Events leading up to the Civil War Mrs. Eason 4th Grade

After the American Revolution After the American Revolution, our founding fathers got together to write: The Constitution - created on September 17, 1787. It defines the three major branches of our government and how it should rule. The Constitution is also a symbol of the culture and freedom that we have in the United States. The Bill of Rights is a part of the Constitution and plays an important part in how our government is run and how laws are made.

What did this lead to? Mass immigration – because of the natural resources and religious freedoms in the United States, mass immigration occurred. The people thought they could build a better life here. Westward Expansion - Starting in the 1800s, hundreds of thousands of Americans decided to move away from the original 13 colonies and move west. Not like today where there are airplanes and roads, the road to the West was hard. Even once the pioneers arrived in their new homes, life in the wild west was difficult.

The Gold Rush – On January 24, 1848; James Marshall discovered GOLD at Sutter’s Mill in California. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 men, women, and children coming to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The early gold-seekers, called "forty-niners," traveled to California by sail boat and in covered wagons across the continent.

The gold Rush….cont. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service and railroads were built. The business of agriculture was started on a wide scale throughout the state. However, the Gold Rush also had negative effects: Native Americans were attacked and pushed off traditional lands, and gold mining caused environmental harm.

Now…it’s time for the Civil War! The Civil War lasted from 1861 until 1865. The southern states wanted to have their own nation and be able to decide what laws to have. The north did not want the country to be broken apart. The southern states seceded (LEFT) from the union after Lincoln was elected. They formed their own nation, The Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America Some southern states decided they had no choice. They decided to secede, or leave, the United States. South Carolina was the first to leave the Union and form a new nation called the Confederate States of America. Four months later, six other states seceded. They were Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Later Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined them. The people of these states elected Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy.

The Union The northern states were called the Union. President Lincoln said he would fight to keep the southern states as part of the United States. There were Union forts on Confederate land. The Confederates wanted Union soldiers to leave these forts. In Charleston, South Carolina there was a Union fort called Fort Sumter. The Union soldiers refused to leave this fort, so the Confederates fired cannons at the fort on April 12, l861. This was the beginning of the Civil War.

The war was long and bloody. Over 600,000 men on both sides died The war was long and bloody. Over 600,000 men on both sides died. Over 1,100,000 were injured. The south was devastated. General Lee surrendered to General Grant on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The war was over.

The Confederate Flag

The Union Flag

The Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in secret. To emancipate means to set free. A proclamation is an order to do something. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in all the states that had left the Union. So on New Year's Day in 1863, President Lincoln put his Emancipation Proclamation to work. He declared the slaves in all Confederate areas to be "forever free."

Leaders of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln Born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809. When he was president he was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army, which is the highest-ranking military officer. In 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation which declared that all slaves in the Confederate States would be free. This helped end slavery in the United States. The same year he gave a great speech called the Gettysburg Address at a cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He wanted to honor all the soldiers who had lost their lives in the war. President Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth at a theater in Washington DC. This was only five days after the South surrendered to end the Civil War.

Jefferson Davis Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederate States of America. He was also Commander - in - Chief of the Confederate Army. Jefferson Davis was born in the South and grew up on a cotton plantation.

Ulysses S. Grant the leader of the Union Army. Grant was trained at the Military Academy at West Point, New York. General Robert E. Lee, The leader of the Confederate Army had to surrender to General Grant in 1865. Later General Grant became president of the United States twice.

Robert E. Lee Confederate General the South's greatest general during the Civil War. General Lee wanted to fight for the South and remain loyal to his home state. Lee felt he had to surrender to the North to stop so many of his soldiers from being killed.