TIME 5B (1844-1877)READINGS- THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1865

“It is enough to make the whole world start to see the awful amount of death and destruction that now stalks abroad. Daily for the past two months has the work progressed and I see no signs of a remission till one or both the armies are destroyed… I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple of thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash- and it may be well that we become so hardened.”

–Gen. William T. Sherman, June 30, 1864

The Civil War between the Union and the Confederacy (1861-1865) was the most costly of all American wars in terms of the loss of human life- and also the most destructive war ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. The deaths of 750,000 people, a true national tragedy, constituted only part of the impact of the war on American society. Most important, the Civil War freed 4 million people from slavery, giving the nation what President Lincoln called a “new birth of freedom.” The war also transformed American society by accelerating industrialization and modernization in the North and destroying much of the South. These changes were so fundamental and profound that some historians refer to the Civil war as the Second American Revolution.

THE WAR BEGINSWhen Lincoln took office as the first Republican president in March 1861, people wondered if he would challenge the secession of

South Carolina and other states militarily. In his inaugural address, Lincoln assured Southerners that he would not interfere with slavery. At the same time, he warned, no state had the right to break up the Union. He concluded by appealing for restraint: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.”

Fort SumterDespite the president’s message of both conciliation and warning, the danger of a war breaking out was acute. Most critical was

the status of two federal forts in states that had seceded. One of these, Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was cut off from vital supplies and reinforcements by Southern control of the harbor. Rather than either group giving up Fort Sumter or attempting to defend it, Lincoln announced that he was sending provisions of food to the small federal garrison. He thus gave South Carolina the choice of either permitting the fort to hold out or opening fire with its shore batteries. Carolina’s guns thundered their reply and thus, on April 12, 1861, the war began. The attack on Fort Sumter and its capture after two days of incessant pounding united most Northerners behind a patriotic fight to save the Union.

USE OF EXECUTIVE POWER: More than any previous president, Lincoln acted in unprecedented ways, drawing upon his powers as both chief executive and command in chief, often without the authorization or approval of Congress. For example, right after the Fort Sumter crisis he (1) called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the “insurrection” in the Confederacy, (2) authorized spending for a war, and (3) suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Since Congress was not in session, the president acted completely on his own authority. Lincoln later explained that he had to take strong measures without congressional approval “as indispensable to the public safety.”

Secession of the Upper SouthBefore the attack on Fort Sumter, only seven states of the Deep South had seceded. After it became clear that Lincoln would use

troops in the crisis, four states of the Upper South- Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas- also seceded and joined the Confederacy. The Confederates then moved their capital to Richmond, Virginia. The people of western Virginia remained loyal to the Union, and the region became a separate state in 1863 (West Virginia).

Keeping the Border States in the UnionFour other slave-holding states might have seceded, but instead remained in the Union. The decisions of Delaware, Maryland,

Missouri, and Kentucky not to join the Confederacy was partly due to Union sentiment in those states and partly the result of shrewd federal policies. In Maryland, pro-secessionists attacked Union troops and threatened the railroad to Washington. The Union army resorted to martial law to keep the state under federal control. In Missouri, the presence of US troops prevented the pro-South elements in the state from gaining control, although guerilla forces sympathetic to the Confederacy were active throughout the war. In Kentucky, the state legislature voted to remain neutral in the conflict. Lincoln initially respected its neutrality and waited for the South to violate it before moving in federal troops. Keeping the border-states in the Union was the primary military and political goal for Lincoln. Their loss would have increased the Confederate population by more than 50% and would have severely weakened the North’s strategic position for conducting the war. Partly to avoid alienating Unionists in the border-states, Lincoln rejected initial calls for the emancipation of slaves.

Wartime AdvantagesThe Union and the Confederacy each started the war with some strengths and some weaknesses.

MILITARY: The Confederacy entered the war with the advantage of having to fight only a defensive war to win, while the Union had to conquer an area as large as Western Europe. The Confederates had to move troops and supplies shorter distances than the Union. It had a long, indented coastline that was difficult to blockade and, most important, experienced military leaders and high troop morale. The Union hoped that its population of 22 million against the Confederate’s population of only 5.5 million free whites would work to its favor in a war of attrition. The North’s population advantage as enhanced during the war by 800,000 immigrants. Emancipation also brought 180,000 African Americans into the Union army in the critical final years of the war. The Union could also count on a loyal US Navy, which ultimately gave it command of the rivers and territorial waters.

ECONOMIC: The Union dominated the nation’s economy, controlling most of the banking and capital of the country, more than 85% of the factories, more than 70% of the railroads, and even 65% of the farmland. The skills of Northern clerks and bookkeepers proved valuable to

the logistical support of large military operations. Confederates hoped that European demand for its cotton would bring recognition and financial aid. Like other rebel movements in history, the Confederates counted on outside help to be successful.POLITICAL: The two sides had distinct goals. The Confederates were struggling for independence while the Union was fighting to preserve the Union. However, the ideology of states’ rights proved a serious liability for the new Confederate government. The irony was that in order to win the war, the Confederates needed a strong, central government with strong public support. The Confederates had neither, while the Union had a well-established central government, and in Abraham Lincoln and in the Republican and Democratic parties it had experienced politicians with a strong popular base. The ultimate hope of the Confederates was that the people of the Union would turn against Lincoln and the Republicans and quit the war because it was too costly.

The Confederate States of AmericaThe Confederate constitution was modeled after the US Constitution, except that it provided a single six-year term for the

president and gave the president an item veto (the power to veto only part of a bill). Its constitution denied the Confederate congress the powers to levy a protective tariff and to appropriate funds for internal improvements, but it did prohibit the foreign slave trade. President Jefferson Davis tried to increase his executive powers during the war, but Southern governors resisted attempts at centralization, some holding back troops and resources to protect their own states. At one point, Vice President Alexander H. Stephens, in defense of states’ rights, even urged the secession of Georgia in response to the “despotic” actions of the Confederate government. The Confederacy was chronically short of money. It tried loans, income taxes (including a 10% tax in-kind on farm produce), and even impressment of private property, but these revenues paid for only a small part of war costs. The government issued more than $1 billion in paper money, so much that it caused severe inflation. By the end of the war, the value of a Confederate dollar was less than two cents. The Confederate congress nationalized the railroads and encouraged industrial development. The CSA sustained nearly 1 million troops at its peak, but a war of attrition doomed its efforts.

FIRST YEARS OF A LONG WAR: 1861-1862People at first expected the war to last no more than a few weeks. Lincoln called up the first volunteers for an enlistment period

of only 90 days. “On to Richmond!” was the optimistic cry, but as Americans soon learned, it would take almost four years of ferocious fighting before Union troops finally did march into the Confederate capital.

The First Battle of Bull Run (AKA Manassas) In the first major battle of the war (July 1861), 30,000 federal troops marched from Washington, DC, to attack Confederate forces

positioned near Bull Run Creek at Manassas Junction, Virginia. Just as the Union forces seemed close to victory, Confederate reinforcements under General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson counterattacked and sent the inexperienced Union troops in disorderly and panicky flight back to Washington (together with civilian curiosity-seekers and picnickers). The battle ended the illusion of a short war and also promoted the myth that the Rebels were invincible in battle.

Union StrategyGeneral-in-Chief Winfield Scott, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, devised a three-part strategy for wining a

long war called the Anaconda Plan: Use the US Navy to blockade Southern ports, cutting off essential supplies from reaching the Confederacy. Take control of the Mississippi River, dividing the Confederacy in two Raise and train an army of 500,000 to conquer Richmond

The first two parts of the strategy proved easier to achieve than the third, but ultimately all three were important in achieving Northern victory. After the Union’s defeat at Bull Run, federal armies experienced a succession of crushing defeats as they attempted various campaigns in Virginia. Each was less successful than the one before.

Peninsula CampaignGeneral George B. McClellan, the new commander of the Union army in the East, insisted that his troops be given a long period of

training before going into battle. Finally, after many delays that sorely tested Lincoln’s patience, McClellan’s army invaded Virginia in March 1862. The Union army was stopped as a result of brilliant tactical moves by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who emerged as the commander of the South’s eastern forces. After five months, McClellan was forced to retreat and was ordered back to the Potomac, where he was replaced by general John Pope.

