North and South At War

Things You Need To Know  North = United States, Union, Federal – blue uniforms  South = Confederate States, Confederacy, Rebels – gray uniforms

The United States

1a. Lincoln, Fort Sumter, and War Aims  1861 – The South has seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America  Abraham Lincoln is president; his view: Secession is illegal The Confederate States of America is not a legitimate country but U.S. states in rebellion and thus cannot be negotiated with  Lincoln felt that if the minority South were allowed to break up the Union, it would shatter the purpose of the Constitution and destroy the purpose of a free government.  Lincoln was adamant about not firing first; he didn’t want to be the aggressor in a war against his own people  The South relieved Lincoln of this worry when they fired first  Fort Sumter – Fighting begins when Confederates fire upon a Federal fort in Charleston, South Carolina in April 1861 containing Union soldiers who refused to leave – this begins the military engagement

1b. Lincoln, Fort Sumter, and War Aims  The war has begun – Lincoln calls up volunteers to put down the “Southern insurrection (rebellion)”  Soon after, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina secede – the Confederacy now has 11 states officially though it will claim 13 (Missouri and Kentucky)  Lincoln’s main concern was keeping the Union together, and he nearly lost the slave holding border states of Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware, Missouri, and West Virginia – He couldn’t risk them seceding too…  The border states were states that bordered the Union (North).  Lincoln allowed them to keep their slaves in if they didn’t secede  Lincoln stated that his war aim was to preserve the Union and not to interfere with slavery. This appealed to the border states.

The United States

2. Balance of Forces  Strengths of both sides  North – more troops, bigger population, more RR, had 85% of the nation’s industry, stable government, Abraham Lincoln  South – better military leadership, and easier strategy – they just had to defend their territory not invade  Union strategy had 3 parts 1) Blockade the southern coast – nothing goes in, nothing comes out 2) Take control of the Mississippi River and divide the South 3) Take the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia

3a. Foreign Involvement  How did Europe react to the war?  1) Aristocracy – The rich in Europe sided with the South; they had disdain for American democracy and sided with Southern aristocracy  2) Masses – Europe’s working class people pulled for the North, the end of slavery, and the triumph of free popular government

3b. Foreign Involvement  Though the Civil War was between Americans, diplomacy was an important factor  The South wanted help from Britain and France  Lincoln needed to prevent that  Britain came close to getting involved twice:  1) The Trent Affair – where a Union ship stopped an English ship and removed two Confederate diplomats in late 1861  2) Britain also was willing to build ships for the Confederacy; notably the Alabama, which conducted raids against Union ships until it was destroyed in 1864

4a. Lincoln and Liberties  Abraham Lincoln (U.S.) vs. Jefferson Davis (C.S.A.)  The best way to compare the two is to compare steel and iron.  Both were strong but…  Lincoln was like steel, flexible but firm when needed and still unbreakable  Davis was like iron, strong but unwilling to bend  Lincoln knew what to work around and what not to compromise on  Because he saw the United States as in a state of rebellion, he used what he called “emergency powers”, powers that were actually unconstitutional  1) Suspending habeas corpus – Lincoln suspended the right to not be imprisoned w/o trial; throwing Northern supporters of the Confederacy in jail and keeping them there indefinitely  2) Lincoln also had editors of anti-war newspapers arrested and suspended their newspapers

Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy

President Abraham Lincoln

4b. Lincoln and Liberties  Between the North and the South, the North had the most people to pull from when it came to drafting soldiers  Draft laws weren’t the fairest  The war was a “rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight”  North – Rich young men could send substitutes for themselves off to the war; exemption could be purchased for $300 ($5,700 today)  South – Slave owners of more than 20 slaves could claim exemption from fighting the war.

5a. Economic Aspects of the War  The North was better able to pay for fighting the war.  1) Taxes and tariffs – The North relied on raising taxes and tariffs to increase revenue while the South could never agree on a Confederate national tax or tariff  2) Bonds and Borrowing – With a larger population and economy, the North also benefitted from selling war bonds and borrowing  3) Printing Money – Both the Union and the Confederacy suffered inflation from printing paper money; the Union suffered a 80% inflation rate, but the South suffered a 9,000% inflation rate

5b. Economic Aspects of the War  After the war, the North and the South came out economically quite different:  1) North – A massive growth of factories during wartime led to a major economic boom.  2) South – the Union blockade and destruction of Southern property left the South in shambles.

Union vs. Confederacy

5b. Economic Aspects of the War  Women also played a part in the war  The “caring professions”  Clara Barton risked her life during the war to treat soldiers  She transformed the nursing profession