classes

sympathetic to Southern cause (agreed with southern social order)

So why did King Cotton diplomacy fail them? Enormous cotton exports of

late 1850’s, caused oversupply of fiber

Hoped for “cotton famine” never happened,

Union supplied Britain through captured cotton, British turned to India and Egypt for cotton production

Northern states supplied England with corn and wheat

Problems with Confederate Government

Confederate government wrote Constitution similar to US Constitution, except it protected slavery

Fatal weakness in Confederate government was tension between Southern idea of state’s rights vs. the need for a strong central government

Union Government During Wartime North had an established and

internationally recognized government

Congress not in session when war started, Lincoln proclaimed blockade and increased size of army

Lincoln did suspend some freedoms protected by the Constitution Suspended habeas corpus

(jailing somebody without telling them of crime) so anti-Union sentiment could be controlled

“Supervised” voting in the border states, suspended the press

Volunteers and Draftees When war first started

volunteers filled ranks, by 1863 pace had dropped off and Union Army began to draft soldiers

Many were immigrants, poor Wealthy could pay substitute

to go in their place 1863 draft riots in NYC South had fewer men to draw

from and needed manpower more quickly, rich could also buy their way out of service

Deserters problem in both armies

War Economy North customs fees and tariff fees major sources of revenue

Without southern opposition Morrill Tariff Act passed (1861) Money backed by nations credit, not gold Bonds sold to finance war National Banking System established to back bonds and

provide sound credit (existed until 1913) South had customs duties choked off because of blockade

Had to increase taxes, resisted by states righter's Government printed money was worthless, inflation was a

huge problem Confederate government had little international credit or

revenue stream South had 30% of national wealth in 1860, 12% ten years

later South experienced food and material shortages during the

war Many southerners turned to stealing from northern army

and blockade running to supply basic necessities

War Economy Wartime prosperity for

north Protective tariffs, need for

war time goods stoked manufacturing

Many speculators profited from war

Lack of labor caused innovation, made factories more efficient

Westward settlement kept growing, Homestead Act 1862

New opportunities for women due to labor shortage in factories

Fighting the War The Civil War was the

first modern war. New technologies and

devices mobilized men and materials- railroad transport, artillery, repeating rifles, ironclad ships, telegraph, trenches, wire entanglements were all battlefield devices used for the first time

Photography brought the war to others not involved in fighting living far away

Brought violence and life of war home

War Turns for the North Anaconda Plan gradually began to work

and the Union began to make progress in the western part of the Confederacy by late 1862. They began to cut supply lines, destroy crops and rail lines.

The first major blow to the south occurred at Antietam in Maryland in 1862

By the beginning of 1863 the north was beginning to use its advantages of men and materials to defeat the Confederacy

War Turns for the North Lee took tried to take the war to the

north in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July of 1863. He was defeated and retreated south.

Ulysses Grant was named commander of Union forces in 1864 and he began to purse Lee until he was defeated

Union General William T. Sherman led 60,000 troops on a march through Georgia and South Carolina in the fall of 1864.

400 mile “march to the sea” used a strategy called total war - targeted troops, support and supplies needed to feed, clothe and support the army.

Troops burned crops, destroyed railroad tracks, homes and plantations. They burned the city of Atlanta in the fall of 1864

By the spring of 1865 the south was exhausted and Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox courthouse April 9, 1865

Emancipation Proclamation When the war began Lincoln did not think he had the

authority to abolish slavery- his chief goal was to preserve the Union

In the fall of 1862 after the Battle of Antietam he decided the time was right to issue the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves

January 1, 1863 all slaves in the south were declared free.

It did not apply to free states or areas of the south already under federal control (to keep border states happy)

Union army began to actively recruit former slaves to join their cause

This changed the nature of the Civil War from something to preserve the Union and redefined it as to being about slavery, gave war a moral tone

Removed any chance of negotiated settlement to war

Politics of War 1864 presidential election fell in the

midst of war Many Northerners did not support

Lincoln Resented expansion of presidential

power and the war itself Democrats against the war

(Copperheads) obstructed the war efforts in Congress

Election of 1864 between Lincoln (R) and George McClellan (D)

Lincoln choose Andrew Johnson of TN as his running mate to attract war Democrats and border state vote

Lincolns election was secured by a series of Union victories in the months before the election

1865 Five days after Lee’s surrender Lincoln was assassinated at the pinnacle of his fame by a fanatically pro-southern actor John Wilkes Booth

Aftermath 600,000 died; 1 million wounded or

maimed Generation of men lost to war Idea of states’ rights moot Passage of 13th Amendment officially

ended slavery, 14th Amendment guaranteed civil rights

US became a singular nation, not a collection of states

Power of federal government expanded, banking, judicial system became more powerful, government expected to protect rights above state powers

Industrial growth kick started because of war effort

National legal, industrial and governmental institutions came out of war

Results of War