CivilWarNotesStromie

The Civil War

November 1860 - Lincoln elected President:

A. Lincoln

Republican

180 E.V.

J. Breckenridge

Southern Dem

72 E.V.

S. Douglas

Northern Dem

12 E.V.

John Bell

Constitutional Union

39 E.V.

Lincoln wins with 40% of the popular vote - he was not even on the ballot in seven southern states!

December 20, 1860 - South Carolina secedes

Unanimous Vote 169 - 0

Passed the "Ordinance of Secession"

"Declaration of the Immediate Causes of Secession"

Explanation of secession

Congress made one last attempt to keep the Union together.

Crittenden (KY) Amendment proposed:

· New 36 degree 30 minute line - keep slavery limited to that area

· Amend the Constitution, if necessary

It Failed!!

Other States followed South Carolina's lead:

Mississippi

Jan. 9

Florida

Jan. 10

Alabama

Jan. 11

Georgia

Jan. 19

(61 - 39)

(164 - 133)

Louisiana

Jan. 26

Texas

Feb. 1

Georgia was the key to the plan to secede.

Southern representatives met in Montgomery, AL and created the Confederate States of America. Same as US Constitution except for a couple of points.

CSA - Jefferson Davis - President

Alexander Stephens - Vice President

Richmond, VA will be the CSA capital

Pro Secessionist

Anti-Secessionist

Joseph E. Brown

Alex. H. Stephens (VP)

Robert Toombs (sec. of state) Benjamin H. Hill

Howell Cobb

Herschel V. Johnson

Ft. Sumter - April 12, 1861 - 4:30 am

p.312

South - General PGT Beauregard North - Major Anderson

· Union troops control the fort -- Charleston harbor

· The "federal" fort is cut off from the North

· Lincoln sends in supplies and reinforcements

· Using men from the Citadel, the Confederates fire before aid arrives

· Anderson eventually surrenders the fort - no one died (just a horse)

Results from Ft. Sumter:

· Lincoln called for 75,000 troops

· It forced the border states to decide

Virginia, Arkansas, Tenn and N. Carolina secede after this.

Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky waited. The key was Maryland. If Maryland seceded, D.C. would be surrounded. Lincoln couldn't let that happen.

Lincoln Acted -

1. April 27th - Lincoln declared martial law in Maryland

2. Jailed Confederate supporters

3. Maryland voted to stay in the Union - what a surprise!

R.E. Lee offered control of the Union Army - declines!!!!!

Civil War

Advantages / Disadvantages

NORTHSOUTH

24 States

Population

11 States

23 million people

States

9 million (3.5 mil)

Urban

Lifestyle

Rural

22,000 unified

RR Track

9,000 ununified

106,000 acres

Farmland

57,000 acres

120,000

Factories

21,000

$1.8 billion

MFG Goods

$160 million

1,200,000

Ind. Workers

110,000

US Navy

Naval Vessels Privateers

To Win

Fighting

Not to Lose

Average

Military Officers

Far Superior

· 1 out of every 65 would be killed (V.W. 1/270)

· 1 out of every 10 would be wounded

· Average soldier was 25 years old

· Avg. Ht. 5'8" / Avg. Wt. 143 lbs.

· Most thought the war would last 2-3 months

· Youngest known wounded soldier was age 11

Most Americans expect a short, glorious war - p. 314

Union Strategy - Anaconda Plan

1. Blockade southern ports

2. Control the Miss. River and cut the CSA in half

3. Union troops would capture the capital of Richmond

All the South has to do is not lose - drag out the war. Just like what happened in the Vietnam War in the 1960's - 70's.

Major Battles of the Civil War

April 1861 -- Ft. Sumter, SC

South - PGT Beauregard

North - Major Robert Anderson

July 1861 -- 1st Battle of Bull Run / Manassas

South - Beauregard

North - McDowell

· Fought on branch of Potomac River

· South was guarding a key rail center -- Manassas Junction

· Lincoln ordered McDowell to attack.

