The United States Civil War

By Rick Redinger

ED 417

Why we fought

• North Manufacture based

• South Agriculture based

• North had abundance of workers

• South needed slave labor

Why we fought (cont’d)

• North wanted western expansion not to include slavery

• South wanted western expansion to include slavery

Why expansion was an issue

• As the U.S. expanded westward, new states added Senate and Congress representation to an already close North/South split

• The addition of all non-slave or all slave states would tip the balance

• Neither the North or the South wanted to lose influence in the Federal Government

A Nation Divided• Tensions were high

and the country was clearly becoming divided between the North and the South

• The situation would soon explode

The Civil War Begins• April 12, 1861, 4:30 am. General

Pierre Beauregard leads a Confederate group with fifty cannons that opens fire on Fort Sumpter, South Carolina.

• The only war fought on American soil by Americans had begun

THE UNION 1861

• Abraham Lincoln is President

• The Capitol is in Washington DC

• Consists of states north of approx. 39’ latitude

THE CONFEDERACY 1861

• Jefferson Davis is named President

• Richmond, Virginia becomes the Capitol City

• Consists of 11 states south of approximately 39’ latitude

The United States Civil War

• Over three million people fought against their own countrymen

• Over 600,000 persons died

Bull Run• July 1861 Union troops are

repelled at Bull Run, 25 miles south of Washington, DC

• Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson acquires the nickname “Stonewall”

A future President is made

• February 1862 General Ulysses S. Grant captures two Tennessee forts in a ten day span, earning the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant

• Soon after the war he would become

President of the United States of America

Naval History is made 1862

• Confederate ironclad Merrimac sinks two wooden Union ships then battles ironclad Monitor to a draw

• Naval warfare is forever changed, making wooden ships obsolete

“Damn the torpedoes…”• April 1862 Flag

Officer David Garragut takes New Orleans, the South’s largest seaport

• Sailing through a rebel minefield he utters “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”.

The Bloodiest Day in History

• September 17, 1862 General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate troops are stopped at Antietam, Maryland

• By nightfall over 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing

• The was the bloodiest single day of this, or any, war in United States history

Emancipation Proclamation

• January 1, 1863 Union President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in the Confederate states free and emphasizing their enlistment in the Union army

• The war becomes a revolutionary struggle to abolish slavery

South loses a leader

• May 10 the Confederates suffer a huge blow when “Stonewall” Jackson dies 6 days after suffering injuries at the battle of Chancellorville, Virginia

• The fatal wounds were accidentally inflicted by his own troops

Battle of Gettysburg

• The tide of the war turns for the North as the South suffers a defeat at Gettysburg

• This was the northernmost battle of the war

Lincoln meets Douglas

• August 10 President Lincoln meets with abolitionist Frederick Douglas who pushes for full equality for Union “Negro troops”

Cemetery Dedication

• November 19, 1863 President Lincoln delivers a two minute speech dedicating a Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

• This would forever be known at The Gettysburg Address

Grant’s march to Richmond

• May 1864 General Grant takes an army of 120,000 Union troops toward Richmond to attack General Robert E. Lee’s troops, now numbering 64,000

• Major battles ensue at Wilderness and Spotsylvania, Virginia leading up to the battle at Cold Harbor

Grant’s error

• General Grant makes tactical error while attacking well fortified Cold Harbor resulting loss of 7000 troops in twenty minutes

Sherman takes Atlanta• September 2, 1864

Union General Sherman captures Atlanta

• November 15 before his march to the sea he destroys Atlanta’s warehouses and railroad yards

March to the Sea

• December 21, 1864 General Sherman arrives at Savannah, Georgia leaving a 300 mile path of destruction over 60 miles wide in his wake

• Sherman offers President Lincoln Savannah as “a Christmas present”

The 13th Amendment

• January 31, 1865 Congress approves the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery

• It is sent to the states for ratification

Richmond Abandoned

• April 2, 1865 Grant breaks through Lee’s troops at Petersburg, Virginia

• Confederates abandon Capital at Richmond

Confederate Surrender

• April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders his troops to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia

Lincoln Assassinated

• April 14, 1865 At 10:13pm while watching the third act of the play “Our American Cousin” with his wife Mary, President Lincoln is shot and killed by John Wilkes Boothe

The War Ends

• May 1865 The remaining Confederate troops surrender reuniting a country after four years and 620,000 deaths