Second Battle of Bull Run Lee took advantage of the change in Union generals to strike quickly at Pope’s army in Northern Virginia. He drew Pope into a

trap, then struck the enemy’s flank, and sent the Union army backward to Bull Run. Pope withdrew to the defenses of Washington.

AntietamFollowing up his victory at Bull Run, Lee led his army across the Potomac into enemy territory in Maryland. In doing so, he hoped

that a major Confederate victory in a Union state would convince Britain to give official recognition and support to the Confederacy. By this time (September 1862), Lincoln had restored McClellan to command of the Union army. McClellan had the advantage of knowing Lee’s battle plan, because a copy of it had been dropped accidentally by a Confederate office. The Union army intercepted the invading Confederates at Antietam Creek in the Maryland town of Sharpsburg. Here the bloodiest single day of combat in the entire war took place, a day in which more than 22,000 soldiers were killed or wounded.

Unable to break through Union lines, Lee’s army retreated to Virginia. Disappointed with McClellan for failing to pursue Lee’s weakened and retreating army, Lincoln removed him for a final time as the Union commander. The president complained that his general had a “bad case of the slows.” While a draw on the battlefield, Antietam proved to be a decisive battle because the Confederates failed to

get what they so urgently needed- open recognition and aid from a foreign power. On the other side, Lincoln found enough encouragement in the results of Antietam to claim a Union victory. As explained later in this chapter, Lincoln used the partial triumph of Union arms to announce plans for a direct assault on the institution of slavery.Fredericksburg

Replacing McClellan with the more aggressive General Ambrose Burnside, Lincoln discovered that a strategy of reckless attack could have even worse consequences than McClellan’s strategy of caution and inaction. In December 1862, a large Union army under Burnside attacked Lee’s army at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and suffered immense losses: 12,000 dead or wounded compared to 5,000 Confederate casualties. Both Union and Confederate generals were slow to learn that improved weaponry, especially the deadly fire from enemy artillery, took the romance out of heroic charges against entrenched positions. By the end of 1862, the awful magnitude of the war was all too clear- with no prospect of military victory for either side. The second year of war, 1862, was a disastrous one for the Union except for two engagements, one at sea and the other on the rivers of the West.

Monitor v. Merrimac The Union’s hopes for winning war depended upon its ability to maximize its economic and naval advantages by an effective

blockade of Confederate ports (the Anaconda plan). During McClellan’s Peninsula campaign, the Union’s blockade strategy was placed in jeopardy by the Confederate ironclad ship the Merrimac (a former Union ship, rebuilt and renamed the Virginia) that attacked and sunk several Union wooden ships on March 8, 1862, near Hampton Roads, Virginia. The ironclad ship seemed unstoppable. However, on March 9, the Union’s own ironclad, the Monitor, engaged the Merrimac in a five-hour duel. Although the battle ended in a draw, the Monitor prevented the Confederate’s formidable new weapon from challenging the US naval blockade. More broadly, the Monitor and the Merrimac marked a turning point in naval warfare, with vulnerable wooden ships being replaced by far more formidable ironclad ones.

Grant in the West The battle of the ironclads occurred at about the same time as a far bloodier encounter in western Tennessee, a Confederate

state. The Union’s campaign for control of the Mississippi River was partly under the command of a West Point graduate, Ulysses S. Grant, who had joined up for the war after an unsuccessful civilian career. Striking south from Illinois in early 1862, Grant used a combination of gunboats and army maneuvers to capture Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River (a branch of the Mississippi). These stunning victories, in which 14,000 Confederates were taken prisoner, opened up that state of Mississippi to Union attack. A few weeks later, a Confederate army under Albert Johnston surprised Grant at Shiloh, Tennessee, but the Union army held its ground and finally forced the Confederates to retreat after terrible losses on both sides (more than 23,000 dead and wounded). Grant’s drive down the Mississippi was completed in April 1852 by the capture of New Orleans by the Union navy under David Farragut.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DIPLOMACYThe Confederate’s hopes for securing independence hinged as much on its diplomats as on soldiers. Confederate leaders fully

expected that cotton would indeed prove to be “king” and induce Britain or France, or both, to give direct aid to the war effort. Besides depending on cotton for their textile mills, wealthy British industrialists and members of the British aristocracy looked forward with pleasure to the breakup of the American democratic experiment. From the Union’s point of view, it was critically important to prevent the Confederacy from gaining the foreign support and recognition that it desperately needed.

Trent AffairBritain came close to siding with the Confederacy in late 1861 over an incident at sea. Confederate diplomats James Mason and

John Slidell were traveling to England on a British steamer, the Trent, on a mission to gain recognition for their government. A Union warship stopped the British ship, removed Mason and Slidell, and brought them to the United States as prisoners of war. Britain threatened war over the incident unless the two diplomats were released. Despite intense public criticism, Lincoln gave in to British demands. Mason and Slidell were duly set free, but again after sailing for Europe, they failed to obtain full recognition of the Confederacy from either Britain or England.

Confederate RaidersThe Confederates were able to gain enough recognition as a belligerent to purchase warships from British shipyards. Confederate

commerce-raiders did serious harm to US merchant ships. One of them, the Alabama, captured more than 60 vessels before being sunk off the coast of France by a Union warship. After the war, Great Britain eventually agreed to pay the United States $15.5 million for damages caused by the South’s commerce-raiders. The US minister to Britain, Charles Francis Adams, prevented a potentially much more serious threat. Learning that the Confederacy had arranged to purchase Laird rams (ships with iron rams) from Britain for use against the Union’s naval blockade, Adams persuaded the British government to cancel the sale rather than risk war with the United States.

Failure of Cotton DiplomacyIn the end, the South’s hopes for European intervention were disappointed. “King Cotton” did not have the power to dictate

another nation’s foreign policy, since Europe quickly found ways of obtaining cotton from other sources. By the time shortages of Southern cotton hit the British textile industry, adequate shipments of cotton began arriving from Egypt and India. Also, materials other than cotton could be used for textiles, and the woolen and linen industries were not slow to take advantage of their opportunity. Two other factors went into Britain’s decision not to recognize the CSA. First, as mentioned, General Lee’s setback at Antietam played a role; without seeing a decisive Confederate military victory, the British government would not risk recognition. Second, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (January 1863) made the end of slavery an objective of the Union, a position that appealed strongly to Britain’s working class. While conservative leaders of Britain were sympathetic to the Confederates, they could not defy the pro-Northern, anti-slavery feelings of the British majority.

THE END OF SLAVERY

Even though Lincoln in the 1850s spoke out against slavery as “an unqualified evil,” as president he seemed hesitant to take action against slavery as advocated by many of his Republican supporters. Lincoln’s concerns included (1) keeping the supporter of the border-states, (2) the constitutional protections of slavery, (3) the racial prejudice of many Northerners, and (4) the fear that premature action could be overturned in the next election. All these concerns made the timing and method of ending slavery fateful decisions. Enslaved individuals were freed during the Civil War as a result of military events, governmental policy, and their own actions.Confiscation Acts

Early in the war (May 1861), Union Gen. Benjamin Butler refused to return captured slaves to their Confederate owner, arguing they were “contraband of war.” The power to seize enemy property used to wage war against the US was the legal basis for the first Confiscation Act passed by Congress in August 1861. Soon after its passage, thousands of “contrabands” were using their feet to escape slavery by finding their way into Union camps. In July 1862, Congress passed a 2 nd Confiscation Act that freed persons enslaved by anyone engaged in rebellion against the US. It also empowered the president to use freed slaves in the Union army in any capacity, including battle.

