The American Civil War
Underlying Issues: Sectionalism States Rights Slavery
Background Events Compromise of 1850 Uncle Toms Cabin Kansas Nebraska Act Bleeding Kansas Dred Scott Decision John Browns Raid Election of 1860
Harriet Beecher Stowes Novel 1852
Kansas-Nebraska Act Stephen Douglas
Bleeding Kansas
Dred Scott Decision 1857
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney Slaves are not citizens, therefore they have no legal rights The Line is unconstitutional. Slaves as property can taken anywhere
John Browns Raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. 1859
The Election of 1860
The Republican Ticket
Lincoln vs. Douglas
Secession South Carolina leads the way
Fort Sumter April 12, 1861 Charleston Harbor, S.C.
Union Major Robert Anderson and Confederate PGT Beauregard
The Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis and V.P. Alexander Stephens
Northern Advantages Established Industry Existing Wealth/treasury Large population Established transportation/Railroads Existing Navy Political leadership of Lincoln
Southern Advantages Strong military leadership Familiar with the territory Strong incentive to fight for home & hearth Many soldiers familiar with weapons and the out of doors Did not have to defeat their enemy/make the war too costly to fight
Northern Disadvantages Unfamiliar with the territory/war fought on Southern soil Questionable military leadership Had to defeat a highly motivated enemy Questionable motivation of its troops (especially by mid-point of the war. Many conscripts did not want to fight to free the slaves)
Southern Disadvantages Few resources Poor transportation network Little industry Small population Reluctance to coordinate war effort between states Limited effectiveness of Jefferson Davis
Northern Strategy Take Richmond/Defeat Lee Control the Mississippi River/divide the Confederacy Naval Blockade of the Southern coastline
Union Generals
Confederate Generals
Robert E. Lee Thomas Stonewall Jackson James Longstreet
Ulysses S. Grant William T. Sherman George McClellan
The Ironclads The Monitor and the Merrimac
Early Confederate Victories First Manassas (Bull Run) 1861 Second Manassas (Bull Run) 1862 Fredericksburg 1862 Chancellorsville 1863
Antietam 1862
The Union victory here gives Lincoln occasion to issue the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect Jan 1 of 1863
The Emancipation Proclamation
The turning points of Gettysburg and Vicksburg July, 1863
Colored troops join the fight Nearly 200,000 would serve by wars end
The 54 th Massachusetts Regiment
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
Picketts Charge
Lincolns Gettysburg Address
Lincoln vs. McClellan
Lincoln (Rep) and Andrew Johnson (Dem.)
Copperheads
Lincolns second inaugural addresswith malice toward none and charity for all
War of attrition
Gen. William T. Shermans march to the sea
Confederate run prison at Andersonville, Ga.
The execution of Confederate Captain Henry Wirtz
The fall of Richmond
Surrender at Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865
Lees surrender to Grant
The assassination of Pres. Lincoln at Fords Theatre Washington D.C. April 14, 1865
Gen. Grant would go on to become President Grant
CSA Pres. Jefferson Davis Dies 1889 Gen. Robert E. Lee Dies 1870
The Reconstruction Period Andrew Johnson U.S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes