Secession and the Civil War

1. 15 Secession and the Civil War

2. The Storm Gathers • Election of Lincoln caused seven states to leave union • Secession of seven states does not necessarily mean war • One last attempt to reconcile North and South • Federal response to secession debated • In order for war, compromise must fail and military action must be taken

3. The Deep South Secedes • December 1860: South Carolina first to secede • February, 1861: Confederate States of America formed • Included South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas

4. Secession

5. The Deep South Secedes • Government headed by moderates • Confederate constitution similar to U.S. except: • Restrictions on the finance of internal improvements • Weak central government • Guarantee of slavery • Prohibition of protective tariffs • Protection of slavery in the territories • Aim to restore country as it was before Republican Party • Southerners hope to attract Northern states into Confederacy

6. The Failure of Compromise • Crittenden Plan: Extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific • Lincoln rejects compromise • Does not think it will end secession • Viewed as repudiation of majority rule

7. And the War Came • North seeks action to preserve Union • Lincoln – maintain federal authority without provoking war with South • Lincoln wants South to be responsible for starting war • April 1861: First shots fired at Fort Sumter, (Charleston) S.C., falls • April–May: Upper South secedes after violence • Border states remain in union – local Unionism and federal intervention • Attack on Fort Sumter unites North • War defined as struggle to preserve Union

8. Adjusting to Total War • North must win by destroying will to resist • Total War: a test of societies, economies, political systems as well as armies • Lincoln called for 75,000 troops for 90 days

9. Resources of the Union andthe Confederacy, 1861

10. Prospects, Plans, and Expectations • Southern advantages: fight in familiar, friendly terrain, better generals • South adopts defensive strategy • Northern advantages: industrial superiority, larger population, more natural resources, superior railroad system • Lincoln adopts two-front strategy: • Capture Confederate capitol, Richmond, VA • Seize control of the Mississippi River • Deploy navy to blockade Southern ports

11. Overview of Civil War Strategy

12. Mobilizing the Home Fronts • In beginning – more troops than needed • 1862: North and South begin conscription (draft) • Northern mobilization • Finance war through taxes, bonds, paper money • Private industry supplies Union armies well

13. Mobilizing the Home Fronts • South moves capital to Richmond, Virginia • South goes to war in a mood of optimism and jubilation • During war, South had food shortages • Government arsenals supply Confederate armies • Efforts to finance lead to runaway inflation • Transportation system inadequate

14. Political Leadership: Northern Success and Southern Failure • Lincoln and Davis learned that conduct of the war required active, executive leadership • Lincoln expands wartime powers (individual freedoms vs security of all) • Declares martial law • Imprisons 10,000 “subversives” without trial • Suspended writ of Habeas Corpus • Briefly closes down a few newspapers • Jefferson Davis appears weak • Concerned mainly with military duties • Neglects homefront problems, economy – planters refuse to grow food instead of cotton • Lacks influence with state governments

15. Early Campaigns and Battles • Northern achievements by 1862 • Total naval supremacy • Confederate troops cleared from West Virginia, Kentucky, much of Tennessee • New Orleans captured • Confederate achievements by 1862 • - First Battle of Bull Run won by South • Stall campaign for the Mississippi at Shiloh • Defend Richmond from capture

16. Civil War, 1861–1862

17. The Diplomatic Struggle • England • South thinks the need for cotton will make England and France form alliances in war • France: Confederacy not recognized unless England does so first • Policy of “King Cotton” has little influence on foreign policy of other nations • Union goal – prevent England and France from becoming allies to the South • King Cotton Diplomacy Fails

18. The Coming of Emancipation • Antietam is bloodiest battle of war and prompts Emancipation Proclamation • 1863: Proclamation put into effect for areas still in rebellion – freed only slaves in the Confederacy – committed the North to abolishing slavery • Used as weapon against South’s economic system • African Americans flee to Union lines • Confederacy loses thousands of laborers

19. African Americansand the War • 200,000 African American Union troops serve in segregated unions • Many others labor in Northern war effort • Lincoln pushes further for black rights • Blacks receive less pay doing heavy labor and make contribution to North’s victory

20. The Tide Turns • May, 1863: War-weariness • New York riots against draft turned violent • Riots caused by racial prejudice and class conflict • Wealthy in North and South can avoid military by providing a substitute (Enrollment Act) • Anti-war activists like Congressman Clement Vallandigham arrested • Grant bogged down at Vicksburg • Union defeated at Chancellorsville • Democrats “Copperheads” militant antiwar activists who oppose Lincoln

21. The Tide Turns • July, 1863 • Confederate invasion of North fails at Battle of Gettysburg • Vicksburg falls and give Union control of the Mississippi River

22. Last Stages of the Conflict • March 9, 1864: Grant made supreme commander of Union armies • Grant is most effective Union general • Union invades the South on all fronts • William Sherman marches through Georgia and destroys everything of economic and military value • Grant lays siege to Richmond, Petersburg • September - Sherman takes Atlanta • November - Lincoln re-elected because of Northern victories

23. Election of 1864 Candidate Party Popular Vote Electoral Vote Lincoln Republican 2,213,655 212 McClellan Democratic 1,805,237 21 *Out of a total of 233 electoral votes. The eleven secessionist states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, NorthCarolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia—did not vote.

24. Civil War, 1863–1865

25. Last Stages of the Conflict • Sherman’s March to the sea through Georgia • “Scorched earth” policy • April 1865: Grant takes Richmond • April 1865: Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse, Va • April 14, 1865: Lincoln assassinated • April 18, 1865: Last major Confederate force under Joseph Johnston surrenders

26. Effects of the War • 620,000 troops dead • Nation paid an enormous human and economic cost • Women seek non-domestic roles • Four million African Americans free, not equal • The South became poorer while the North tended to prosper

27. Casualties of War

28. Effects of the War • Federal government supreme over states • Federal government takes activist role in the economy • Higher tariffs, free land, national banking system

29. An Organizational Revolution • Modern bureaucratic state emerges • Individualism gives way to organized, cooperative activity • Catalyst for transformation of American society in the late nineteenth century