The American Civil War 1861-1865 SSUSH9

1. The American Civil War 1861-1865SSUSH9

2. The War with Mexico 1845-1847 • A. In 1844 the independent republic of Texas was annexed, added to the Union, and a war with Mexico was the result. • B. President James Polk declared war in 1845. The American Army invaded and took control of New Mexico and southern California. The second American army, led by Zachary Taylor conquered Northern Mexico . • C. The third army, commanded by Winfield Scott, captured Vera Cruz and then Mexico City which ended the war.

3. The Consequences of the War with Mexico • A. The treaty that ended the war was The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. • The treaty had three parts. First Mexico would recognize the Rio Grande river as the southern boundary of Texas. Second the U.S. would take possession of the Mexican provinces of California and New Mexico. The third part stated that the U.S. would pay Mexico 15 million dollars for these provinces. • One other result of the war was The Wilmot Proviso. This was an amendment to a bill and it wanted to forbid slavery in any of the new territories. It passed the House twice but it failed in the Southern dominated Senate. More evidence of the growing sectionalism in America.

4. A. In 1849 a gold rush to California caused the population to go over 100,000 people. The state applied for admission to the Union as a free state and the problems started. • B. Henry Clay again comes up with a solution: The Compromise of 1850. Admit California as a free state and in the other territories let the voters decide if the want slavery or not(popular sovereignty). • C. The second part banned the slave trade in Washington D.C. but allowed slave owners to keep their slaves. • D. the third part was The Fugitive Slave Law. This forced state authorities to help capture escaped slaves.

5. There were several significant events that occurred and led to the Civil War. • A. In 1854 Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed that the Nebraska Territory be divided into two states, Kansas and Nebraska. People in these states would choose if they wanted slavery or not. This was called The Kansas-Nebraska Act cancelled The Missouri Compromise. It allowed slavery to expand into areas forbidden in the past. This act causes a great deal of violence and hatred and it divides the North and the South even more.

6. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act caused several things. • A. The act was based on popular sovereignty, which meant which ever side had the most people would win the vote. Kansas became flooded with pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters and they fought each other for control. Kansas became known as “bleeding Kansas”. • B. The Republican Party was created in response to this act. This new party was against the expansion of slavery.

7. Two other events occurred at this time that caused more disunion among Americans. • A.. The Dred Scott case. Dred Scott was a slave who had been taken to the free territory of Wisconsin. He sued his owner in court because of this and he stated he should be free. • B. The Supreme Court ruled that Scott was not a citizen but only property therefore he could not sue his master.

8. John Brown’s Raid • A. John Brown was a radical abolitionist. He had been in Kansas and his massacre of pro-slavery supporters caused the state to be called “bleeding Kansas”. • B. In 1858 Brown moved east with the goal of starting a slave rebellion in the South. • C. In October 1859 Brown led a small group of men in an attack on the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in Virginia. He hoped to capture the guns and ammunition and start a slave uprising in the South. • D. Army units led by Col. Robert E. Lee captured John Brown and his men after a two day battle. John Brown was found guilty of treason and hung. He became a martyr for the abolitionists and devil and criminal to the South.

10. In November 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President and his main goal was to preserve the Union. He stated his beliefs about slavery in the quote “If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong”. Most people in the North would not fight to abolish slavery but they would fight to preserve the Union and Lincoln knew this. By the time the war ended most northerner’s knew that the only way to preserve the union was to abolish slavery.

11. Lincoln’s efforts to preserve the Union. • A. He suspended “the writ of Habeas corpus”. This meant that people could now be arrested without knowing the charges against them. President Lincoln needed to do this because of enemy spies and traitors. • B. He used two speeches to try to preserve the union and also set a new moral tone to the war. The Gettysburg Address is the most famous American speech of all time. In this he states that only through victory can the Union be saved. • C. In his second inaugural address in March 1865 Lincoln urged charity for the South and for the nation “to bind up its wounds…to achieve… a just and lasting peace”. President Lincoln wanted the South back as countrymen as soon and peacefully as possible.

12. Northern and Southern generals. • A. The Union army produced two great generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. Grant defeated the Confederate army at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga , and Richmond. Sherman attacked and burned Atlanta and he then marched through Georgia to Savannah.

13. B. Robert E. Lee was the South’s greatest general. Many historians say he is the best general of the whole war. He was always outnumbered and yet he very rarely lost a battle. The other great general for the South was Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson who was very religious and an incredible leader of men. • C. The President of the Confederate States of America was Jefferson Davis. He was a graduate of West Point and he had been Secretary of War during the War with Mexico. His poor leadership is one reason the South lost the war.