· Sightseers from D.C. go to see the "Defeat of the Rebels"

· "Stonewall Jackson" earns nickname

· Union troops retreat in panic

Results from 1st Bull Run:

1. Lincoln called for an additional 500,000 troops

2. It forced the border states to decide

3. Lincoln appoints George McClellan commander-in-chief

4. Confederate morale soared

Battle of the Ironclads

March 1862 - the North tries to blockade the South

South - Merrimac

North - Monitor

· Wooden Merrimac converted with medal plates

· Renamed the Virginia

· Destroyed several wooden Union ships while fighting at Hampton Roads, VA

· Next day Monitor shows up for a five hour duel

· After fierce fighting -- Merrimac withdraws - a draw

Impact - This revolutionalizes the future of naval warfare!

Feb. - April, 1862 Cumberland & Tennessee Rivers - p. 315

· Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson captured by US Grant / North

· Grant earns nickname Unconditional Surrender Grant

April 24, 1862 - Fighting in & around New Orleans

· David Farragut takes New Orleans / later Baton Rouge

"Dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead"

Impact - Grant & Farragut have just about split the CSA by taking the Mississippi River & the area around it!

April 1862 - Battle of Shiloh, TN

South - Sydney Albert Johnston

North - US Grant

· Johnston surprises Grant & the South is winning

· Johnston killed - reinforcements come up for Grant

· North takes the victory next day

· Nearly one-fourth killed or wounded (25,000)

· More die at Shiloh than all who had died in previous wars

August 1862 - 2nd Battle of Bull Run / Manassas

South - Robert E. Lee

North - John Pope

· Lee wins - crosses the Potomac River into Maryland

· Lee stopped at Sharpesburg, MD by McClellan

*** A union soldier, exploring where the Confederates had been camped, found a copy of Lee's army orders wrapped around a bunch of cigars***

September, 1862 -- Antietam Creek, Maryland

South - R.E. Lee

North - George McClellan

· Bloodiest one day of war in US history

· Ended in a draw - more than 26,000 casualties

· Lee withdraws because he lost ¼ of his men

· McClellan does not pursue Lee - Lincoln fires McClellan

Note: 25,000 troops killed or wounded at Shiloh and 30,000 at Antietam Creek. Who can win this "numbers game"?

January 1863 - Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation

· Lincoln uses victory at Antietam as springboard

· Frees slaves in the "rebelling states" (not the Union states that still had slavery)

· 13th Amendment passed

· Lincoln gets Congress to pass the Conscription Act

p. 321 - Political Problems

· Lincoln suspends habeas corpus

· Copperheads cause problems for Lincoln

· Draft Riots - NYC

May 1863 - Chancellorsville, VA

South - R. E. Lee

North - Joseph Hooker

· Last major victory for South

· Jackson is accidentally shot by his own men. He was shot in the left arm - it was later amputated. Jackson then caught pneumonia and died a few days later.

(Lee said - Jackson lost his left arm, I have lost my right!)

July 1863 - Vicksburg and Gettysburg

*** Turning Point of the War ***

July, 1863 - Vicksburg, MS

South - John Pemberton

North - US Grant

· Grant laid siege to Vicksburg for six weeks and starved it into submission. Confederates will surrender on July 4.

July 1, 2,3 of 1863 Gettysburg, PA (Why are the Confederates there?)

South - R.E. Lee

North - George Meade

75,000 troops 90,000 troops

· North holds Cemetery Ridge

· South holds Seminary Ridge

· Little Round Top - Chamberlain vs Longstreet

· Pickett's charge up Cemetery Ridge

· Lee retreats into Maryland but Meade doesn't pursue

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address - Nov. 19, 1863

(Lincoln follows Edward Everett's speech)

Sept - Nov 1863 - Chattanooga, TN

South - Johnson

North - Grant & Sherman

· Grant takes Chattanooga - this "opens up" the South

· Chattanooga is important because it's a major rail center

*Grant named Union Commander In Chief - Union Army*

July 1864 - Atlanta and the "March to the Sea"

