The Civil War Comes to an End

Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia

• April 9, 1865• Grant’s siege of Petersburg weakens Lee’s lines• Gen. Sheridan cuts off Lee’s supplies from

Shenandoah• Lee’s exhausted troops surrender at the Wilmer

McLean’s Home• “The war is over. The rebels are our country men

again.” General Ulysses S. Grant

Surrender at the Wilmer McLean’s House

War Brings Changes

• The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history– 620,000 died -nearly as many as all other U.S. wars combined

• Political Changes– The role of the federal government increased– Supreme law of the land

• Economic changes– Gap between North and South– South lost 2/3 of her wealth– Federal debt rose– Inflation rose in both North and South

• Social changes– 13th Amendment was added to the Constitution– Ended slavery in the United States

The Union armies had from 2,500,000 to 2,750,000 men. Their losses, by the best estimates:

Battle deaths: 110,070

Disease, etc.: 250,152

Total 360,222

The Confederate strength, known less accurately because of missing records, was from 750,000 to 1,250,000. Its estimated losses:

Battle deaths: 94,000

Disease, etc.: 164,000

Total 258,000

The Boys return home

• Johnny Reb“I shall not attempt to describe my

feelings. The city is in ruins….with a raging headache and a swelling heart I reach my home, and here the curtain falls”

• Billy Yank“a feeling of profound

contentment….too deep to be expressed in mere words.”

President Lincoln

“Thank god I have lived to see this. I have been living a nightmare for four years, and not the nightmare is over.”

Last photo of President Abraham Lincoln

President Lincoln assassinated

• On April 14, 1865• By John Wilkes Booth - famous stage actor• “Our American Cousin” was playing @

Ford’s Theatre• Booth shot and killed President Lincoln as

he watched the play• Booth was shot and killed at a tobacco

warehouse• “useless, useless” were his last words• His fellow “conspirators” are swiftly

hanged

Walt Whitman Poem

• Expressed the country’s sadness

• The prize was many things– End to the war– End of slavery– A new beginning

for the United States of America

“O Captain! My Captain, our fearful trip is done,The ship has weather’d

every storm,The prize we sought is

won.”

Epilogue• The Union is preserved• The Federal Government is the

Supreme Law of the Land• No more talk of States Rights’• New era in war fare – modern war• Now it is time to reconstruct the Union