The Civil War

NORTH SOUTH ECONOMIC POTENTIAL: Industrial capability, finance Population: 22 million Diversified Economy Industrial Base [1.3 million workers] Established financial system Unprecedented centralized power over economy. No Southern objections in Congress. Population: 9 million Limited Industrial Capability [110,000 industrial workers] Cotton-based economy dependent on exports. Limited centralized oversight. States issued paper money leading to hyperinflation. LOGISTICAL CAPABILITY: Railroads, navy, transport 22,000 miles of RR 15,389 miles of Telegraph Wire 10,200 merchant ships 4.4 million horses & mules *Most of the US Navy remained loyal to the Union – including most of the Admirals. 8,451 miles of RR 819 merchant ships 1.7 million horses & mules * The Confederacy had only a handful of warships throughout the war. POLITICAL STABILITY: Respective leaders, challenges Lincoln: humble, willing to compromise, strategic, big-picture thinking, practical. Federal Republic: strong, centralized authority/control, able to marshal/coordinate resources. Davis: West Point Grad, Mexican War veteran, former Sec of War, US Senator, impatient, prone to misplaced loyalties, quarrelsome, acerbic personality, chronically ill. Confederacy: suffered from problems inherent in a Confederacy at war.

ANACONDA PLAN

What did the South need to do to achieve its goal of independence? GOAL - Remain a viable nation long enough for either: Foreign recognition, assistance, or alliance OR Public sentiment in the North turns against the war and the voters force a peace settlement STRATEGY – Fight a defensive war. Advantages? “Dig in” (attacking infantry generally fared poorly in battle.) “Home field advantage”

Technological Advances Contribute to High Casualty Rates Military Advances: Advanced rifles & artillery* Repeating Rifles Iron-clad ships Telegraph Railroads Observation Balloons *Long-range weapons gave defenders an advantage such that by the end of the war, 9 out of 10 infantry assaults failed. ADVANCED WEAPONS + ANTIQUATED INFANTRY TACTICS HIGH CASUALTY RATES

Why might the South have had a military advantage at the beginning of the war? Military Tradition: 7 out of 8 military colleges were located in the South When the war began, many top officers sided with the South (R.E.Lee, A.S. Johnston, J.E. Johnston) Southern Aristocracy glorified the military Fear of slave uprisings had forced the South to organize militias/patrols

The Eastern Campaign

The Western Campaign

Diplomatic Efforts during the Civil War North South Foreign policy goals & challenges *Prevent diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy. This effort was largely successful. Why? Skill of US diplomats Anti-slavery sentiment in Europe Inability of the South to sustain victory Union naval blockade Trent Affair: US Navy stopped a British mail ship (HMS Trent) and captured 2 Confederate diplomats.

Lincoln & Emancipation Discouraging Constitution Free-soil Position [Anti-Slavery vs. Abolition] Border States (MO/KY/DEL) Prejudice in North Reelection in 1864 Encouraging Foreign Threat Tap into African American Support/Recruits Moral Argument made by Radical Republicans

The Road to the Emancipation Proclamation: 1861 Voluntary Compensation Emancipation – Lincoln feared that he did not have the Constitutional Authority to free the slaves – feared a legal challenge. Had to keep the support of the border states; however, these states were instructed to make plans for emancipation. 1862 Military Emancipation – The Confiscation Acts of 1861-62 allowed slaves to be seized as “property” employed by Confederate forces. By 1862, grant freedom to slaves of owners in active rebellion. Lincoln feared a court challenge. What authority did Lincoln use to emancipate the slaves? Constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief, as well as his jurisdiction in areas in open rebellion. The Emancipation Proclamation 1863 – freed only slaves behind enemy lines, it left slavery in the border states & rebel territory under Union control. Allowed for the recruitment & deployment of Negro Regiments. Enlarged the purpose of the war from preserving the Union to ending slavery. Ended the threat of foreign intervention.