South - John Bell Hood

North - Wm. T. Sherman

(the first "Modern Warrior")

· Battle of Peachtree Creek

· Battle of Atlanta

· Battle of Ezra Church

On To Savannah - Total War

· Sherman's Bow Ties

· 300 miles long by 60 miles wide

· "War is Hell"

May 1864 to April 1865 - Battle of the Wilderness, VA

South - R. E. Lee

North - U. S. Grant

· A series of battles:

· Starts outside Fredricksburg, VA

· Spotsylvania (Grant lost 12,000 men)

· Cold Harbor (Grant lost 7000 men in 1 hour)

· Petersburg

· "Butcher Grant" lost 65,000 men in six weeks - Lee lost 35,000 men in that same time

Presidential Election of 1864

Lincoln

212 electoral votes (55% of the popular vote)

McClellan

21 electoral votes

Lincoln wins because the war news is good.finally!

He chooses Andrew Johnson (from Tenn.) as his V.P.

April 9, 1865 - Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House

Southerners allowed to return home with supplies and horses

Lincoln assassinated on April 14, 1865 at Fords Theater by

John Wilkes Booth

Reconstruction

Reconstruction: (def) The time period following the war through 1877 when the North controlled the South.

Effects of the War

360,000 Union Dead

258,000 Confederate Dead

Thousands were disabled

Bitter resentment between North and South

Southern land destroyed

Post War depression

Major Southern cities destroyed

4 million slaves emancipated

Southern attitudes toward slavery unchanged

Southern--social, political, & economical system destroyed

Plans for Reconstruction

Lincoln 10% Plan

· When 10% of the voters in the 1860 election took oath to U.S. -- the state would be admitted

· State must abolish slavery

· Several states accepted plan

Results of 10 % Plan

· Northerners Upset

· Moderates and Radicals in Congress thought plan too Liberal

Wade-Davis Bill (Congress)

· 50% of population must take oath

· Deny ever being a Confederate

· Dishonor Confederate Debt

· Must Abolish slavery

· Deny secession

Results of Wade-Davis Bill

· Passed Congress

· Vetoed by Lincoln

· Split Government over Reconstruction

April 14, 1865 -- Lincoln Killed by John Wilkes Booth

Andrew Johnson (Tenn.) becomes President

How did this effect Reconstruction?

Johnson called for immediate arrest of Jeff Davis and other high officials

Accepted all states who agreed to Lincoln's Plan

Johnson's Plan for Reconstruction

· Southerners had to disavow secession

· South had to pay war debt

· South had to ratify 13th Amendment

Johnson wanted to re-admit states as soon as possible.

Results of Johnson's Plan

· In Johnson's haste, Southerners elected War Heroes.

· Congress refused to seat Southerners

· Moderates & Radicals came together against the South

· Overrode Johnson & established their own plan

Radical Reconstruction

Congress takes control of the readmission process

Congress passed the 14th Amendment

Eliminated Southern Black Codes

· Radical Plan - disqualified any former Confederate officials from holding office

· Granted Black males the right to vote

· Ratify 14th Amendment

· Divide South into 5 military districts

Results of conflict between Johnson and the Radicals

· Feb 24, 1868 -- House voted to Impeach Johnson for "High Crimes and Misdemeanors"

· March 25 to May 26 Johnson stood trial in Senate

· Vote:

39 for Conviction--19 Against--1 vote short

Congress tried to convict him simply because

they did not like him!

US Grant - President from 1869 - 1877. His tenure is

often remembered most for corruption & scandal.

13th, 14th, 15th Amendments - Civil War Amendments

The Presidential Election of 1876

Rutherford B. Hayes - Republican from Ohio

Samuel Tilden - Democratic Governor from New York

· Tilden won the popular vote

· Electoral vote disputed from FL, SC, LA

· Special commission appointed to investigate

· The Compromise of 1877 kept the peace and satisfied most people

With this election & compromise,

we say Reconstruction ends!