Emancipation ProclamationBy July 1862, Lincoln had already decided to use his powers as commander in chief of the armed forces to free all enslaved

persons in the state then at war with the United States. He justified his policy as a “military necessity.” Lincoln delayed announcement of the policy, however, until he could win the support of conservative Northerners. At the same time, he encouraged the border-states to come up with plans for emancipation, with compensation to the owners. After the Battle of Antietam, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued a warning that enslaved people in all states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, would be “then, thenceforward, and forever free.” As promised, on the first day of the new year, 1863, the president issued his Emancipation Proclamation. After listing states from Arkansas to Virginia that were in rebellion, the proclamation stated: “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaved within said designated States and parts of Stats are, and henceforward shall be, free: and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, shall recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.”

CONSEQUENCES: Since the president’s proclamation applied only to enslaved people residing in Confederate states outside Union control, it immediately freed only about 1% of slaves. Slavery in the border-states was allowed to continue. Even so, the proclamation was of major importance because it enlarged the purpose of the war. For the first time, Union armies were fighting against slavery, not merely against secession. The proclamation added weight to the Confiscation acts, increasing the number of slaves who sought freedom by fleeing to Union lines. Thus, with each advance of Northern troops into the South, abolition advanced as well. As an added blow to the Confederacy, the proclamation also authorized the use of freed slaves as Union soldiers. Suddenly, the Union army had thousands of dedicated new recruits.

13 th Amendment Standing in the way of full emancipation were phrases in the US Constitution that had long legitimized slavery. To free all

enslaved people in the border-states, the country needed to ratify a constitutional amendment. Even the abolitionists gave Lincoln credit for playing an active role in the political struggle to secure enough votes in Congress to pass the 13 th Amendment. By December 1865 (months after Lincoln’s death), this amendment abolishing slavery was ratified by the required number states. The language of the amendment could not be simpler or clearer: “Neither slavery not involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Freedmen in the WarAfter the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1863), hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks- approximately one-quarter of

the slave population- walked away from slavery to seek the protection of the approaching Union armies. Almost 200,000 African Americans, most of whom were newly freed slaves, served in the Union army and navy. Segregated into all-black units, such as the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, black troops performed courageously under fire and won the respect of Union white officers. More than 37,000 African American soldiers died in what became known as the Army of Freedom.

THE UNION TRIUMPHS, 1863-1865By early 1863, the fortunes of war were turning against the Confederates. Although General Lee started the year with another

major victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, the Confederate economy was in desperate shape, as planters and farmers lost control of their slave labor force, and an increasing number of poorly provisioned soldiers were deserting from the Confederate army.

Turning Point The decisive turning point in the war came in the first week of July when the Confederacy suffered2 crushing defeats in the West and East.

VICKSBURG: In the west, by the spring of 1863, Union forces controlled New Orleans as well as most of the Mississippi River and surrounding valley. Thus, the Union objective of securing complete control of the Mississippi River was close to an accomplished fact when General Grant began his siege of the heavily fortified city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Union artillery bombarded Vicksburg for seven weeks before the Confederates finally surrendered the city (and nearly 29,000 soldiers) on July 4. Federal warships now controlled the full length of the Mississippi and cut off Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas from the rest of the Confederacy.

GETTYSBURG: Meanwhile, in the East, Lee again took the offensive by leading an army into enemy territory: the Union states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. If he could either destroy or capture a major Northern city, Lee hoped to force the Union to call for peace- or at least to gain foreign intervention on behalf of the Confederacy. On July 1, 1863, the invading Confederate army surprised Union units at Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania. What followed was the most crucial battle of the war and the bloodiest, with more than 50,000 casualties. Lee’s assault on Union lines on the second and third days, including a famous but unsuccessful charge led by George Pickett, proved futile, and destroyed a key part of the Confederate army. What was left of Lee’s forces retreated to Virginia, never to regain the offensive.

Grant in CommandLincoln finally found a general who could fight and win. In early 1864, he brought Grant east to Virginia and mad him commander

of all the Union armies. Grant settled on a strategy of war by attrition. He aimed to wear down the Confederate’s armies and systematically destroy their vital lines of supply. Fighting doggedly for months, Grant’s Army of the Potomac suffered heavier casualties than Lee’s forces in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. But by never letting up, Grant succeeded in reducing Lee’s army in each battle and forcing it into a defensive line around Richmond. In this final stage of the Civil War, the fighting foreshadowed the trench warfare that would later characterize WWI. No longer was this a war “between gentlemen” but a modern “total” war against civilians as well as soldiers.SHERMAN’S MARCH: The chief instrument of Grant’s aggressive tactics for subduing the South was a hardened veteran, General William Tecumseh Sherman. Leading a force of 100,000 men, Sherman set out from Chattanooga, Tennessee, on a campaign of deliberate destruction that went clear across the state of Georgia and then swept north into South Carolina. Sherman was a pioneer of the tactics of total war. Marching relentlessly through Georgia, his troops destroyed everything in their path, burning cotton fields, barns, and houses- everything the enemy might use to survive. Sherman took Atlanta in September 1864 in time to help Lincoln’s prospects for reelection. He marched into Savannah in December and completed his campaign in February 1865 by setting fire to Columbia, the capital of South Carolina and cradle of secession. Sherman’s march had its intended effects: helping to break the spirit of the Confederacy and destroying its will to fight on.

THE ELECTION OF 1864: The Democrats’ nominee for president was the popular Gen. George McClellan, whose platform calling for peace had wide appeal among millions of war-weary voters. The Republicans renamed their party the Unionist Party as a way of attracting the votes of “War Democrats” (who disagreed with the Democratic platform). A brief “ditch-Lincoln” movement fizzled out, and the Republican (Unionist) convention again choose Lincoln as its candidate and a loyal War Democrat from Tennessee, Sen. Andrew Johnson, as his running mate. Lincoln-Johnson won 212 electoral votes to the Democrats’ 21. The popular vote was much closer-McClellan took 45% of the total.

The End of the WarThe effects of the Union blockade, combined with Sherman’s march of destruction, spread hunger through much of the South in

the winter of 1864-1865. On the battlefront in Virginia, Grant continued to outflank Lee’s lines until they collapsed around Petersburg, resulting in the fall of Richmond on April 3, 1865. Everyone knew that the end was near.

SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX: The Confederate government tried to negotiate for peace, but Lincoln would accept nothing short of restoration of the Union, and Jefferson Davis still demanded nothing less than independence. Lee retreated from Richmond with an army of less than 30,000 men. He tried to escape to the mountains, only to be cut off and forced to surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The Union general treated his enemy with respect and allowed Lee’s men to return to their homes with their horses.

ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN: Only a month before Lee’s surrender, Lincoln delivered one of his greatest speeches- the second inaugural address. He urged that the defeated South be treated benevolently, “with malice toward none; with charity for all.” On April 14, John Wilkes Booth, an actor and CSA sympathizer, shot and killed the president at Ford’s Theater in Washington. On the same night, a co-conspirator attacked and wounded Secretary of State William Seward. These shocking events aroused the fury of Northerners at the very time that the Confederates most needed a sympathetic hearing. The loss of Lincoln’s leadership was widely mourned, but the extent of the loss was not fully appreciated until the two sections of a reunited country had to cope with the overwhelming problems of postwar Reconstruction.

EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON CIVILIAN LIFEBoth during the war and in the years that followed, American society underwent deep and sometimes wrenching changes.

Political ChangeThe electoral process continued during the war with surprisingly few restrictions. Secession of the Southern states had created

Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. Within Republican ranks, however, there were sharp differences between the radical faction (those who championed the cause of immediate abolition of slavery) and the moderate faction (Free-Soilers who were chiefly concerned about economic opportunities for whites). Most Democrats supported the war but criticized Lincoln’s conduct of it. Peace Democrats and Copperheads opposed the war and wanted a negotiated peace. The most notorious Copperhead, Congressman Clement L. Vallandigham of Ohio, was briefly banished from the US to Canada for his “treasonable,” pro-Confederacy speeches against the war.

