The Civil War

Secession Movement Election of 1860 Democratic fear of “Black Republicans” Fear of interference in states Fear of forced miscegenation and slavery of white men Secession a “Constitutional” right Compact theory of federal union (recall VA/KY resolutions and SC Nullification)

Gospel of Disunion Commissioners sent to each slave state to convince state legislatures or secession conventions to secede. John Preston in 1861: “The conflict between slavery and non-slavery is a conflict for life and death” and “The South cannot exist without African slavery” Jabez Curry in 1861: secession meant “deliverance from Abolition domination” and slavery would be “assaulted, humbled, dwarfed, degraded, and finally crushed out.” Alexander Stephens in1861: The prevailing ideas entertained by...most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution was that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away.... Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery--subordination to the superior race--is his natural and normal condition.

Gospel of Disunion – after the War John Preston in 1868: The North “defeated the promised destiny of America” and “Liberty may be dead but the Union is preserved” Jabez Curry in 1901: “The object in quitting the Union was not to destroy, but to save the principles of the Constitution.”

Secession Crisis Timing of Secession Percent Slaves in Population Percentage of White Families Owning Slaves Initial states to secede  South Carolina  57  47  Georgia  48  38  Florida  44  35  Alabama  45  Mississippi  55  49  Louisiana  31  Texas  30  29  States seceding later  Virginia  27  North Carolina  33  Tennessee  25  Arkansas  28  20  Remained in Union  Delaware  2  4  Maryland  13  15  Kentucky  24  Missouri  10 

Secession Crisis

Confederate States of America March 4, 1861 President Jefferson Davis Constitutional protection of slavery Superiority of white race “state’s rights” causes similar problems to the Articles of Confederation Buchanan does nothing when states secede.

First shots Federal troops moved to Fort Sumter Davis orders fire and Lincoln enlists Army Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas join Confederacy

North’s Three Prong Strategy “Anaconda” Pressure Virginia Blockade South Split Confederacy

Balance Sheet of the War

Problems in the Confederacy Attempts to centralize Over 100,000 deserters Secret Union societies in N. Arkansas, E. Tennessee, etc. Economic problems Light tax burden Lacked bureaucracy Lacked hard/liquid wealth

“A Rich Man’s War and a Poor Man’s Fight” Union Mandatory enrollment (20-45) “commutation fee” Irish Immigrants Confederacy Draft (18-35, 45, 50) “twenty-negro provision”

Turning Points of the War

Blacks in the War 200,000 serve in Union military 20 congressional medals of honor Justification for equality Navy: equal, Army: segregated Inequality in pay and rank Union Captain - "A great many [white people]," he wrote, "have the idea that the entire Negro race are vastly their inferiors. A few weeks of calm unprejudiced life here would disabuse them, I think. I have a more elevated opinion of their abilities than I ever had before. I know that many of them are vastly the superiors of those...who would condemn them to a life of brutal degradation."

Bittersweet Endings cont. Lincoln’s Assassination Full legal rights for blacks April 14, 1865

Impact of the War

Civil Liberties during civil war Draft Free speech issues Use of Military tribunals and detention Habeas corpus

Effects of the Civil War Politics Lack of Southerners allows North to get things done Homestead Act Transcontinental Railroad Protective Tariff Land Grant Colleges Federal encouragement of immigration

Effect of the war on Women Nursing and US Sanitary Commission Charity organizations Southern women forced to run plantations Largely return to pre-war status at the conclusion of the war Invigorates desire for suffrage

Effect of war on Government Expansion of federal government New financial system and economic prosperity Sets the stage for Radical Reconstruction Forever ends ideas of nullification, secession, and states rights Supremacy of federal government confirmed

The Legacy of the Civil War David Blight and the Lost Cause narrative 33:40 – 40:30, 42:35 – 45:45