Civil War

United States HistoryMrs. O’Shea

1860 Presidential ElectionAbraham Lincoln won

• 39% popular vote• 180 electoral votes• not a single electoral vote from South• Name did not appear on many

southern ballots

1860 ELECTION RESULTS

Southern Secession South Carolina seceded in

Dec. 1860 6 others states followed =

TexasLouisianaMississippiAlabamaFlorida

Georgia Created Confederate States

of America

Fort Sumter• Federal fort outside

Charleston, SC• Federal supply ship shot at by

Confederates• Lincoln wanted to preserve

Union – must protect fort• April 12, 1861 – Confederates

seize fort• Lincoln called on loyal states to

supply 750,000 militiamen to subdue the rebellion.

• Ordered blockade of southern ports.

Battle of Bull Run• Union troops – not prepared• Sent by Lincoln to capture Richmond –

Confederate capital city• Met with 32,000 Confederate troops outside of

Manassas. • Union troops were sent running back to

Washington, D.C.IMPORTANCE

• Boosted Confederates morale• Signaled to Union that they needed to prepare

for a real war

CASUALTIES • Heavy casualties on both

sides – killed, wounded, captured, or MIA

• Disease (typhoid fever, dysentery, salmonella, gangrene, malaria)

Casualties (deaths)

Revolutionary War = 4,400Mexican American War = 13,000Civil War = 600,000WWI = 115,000WWII = 407,000Korean War = 33,000Vietnam War = 58,000War in Iraq = 4,244 (as of February 13, 2009)Really rough estimates – Mrs. O’SheaReally rough estimates – Mrs. O’Shea

Casualties (deaths)

4,400 13,000

600,000

115,000

407,000

4,24433,000 58,000

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Lincoln and Slavery

• “Preserve the Union”• Personally opposed to slavery• Came to regard abolishing slavery as a

strategy for winning war

• Slave working in field = one more Southerner fighting in

fields

Emancipation Proclamation p. 396• effectively removed any

chance of a negotiated settlement between the North and the South.

• The Emancipation Proclamation caused an outcry to rise from the South who said that Lincoln was trying to stir up slave rebellion.

• The North now had a much stronger moral cause.  It had to preserve the Union and free the slaves.

African Americans in War• July 1862 – Congress allows African-Americans to

join military• January 1, 1863 – Emancipation Proclamation –

encouraged freed slaves to fight• By 1865 – 180,000 African Americans had enlisted

(10% of troops)• Less pay• Black regiments – white officers• 54th Massachusetts Infantry – bravery in attack on

Ft. Wagner – first medal of honor (Sergeant William Carney) GLORY

Plans to Win!!!

• Union – attacked from West and East – Anaconda Plan (choke them)

• Confederacy – attacked Union through Virginia (scare Northerners – fuel anti-war movement in North)

Gettysburg Address

• Dedication of cemetery• Honors Union soldiers• Expresses grief of nation• Necessity of preserving the Union

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1512410

North – StrategyAnaconda Plan – General Winfield Scott

Slowly entwine and crush

Bull Run• Bull Run Ends the "Ninety-Day War"• President Abraham Lincoln concluded that an attack on

a smaller Confederate force at Bull Run would be worth trying.  If successful, the victory would show the superiority of Union arms and might eventually lead to the capture of Richmond. 

• On July 21, 1861, the Union and Confederate forces met.  A Union victory was thought to be for sure, as evident when spectators showed up.  The Confederates won as "Stonewall" Jackson held his line of Confederate soldiers until reinforcements arrived.

Antietam• The Pivotal Point:  Antietam• After General Lee crushed McClellan's forces in Richmond, Lee moved

northward.  In the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 29-30, 1862), General Lee defeated General Pope's Union forces. 

• As Lee moved into Maryland, he met McClellan's forces again at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.  McClellan managed to halt Lee's forces after his forces discovered Lee's battle plans.  Although not a victory, the Union stopped the Confederate march northward.

• Antietam provided Lincoln with the military backing to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 23, 1862.  On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued a final proclamation.  Lincoln now made the Civil War a war to end slavery because he declared that "the rebels could not experiment for 10 years trying to destroy the government and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt."

• The Confiscation Act of 1862 punished "traitors" by declaring their slaves property of war who shall be free.

Total War• extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified

by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly • unlawful deportation, transfer, or confinement.• It was adopted in August 1949, and defines humanitarian

protections for civilians in a war zone, and outlaws the practice of total war.

• Art. 53. Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

“War is cruelty. The crueler it is, the sooner it

will be over.”

Sherman’s March p. 412

• Union General William Sherman’s total war

• GOAL = destroy the Confederacy's ability to wage further war

• 300 mile path of destruction – destroying railroads, bridges, factories, livestock, crops, etc.

• Most likely speed up the ending of the war

South Surrenders

Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia (private home – not a court building)

-take horses and go home-obey laws

April 9, 1865

Lincoln Assassinated

• April 14, 1865 • John Wilkes Booth – wanted to

kidnap in exchange for Confederate prisoners.

• Changed plans – killed Lincoln• Ford’s Theater

Execution