CIVIL LIBERTIES: Like many leaders in wartime governments, Lincoln focused more on prosecuting the war than with protecting citizens’ constitutional rights. Early in the war, Lincoln suspended the writs of habeas corpus in Maryland and other states with strong pro-Confederate sentiment. Suspension of this constitutional right meant that persons could be arrested without being informed of the charges against them. During the war, an estimated 13,000 people were arrested on suspicion of aiding the enemy. Without a right to habeas corpus, many of them were held without trial. Democrats charged that Lincoln acted no better than a tyrant. However, most historians have been less critical. Especially in the border-states, people had difficulty distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants. And the Constitution does state that the writ of habeas corpus “shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” After the war, in the case of Ex Parte Milligan (1866), the Supreme Court ruled the government had acted improperly in Indiana where certain civilians had been subject to a military trial. The Court said such procedures could only be used when regular civilian courts were unavailable.

THE DRAFT: When the war began in 1861, those who fought were volunteers but as the need for replacements became acute, both the Union and the Confederacy resorted to laws for conscripting, or drafting, men into service. The Union’s first Conscription Act, adopted in March 1863, made all men aged 20-45 liable for military service but allowed a draftee to avoid service by either finding a substitute to serve or paying a $300 exemption fee. The law provoked fierce opposition among poorer laborers, who feared that- if/when they returned to civilian life- their jobs would be taken by freed African Americans. In July 1863, riots against the draft erupted in NYC, in which a mostly Irish

mob attacked blacks and wealthy whites. 117 people were killed before federal troops and a temporary suspension of the draft restored order.

POLITICAL DOMINANCE OF THE NORTH: The suspension of habeas corpus and the operation of the draft were only temporary. Far more important were the long-term effects of the war on the balance of power between two sectional rivals, the North and the South. With the military triumph of the Union came a new definition of the nature of the federal union. Old arguments for nullification and secession cased to be issues. After the Civil War, the supremacy of the federal government over the states was accepted as an established fact. Furthermore, the abolition of slavery- in addition to its importance to freed African Americans- gave new meaning and legitimacy to the concept of American democracy. In his famous Gettysburg Address of November 19, 1863, Lincoln rallied Americans to the idea that their nation was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln was probably alluding to the Emancipation Proclamation when he spoke of the war bring “a new birth of freedom.” His words- and even more, the abolition of slavery- advanced the cause of democratic government in the United States and inspired champions of democracy around the world. Economic ChangeThe costs of the war in both money and men were staggering and called for extraordinary measures by both Union and CSA legislatures.

FINANCING THE WAR: The Union financed the war chiefly by borrowing $2.6 billion, obtained through the sale of government bonds. Even this amount was not enough, so Congress raised tariffs (Morrill Tariff of 1861), added excise taxes, and instituted the first income tax. The US Treasury also issued more than $430 million in a paper currency known as Greenbacks. This paper money could not be redeemed in gold, which contributed to creeping inflation. Prices in the North rose by about 80% during the war. To manage the added revenue moving in and out of the Treasury, Congress created a national banking system in 1863. This was the first unified banking network since Andrew Jackson vetoed the recharter of the Bank of the United States in the 1830s.

MODERNIZING NORTHERN SOCIETY: The war’s impact on the Northern economy was dramatic. Economic historians differ on the question of whether, in the short run, the war promoted or slowed the growth of the Northern economy. On the negative side, workers’ wages did not keep pace with inflation. On the other hand, there is little doubt that many aspects of a modern industrial economy were accelerated by the war. Because the war placed a premium on mass production and complex organization, it sped up the consolidation of the North’s manufacturing business. War profiteers took advantage of the government’s urgent needs for military supplies to sell shoddy goods at high prices- a problem that decreased after the federal government took control of the contract process away from the states. Fortunes made during the war produced a concentration of capital in the hands of a new class of millionaires who would fiancé the North’s industrialization in the postwar years. Republican politics also played a major role in stimulating the economic growth of the North and the West. Taking advantage of their wartime majority in Congress, the Republicans passed an ambitious economic program that included not only a national banking system but also the following:

Morrill Tariff Act (1861)- raised tariff rates to increase revenue and protect American manufacturers. Its passage initiated a Republican program of high protective tariffs to help industrialists.

Homestead Act (1862)- promoted settlement of the Great Plains by offering parcels of 160 acres of public land free to any person or family that farmed the land for at least five years.

Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)- encouraged state to use the sale of federal land grants to maintain agricultural and technical colleges.

Pacific Railway Act (18622)- authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad over a northern route in order to link the economies of California and the western territories with the eastern states.

Social ChangeAlthough every part of American society away from the battlefield was touched by the war, those most directly affected were

women, whose labors became more burdensome, and African Americans, who won emancipation.

WOMEN AT WORK: The absence of millions of men from their normal occupations in fields and factories added to the responsibilities of women in all regions. They stepped into the labor vacuum created by the war, operating farms and plantations and taking factory jobs customarily held by men. In addition, women played a critical role as military nurses and as volunteers in soldiers’ aid societies. When the war ended and the war veterans returned home, most urban women vacated their jobs in government and industry, while rural women gladly accepted male assistance on the farm. Of course, for the women whose men never returned- or returned disabled- the economic struggle continued for a lifetime. The Civil War had at least two permanent effects of American women. First, the field of nursing was now open to women for the first time; previously, hospitals employed only men as doctors and nurses. Second, the enormous responsibilities undertaken by women during the war gave impetus to the movement to obtain equal voting rights for women (the suffragists’ goal would not be achieved until women’s efforts in another way- WWI- finally convinced enough male conservatives to adopt the 19 th Amendment).

END OF SLAVERY: Both in the short run and the long run, the group in American society whose lives were most profoundly changed by the Civil War were those African Americans who had been born into slavery. After the adoption of the 13 th Amendment in 1865, 4 million people (3.5 million in Confederate states and 500,000 in border-states) were “freed men and women.” For these people and their descendants, economic hardship and political oppression would continue for generations. Even so, the end of slavery represented a momentous step. Suddenly, slaves with no rights were protected by the US Constitution, with open-ended possibilities of freedom. While four years of nearly total war, the tragic human loss of 750,000 lives, and an estimated $15 billion in war costs and property losses had enormous effects on the nation, far greater changes were set in motion. The Civil War destroyed slavery and devastated the Southern economy, and it also acted as a catalyst to transform America into a complex modern industrial society of capital, technology, national organizations, and large corporations. During the war, the Republicans were able to enact the pro-business Whig program that was designed to stimulate the industrial and commercial growth of the US. The characteristics of American democracy and its capitalist economy were strengthened.

HISTORIAL PERSPECTIVE: WHY DID THE UNION WIN THE WAR?

The Union’s victory in the Civil War was by no means inevitable. Why did the Union win and the CSA lose? To be sure, the Union had the advantage of a larger population and superior wealth, industry, and transportation. On the other hand, the CSA’s advantages were also formidable. The CSA needed merely to fight to a stalemate and hold out long enough to secure foreign recognition or intervention. The Union faced the more daunting challenge of having to conquer an area comparable in size to Western Europe. Some historians blame the CSA’s defeat on the overly aggressive military strategy of its generals. For example, Lee’s two invasions of the North leading to Antietam and Gettysburg resulted in a much higher loss of his own men, in percentage terms, than of his opponent’s forces. If the CSA had used more defensive and cautions tactics, they might have secured a military stalemate- and political victory (independence). Other historians blame the CSA’s loss on its political leadership. They argue that, compared to the Lincoln administration, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet were ineffective. Another weakness was the lack of a strong political party system in the CSA. Without a strong party, Davis had trouble developing a base of popular support. CSAs’ traditional emphasis on states’ rights also worked against a unified war effort. Governors of CSA states would withhold troops rather than yield to the central government’s urgent requests for cooperation. Vital supplies were also held back in state warehouses, where they remained until war’s end. Historian Henry S. Commager argued that slavery may have been responsible for the CSAs’ defeat. For one thing, slavery played a role in deterring European powers from intervening in support of the CSA and its backward institution. Beyond this, Commager also believed that slavery undermined the region’s ability to adapt to new challenges. It fostered an intolerant society, which lacked the “habit of independent inquiry and criticism.” Thus, according to Commager, the failure of the CSA was not a “failure of resolution or courage or will but of intelligence and morality.” If so, then the CSA’s attachment to an outdated institution- slavery- was what ultimately meant the difference between victory and defeat.

