Lecture Objective

• Understand why the Civil War was initially

fought and how this initial focus shifted.

• Understand the impact the Civil War had on

slaves and women.

• Understand Northern and Southern

advantages.

• Understand the failure of the Confederate

States.

Fort Sumter (Federal Military

Fort)

• Fort Sumter on the Charleston Harbor was ordered to surrendered in April 10, 1861.

a) Fort Sumter attacked in April 12, 1861 by the Confederacy.

• Impact: Force remaining eight Southern states to take sides.

Currier and Ives lithograph, the shelling

of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861)

The Civil War Begins

• Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and N. Carolina

joined the Confederate States.

• Border states remained in the Union: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri

a) Very significant because it increase the man power and manufacturing capacity of the north.

b) Significant because this were slave states.

Organizing the Troops

Confederate States

• Congress called for a

volunteer army.

a) 100,000 men would

offer a 12 month

service.

The Union

• State militia called to

for a 90 day service.

• Free African-Americans

wanted to serve, but

were turned away.

Departure of the 7th Regiment, N.Y.S.M.,

April 19, 1861, by George Hayward

Battle of Bull Run

• Battle of Bull Run was fought in Virginia

on July of 1861.

• Troops were accompanied by the press,

politicians, and onlookers.

• Significant because it showed both sides

that a fast victory was very unlikely.

Northern Advantage

• Had a larger population (2x).

a) Significant because it meant more man power.

• Had a larger industrial capacity (9x).

a) Significant because the Union could produce

materials needed for the war.

• Had a longer railroad mileage (71%).

a) Important for the transportation of goods and

troops.

Southern Advantage

• Some of the most skilled military officers

sided with South, including Robert Lee.

• Most Southern men had weapons experience.

• This was a defensive war for the South. The

North had to invade the South and force it to

surrender.

a) Southern men, slave owners and non-slave

owners, had to protect home and community.

Financing the War (North)

• Issued war bonds for Americans to

purchase.

• Federal income tax issued, exempt those

who made less than $ 800.

• Borrowed 2.6 billion to fund war.

• Legal Tender Act (Feb 1862)

a) Created a national currency

Financing the War (South)

• Borrowed money

• Issued paper money

* Difficulty financing war

South and Foreign Support

• The South hoped to gain support from

France and Britain.

• France and Britain did not support the

South.

a) The South reacted by holding cotton

exports to Britain.

1) Strategy failed, Britain was getting cotton

from Egypt and India.

No Confederacy Unity

• Emphasis on states’ rights prevented a sense

of a unified nation to developed.

• Jefferson Davis alienated many

Southerners.

• First draft in U.S. history created class

resentment.

a) Why? Military service exemptions created

class resentment.

Draft (The South)

• Issued draft on April 1862.

• Men between the ages 18-35 years were eligible

for a 3 years service.

• Exemptions: Substitutes were allowed and only

wealthy Southerners could afford them.

• Exempt: Slave owners who had more than 20

slaves. Only very wealthy meet this requirement.

Substitute ads

Photograph, southern volunteers

War in Northern Virginia

• Initial plan was called the Anaconda.

a) No bloody invasion or conquest in order to leave

room for reconciliation.

b) Sea and Mississippi River blockade would strain

the South and force it to surrender.

• The Peninsular campaign goal was to capture

Richmond, Virginia.

a) Failed, McClellan driven back.

Battle of Antietam

• Sept. 17, 1862 was a very bloody battle.

• 5,000 dead Americans

• 19,000 wounded Americans

• Was a stalemate, in other words, there was

no clear winner.

The Battle of Shiloh

• When: April 1862

• 2 days of fighting forced the Confederates to

withdraw.

• Union forces made it to:

a) Memphis in June.

b) Vicksburg in July 1863.

• 3,000 Northern men died and 11,000 South men .

Native Americans and Civil War

• Most Native Americans fought for south.

• Why? The Confederacy promised tribes re

representation in the new government.

Naval Blockade

• Initially the naval blockade had little impact

on the South.

• However, later it impacted the South.

a) Restrict Southern trade and they were not

able to secure products.

Impact (African Americans)

• Early in the war slaves escaped to Union lines.

• The Fugitive Slave Act was voided, this

influenced many slaves to runaway.

• Contraband: Was a term given to runaways

slaves that made it to Union lines.

a) Contrabands were put to work in the Northern

camps. Slaves were interrogated by the Union.

• In Port Royal, S. Carolina (1861) whites fled

without their slaves.

The Death of Slavery

• By the end of the war about 1 million slaves

had made it to union lines.

a) Significance: Demonstrated slaves did not

support slavery.

• Because many slaves were running away,

the North could not ignore issue.

Impact: Slave Owner and Slave

Relations

• Women left to behind to deal with slaves

and plantation.

a) They lacked patriarchal authority and some

slaves refused to obey them.

1) Slaves began to make their own decisions

2) Some refused punishment.

Black Soldiers

• Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Jan.

1, 1863.

a) Allowed African-Americans to serve for the

Union.

b) Freed slaves in areas not control by Union.

c) Exempted the border slave states.

• 200,000 blacks served for the Union and 37, 000

died for their freedom.

Recruitment poster, Philadelphia,

ca. 1863

Black Soldiers (prejudice)

• Camps were segregated.

• Black soldiers given the worst jobs.

• Blacks were paid less, $10.00 v. $13.00.

• Confederacy declared that any black

captured soldier would be treated like a

runaway slave.

Black Soldiers (resistance)

• Men of the fifty-fourth (Massachusetts)

protested unequal wages in the military.

a) Refused their pay until the War Department

equalized wages.

• War Dept. equalized wages on June 1864

Life of a Soldier

• Bloody long battles.

• Soldiers were usually always low on

supplies, for example, food and tents.

• Soldiers endured long marches while

carrying baggage of about 50-60 lbs.

War’s Toll

• Over 620,000 dead Americans

a) Better weapons, for example, rifles were

more accurate.

b) Medical ignorance about the infection of

wounds gave rise to high death toll.

c) Unsanitary camp conditions allowed for

infectious diseases to spread.

Turning Point (1863)

• Robert Lee takes a gamble (June) hoping to score

a major victory for the Confederacy.

a) Attempted to move into northern territory:

Maryland and Pennsylvania.

• He failed to accomplish goal.

• In the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3) 28,000 dead

Confederates.

• General Grant takes Vicksburg, Mississippi

New Military Strategy (later in

the war)

• Grant and Sherman were Union generals

and both supported new war strategy, total

war.

• Total war: To destroy the South, literally

speaking. In other words, destroy

everything, but don’t hurt civilians.

• Goal: To make war unbearable to the South

and force them to surrender.

William T. Sherman’s March

• Sherman captured Atlanta in Sept. 02,

1864.

• Sherman and his men march to Savannah

and occupied area in December 1864.

• Sherman used total war strategy. His men

destroyed everything along the way.

Southern Desperation

• Sherman’s March devastating.

• Grant attacked Petersburg and Richmond.

• Southern reacted by passing a black soldier

draft in March 13, 1865. The South needed

black men’s support.

Appomattox

• Lee surrendered

a) When: April 9, 1865

b) Where: Appomattox Court House

• Grant allowed the Confederates to leave with 3 days worth of rations.

Photograph by Thomas C. Roche, dead

Confederate soldier, April 3, 1865

Richmond (April 4, 1865)

Women’s Contribution (south

and north)

• Nursing the wounded men.

• Volunteered to offer various services, for

example, supply drives.

• Camp followers

• Prostitutes

• Many women faced resistance from their

own families.

Nurse Ann Bell