Chapter 6: Civil War and

ReconstructionCore Lesson 1:

A Nation at War

North Against South• The Union and

Confederacy had different strengths.

• Border states– A slave state that stayed

in the Union– Missouri, Kentucky,

Maryland, and Delaware

North Against South

• Northern advantages– Population• North: 22 million• South: 9 million (1/3 were

slaves = not soldiers)

– Factories• Make supplies and weapons

– More Railroad Transportation• Move soldiers and supplies

North Against South

• Southern advantages– Land knowledge• Most fighting

occurred in South

– Military leaders• General Robert E. Lee

– Fought in Mexican War

North Against South

• Plans for War– Union’s strategy• Navy block southern seaports and

control Mississippi River• Attack in East and West at same

time

– Confederacy’s strategy• Fight off Union until they could

survive as a separate nation• Hoped for help from Britain and

France b/c of need for cotton

North Against South• The War in the East– First Battle of Bull Run • July 21, 1861• Union going to capture

Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia• Union and Confederacy

fought at stream near Manassas• Union retreated in panic

– Worse than expected

– People realized it would not be a short war

North Against South

Review:What was the

Confederacy’s plan for winning the war?

The War’s Leaders• Military and political leaders

played important roles during the war.

• 1862 – Union tried to capture Richmond, VI twice but was defeated by Lee and his army

• Battle of Antietam– Lee went to invade North but

stopped by Union army– Deadliest day of the war– 2 armies suffered at least 23,000

casualties• Soldiers who are killed or wounded• Lee lost so many he returned to Virginia

The War’s Leaders• The War in the West– General Ulysses S. Grant led

Union army• Captured several Confederate forts• Won the Battle of Shiloh

– Union navy attacked New Orleans

– By 1863, only major Confederate town on Mississippi R. was Vicksburg, MI• Confederate soldiers could shoot

at ships from cliffs• Union needed to capture in order

to control Mississippi R.

The Governments Respond• Jefferson Davis faced

problems– Union blockade = not

enough food, weapons, or money to fight

– Not enough people wanted to fight

– Began a draft• Government selection of

people to serve in the military• Confederate states often

ignored Davis

The Governments Respond• Abraham Lincoln faced

problems– Hard to get support for

war– Started a draft

• Rich could pay to get out of draft

• Upset people who could not afford to pay and had to fight

• In NYC a riot (violent protest) lasted for days which thousands of soldiers had to stop

The Governments Respond

Review:Why did people in

the North oppose the draft?

Turning Points• Events in 1863 helped the Union

become stronger in the Civil War.• Lincoln’s plan changes– Began war not planning to free

slaves– Hoped to unite people in Union by

ending slavery – Emancipation Proclamation (Jan.

1, 1863)• Freeing of enslaved people• Freed slaves in Confederacy but not

border states• Changed what the war was about (no

longer to save the Union, but to end slavery)

Turning Points• Vicksburg and

Gettysburg– Battle of Vicksburg (in

West)• General Grant’s army

surrounded Vicksburg • Fired cannons into town

for 6 weeks• July 4, 1863 Vicksburg

surrendered• Union controlled

Mississippi R. and cut off TX and Arkansas from the rest of the South

Turning Points• Vicksburg and Gettysburg– Battle of Gettysburg (in East)• Lee invaded Union into

Pennsylvania• July 1, 1863 battle begins near

Gettysburg• Third day fighting

– 14,000 confederate soldiers came across open field toward Union

– Union attacked with rifle and cannon fire = injured/killed ½ Confederate soldiers = retreat

– Union victory

Turning Points

• Vicksburg and Gettysburg– July 1863 = turning

point of war– President Lincoln gave

short speech = Gettysburg Address• Declared Union was

fighting to make sure American democracy would survive

Turning Points

Review:Why was the victory at Vicksburg important to

the Union?

Why It Matters…

With the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War became a fight to

end slavery in the Confederate States.