PRIMARY SOURCES—CIVIL WAR

“Almost brothers” divided by the Civil War, 1861 (Gilder Lehrman Collection)Braxton Bragg to Henry J. Hunt, April 21, 1861.

On April 12, 1861, Confederate officials informed Major Robert Anderson, US commander at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, that they would allow one hour for him to surrender his forces. When he refused, Confederates unleashed more than forty cannons on the fort and continued to hold it under fire for a day and a half. The attack on Fort Sumter marked the opening of the Civil War. This terrible conflict would divide families, separate former friends, and open rifts in communities.

The following exchange between two old Army friends illustrates the painful choices made by Americans after the surrender of Fort Sumter. At the time, the Confederate General Braxton Bragg was in command in Pensacola, Florida, while Union Colonel Henry Hunt was at Fort Pickens, just across the bay. Each was moved to explain their differences and to anticipate the consequences of the impending conflict. Bragg wrote to Hunt, noting the strangeness of their sudden enmity: “A few short months since companions in army, and almost brothers in friendship, it is hard to realize the fact that we are in hostile array against each other.” But as a Louisianan, Bragg wanted his Northern friend to appreciate how the “people, en-mass” of the Confederacy were ready for the fight. Henry Hunt, hailing from Michigan, responded with his own conviction that the “unity of our people will be eventually restored” when “the name of American will supersede that of northerner, and southerner.”

Excerpt of Bragg to Hunt, April 21, 1861How strange are the mutations of life! That we should be in hostile array against each other. A few short months

since companions in army, and almost brothers in friendship, it is hard to realize the fact that we are in hostile array against each other. But so it is, and tho’ I would have taken an oath that my old friend Hunt could never be the instrument of oppression in the hands of a Black Repub[lica]n yet we see strange things in this world, and even must be content to put up with it as we find it. Each one of us of course will follow the dictates of his own conscience.

Excerpt of Hunt to Bragg, April 23, 1861We must each as you say act according to the dictates of our consciences. Although you think my course a wrong

one you know that I never have felt and I do not feel now hostile to the South, her institutions or her people nor can I have toward them the feelings of an “alien enemy.” I trust and I believe notwithstanding the dark prospects before us, and although blood may flow like water, that the time will yet come – if neither of us fall in the struggle – when we will meet again not merely as friends, which I am sure we will continue to be, but as fellow citizens of a great, prosperous, happy and united country.

A Proclamation on the Suspension of Habeas Corpus, 1862 (Gilder Lehrman Collection)Abraham Lincoln, General Orders No. 141, September 25, 1862 (

The doctrine of habeas corpus is the right of any person under arrest to appear in person before the court, to ensure that they have not been falsely accused. The US Constitution specifically protects this right in Article I, Section 9: “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” Lincoln initially suspended habeas corpus in the volatile border state of Maryland in 1861 in order to try large numbers of civilian rioters in military courts and to prevent the movement of Confederate troops on Washington. The order was eventually extended in response to different threats. In the summer of 1862, President Lincoln had called up the state militias, leading to increased opposition to the Civil War within the Union. By General Orders No. 141, September 25, 1862, Lincoln subjected protestors to martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus.

The suspension of habeas corpus was one of Lincoln’s most controversial decisions. In the spring of 1863, General Ambrose Burnside arrested Peace Democrat Clement Vallandigham, who had been critical of the US government, and banned

publication of the Chicago Times, which was supportive of Vallandigham. Burnside’s actions drew widespread criticism, to which Lincoln responded by reducing Vallandigham’s sentence and revoking Burnside’s order suppressing the Times. Lincoln defended himself against charges that his administration had subverted the Constitution, however, arguing that acts that might be illegal in peace time might be necessary “in cases of rebellion,” when the nation’s survival was at stake.

African American soldiers at the Battle of Fort Wagner, 1863 (Gilder Lehrman Collection)On July 18, 1863, on Morris Island near Charleston, South Carolina, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, a

Union regiment of free African American men, began their assault on Fort Wagner, a Confederate stronghold. After the Civil War, a sergeant of the 54th, William Harvey Carney, became the first African American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for taking up the fallen Union flag and carrying it to the fort’s walls. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the regiment, was killed in the charge, along with 116 of his men, and the Union forces failed to capture the fort. Shaw, an abolitionist born to a prominent Boston family, had been recruited by Massachusetts governor John Andrew to raise and command the all-black regiment, the first regiment of African Americans recruited in the North.

Shortly after the battle, the printing firm of Currier and Ives commemorated the 54th’s charge, portraying black soldiers carrying the Union flag over the fort’s ramparts and into the Confederate phalanx. The Gilder Lehrman Collection has one of the few surviving copies of this print

The Gallant Charge of the Fifty Fourth Massachusetts Regiment

The Gettysburg Address, 1863 (Gilder Lehrman Collection)Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

On November 19, 1863, four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, a ceremony was held at the site in Pennsylvania to dedicate a cemetery for the Union dead. The battle had been a Union victory, but at great cost—about 23,000 Union casualties and 23,000 Confederate (a total of nearly 8,000 killed, 27,000 wounded, and 11,000 missing). At the cemetery dedication in November 1863, the day’s speakers found themselves tasked with finding the right words to commemorate those who had perished in the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

The main speaker was Edward Everett, a former US senator, governor of Massachusetts, and president of Harvard. President Lincoln had been invited to make a “few appropriate remarks” at the cemetery’s consecration. Some 15,000 people heard his speech.

Less than 275 words in length, Lincoln’s three-minute-long Gettysburg Address defined the meaning of the Civil War. Drawing upon the biblical concepts of suffering, consecration, and resurrection, he described the war as a momentous chapter in the global struggle for self-government, liberty, and equality. Lincoln told the crowd that the nation would “have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” He stated that the Union had to remain dedicated to “to the great task remaining before us” with “increased devotion to that cause for which” the dead had given “the last full measure of devotion.”

In his short address, Lincoln honored the fallen dead and framed those soldiers’ sacrifices and the war itself as necessary to the survival of the nation.

ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and

dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate— we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow— this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us— that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion— that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. President Lincoln’s 2 nd Inaugural Address, Delivered March 4, 1865-National Capitol (Gilder Lehrman Collection)

Just 701 words long, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address took only six or seven minutes to deliver, yet contains many of the most memorable phrases in American political oratory. The speech contained neither gloating nor rejoicing. Rather, it offered Lincoln’s most profound reflections on the causes and meaning of the war. The “scourge of war,” he explained, was best understood as divine punishment for the sin of slavery, a sin in which all Americans, North as well as South, were complicit. It describes a national moral debt that had been created by the “bondsmen’s 250 years of unrequited toil,” and ends with a call for compassion and reconciliation. Lincoln delivered this speech just one month before the end of the war and one month before his assassination.

Fellow-Countrymen:At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address

than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

With its biblical allusions, alliteration, repetition, and parallel structure, and its reliance on one-syllable words, the address has the power of a sermon. It incorporates many of the themes of the religious revivals: sin, sacrifice, and redemption. At a White House reception, President Lincoln encountered Frederick Douglass. “I saw you in the crowd today,

listening to my inaugural address,” the president remarked. “How did you like it?” “Mr. Lincoln,” Douglass answered, “that was a sacred effort.”

Lincoln’s Interpretation of the Civil War (Gilder Lehrman Collection)On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time. The setting itself reflected how

much had changed in the past four years. When Lincoln delivered his First Inaugural Address, the new Capitol dome, which replaced the original wooden one, was only half-complete. Now the Statue of Freedom crowned the finished edifice, symbolizing the reconstitution of the nation on the basis of universal liberty. For the first time in American history, companies of black soldiers marched in the inaugural parade.

It must have been very tempting for Lincoln to use his address to review the progress of the war and congratulate himself and the nation on impending victory with the end of slavery and bloodshed in sight. Instead, he delivered a speech of almost unbelievable brevity and humility. He began by stating that there was no need for an “extended address” or an elaborate discussion of “the progress of our arms.” He refused to make any prediction as to when the war would end. One week after the inauguration, Senator Thomas A. Bayard of Delaware wrote that he had “slowly and reluctantly” come to understand the war’s “remote causes.” He did not delineate them as Lincoln chose to do in his Second Inaugural Address. Slavery, Lincoln stated, was the reason for the war: “One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves. Not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war.”

