Civil War 1861-1868

Lincoln Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861 and promised there would not be any trouble unless initiated by the South He did say the nation could not be split either politically, economically, or geographically Lincoln told the Confederate states he would re-supply Fort Sumter in South Carolina The Confederate states saw this as reinforcing the fort and on April 12, they opened fire After 34 hours the fort surrendered Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers and started a blockade of southern ports Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the South, but what about the border states?

Union sentiment was so strong in western Virginia that they formed a new state. In 1863 West Virginia was admitted to the Union Kentucky was the home state of Davis and Lincoln and could have gone either way Initially the state legislature declared itself neutral but confederates captured several towns in 1861 prompting Gen. Grant to move into the state For the rest of the war the state remained in Union hands Missouri was also split, but Union forces captured confederate sympathizers Fighting continued in the state between the two sides long after the war had ended

Lincoln declared martial law in Maryland to retain the state and protect Washington D.C. Sent federal troops to western Virginia and Missouri The issue was preserving the Union, not slavery At the start the South had certain advantages: a) it could draw or win b) it could fight on familiar terrain (defensive) c) it had the best officers But it did not have: a) factories b) agriculture The South was depending upon foreign intervention, but England and France had enough cotton

Advantages/Disadvantages Population: Union - 22 million Confederacy – 9 million (3.5 million slaves) Manufacturing: Union - 90%+ Confederacy – 8% Weapons production: Union – 97% Confederacy – 3% Railroads: Union – 20,000 miles Confederacy – 10,000 miles

Trent Affair In late 1861 a Union warship stopped the British mail ship Trent and removed two Confederates The British threatened war, but Lincoln released the two prisoners and the problem passed The British also made steel warships for the Confederacy, but the Union threatened war and British kept the ships

Other Issues Southern soldiers did not want to leave their own state The North was more populated and better supplied Lincoln often had to violate the Constitution, like sending troops to the Border states and suspending habeas corpus so he could arrest anti-unionists The Northern draft was unpopular and riots broke out because it favored the rich who could hire a substitute for $300 In the South people with more than 20 slaves were exempt

The Fighting Most people believed the war would only last a few months The first battle was Bull Run – spectators picnicked watching the battle The South won and surprised everyone, but proved it would be a long war The slaughter on both sides was unbelievable – technology had outpaced tactics

Anaconda Plan Lincoln wanted to suffocate the South by: a) blockading the ports b) control the Mississippi River and the Confederacy in half c) capture Richmond After Antietam in Sept. 1862, Lincoln created the Emancipation Proclamation which made the struggle a war over slavery The Proclamation announced Jan. 1, 1863: a) freed the slaves in the states still at war b) caused a major increase in desertion c) made Southern fear a slave insurrection

Government Northern Democrats split between those wanting peace and those supporting the war Copperheads were those totally against the war The most famous Copperhead was Clement L. Vanlandigham who was actually imprisoned and then banished to the South In the South Jefferson Davis had trouble keeping the Confederacy together

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction In 1863 Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction A Rebel state could rejoin the Union when 10% of those that voted in 1860 took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the Union – they would then receive a pardon Certain groups were exempt from the pardon: high-ranking military officers, judges, congressmen, diplomats, and those who had not treated black soldiers as prisoners of war New governments appeared in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana

Congress refused to recognize the new governments since the issue was not addressed in the Constitution Some moderate Republicans supported Lincoln, but the Radical Republicans wanted major changes in the South, especially the removal of the planter aristocracy Radicals believed Congress, not the President should control Reconstruction In 1864 Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill: a majority of white citizens had to swear allegiance, but only those swearing an “ironclad” oath that they had not wanted to leave the Union could serve in the state constitutional convention The conventions had to repudiate slavery, deny political rights to high-ranking Confederates Lincoln refused to sign the Bill

Election of 1864 The Republicans joined the War Democrats to form the Union Party and re-nominated Lincoln The Union Party selected Democrat Andrew Johnson as running mate to get Democrat votes The Copperheads and Peace Democrats nominated George McClellan Lincoln won 212-21

The Death of Lincoln In 1865 Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth In death Lincoln achieved heroic status Initially southerners cheered, but they would be worse off without him The war had cost over $15 billion and over 600,000 lives The new president would be the Democrat, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction looked like Lincoln’s plan

Johnson was strict believer in the Constitution and that states should be allowed to return to their former status because, technically, they had never left the Union In 1865 he issued a new Proclamation of Amnesty which excluded those Lincoln had suggested and those with property over $20,000 Johnson detested the southern aristocracy and blamed them for the the war – but they could request a special presidential pardon