14. Important battles of The Civil War. • A. The first battle of the war was Fort Sumter. The fort guarded the harbor of Charleston South Carolina and on April 12, 1861 Confederate forces attacked took control of it, starting the war. • B. The battle of Antietam took place in September of 1862. General Lee invaded Maryland and he was defeated. In one day of this battle 22,000 men were killed or wounded. After this victory President Lincoln issues The Emancipation Proclamation.

15. C. Control of the Mississippi River was vital to winning the war. In July of 1863 the Union army won the Battle of Vicksburg and this victory divided the Confederacy in two. • D. General Lee (South) was defeated by General Meade at The Battle of Gettysburg. Many historians believe this was the battle that decided the North would win the war.

16. E. The Union army under General Sherman was in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Sherman decided to attack south toward Atlanta. The southern army was half the size of the union army . After a series of very tough and bloody battles Sherman succeeded in taking Atlanta. At that time Atlanta was the second most important city in the Confederate states. Its loss was a mortal blow to the South. This was called The Battle of Atlanta. • F. The last battle of the war was the battle for the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond. General Grant captured the City in May , 1865 and General Lee was forced to surrender. The day was April 9, 1865.

17. The Significance of the Emancipation Proclamation. • A. This proclamation freed slaves in all the states in rebellion against the Federal government. It left the slaves in the so called border states in slavery. • B. There were several consequences of the proclamation. First it committed the National Government to a policy of abolishing slavery in the South. • C. Second it enlarged the purpose of the war, Union armies are now also fighting against slavery. • D. Third it increased the number of slaves seeking freedom and it allowed recruitment of blacks into the Union army.

18. The American Civil War caused a huge economic split to occur between North and South. • A. There were three major reasons for this. First the north had a population of 22 million the South 5.5 million (free whites). • B. At the end of the war the North had over 80% of the functioning railroads and 85% of the factories and manufactured goods in the country. • C. The war had ended slavery and destroyed the South’s economy while at the same time it caused the transformation of the North into a complex, modern industrial society.

19. ReconstructionSSUSH10

20. Reconstruction was the effort by the Federal government to help rebuild the devastated South and to help the newly freed slaves. There were two plans for Reconstruction. • A. Presidential Reconstruction was a plan created by President Lincoln and it was essentially made to treat the South with kindness and to punish them as little as possible. His plan stated that when 10% of the people in a rebel state took an oath of loyalty they could re-enter the Union. The Confederate states also had to rewrite their constitutions making slavery illegal.

21. Congressional Reconstruction was a reaction to the policies of President Andrew Johnson and to 2 events in the South. First the people of the South returned ex-Confederates to high offices and Congress. The second event was the adoption of “Black Codes “ to restrict the freedom of the former slaves.

22. The Radical Republicans wanted to reform Southern society in three ways. • A. They wanted to redistribute the land in the South to the newly freed slaves. The land would be taken from those planters who had supported the war. • B. The Republican Congress set up The Freedman’s Bureau. It provided food, shelter, and medical aid to freed slaves and poor whites. The third reform was in education. The Bureau set up almost 3,000 schools including many black colleges such as Morehouse College in Atlanta.

23. A In December 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment had been ratified by the required states. It made slavery illegal. • B. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 and made the ex-slaves official citizens. • C. In order to ensure voting rights of freedmen and women Congress passed The Fifteenth Amendment. It gave all freedmen the right to vote • There was a great deal of resistance to racial equality during reconstruction. • A. The Black Codes were adopted by Southern legislatures to restrict the rights and movements of blacks. Blacks could not rent land or borrow money. They were forced to sign work contracts, and blacks were prohibited from testifying against whites in court. People in the North just thought this was putting slavery back in place. • B. To enforce these codes and to intimidate freed blacks and poor whites, organizations like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) came into being. This group later was disbanded by its founders only to reappear in the early 1900’s.

24. President Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republican Congress did not get along. Congress could pass laws but they were afraid Johnson would not enforce the laws. • A. Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act which states that only Congress can remove from office a person they appoint. • B. Johnson believes the Act is unconstitutional and he removes the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office. • C. Congress now impeaches (brings to trial) President Johnson. The charges are very weak and Johnson is acquitted (not guilty). The Radical Republicans are now in charge of Reconstruction.