Lincoln, as always, was forthright yet chose his words carefully. Referring to the slaves as “one-eighth of the whole population” suggested that they were part of the nation, not an exotic, unassimilable element, as he had once viewed them. “Peculiar,” of course, was how Southerners themselves had so often described slavery. “Powerful” evoked Republicans’ prewar rhetoric about the Slave Power. To say that slavery was the cause placed responsibility for the bloodshed on the South. Yet Lincoln added simply, “and the war came,” seemingly avoiding the assignment of blame. The war, Lincoln continued, had had unanticipated consequences:

Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding.

The “astounding” outcome, of course, was the destruction of slavery. Countless Northern ministers had pointed to this as evidence of divine sanction for the Union war effort. Lincoln took a different approach. Rejecting self-congratulation, he offered a remarkably philosophical reflection on of the war’s larger meaning:

If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

Despite having promised not to judge the South, Lincoln, of course, does so in this address. He reiterates his condemnation of slavery as a theft of labor, combining this with the most direct allusion in all his writings to the institution’s physical brutality. Lincoln was reminding the country that the “terrible” violence of the Civil War had been preceded by two and a half centuries of the terrible violence of slavery. Yet Lincoln calls it “American slavery,” not Southern slavery in the passage above: his point being that the nation as a whole was guilty of this sin.

Lincoln had long favored monetary compensation to the owners of emancipated slaves. The Second Inaugural Address, however, implicitly shifts the moral equation from what was due to slaveholders to the nation’s obligation to the slaves. This passage, one of the most remarkable in American letters, echoes the abolitionists’ view of slavery as a national evil deeply embedded in all the institutions of society and of the war itself as a “judgment of the Almighty” for this sin. Lincoln’s words, an Illinois newspaper observed, “might claim paternity of Wendell Phillips.” Indeed, the radical editors of the Chicago Tribune pointed out that they had said much the same thing as Lincoln two and a half years earlier in a piece entitled

“Justice of the Almighty,” even as they acknowledged that their exposition was not “so admirably condensed” as Lincoln’s. The Tribune had referred to the likely destruction of “the sum total of profit that has been derived from slaveholding,” and how “our own sufferings” were “balance[d]” by the “bloodshed and tears” of two centuries of slavery.

Not for the first time, Lincoln had taken ideas that circulated in anti-slavery circles and distilled them into something uniquely his own. Through the delivery of the Second Inaugural Address, he was asking the entire nation to confront unblinkingly the legacy of the long history of bondage. What were the requirements of justice in the face of those 250 years of unpaid labor? What was necessary to enable the former slaves, their children, and their descendants to enjoy the pursuit of happiness he had always insisted was their natural right but that had been so long denied to them? Lincoln did not live to provide an answer. But even implicitly raising these questions suggested the magnitude of the task that lay ahead.After the passage in which Lincoln, like Puritan preachers of old, struggles to understand the causes of God’s anger with his chosen people, he closes his Second Inaugural with the eloquent words most often remembered:

With malice toward none; with charity for all; . . . let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

Lincoln had been thinking a great deal about the process of reconciliation. In the first weeks of 1865, he had urged military commanders and Governor Thomas C. Fletcher to encourage the people of Missouri to abandon their internecine violence and let bygones be bygones rather than seeking vengeance. Neighborhood meetings, Lincoln suggested, should be held where all would agree to forget “whatever they may heretofore have thought, said or done . . . Each leaving all others alone, solves the problem.” Left unresolved in Lincoln’s Missouri initiative and in the Second Inaugural itself was the tension between mercy to the former slaveowners and justice to the former slaves. Would the pursuit of one inevitably vitiate the other? “Equality before the law,” the Radical Republican leader Charles Sumner insisted, must precede forgiveness. “Then at last will come reconciliation, and not before.”

Frederick Douglass, who was in the audience, called the Second Inaugural “more like a sermon than a state paper.” In a speech of only 700 words, Lincoln had referred to God or the Almighty eight times and liberally quoted and paraphrased the Bible. Lincoln, of course, had long since acquired a deep knowledge of the Bible. And during the war, while he never joined a church, he seems to have undergone a spiritual awakening. Especially after the death of his young son Willie in 1862, Lincoln moved away from his earlier religious skepticism. Lincoln had long believed that a remote higher power controlled human destiny. He now concluded that God intervened directly in the world, although in ways men could not always fathom. Yet he managed to see the war as a divine punishment for slavery while avoiding the desire for blame and vengeance. If Lincoln’s Second Inaugural was a sermon, it was quite different from those that Northerners had grown accustomed to hearing during the Civil War.

After the address, Douglass repaired with some 5,000 other persons to the White House. When he stepped forward to offer congratulations, Lincoln clasped his hand and said, “My dear Sir, I am glad to see you.” Douglass called the speech a “sacred effort.” Not every listener was as kind. Particularly harsh was the New York World, which printed the speech “with a blush of shame.” It was an “odious libel,” the editors complained, to equate the blood that “trickled from the lacerated backs of the negroes” with the carnage of “the bloodiest war in history.” Many Republicans also found the speech puzzling. Why, they asked, had Lincoln not promised an end to the war and laid out “some definite line of policy” regarding Reconstruction? A few contemporaries recognized the greatness of the address. Charles Francis Adams Jr., the colonel of a black regiment, wrote to his father, the ambassador in London: “That rail-splitting lawyer is one of the wonders of the day. . . . This inaugural strikes me in its grand simplicity and directness as being for all time the historical keynote of this war.” Overall, as Lincoln himself recognized, the address was “not immediately popular,” although he remained confident that it would “wear as well—perhaps better than—anything I have produced.” Lincoln thought he knew why people did not like his speech: “Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them.” Yet even in its critical reception, everyone could agree with George Templeton Strong as he noted in his diary that the Second Inaugural was “unlike any American state paper of this century.”

Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, is the author of numerous books on the Civil War and Reconstruction. His most recent book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (2010), has received the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Lincoln Prize.

President Lincoln Shot by an Assassin (Reprint of the NY TIMES Article)

Official:War Department, Washington April 15, 1:30 A.M.- Maj. Gen. Dis.: This evening at about 9:30 P.M. at Ford’s Theatre,

the President, while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Harris, and Major Rathburn, was shot by an assassin, who suddenly entered the box and appeared behind the President. The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife, and made his escape in the rear of the theatre. The pistol ball entered the back of the President’ s head and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now dying.

About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, entered Mr. Seward’s apartments, and under the pretense of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretary’s sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed to the bed, and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. It is hoped the wounds may not be mortal. My apprehension is that they will prove fatal. The nurse alarmed Mr. Frederick Seward, who was in an adjoining room, and hastened to the door of his father’s room, when he met the assassin., who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of Frederick Seward is doubtful. It is not probable that the President will live throughout the night.

Gen. Grant and wife were advertised to be at the theatre this evening, but he started to Burlington [NJ] at 6 o’clock this evening. At a Cabinet meeting at which Gen. Grant was present, the subject of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace was discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful, and spoke very kindly of Gen. Lee and others of the Confederacy, and of the establishment of government in Virginia. All the members of the Cabinet except Mr. Seward are now in attendance upon the President. I have seen Mr. Seward, but he and Frederick were both unconscious.

-Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War

Details of the Occurrence:Washington, Friday, April 14, 12:30 A.M.- The President was shot in a theater tonight, and is perhaps mortally

wounded. Secretary Seward was also assassinated.

Second DispatchWashington, Friday, April 14- President Lincoln and wife, with other friends, this evening visited Ford’s Theatre for

the purpose of witnessing the performance of the “American Cousin.” It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but he took the late train of cars for New Jersey.

The theater was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act, and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggesting nothing serious, until a man rushed to the front of the President’s box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, and exclaiming, “Sic semper tyrannis,” [thus always to tyrants] and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the opposite side, making his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theater, and mounting a horse, fled.

