Chapter 16 A New Birth of Freedom, (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Slavery & the Civil War Confederacy wanted to keep slavery out of the war - non slaveholders in South - recognition from Britain - proclaimed liberty rather than slavery
Fredrick Douglas “to fight against slaveholders, without fighting against slavery, is but a halfhearted business, and paralyzes the hands engaged in it” – Fredrick Douglas
The Decision for Emancipation Civil War became a “total war” - must end slave labor in South - tower of strength - Lincoln’s cabinet - Lincoln waited for the right time (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Lincoln on Emancipation It is a “military necessity, absolutely essential to the preservation of the Union. We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued. The slaves are undeniably an element of strength to those who have their service, and we must decide whether that element should be with us or against us.” - Abe Lincoln, July 22, 1862
The Battle of Antietam Sharpsburg, Maryland (1862) –Union victory? –single bloodiest day in American history –23k casualties (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
The Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln followed Antietam with Emancipation portrayed as a means to saving the Union (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Lincoln on Emancipation “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.” - Abe Lincoln, September, 1862
Emancipation Proclamation Did not go into effect until Only freed slaves in areas under rebellion
“Contraband of War” (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Economic Problems in the South food shortages & inflation (p 417) Richmond Bread Riot (1863) (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Problems in the North Antiwar Protestors denounce draft Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus (A4) –Rioters and antiwar activists arrested Angels of the battlefield Women’s wartime profession (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Chancellorsville Casualties: 13k South & 17k North “My God,!” exclaimed Lincoln when he heard the news of Chancellorsville. “What will the country say?”
The Gettysburg Campaign Lee moves north into PN ( ) Union army devastated on first day of battle - Lee’s critical decision “The enemy is there, and I am going to attack him there”- Robert E. Lee, Gettysburg (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Gettysburg (continue) Union army regroups Lee orders attacks on union flanks, they fail “Pickett’s Charge”: attack in the center, it fails Lee retreats (50k total casualties) Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863
The Vicksburg Campaign Grant assaults Vicksburg for control of the MS River –marched 180 miles & won 5 battles –Vicksburg surrenders (July 4) (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Result of Vicksburg Union control of MS river Confederacy split in two Lincoln’s response: “Grant is my man and I am his the rest of the war”
The Year of Decision Gettysburg & Vicksburg: turning point of Civil War - Southern defeatism (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Emancipation Confirmed Thirteenth Amendment –Ratified by states December 1865 (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Black Men in Combat 54 th Massachusetts Infantry –Fought bravely at Fort Wagner
POWs Prison camps –Overcrowded –Andersonville (GA) - 13k Union soldiers died (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Sherman’s March, destroys Confederate property, railroads etc burned Atlanta and Savannah (01/1865) Force Confederacy to surrender
The Road to Appomattox Lee’s Army stands alone Grant attacks in Richmond Confederacy defeated (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Lee surrenders at Appomattox April 9, 1865 “There was nothing left for me to do, but to go and see Grant, and would rather die a thousand deaths” – General Robert E. Lee
The Assassination of Lincoln Ford’s Theatre, April 1865 John Wilkes Booth Confederate armies continued to surrender April – June Jefferson Davis: captured in Georgia (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
Conclusion Civil War was a “total war” (p 436) Civil War cost 625,000 lives million casualties 1865: 13 th Amendment abolished slavery and ensured liberty of all Americans Regional transfer of power from South to North Reconstruction (1877) (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved