Chapter 20 Girding for War: The North and the South

Fort Sumter  Issue on who gets Federal Forts.  Arsenals, mints, and other public property seized within borders.  Significant fort left in the Southern territory.  Lincoln’s choices: Not supply and look weak, Send reinforcements and look like the aggressor.  Middle of the road-Notify S. Carolina that an expedition was send provisions to the garrison, but not to reinforce it.

 South viewed it as aggression.  South begins firing on April 12,1861.  34 hours later the garrison surrendered with no loss of life.  North awakes. “Save the Union”  April 15 Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to volunteer.  South views it as an act of war.  4 more states enter on the side of the South; Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, N. Carolina.

Crucial Border States  Slave states to remain; Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, (W. Virginia).  What if the North fired the first shot?  States had large populations of people, manufacturing would have doubled, Ohio River flowed on the Northern border of Kentucky and W. Virginia.  2 tributaries (Cumberland, and Tennessee) flowed deep into the South. Grain, Gunpowder, and iron produced.

Border States  Lincoln declared martial law (Maryland) Why?  Sent troops to states to fight local civil wars.  Declared to fight to save the Union rather than slavery. Why?  Indian Territory (Oklahoma) sided with the Confederacy. 5 Tribes-Cherokee. South agreed to take over federal payments. They supplied troops.  Rival Plains Indians sided with the Union.

South Advantages  Fight a defensive war. Didn’t have to win the war.  Talented officers: Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson.  Soldiers accustomed to fighting. Manage a horse and a gun.  Able to find the means to fight the war.

Disadvantages  Shortages of shoes, uniforms, and blankets as the war drags on. Hunger.  Poor transportation. Railroad system was inefficient for war.  Economy; little industry.  Man power. Numbers game against them.

North advantages  Larger population 22 million compared to 9 million.  Immigrants poured in. Irish and Germans. Induced to enlist.  Strong economy and farming. Large supplies of weapons and grains.  Transportation system.

Northern disadvantages  Not prepared for war as soldiers.  Commanders were a trial and error system. Grant rises to the top because he acted.  Long run the North’s advantages bear fruit.  South at beginning looked to have upper hand.  South needed foreign involvement to help win. (Britain or France)

Foreign involvement  Europe’s ruling class. Aristocratic; could relate to the Southern culture and plight.  Disliked the American democratic example because it threatened their way of life.  South more of an Aristocratic social order.  The working class of Britain and France favored the North. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.  Hostile and use of force could persuade government officials.

Continued…  British textile mills depended on southern cotton but, productive seasons from meant a surplus in the warehouses.  By time they were running out, Lincoln had the emancipation proclamation.  Food from the North was sent to Europe to help feed unemployed.  Sent cotton that was captured in the South.  Egypt and India responded with more output because of greater demand.  Booming War industries increased.

Diplomacy  Trent affair. Union stopped a British steamer and removed by force two Confederate diplomats.  Britons outraged by hostility. Time passed to cool emotions and Lincoln released the prisoners.  British building ships (Alabama) Loophole in law didn’t make them warships because they left the dock without weapons. Picked up elsewhere.  British gradually perceived this as a dangerous precedent for future wars and stopped the process.

 Officially British took stance against aggression on the water but British built destroyers in all captured 250 ships.  North hostility towards Canada over the issues.  Laird Rams- 2 warships constructed in Britain to ram the Union wooden ships to destroy their blockade.  Minister Adams took a hard line on the issue. London backed off and bought the ships themsleves.

Jefferson Davis  Deal with State Right supporters. Set up a government where states had right to leave if they saw fit. Precedent had been set.  Davis disadvantage. New government, working on both the civil and war sides of government. Overburden.

Limits of War time liberties Proclaimed a blockade without Congress in session. Increased the Federal Army. Advance of 2 million dollars without appropriations to private citizens for military purpose. Suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, anti- unionists could be arrested. Important in Maryland. Arranged supervised voting in Border states. Intimidation. Colored ballots to know who you were voting for. Suspended newspapers and arrested editors.

Draftees.  1863, Conscription law passed on a national scale. Could hire a substitute for 300 dollars. Unfair to the poor.  Creates strife in democratic strongholds of the North such as New York. Riot breaks out in Irish Americans who were impoverished and anti-black

Southern conscription  A lot like the North.  Rich could bye their way out. Owners of more than twenty slaves or overseers were exempt.  Became a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.

Economic Stresses of War  North- created excise tax on tobacco and alcohol. Income tax was levied for 1st time.  Morrill Tariff Act increased duties by 5-10% soon pushed upwards by necessities of war. Raise additional revenue and protect Northern industry.  Issued Greenbacks-fluctuated with the fortunes of the war.  Sale of Bonds netted 2.6 million dollars. Market them through Jay Cooke and Company private bank. Success for profit and patriotism.

National Banking System  Create National Banking System (1863)  Stimulate bonds and establish a standard bank-note currency  1st move toward a unified bank since  Functioned for 50 years until replaced by the Federal Reserve System in 1913.

South  Inflation destroyed the South.  Ran wild, paper dollar by War’s end was worth 1.6 cents on the dollar.  9,000% inflation rate compared to 80% in the North. 

Economic Northern Boom  Prosperity came to many business in the North.  Protective tariffs.  1st Millionaire class could be found.  Profits before patriotism occurred. Some used poor wool, sold blind horses, shoes with cardboard soles. Term “shoddy millionare”

 Sewing machine replaces custom tailoring. Creates standard measurements “sizes”  Mechanical reapers 250,000 by Produce vast surplus even with many leaving to fight the war. A lot sent abroad.

Woman in the war  Woman took jobs as clerks. 100 in the Treasury alone.  Woman were drawn into Industrial employment.  Some posed as male soldiers.  Spy missions.  Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, 1st female physician, helped organize the U.S. Sanitary Commission.

continued  Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix help to transform nursing into a respected profession.

Cotton Kingdom Crushed  Fought to exhaustion.  30% to 12% of wealth by Devastating cost.  Transportation devastated materials at a minimum.