The screams of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact to the audience that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet, rushing toward the stage, many exclaiming “Hang him! Hang him!” The excitement was of the wildest possible description, and of course there was an abrupt termination of the theatrical performance.

There was a rush toward the President’s box, when cries were heard: “Stand back and give him air.” Has anyone stimulants?” On a hasty examination, it was found that the President had been shot through the head, above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of the brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite to the theatre, and the Surgeon-General of the army and other surgeons sent for to attend to his condition.

On an examination of the private box blood was discovered on the back of the cushioned rocking chair on which the President had been sitting, also on the partition and on the floor. A common single-barreled pocket pistol was found on the carpet. A military guard was placed in front of the private residence to which the President had been conveyed. An immense

crowd was in front of it, all deeply anxious to learn the condition of the President. It had been previously announced that the wound was mortal but all hoped otherwise. The shock to the community was terrible.

The President was in a state of syncope, totally insensible, and breathing slowly. The blood oozed from the wound at the back of his head. The surgeons exhausted every effort of medical skill, but all hope was gone. The partying of his family with the dying President is too sad for description. At midnight, the Cabinet, with Messrs. Sumner, Colfax and Farnsworth, Judge Curtis, Gov. Oglesby, Gen. Meigs, Col. Hay, and a few personal friends, with Surgeon-General Barnes and his immediate assistants, were around his bedside.

The President and Mrs. Lincoln did not start for the theatre until fifteen minutes after eight o’clock. Speaker Colfax was at the White House at the time, and the President stated to him that he was going, although Mrs. Lincoln had not been well, because, the papers had announced that Gen. Grant and they were to be present, and, as Gen. Grant had gone North, he did not wish the audience to be disappointed. He went with apparent reluctance and urged Mr. Colfax to go with him; but that gentleman had made other engagements, and with Mr. Ashman, of Massachusetts, bid him good-bye.

When the excitement of the theatre was at its wildest height, reports were circulated that Secretary Seward had also been assassinated. On reaching this gentleman’s residence a crowd and a military guard were found at the door, and on entering it was ascertained that the reports were based on truth. Everybody there was so excited that scarcely an intelligible word could be gathered, but the facts are substantially as follows:

About 10 o’clock a man rang the bell, and the call having been answered by a colored servant, he said he had come from Dr. Verdi, Secretary Seward’s family physician, with a prescription, at the same time holding in his hand a small piece of folded paper, and saying in answer to a refusal that he must see the Secretary, making the same representation which he did to the servant. What further passed in the way of colloquy is not known, but the man struck him on the head with a “billy,” severely injuring the skull and felling him almost senseless. The assassin then rushed into the chamber and attacked Major [Frederick] Seward, Paymaster of the United States army and Mr. Hansell, a messenger of the State Department and two male nurses, disabling them all, he then rushed upon the Secretary, who was lying in bed in the same room, and inflicted three stabs in the neck, but severing, it is thought and hoped, no arteries, though he bled profusely. The assassin then rushed downstairs, mounted his horse at the door, and rode off before an alarm could be sounded, and in the same manner as the assassin of the President. It is believed that the injuries of the Secretary are not fatal, nor those of either of the others, although the Secretary and Assistant Secretary are very seriously injured.

Secretaries Stanton and Welles, and other prominent officers of the government, called at Secretary Seward’s home to inquire into his condition, and there heard of the assassination of the President. They then proceeded to the house where he was lying, exhibiting of course intense anxiety and solicitude. An immense crowd was gathering in front of the President’s house, and a strong guard was also stationed there, many persons evidently supposing he would be brought to his home.

The entire city tonight presents a scene of wild excitement, accompanied by violent expressions of indignation, and the profoundest sorrow; many shed tears. The military authorities have dispatched mounted patrols in every direction, in order, if possible, to arrest the assassin. The whole metropolitan police are likewise vigilant for the same purpose.

The attacks both at the theatre and at Secretary Seward’s house took place at about the same hour, 10 o’clock, thus showing a pre-concerted plan to assassinate those gentlemen. Some evidence of the guilt of the party who attacked the President are in the possession of the police. Vice-President Johnson is in the city, and his headquarters are guarded by troops.

© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

Announcement of the Death of President Lincoln to the Vice-PresidentApril 15, 1865Andrew Johnson,Vice-President of the United States

SIR: Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was shot by an assassin last evening at Ford’s Theater, in this city, and died at the hour of twenty-two minutes after 7 o’clock. About the same time at which the President was shot an assassin entered the sick chamber of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, and stabbed him in several places- in the throat, neck, and face- severely if not mortally wounding him. Other members of the Secretary’s family were dangerously wounded by the assassin while making his escape. By the death of President Lincoln the office of President has devolved, under the Constitution, upon you. The emergency of the Government demands that you should immediately qualify, according to the requirements of the Constitution, and enter upon the duties of President of the United States. It you will please make known your pleasure, such arrangements as you deem proper will be made.

Your obedient servants,

HUGH MCCULLOCH W. DENNISON EDWIN M. STANTONSecretary of the Treasury Postmaster-General Secretary of War

J.P. USHER GIDEON WELLES JAMES SPEEDSecretary of the Interior Secretary of the Navy Secretary of the Interior

The Vice-President responded that it would be agreeable to him to qualify himself for the high office to which he had been so unexpectedly called, under such melancholy circumstances, at his rooms at the Kirkwood Hotel; and at 11 o’clock A.M. (15 th) the oath of office was administered to him by Chief Justice Chase, of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the presence of nearly all the Cabinet officers; the Hon. Solomon Foot, United States Senator from Vermont; the Hon. Alexander Ramsey, United States Senator from Minnesota; the Hon. Richard Yates, United States Senator from Illinois, the Hon. John P. Hale, late Senator from New Hampshire; General Farnsworth, of the House of Represenatives from Illinois; F.P. Blair, sr.; Hon. Montgomery Blair, late Postmaster-Genera;, and some others.

CITATION: Abraham Lincoln: “Announcement of the Death of President Lincoln to the Vice-President,” April 15, 1865. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, the American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=70084 Eyewitness to History: A Cavalryman’s Account of the Chase and Capture of John Wilkes Booth

On April 24, 1865, the 16th NY Cavalry, a detachment of 26 men under the command of Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty, was sent from Washington in pursuit of John Wilkes Booth. One of the troop’s members was Private John W. Millington. Millington, who for many years lived in Portland, Oregon, wrote an account of his part in the capture of John Wilkes Booth. He gave his notes to a professor at Henson Tech. The professor’s name was C. Louis Barzee. These notes were published in the Portland Journal newspaper by reporter Fred Lockley in three separate installments in early February, 1937. The text of Millington’s published notes is as follows:

“On the morning of April 15, 1865, I was on guard, when news came that President Lincoln had been shot at Lincoln’s theater” wrote Millington. “We were ordered to form part of a cordon to prevent the assassin from escaping. Our company was deployed through the brush. It was a chilly day and a cold rain was falling. A few days later we were ordered to Washington, where we served as an escort at Lincoln’s funeral. We were held in Washington, quartered in the J street barracks. On April 24 I returned from a patrol and put my horse into the stable, leaving him saddles, and fed him and went to the barracks to set something to eat. Before I had finished eating, “boots and saddles” was sounded and there was a rush to the stables. We were ordered to fall in as fast as we led out, disregarding company formation.

As my horse was already saddled, I slipped on his bridle, led him out of the stable and mounted. I was next on the left of the sergeant. We were ordered to count off in hours. We went to Pennsylvania Avenue and out 14 th street about opposite the old Willard Hotel. We halted just in front of the office of Colonel Barker, chief of government detectives and scouts. Our lieutenant, Dougherty, reported, and in a few moments he and two detectives, Lieutenants Conger and Baker, came out and mounted, and the order to march was given. We rode to the wharf of the navy yard, on the east branch of the Potomac, or the Anacostia River, where we took the steamer John S. ide and started down the Potomac.

Lieutenant Dougherty showed us a photograph of Booth and told us he had crossed the Potomac near Port Tobacco. We arrived at Acquia Creek and went ashore about 10 o’clock that night. We started scouting through the country, searching all houses and buildings, routing out the inmates and making a thorough search. Next morning early we met some men who had been fishing. They said that a closed hack had passed a few days before, with two men in it. A Confederate captain was in charge, who warned them not to come near. They thought one of the men in the carriage resembled the photograph that we showed them of Booth. We were then on the road to the Rappahannock, toward Fort Conway, where we arrived about 2 o’clock. We had not eaten since leaving Washington, so we were told to fall out and rustle some rations. When I returned, with four comrades, we saw some of our company crossing the river in a scow about 20 feet long and 8 feet wide. This ferryboat could hold 10 men with horses, at a trip. In our turn we crossed the river. Mr. Rowlen, owner of the ferry, said he had ferried a carriage a few days previously, and that Captain Jett, formerly of Mosby’s command, was in charge. He believed we would be apt to find him near Bowling Green, about 15 miles from Port Royal, and he volunteered to guide us. Our command was across the river by 4 pm and we started. We had traveled about three miles and were approaching the Garrett Farm, when we met a man on horseback, who turned and fled. Some of our men pursued, but he escaped in the young pines and as it was nearly dusk he escaped. We arrived at Bowling Green at 11 o’clock that night. We left our horses, with every fourth man counted out to hold the horses. We surrounded the hotel, where we captured Captain Jett. At first he refused to tell us where he had left the two men, but after some forcible persuasion he agreed to show us. He said he didn’t know who they were, except that they were Confederate soldiers who had got into trouble in Maryland and wanted to hide out until the trouble had blown over.

Jett agreed to guide us to where the two men were. He led us back on the road by which we had come, to within about three miles of Port Royal. He pointed out a house some distance from the road. We opened the gate carefully and, after surrounding the house, knocked at the door. Garrett came to the door. Asked where the two men were, he said “I know nothing about any men being here.” Our officer said to a trooper, “Untie your picket rope. We’ll hand the old man and see if it will refresh his memory.” A young man ran in the direction of an outbuilding and asked, “What do you men want?” Our officer said, “We want the two men who are stopping here and at once.” He said, “They’re in the barn.” Part of our company was detailed to surround the barn and part to surround the house. I was with the party sent to the barn. Our lieutenant, who heard some whispering in the barn, called,” Came out at once.” One of the men inside the barn asked, “Who are you?” Our official said, “It doesn’t make any difference who we are, but we know who you are. You had better come out at once.” The man in the barn who had done the talking was the man we were after- Booth. He refused to come out. He said, “If you will withdraw your men 30 rods, I will come out and we’ll shoot it out.” We could hear Booth accusing the man who was with him, David E. Harold, of being a coward. Harold was willing to surrender and Booth said, “You’re a coward to desert me.”

Finally, Booth called out and said, “Harold will surrender, but I will not.” Our captain said, “Tell Harold to pass out his arms and come out.” Booth said, “Harold has no arms. They belong to me.” Our officer told Harold to come to the door. He came and as he opened the door Lieutenant Dougherty grabbed him and pulled him out. With a picket rope he tired him to a locust tree, called me and told me to guard him. I said to Harold, “Who was in the barn with you? Was it Booth?” He said, “Yes, Booth is in the barn” and he added, “Booth told me, when he asked me to help him, that he was going to kidnap Lincoln; he didn’t tell me he was going to kill him.” I said, “When you learned that Booth had killed Lincoln, why did you help him to escape?” Harold said, “Booth threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him get away. Booth came out of the rear of the theater immediately after shooting Lincoln and we went to Dr. Mudd’s home. After Dr. Mudd had set Booth’s leg we went to Port Tobacco and hid that day. That night we got a fisherman to take us over the river into Virginia. It was so rough and the fisherman said it was unsafe, but Booth told him we had to cross at once and he would kill him if he didn’t take us.”

Once more the officer summoned Booth to surrender. Booth responded, “I’ll fight you single-handed, but I’ll never surrender.” Detective Conger went to the opposite side of the barn and lit some loose straw under the sill. I heard a shot and a moment later saw the door was open. Booth had been shot through the neck. They brought him out, carried him to the Garrett house and put him on the porch. When Booth was carried from the barn to the porch he was unconscious, but presently came to. A soldier was sent to Port Royal for a doctor, who arrived about daylight. When he tried to give Booth some medicine, he shook his head and said it was useless. Booth then added, “Tell my mother that what I did I did for the good of the country.”

The two Garrett boys had returned home shortly before we got there. They had been with Mosby’s command. One of them had a young wife and there was a tearful scene when our officer told the boys they would have to go to Washington with us. Captain Jett was allowed to escape. I understood at the time that if he guided us to Booth and Harold he would not be held. Meanwhile, the barn had burned down and some of the men were hunting in the ruins for relics. They found two revolvers and one of our boys got Booth’s carbine. The revolvers were spoiled in the fire. Booth lived about three hours. He was wrapped in a government blanket, his body was placed in an old wagon and a Negro drove the rig to Acquia Creek, which we reached at dusk.

When we arrived at Acquia Creek we went aboard a vessel. I was ordered to stay in the cabin and guard Harold. Another trooper was stationed outside the door. Harold was soon sound asleep on the floor. When I was relieved, I was cold, as I had no overcoat, so I went below and lay down near the boiler and slept until we arrived near one of the monitors at Washington. After we were made fast, the lieutenant ordered me to help carry Booth’s body aboard the monitor. We laid his body on the deck. I was tired and hungry and much more interested in getting to barracks for a good meal and a good sleep than knowing what was to become of Harold and Booth’s body. I stabled my horse and went at once to my bunk. When I awoke, about 10 o’clock, the papers had long articles about the killing of Booth and the capture of Harold.

http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln73.html TIME 5B (1861-1877)

Name: ____________________________________________________________ Date: ______________________

QUESTIONS- Civil War Readings

1. Northern advantages in the Civil War included all of the following EXCEPT:a. General agreement over war aims c. A superior navy b. A superior railroad network d. Great capacity to produce military equipment

2. All of the following were part of the initial Union strategy to win the Civil War EXCEPT:a. Keeping the border states in the Unionb. Control of the Mississippi Riverc. The capture of Richmondd. Emancipation of slaves in the seceded states

3. The Confederate government was able to achieve which of the following goals?a. Recognition of foreign power c. A strong central governmentb. Frequent victories over Union armies d. A stable monetary system

4. President Lincoln was reluctant to emancipate the slaves in the first year of the Civil War because:a. He feared that freeing the slaves would bring England into the Warb. Congress was opposed to emancipationc. He feared that emancipation would drive out the border states out of the Uniond. He had always been opposed to the abolitionists in his party

5. Which of the following best describes the immediate effect of the Emancipation Proclamation?a. Slaves in the border-states became freeb. The abolition of slavery in Confederate territory became one of the North’s war goalsc. Lincoln’s reelection was assuredd. Draft riots erupted in NYC

6. Lee’s major reason for invading northern territory in 1863 was to:a. Win foreign recognition for the Confederacyb. Obtain military suppliesc. Break the Union blockaded. Destroy the North’s industrial capacity

7. The economic impact of the Civil War included all of the following EXCEPT:a. An increasing number of women in the labor forceb. Widespread destruction of property in the Southc. Creation of a national banking system in the Northd. Reduced rate of industrial production in the North

8. Which of the following accurately describes northern politics during the Civil War?

a. Democrats challenged Republicans for control of national and state officesb. Republicans were united behind Lincoln’s leadershipc. The suspension of habeas corpus discouraged many Democrats from votingd. Copperhead candidates campaigned for equal rights for women

9. All of the following were factors in the defeat of the South in 1865 EXCEPT:a. Shortages caused by the Union’s naval blockadeb. Grant’s war of attrition in Virginiac. Sherman’s march through Georgiad. Slave uprisings against southern plantations

10. One of the long-term political consequences of northern victory was:a. Final defeat of the southern concept of the Constitution as a compact of statesb. Continuing sectional conflict over the issue of slaveryc. A balance of power in Congress between the North and the Southd. Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus